I n the past, whenever I have written enthusiastically about a modern retro console such as the Nintendo Classic Mini: SNES or the Analogue Duo , there have been a smattering of comments below the article asking why people don’t just buy a Raspberry Pi mini computer, download an emulator and play all the games they like for virtually nothing. My answer has usually been ease of use and accessibility. When you buy a mini console, you’re getting a plug-and-play product without any complicated set-up or potential compatibility issues.
Simple. But recently I bought a Raspberry Pi for an article on the beautiful PiDP-10 machine , so I thought I might as well check out its retro gaming credentials. Here is what I found.
To build your retro machine, you first need a Raspberry Pi computer – effectively a teeny PC built on to a circuit board just larger than a credit card. There are two models being supported now: the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B (£34) and the newer Raspberry Pi 5 (£58), which has a more powerful processor, making it more suitable for emulating later consoles. I bought a 5 model on the Pi Hut site, which offers a decent starter kit including a compatible power adaptor and HDMI cable, a cute case to house the Pi (complete with a tiny fan to keep the CPU cool) and an SD card, which you need because the computer doesn’t have a built-in hard drive.
That kit costs £94. The Raspberry Pi 4 is fine for running emulators of older machines, though, so if you went for that y.