First of all, if you plan to play retrogaming and are a beginner on this topic, you will discover what the market has to offer to you.
Going to the supermarket will give you retro consoles that can actually be pretty expensive, up to 80 $/€ for a retro snes with a bunch of games, and thus not knowing if you can extend it or not.
Getting a SBC will allow you to install almost instantly gaming engines like retropie, who will hold all the emulators and allow you to play abandonware. Keep in mind that some of the games are not abandonware and cannot be played for free this way.
Choosing your SBC is a bit like choosing your car: you first need to know what you want from it. You would ask yourself "Do I want a big car for my family?" "Do I want my car to be fast?"
Depending on what you need you will choose one or another.
My blog will mainly support Paspberry classic (non zero), but let us have a quick overlook on what is availlable:
- basic: Raspberry Pi zero: mainly to play game boy games, cheap (5$/€)
- mid-range: Raspberry Pi 3B+, Raspberry Pi 4, Udroid XU4, between 30 and 100 $/€ depending on your set.
Keep in mind that you will have to buy: - SBC
- Micro SD card for the storage. This will be your most important choice. Faster means more performance with huge games. More SD card space (at least 128 GB) gives you more freedom. It also saves you from using a power hungry external hard drive
- Power supply (USB C for Pi 4 or micro USB for Pi 3)
- Case, if possible with a fan
- External hard disk for your roms (optional)
- Powered USB hub to make sure your voltage does not go down (if needed).
This is especially true with 3B+. You will experiment undervoltage issues if you turn on wifi and plug your external hard drive at the same time with a regular power supply.
If you do not want to go the powered hub route, connect your network with ethernet cable and buy a bigger SD card. - Good wireless keyboard (I have chosen Logitech k400+)
- HDMI cable, screen and sound output.
Avoid:
- Buying a USB based power supply (as in smartphone charger). USB wire will often be poor quality and you will experience voltage drops. Also, it won't be cheaper than an USB hub or an official power supply.
If you calculate on 3B+ basis:
34 $/€ (SBC) + 11$/€ (case) + 14 $/€ (basic official microusb power supply) + 25 $/€ (128gb SD card) + 40 $/€ (keyboard) = 124 $/€ as a basic starting kit.
Not counting the micro SD adapter to install PINN and the additional peripherals you already have or that you will buy later (XBOX controller receiver, HDMI cable, screen...)
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| Your SD card is a very important choice when you buy your SBC. It is a bit like your bag of holding: you will feel invincible having it! |
This means: don't save money on SBC if you want something specific. For example, you will never be able to run ePCSX2 on Pi 3 or Pi 4.
If you go the Odroid H2 way, the other components will be the same price and you will still have some fully operating emulator for less than 200 $/€.
If you do not mind spending money on something more powerful, you might choose UDOO x86 or UDOO Bolt, or other x86 premium SBC's available in your country. That will unlock ePCSX2 and ePCS3. UDOO is usually not available in Europe, you will probably have to do a bit of research to find yourself a premium x86 SBC if you are living there.
That said, the Raspberry Pi still has a lot of tricks in its hat and deserves a blog for itself.
For this guide, i advise to buy a Raspberry Pi 4: it will not be much more expensive than Pi 3B+, is faster, and will save you the 3G/1G kernel issue.
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| A full Raspberry Pi 3B+ starting kit: Case+SBC, Ethernet cable, HDMI cable, SD card, keyboard and receiver, power supply, external hard drive |
| SBC | Budget (case and accessories included) | What to expect? | |
| Raspberry Pi zero | 50 $/€ | Play video, music, play Game Boy games | |
| Raspberry Pi 3B+ or Pi 4 Odroid XU4 | 150-250 $/€ | Play console games up to PS1/gamecube Play PC games up to 2000~2005 | |
| Odroid H2 | 200-300 $/€ | Play PS2 games | |
| Hidden desktop PC | Can be lower than 500 $/€ | Play current games | |
| UDOO x86 or UDOO Bolt | 500 $/€ | Play PS3 games |
TL/DR:
I don't want PS2 --> Pi 4 (+- 160 $/€ full starting kit)
I don't want PS2 and I'm a cheapskate : Pi 3B+ (+- 130 $/€ full starting kit)
I want PS2 but not more --> Odroid H2 (+- 200 $/€ full starting kit)
I want PS2 and PS3 --> UDOO/other x86 boards/full PC hidden behind your TV (up to 500 $/€ full starting kit)
Check table just above for comparison.
I hope this guide will help you to do the right choice!
The pi gamer
