The RetroPie project is a software suite for the Raspberry Pi that allows the user to easily play classic video games through emulators. It’s been around for a while now, so it’s relatively trivial to get this set up with a basic controller and video output. That means that the race is on for novel ways of implementing a RetroPie, which [Christian] has taken as a sort of challenge, building the tiniest RetroPie he possibly could.
The constraints he set for himself were to get the project in at under 100 mm. For that he used a Pi Zero loaded with the RetroPie software and paired it with a 1.44″ screen. There’s a tiny LiPo battery hidden in there, as well as a small audio amplifier. Almost everything else is 3D printed including the case, the D-pad, and the buttons. The entire build is available on Thingiverse as well if you’d like to roll out your own.
While this might be the smallest RetroPie we’ve seen, there are still some honorable mentions. There’s one other handheld we’ve seen with more modest dimensions, and another one was crammed into an Altoids tin with a clamshell screen. It’s an exciting time to be alive!
Are you freaking kidding me? I mean, I really wanted to say, “No, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, No, no, no, no, NO,” but this is just too cool.
We see so many of these tiny emulators but nothing that looks this good while in gameplay + he really nailed the sound implement too. Props dude.
Nicely done.
It’s bound to suck through… the issue will be the screen…
I built myself a PiBoy-Zero (the green and yellow)
https://hackaday.io/project/9467-piboy-zero
The thing is great and works great (beside the sound which is full of digital noise…) but the screen is just bad.. low resolution resulting in a somewhat blurry setting… also it’s a “portrait” screen like most of these size do, meaning there some viewing angle issue between the two eyes…
I just can’t imagine how bad this screen will look like at 1.44″
i ordered this a day ago
https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/1.3inch_LCD_HAT
Looks nice even if tiny, I can’t find information on viewing angles through… plenty of information on the driver chip, none on the panel… the major grip on the TM022HDH26 was not the resolution, it’s the vertical viewing angle (since it’s mounted sideways and since it’s vertical view angle are bad it means that one eye gets a lighter image and the second a darker image which is not comfortable in the least.
It’s actually not too bad. Much clearer than in the video. Definitely not amazing but consider it’s size is definitely acceptable.
you beat me to it.
literally ordered parts for a similar build yesterday XD
Hey, go for it! I’m planning a smaller version with a nice home cooked PCB. If people are interested I’ll be posting everything so you can make one too
I think you could probably do quite well selling them built.
I understand the “challenge yourself to make it small” aspect, but just looking at the picture and thinking about actually playing a game on it makes my hands ache.
Wow, that’s a very nice build. COOL!
Sorry… not the smallest… I mean it’s Small. But not Tiny ????
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pi0cket/tinypi-pro-the-worlds-smallest-raspberry-pi-gaming
Looks like a snickers bar, but you’ed have to be nuts to play on that screen, how about a mini-HDMI out port?
It does have HDMI out.However, I’ve played hours and hours on the Tiny Pi Pro. Retro games like sonic the hedgehog, micromachines, basically any old school Gameboy game, plays perfectly clear. Text is crisp. It’s 100% playable. Besides that it comes as a kit. It can be built in 10 minutes. Requires no soldering. And would be perfect for STEM learning and maker clubs etc. Check out @pi0cket on Instagram or Twitter and you can see for yourself.
ah jaysis!!!, will ye ever up your infill flow rate by 15-20%