Michael R.

7 de enero de 2019

Definitely the way to go if you want to Retro game!

I've been wanting a Retro console for a LONG time. I originally had a full sized arcade cabinet, but it only had 17 games on it and just wasn't worth taking up the space, so I sold it.So then I started looking at building a bar top kit using RetroPie. The thought of having a bar top with real arcade style joysticks and buttons was very promising but it was still a VERY pricy option, and the task of getting all the emulation software up and running seemed like a risky and daunting project for someone who knows just enough about programming to be dangerous.I finally discovered this kit and for the price point, the pre-loaded Retropie and emulators on the SD disk and the already formatted thumb drive for game transfers thi seemed like the perfect jumping in point for me, and boy was I right! This kit is a bargain for what you can do with it.It was pretty much plug and play. All I needed to do to assemble was install the heat sink, which simply meant I had to place a piece of plastic in the right space and fasten it to the Pi computer. I put in the SD card, put the Pi computer in the mini SNES case, connected the included gamepad, a mouse and keyboard, booted it up and the rest took care of itself. In minutes I was staring at the RetroPie Emulation Station UI and ready to go. All I had to do manually was map the buttons to the controller (which I was prompted for) and go into settings and set up my location in order to set up a WiFi connection which is needed to perform updates among other things.Out of the box, some emulators were already installed (MAME, FBALPHA, SNES, PC Engine, Atari, Sega Genesis) so once I found some games, I copied them to the correct folders on the thumb drive, plugged the thumb drive into the Pi computer (it does the transfer automatically) and PRESTO. A quick restart of the EmulationStation and the menus for the games appeared on the UI.You could end right there and just play your games.But, for the more advanced, there is a wonderful Wiki for RetroPie that basically covers everything you could possibly want to do to make your Retro Console awesome.The first thing I discovered were the scraper programs. These programs go out and find information about your games and even grab screen shots, the original arcade game marquee sign, or the console game box covers. Unfortunately, I ran into bad time as the Scraper program built into Emulationstation literally just stopped working a few days ago because they swtiched over to a new server, so I had to go install one that you run from the command line. It works great, but now the option to just update 1 title is currently not working. Hopefully a future patch will address this.Then I started looking at what other emulator packages were available but not installed. These take a bit of know how to get up and running. In addition to installing them, you may have to find BIOS files online that are compatible with the emulator. Again, the Wiki guides you through the process and I got an emulator for Intellivision and Colecovision games up and running. You will be in and out of the RetroPie command line to get this stuff going, but I have not used Linux in years and it was all easy once you know how to navigate the file structure and edit configuration files.Pairing an Xbox 360 or PS4 controller is next.Tweaking the UI and getting missing sound samples is up next.But for now, I'm taking a break and enjoying some games. I already have a few high scores on some arcade classics (yes, they save), and catching up on some console games I never played as I kid. (I never owned a Nintendo console until the Wii).So, all in all, I now already have a HUGE gaming collection and still over half of the drive available for more. I poured over literally a few thousand titles, and once you get it all up and running, it is so easy and add and remove titles.This kit is WAY better than any over those pre-loaded units you see at malls or online. Those knock-offs always contain bootleg games, shoddy clones and too much garbage filler. And a lot of them are more expensive than this kit.Obviously, finding games is the hard part, but with the right internet searching you will do just fine.Support is also great - I e-mail a couple of questions and they replied very quickly.Current libraryAtari 2600 - 258 games (I'll admit, these games don't age well and I haven't really trimmed the list!)Intellivision - 33 gamesCoin-Op games (MAME) - 258 gamesNeo-Geo coin-ops (FBALPHA) 30 gamesSega Genesis/Mega Drive - 101 gamesPC Engine (Turbo Grafx) -25 gamesSNES - 189 gamesVer más

8 personas la encontraron útil

BFF

12 de abril de 2019

An amazing value

Original review: 04/09/19I haven't had too much time to dig into this yet, but so far, I'm EXTREMELY impressed with this combo pack.I wanted to create a Raspberry Pi media center PC and was originally going to piecemeal everything together, then I saw this package which was a steal. You get everything you need to get going (minus a keyboard and mouse). It's super quick to put together: slap the heatsinks on, plug in the memory card, and screw the motherboard into the cute little NES-looking case. I had no idea that three OSes had their installers already on the memory card. They're all free, but it's a nice gesture to save the time and hassle of downloading them. You get Raspian for regular computer activities, Kodi for a great media center experience, and RetroPi for playing video game ROMs. The two SNES knockoff controllers it comes with feel pretty darn good and I can't wait to start playing some oldschool games on them. If you need a good media center keyboard and mouse to round out this package, check out the iPazzPort mini keyboard and trackpad combo.Update: 04/18/19Messed around with Raspbian and watched some movies and it's really no different than many other Linux distros, just pared down a bit for the Pi. Haven't done much with Kodi yet. RetroPi is nice and simple and the included controllers are nice. Not quite as responsive as a real SNES controller, but this is probably the closest you'll get to the real thing in 2019 without hitting up eBay.Update: 04/26/19Watching streaming videos in Raspbian gave me an issue where the video would stutter about every few minutes, but the audio would keep playing. I upped the VRAM to 256 and it seemed to fix the issue (it may stutter once in the first minute but seems fine after that).I also went into the underscan settings in Raspbian to make sure I didn't have a black border on my TV. KODI's underscan settings are so much nicer. After some hunting, pecking, and then rebooting several times, I got a setting that worked.Ver más

1 persona la encontró útil

Lee Gaiteri

25 de julio de 2018

Very happy with this kit

This is my first experience working with a Raspberry Pi, so having a startup kit with all of the parts (including a flash memory card with the OS and software already on it) was a big plus. Also after pricing out all of the components separately, it seemed like this was a really good value for the money. I bought USB extension cables on the side because eventually this is going in my living room, although it does support Bluetooth if you have a different controller in mind, and also I picked up a simple USB mouse because one was required for setup and I didn't want to go to the hassle of unplugging my computer mouse.This model, the Pi 3 B+, is the model you want if you want to use 5G WiFi for streaming or Internet access. If you have it in mind to use Kodi (I'm setting it up mainly for YouTube, and streaming from legal sources), go with this one. If you're not sure yet if you'll do any streaming, go with this one anyway.Although the kit only says you need a mouse to set it up, if you need to do anything at all meaningful with the setup you'll need a keyboard too. WiFi for instance needs a keyboard to setup. A keyboard is also a must if you plan to run DOSBox. Do yourself a favor and order a keyboard and a mouse (USB) if you don't have spares lying around.The case hasn't had any overheating problems for me, although it doesn't include a fan. Because of the way the Pi sits in the middle of the case, I believe air circulation is decent (not ideal, but decent), so between that and the heat sinks there haven't been any heat issues for me. The kit value was such that I'm fine buying a new case if it's ever a problem.During the first 12 hours of use I was getting undervolt warnings rather frequently, which I think has more to do with my power company than the included power supply, but the problem sorted itself out and I haven't seen it since--but again that could be my power company. (The voltage reading on my computer's UPS read as 113 at the time. Currently: 119.) If you have this problem more consistently you could always look into upgrading to a different power supply that delivers voltage more reliably: 5-5.1V and 2.5A.There's a Raspberry Pi intro guide included in the package which is very nice, but it won't tell you anything about setting up RetroPie or Emulationstation. Thankfully there are good forums supporting RetroPie, and plenty of YouTube videos on how to set things up, so you should find a lot of good material to help you. The main thing you need to know out of the box is that during controller setup, if you don't have a particular button just hold down any button for a few seconds and it will be ignored. I thought I needed a keyboard at this stage to move down to the next menu item, but it turned out I just had to wait; still glad I ran to the store for a cheap USB keyboard though. The second thing you should know is that you should plug the included thumb drive into the Pi first to make sure it creates the right directories, then into your computer afterward.In summary, this is a very good kit, especially if you're new to the Raspberry Pi. The only finicky setup stuff is all inherent to the software itself, so you'd have that with any kit or even a complete DIY from parts. Make sure you have a keyboard and mouse, and for everything else the RetroPie forums and YouTube are your friends.(Edited: In the original review I stated you could simply leave the controller alone to skip a button you don't have during configuration. I was mistaken, and had forgotten the way to do this is to press and hold any button for 3 seconds.)

Spaghetti_jo

30 de diciembre de 2020

Great gift for 13 year old

Bought this as a birthday present for my 13 yo nephew. He loved it! He said it was fairly easy to assemble the hardware. The included SD card didn't work for retropie so he had to install everything on a separate flash drive. Fortunately there are plenty of YouTube videos that show the process. He also installed Raspbian on a separate flash drive in case he wants to use the raspberry pie for things beside gaming. Great little kit!Ver más

pooplover

23 de febrero de 2019

Read the Retropie Wiki to avoid huge setup headaches

I’m a complete newcomer to the Raspberry Pi. I have zero technical knowledge when it comes to weird computer files. I bought this kit purely to run Retropie. The price was right and reviews were solid.Unboxing was impressive. Nice packaging and presentation. The controllers are of excellent build quality and are weighted. There is no thin, garbage plastics and tiny controller wires. Everything feels very premium. Even the outer case is of decent quality.As a first time user, this kit was perfect because I didn’t have to put all of the OS software on the micro SD. It’s pre-loaded out of the box, which is a huge time saver and makes the price of the kit totally worth it.Where I had trouble (due to human error and both the secrecy surrounding how to properly get retro games onto the device) was transferring and loading ROM files. I found all the information I needed on the Retropie wiki. READ THIS FIRST. Had I done this, it would have saved me about 2 hours of troubleshooting (wait til theUSB light stops blinking, restart the emulator, make sure files are unzipped before copying to the console folder, etc). This kit gives zero instructions on how to do this out of the box, which I understand, but it was quite a roadblock that I had to figure out on my own as a newbie in order to overcome.This is not entirely plug and play. In order to play games, you need to do some work on your end as the end user. That being said, the included hardware and software gave me a huge head start. The microSD with the full OS already preloaded on it really is a godsend andlowers the barrier of entry significantly for a first-timer like me.I see no reason to not give 5 stars. Everything isofvery high quality and works great. The controllers really warrant all the praise they get in other reviews—they really are just super high quality in my opinion.No disappointments here. 5 stars.Ver más

20 personas la encontraron útil

Pettinato Family

7 de mayo de 2021

Excellent Little System. Works Great With Very Little Effort But Some Technical Knowledge Helpful

This is a great little system. It is easy to put together and comes with everything you need. After turning it on all you need to do is configure the controllers (a menu pops up automatically to do this) and load your games. My two kids got into NES games a few months ago but the little generic system we bought here had a lot of random Japanese games and not many of the ones I liked as a kid. With this one, I can put any game they want on it. My kids are loving Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World and the other SNES games they can now play.A few tips/hints:1. You can load games in two ways. You can use the included USB stick and drop the games in the pre-created folders or you can open Windows Explorer and you will see RETROPIE in the network devices menu when the system is on. You can copy the games there and restart.2 You can play right out of the box after you add games, but a little technical knowledge of Linux or just cimple command line commands would be helpful.3. Look up RetroPie cover art or "scraper" to learn how to add the game cover art to the games list. its a nice touch.I would definitely recommend this to anyone, but you'd be better off with a little technical knowledge for configuration and debugging issues.Ver más