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Geek Builds His Own NES Classic With A Raspberry Pi (arstechnica.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the digital-DIY dept.

"It turns out that the NES Classic Edition is just a little Linux-powered board inside a cute case," writes Andrew Cunningham at Ars Technica, "and it's totally possible to build your own tiny Linux-powered computer inside a cute case without spending much more than $60." An anonymous reader writes: Andrew used a $42 Raspberry Pi 3 Model B -- "it's relatively cheap and relatively powerful, and it can easily handle anything from the original PlayStation on down" -- plus an $8 case, and a microSD card. He also purchased a pair of gamepads -- there's several options -- and reports that "Putting our little box together is ridiculously easy, and you ought to have no problem with it even if you've never opened up a PC tower in your life."

"Making retro game consoles is a fairly common use case for the Pi, so there are a few different operating system choices out there," Andrew reports, and he ultimately chose the Linux-based RetroPie OS, which includes a number of emulators. Basically the process boils down to dropping a RetroPie boot image onto the SD card, putting it into the Pi, and then plugging it into your display and connecting your controllers -- plus configuring some menus. "The default quality of the emulation looks just as good as it does on the NES Classic Edition," and "the emulators for these older systems are all advanced enough that things should mostly run just like they did on the original hardware... I've been having a ton of fun with mine now that it's all set up, and its flexibility (plus the quality of those USB gamepads) has made it my favorite way to play old games, outpacing my Apple TV, the pretty but not-living-room-friendly OpenEmu, and the old hacked Wii I still have sitting around."
The hardest part may just be finding a PC with an SD card slot -- and of course, the resulting system gives you lots of flexibility. "By using the Raspberry Pi and freely available software, you can build something capable of doing a whole heck of a lot more than playing the same 30 NES games over and over again."

132 comments

  1. But will you have the games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Really, it isn't like you can use the cartridges after all.

    Whatever will you do?

    1. Re:But will you have the games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Use the GPIO pins to add a slot to handle cartridges?

    2. Re:But will you have the games? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      3D-printed mini NES with small NFC cartridges.

      Seriously why is this thing article even on Slashdot? It's so common these days that you need something taken to the next step as shown in this video to even get mentioned on hackaday.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:But will you have the games? by syntotic · · Score: 1

      Oops! Can he make a DS/DSi for me too? I found NES games are all drill/rot and impossible to play, but DS games are superplayable, even old GBA titles.

  2. and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've running emulators since... I don't know, AGES. Why is this "news for nerds"?

    1. Re:and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Must be a really slow news day.

      Some guy does something tons of people were doing long before Nintendo announced their cute, little toy. OMG! Stop the presses!

      You want to make the story just a little bit interesting? Include links to someone selling not-stupidly-priced RPi cases that resemble retro consoles.

    2. Re:and this is news because...? by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      The idea isn't new, but people might not have heard of this particular distro. I have an old netbook with ZSNES on it, but if I wanted something more modern this distro would expedite the installation process quite a bit. I'm actually thinking I might get a Pi and a new controller now and put this on it.

    3. Re:and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just came in to ask the same. I've got a a raspberry 3 with several emulated oldies for a while and I wouldn't even think to mention it.
      What's next ? Somebody made a media center ?
      Or is this just bait to see who does it?

    4. Re:and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm running emulators since I was 12. Literally the first webpage I opened when I got diap-up Internet at home was the gaming section of by ISP portal, and Rocknes (an NES emulator) was featured on it.

    5. Re:and this is news because...? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      If you want accurate emulation, use higan (f.k.a. bsnes) on a decent computer. The Pi can't handle accurate SNES emulation. RetroPie just uses Snes9x. While it was more accurate than Zsnes, it's not great by today's standards (Higan is cycle-accurate).

      Both are better than Zsnes - it has horribly inaccurate sound and can't even run some of the levels in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island at all (of the games I played).

    6. Re:and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's still cool to the younger people, but may not be so for someone that's been around the block. Let them have their fun.
      The only problem is, they think this is a big feat, but it's not.

    7. Re:and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Raspberry Pi emulators are the worst of the worst.

      It's basically "hey look I can play Nintendo on a $20 PCB"

      But assuming you buy all the other bits you need to make a complete console, you still get a really poor immitation of a Nintendo or anything else.

      The high quality emulation is now with FPGA's, forget these inaccurate ARM-based toys that have high latency, crappy color reproduction and sound like a tin can.

    8. Re:and this is news because...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      higan is encouraging users toward adaptive sync displays. Not just for latency reasons, but due to necessities of emulation: higan supports systems that run at 50hz, 60z, and 75hz currently. Short of taking over the entire display and refresh rate by changing modes (which isn't even possible in the Linux/BSD Xorg world; hence I won't even consider this), and even then, requiring a monitor that can handle 75hz in the first place ... you'll never get proper synchronization with Vsync anyway.

      from https://byuu.org/articles/late...

      The problem with higan is that it doesn't allow you to sync to refresh. This makes scrolling choppy as hell. He says it supports those refresh rates but it doesn't seem to work.

      Generally, I use snes9x unless the title doesn't run on it. Since I generally don't play obscure japanese RPGs, it works fine for me.

    9. Re:and this is news because...? by joboss · · Score: 1

      I tend to agree. It's just a case mod and maybe something special for the controller or even if it supports carts which I doubt. I used to use emulators a lot a decade ago. Last time I calculated something like if you pay three or four times more than they charge for a console and a few dozen games then you get a system that can be used as a not entirely bad PC, plus that can emulate a bunch of systems and that can store hundreds of thousands of ROMs in total (most systems are thousands of ROMs to tens of thousands, for tape based they are tiny and you have tens of thousands). The way they sell these things at the moment just isn't good enough. People want access to everything and essentially something like eat all you can.

    10. Re:and this is news because...? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      All true. With Vsync turned on, you still get tearing, because you're actually between refreshes. Down the road, I expect there to be a port with double-buffering where you can sync the most recently *finished* frame to the screen, but it's still a compromise on latency. Snes9x won't vsync properly either - it just has uneven animation because the emulator is likely doing double-buffering and snapping to the nearest screen refresh. Pick one or the other, but they are both trade-offs.

      Adaptive displays are actually not a bad thing anyway - I watch a lot of British TV. And 50Hz does not convert well to 60Hz - nor does 25p to 30p. And Brits and Americans alike have trouble with 24Hz.

      For some of this, it was solved with a least common multiple - this was the real reason for 120Hz TVs. It divides evenly into 24p, 60Hz, and 30p. Short of a 600Hz refresh rate, you won't see an LCM that handles 50, 60, and 75Hz.

      With all of that said, the NES runs at 60.1Hz. Adaptive sync is going to be a lot easier than a true 600Hz refresh rate anyway.

  3. What the... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was expecting something that at least looked like a NES. But no, it's just a Raspberry Pi stuck in a case with a couple of gamepads. That's a really common use for a Raspberry Pi.

    Is there anything new or innovative about this?

    Perhaps I should write an article about how I installed Linux on a PC and use it to browse the internet and work on spreadsheets.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:What the... by OrangeTide · · Score: 2

      Basically it's an article about installing RetroPie, one of many RetroArch/libretro distros available. I consider articles like these on slashdot to be equivalent to articles about people "discovering" Ubuntu. It all seems very pointless, but maybe someone hasn't heard the news on this in the last 2-3 years.

      It's more interesting to packa Pi it into a Game Boy case modified with SNES buttons

      P.S. - Pi 3 is kind of overkill for doing NES. But it's a nice option if you want to do SNES and MegaDrive as well. Audio outputs on the Pi sucks bad though.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    2. Re: What the... by dugancent · · Score: 2

      was expecting something that at least looked like a NES.

      That's one of the problems I have with these pi projects, they all look like garbage if you try to keep a neat entertainment center. Cords coming out of every side, etc.

      I wish they made a pi case, or a pi, with all the ports on one side.

      --
      SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
    3. Re:What the... by ledow · · Score: 2, Informative

      Worse than that, you can actually just buy bundles that are 100% this.

      RPi, Retropie card, controllers.

    4. Re: What the... by Archfeld · · Score: 2, Informative

      Raspberry Pi cases, just off the top of google...

      https://www.google.com/#q=rasp...

      --
      errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
    5. Re: What the... by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Interesting

      For my brother's birthday, I just put one of these into a tabletop arcade cabinet that I bought as a kit. It came out absolutely fantastic, and it emulates everything up to about the Playstation 1 (PSX) very well. Of course, since I picked an 8-way joystick and 6 buttons, not every game is a great experience. But Retropie is really a great piece of software. For entertainment center duty, there are lots of cases for the Pi (or you could just tuck it behind the TV) - and it has bluetooth so you don't really need the ports. If you want corded controllers, you could mount a usb hub somewhere convenient and inconspicuous.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    6. Re:What the... by ledow · · Score: 3, Informative

      Bugger: Missed off the link:

      https://thepihut.com/collectio...

    7. Re: What the... by avatar+avatar · · Score: 1

      Given the notoriously litigious current IP landscape, I have to wonder how many cease-and-desists companies selling kits like these get hit with, since they're basically selling pirate ships.

    8. Re:What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is the best looking raspi nes. it even has the ability to load "cartridges" via NFC

      http://www.daftmike.com/2016/07/NESPi.html

    9. Re: What the... by dugancent · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I'm aware as I have a pi. I would like a case where there are short cords or adapters to plug everything into the back.

      --
      SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
    10. Re: What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you read the person's post above? He wants a pie case with all the ports routed to one side so it looks good. So it can be placed in his entertainment center and look nice. You gave a Google search for a pi case. The logic board has the power and HDMI stuck on the side, and none of the cases from your quick Google search helps him at all. So thanks for absolutely nothing.

    11. Re:What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good Lord, when will 3D printing ever NOT be complete shit?

    12. Re: What the... by ledow · · Score: 3, Informative

      So long as you aren't selling ROMs, pretty much the law has decided that it's not a problem.

      Some emulators are available - for money - on things like Google Play Store and have been for years. For example, Spectaculator, etc.

      Emulating isn't breaking the law. Only providing copyright code (e.g. roms, software, etc.), or misappropriating trademarks (e.g. a picture of Pacman) is.

      You stand more chance of being sued for drawing Pacman on a sticker than selling a system intended for emulation.

      To be honest, from that kit, I'd be more worried about patents on the shape of the SNES controller (and why did the guy use SNES controllers on an NES console?), but that's the manufacturer's problem, not the end user.

    13. Re: What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just double sided tape it to the back of the TV, and route all the cables downward with zip ties or other cable management.

    14. Re: What the... by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      A pirate ship is just a ship. Its the humans aboard that hoist the Jolly Roger.

      --
      Good-bye
    15. Re: What the... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      They've been doing it for a while. They all have disclaimers saying you must own the cartridge, etc. This ground has been thoroughly covered legally so it's no problem.

    16. Re:What the... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Wait.... wait a second now... you're telling me you can work on spreadsheets on Linux?

      THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING!!!1

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    17. Re: What the... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      ...why did the guy use SNES controllers on an NES console?

      Because they're both gamepads made by Nintendo, the SNES controllers are compatible with more games/systems because of the total number of buttons and the NES gamepad sucked (a rectangle with sharp edges - almost as bad as the Colecovision and Intellivision controllers).

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    18. Re:What the... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      What do you mean "not be complete shit"? You don't think this is good enough for a DIY, non-commercial 3D printer?

      Take the same design and try to get quotes to get those parts made by injection molding. Sure they will look a lot better and the price per part will be much lower in terms of raw plastic, but the molds will cost you several thousands of dollars.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    19. Re: What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you read the person's post above? He wants a pie case with all the ports routed to one side so it looks good. So it can be placed in his entertainment center and look nice. You gave a Google search for a pi case. The logic board has the power and HDMI stuck on the side, and none of the cases from your quick Google search helps him at all. So thanks for absolutely nothing.

      It is not that difficult to purchase a nice container for the "pi" then change the cabling (hence ports) to where you would like them to be, that is what any competent hobbyist would do.

    20. Re:What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2017 is the Year of Spreadsheets on Linux on the Desktop.

    21. Re: What the... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Informative

      (this is why I like articles like these, but he way, they might be "simple", but that means they're actually in reach of most of us here and so there's actually something meaningful to discuss).

      I've built a few things professionally recently (some test kit) which are not all that much more than an RPi 3 in a box. I used these:

      http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/...

      and some short USB cables internally for connection. They give a very solid, professional feel, and from my point of view, if a technician inexplicably whacks the connection with a hammer, then all I have to do is replace the bulkhead port, not anything more expensive inside. Not so important for home use, but they're still professional looking and robust. I believe that HDMI is available in the same series.

      There's also quite a lot of other alternatives, and I expect you can get cheaper ones off aliexpress with all the usual caveats about variation in mileage.

      They probably do panel mount micro USB connectors too, but you're better off sticking a proper IEC module on the box and having the PSU inside, becasue micro usb is utterly hateful in every possible way.

      There are plenty of standard and less standard equipment boxes that'll fit all the necessary gubbins inside, or you can 3D print one, get the sides laser cut or craft it from fine hardwood if that's more your scene. Obviously, buying a ready made plastic box from a standard supplier is the easiest. I 3D printed mine since it had to be able to physically interface with an odd shaped piece of hardware.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    22. Re: What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess the whole idea is that the thing is so small that it can be hidden at the back of anything. The "needs-to-be-neat" requirement doesn't make sense on 99% of use cases.

    23. Re:What the... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      Well... CSV files in Vim, anyway.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    24. Re:What the... by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      Yeah you can buy complete RetroPie kits off Amazon. No l33t h4xx0ring required.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    25. Re:What the... by jittles · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I should write an article about how I installed Linux on a PC and use it to browse the internet and work on spreadsheets.

      It's been a while since I've read that this is the year of the linux desktop.

    26. Re:What the... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Pi 3 is kind of overkill for doing NES

      Only if you don't care about accuracy. I don't think Higan will even run on the Pi because it's too slow. This is the most accurate NES emulator I know of.

    27. Re: What the... by pak9rabid · · Score: 1

      Do what I do: run the Pi behind your TV and use one of the TV's usb ports to power it (most modern TV's have at least one USB port supplying enough power for a Pi). The advantages of this is your Pi's completely hidden, you don't have to buy another USB power adapter, and it's only powered up when the TV is on.

    28. Re:What the... by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      There isn't an accurate NES emulator that will run on Pi3 but not on Pi2. (that I am aware of)

      P.S. - I have a real NES, modified for debugging and do a bit of development for it. (I use the assembler from sdcc). I sometimes work on stuff that won't run in some of the emulators, and I end up modifying it a bit trying to get it to run on as many emulators as I can.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    29. Re:What the... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      There is or there isn't? I can't quite parse that first sentence.

      Higan is basically cycle-accurate to the real hardware, so since I have a real computer, I will use that anyway.

    30. Re: What the... by LocalH · · Score: 1

      They made an official "dogbone" NES controller. Sold it alongside the toploader.

      --
      FC Closer
    31. Re:What the... by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      I am very familiar with Higan. Not everyone is using it though. And I've been hacking little NES toys for a lot longer than Higan has been around.

      Rewording the sentence:
      There is no NES emulator for Pi3 that is highly accurate. Any NES emulator that runs on Pi3 will also run on Pi2. I would love to be proven wrong in this.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    32. Re:What the... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Higan is obsessive, and only recently renamed from bsnes. It's been around for a while, but I also started toying with emulsion all the way back in the 90's.

      It'll be nice when Pi-sized computers are up to the job, but I honestly hate seeing all this promotion of inferior options - it makes emulation itself look like a toy instead of a preservation project and a long-term source of fun.

    33. Re: What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The current smb3 any% speed runner - mitchflowerpower, regularly moves back and forth between a real nes and Nestopia, which runs fine on Pi. If he can get his frame perfect inputs fine on a non higan emulator, I'm guessing something like Nestopia is fine for the likes of you.

    34. Re: What the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Pi can now also natively output 240p over composite to a crt meaning the games will actually look far more accurate on screen than playing on a desktop with a crappy LCD.

  4. What the hell Slashdot? by barc0001 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Next up... geek upgrades his own workstation's RAM!

    1. Re:What the hell Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "workstation"... Check out Grandpa and his hep lingo!

    2. Re:What the hell Slashdot? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      That would be silly, wouldn't it? That's too easy, not newsworthy. (You just download some more, or so I've heard.)

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    3. Re:What the hell Slashdot? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      If the "workstation" is a 2014 Mac mini, I'd like to see that.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    4. Re:What the hell Slashdot? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      You don't "download more RAM" you idiot. You get more using FTP, which is totally different from downloading which everyone knows is illegal.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    5. Re: What the hell Slashdot? by iMouse · · Score: 1

      You just had to go there, didn't you?

    6. Re:What the hell Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Was it 4500MHz?

      https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/04/15/0551241/gskill-hits-4500mhz-with-all-new-trident-z-ddr4-4333mhz-16gb-memory-kit

    7. Re: What the hell Slashdot? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interviewed a data scientist recently who pronounced it R-A-M and didn't know what it meant. But hey, he knew Python.

    8. Re:What the hell Slashdot? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Ah, the Flip-flop Transfer Protocol!

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  5. (I did not proof read) by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

    I mean "pack a Pi into a Game Boy"

    --
    “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
    1. Re:(I did not proof read) by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      That's too easy. Here's one in a cartridge.

      https://howchoo.com/g/mti0oge5...

    2. Re:(I did not proof read) by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      It's hard to comfortably hold a cartridge.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  6. So what? by Ultra64 · · Score: 1

    People have been doing this since the Raspberry Pi existed.

    1. Re:So what? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      People have been doing that even before the Raspberry Pi existed.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  7. Because Nintendo just discontinued the NES Classic by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    before even a fraction of people who wanted them had them. It's a massive dick move on their part, btw. Any other company (except maybe Apple & Blizzard) would have been crucified by their fans.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  8. Funny by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Funny there is an article about this guy who just threw together some already built packages, and nothing about the developers who actually wrote all the software. Millennials.

    1. Re:Funny by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Millennials

      Is that who did all the hard work? Wouldn't surprise me since that includes basically everyone under the age of 37.

    2. Re:Funny by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      <translation>

      Whine whine someone put in the effort to write a long format instructional article whine whine I'll make myself feel better by spending two lines to shit on it even though I've never done anything half so worthwhile whine whine whine.

      Whine, also, I'm going to shit on younger people than me because the only way I can be better than anyone at anything is to define arbitrary criteria of "betterness" that are outside of my and their control whine whine whine.

      PS, whine whine wine

      </translation>

      OK, so the postscript was editorialising, but I felt your post was missing one, spiritually.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:Funny by skillrod · · Score: 1

      Yeah really. Now that the Raspberry Pi can do OpenGL 3D (SDL) we have a lot more possibilities. Emulators - Schmemulators. Build your own games form source (Supertux/Tuxcart), then build a way better case. Give AdvMenu (part of AdvanceMame) a try too. This is how you do it > http://gluebox.com/arcade

    4. Re:Funny by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Actually I am one of those guys that actually wrote some of the software for the Pi. There are tons of instructional videos and articles about emulators on Raspberry PI's already. Grow up.

    5. Re:Funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you implying that there's 37 year old Millennials? I suppose 50 year old people would still be considered generation Y then?

    6. Re:Funny by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Actually I am one of those guys that actually wrote some of the software for the Pi.

      Yeah, sure.

      Grow up.

      If growing up means shitting over people who do useful things and age related bigotry, then you can keep it.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    7. Re:Funny by Wulf2k · · Score: 1

      Is that why my Pi gives me a "space nutter" error whenever I try to play the Lunar Lander game?

    8. Re:Funny by Outta_the_way_peck! · · Score: 1

      Millennials are generation Y.

  9. HyperDUD by williamyf · · Score: 5, Informative

    Trom the TFA:

    We wrote this article on Dec 2016 [...] We reposted it today with updated prices...

    --
    *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
    1. Re:HyperDUD by OrangeTide · · Score: 1

      ugh.. Way to go /. editors.

      --
      “Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
  10. Not enough womyn build NES Classic Pi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Horrified to discover that less than 50% of NES Classic Pi builders are female. How can womyn succeed in STEM if their emulator building is suppressed by the patriarchy. Also, womyn-built emulators cost 40% less according to study by SJW Dynamix Consulting Group.

    1. Re: Not enough womyn build NES Classic Pi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Something tells me you put on your mother's dresses when no one's looking.

    2. Re:Not enough womyn build NES Classic Pi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Horrified to discover that less than 50% of NES Classic Pi builders are female. How can womyn succeed in STEM if their emulator building is suppressed by the patriarchy. Also, womyn-built emulators cost 40% less according to study by SJW Dynamix Consulting Group.

      Did you count trannies? You know, the Bruce Jenner type of womyn? Born with a dick but now sporting tits? It's my understanding that millennials and the media are constantly misrepresenting them as female.

    3. Re:Not enough womyn build NES Classic Pi by fedos · · Score: 1

      Troll rating: -2/12

  11. Lock her up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Emulators are a crime. They all belong in prison. Women's prison.

    1. Re:Lock her up by tepples · · Score: 1

      Emulators are a crime.

      U.S. courts disagreed with you in the cases of Connectix Virtual Game Station and Bleem!.

    2. Re:Lock her up by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      I saw that movie!

  12. I like BeauHd and the rest of Dice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Consistantly miss the point..
    have a nice set of well padded knee pads
    allways have "something" dribbling out the corner of yr mouth :)
    May have at any one time several objects including/but not limited to my head, up my own ass.
    I could go on, but i dont wanna remove all focus on your urgently important news article..

  13. Yeah, uh, I already do this better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My media server is massively more powerful than that stupid Pi thing and can run any emulator that exists. Combined with bluetooth PS4 controllers and I have everything I need for modern console gaming.

    Now for arcade games I have a whole MAME arcade cabinet built because having the proper controls is critical to the experience. I use this way more than the above modern gaming NES, Playstation, whatever crap. The original 70's/80's arcade games are way more fun!

    1. Re:Yeah, uh, I already do this better by omnichad · · Score: 1

      Yes - and you can actually have accurate emulation.

      I use Higan for NES and SNES, Gambatte for Gameboy, Mupen64Plus for N64 running at 1080p, Fusion for Genesis, and Mednafen for Playstation. My next build will hopefully be powerful enough to run Wii games, but I currently have those games on a hard drive connected to my Wii U so I don't have to deal with discs anymore.

      I can also do Dosbox for DOS or Win3.1/95 games. I can enter/exit most games using the IR remote. With Steam in-home streaming, I can remotely run modern Windows games on my Linux HTPC fairly well too.

      While I have a bluetooth PS3 controller available, I actually use two dualshock-style Logitech wireless controllers most of the time. This is the perfect setup for PSX, SNES, Genesis, and Gameboy alike. I hate both the NES and N64 controller layouts, so this is an acceptable substitute.

  14. Me too by jdavidb · · Score: 1

    That's what I gave my boys for Christmas.

    --
    Secession is the right of all sentient beings.
  15. Fire EditorDavid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He has again revealed himself to be a freaking moron. Running a NES emulator is Pi 101.

  16. Why spend $60 on pre built when you can spend by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    $80 and build it yourself. For 99% of people out there pre built will do just fine.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
    1. Re:Why spend $60 on pre built when you can spend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look at it another way: why spend $60 and be able to play 30 games from one console when, for $80, you can "build" it yourself and choose from hundreds of games from a dozen different consoles? (And snapping together a board in a plastic case and installing RetroPie is really stretching the definition of "build".)

      For 99% of people out there pre built will do just fine.

      That would be the 99% who were willing to pay the 800% markup on eBay because Nintendo didn't make many of the too-few units they produced available to the general public.

    2. Re:Why spend $60 on pre built when you can spend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      spend $60 on pre built

      Citation needed. Or did you mean to say $300?

    3. Re:Why spend $60 on pre built when you can spend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Couple reasons

      #1 - Scarcity. NES Classic hard to find, and ebay prices will just go back up with them being discontinued

      #2 - You don't need to hack to add ROM's, its part of the process

      #3 - It emulates more than just NES games. SNES and original Playstation are also viable options

      #4 - The controllers aren't limited to only the RPi. My PS4 controllers work just fine with it (if you already have compatible controllers, then there's no cost increase)

      As the article mentions, finding a microSD slot is probably the biggest pain in the ass, though Canakit sells a clever little USB adaptor that gets around that nicely, I'm sure there are other solutions as well

    4. Re:Why spend $60 on pre built when you can spend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thousands of games...

    5. Re:Why spend $60 on pre built when you can spend by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Look at it another way: why spend $60 and be able to play 30 games from one console when, for $80, you can "build" it yourself and choose from hundreds of games from a dozen different consoles? (And snapping together a board in a plastic case and installing RetroPie is really stretching the definition of "build".)

      For 99% of people out there pre built will do just fine.

      That would be the 99% who were willing to pay the 800% markup on eBay because Nintendo didn't make many of the too-few units they produced available to the general public.

      Technically you can load other ROMS onto the NES Classic via the USB port. Not an official feature of course, but someone figured out how to do it and published some software to make it easy.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
  17. Re:Because Nintendo just discontinued the NES Clas by thegarbz · · Score: 0

    Discontinued is a strong word for saying they won't produce any more "this year". Incidentally they said this right after they said they will massively ramp up Switch production due to unexpectedly high demand.

  18. Person builds ____ with RPi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yawn. This isn't news for nerds, this is dumbass plug and play for hacker wannabees.

  19. People who start the comment in the subject box ar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    e retards.

  20. What's not mentioned.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ..the problem is that the sensitivity with the power supplies and likeliness that the SD card becomes corrupted is so high that you need to consider a solution that effectively backs things up so that when (not if) your memory card goes you won't have to do it all over again..

  21. Mundane news? by Blaskowicz · · Score: 2

    This quite reminds me of the local news section on other website, celebrating the highs of daily life. Following is a recent article (continued on web site, so I avoid pasting it entirely)

    "Man Tries Using Pink 6-Pound Bowling Ball To Great Amusement"

    WEST ORANGE, NJ—Seemingly knowing full well that the relatively small and light ball was not designed for someone of his size, sources confirmed Tuesday that 25-year-old Darren Foerstner tried using a pink 6-pound bowling ball for one frame, all to the incredible amusement of friends and onlookers at Eagle Rock Lanes bowling alley. “When Darren walked up to the lane holding that little pink ball, we were all thinking, ‘Wait a minute, that ball is meant for children,’ but then we realized what he was doing, and everyone just started cracking up,” said friend Kelly Lingard, adding that, as part of his lighthearted and exceptionally entertaining display, Foerstner demonstrated that his thumb and fingers were unable to fit into the smaller holes of the pink ball, forcing him to palm it with his entire hand.
    (...)

    http://www.theonion.com/articl...

    1. Re:Mundane news? by turp182 · · Score: 1

      I actually do bowl with the kids balls. They are fun!

      I saw the Onion article last week and had a good laugh (the wife pointed it out to me).

      --
      BlameBillCosby.com
    2. Re:Mundane news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pedobear spotted!

    3. Re:Mundane news? by tim620 · · Score: 1

      It is almost as if slashdot missed April 1, by a few weeks....I can't believe they would seriously put this article out there.

  22. I'd buy that if this was Nov by rsilvergun · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    it's April. 8 months is a long time to go without producing a highly in demand product unless you have a good reason to.

    Fact is they just use the NES classic to remind folks the brand exists in between the Wii U dying and the Switch launching. It worked, but they got a lot of ill will from all the scalping. But not nearly as much as they deserved. Like I said, it's a dick move. Collectors, fan boys and just plain 'ole guys & gals in their 30s and 40s couldn't get one without paying 2x-5x retail to a scalper or winning a lottery day 1. Nasty business all around.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:I'd buy that if this was Nov by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      unless you have a good reason to.

      Quoted the above in the hope that you will re-read my post.

  23. I think the point is by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    how easy it is. If you want to read the details about how emulators are built most are open source and there's forums galore. It's ridiculously technical and most wouldn't be able to follow it. Ars is a more general tech site.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:I think the point is by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      If you want to read about emulators on the Raspberry PI there are literally hundreds of sites and videos devoted to it.

  24. SubjectIsSubject by p0p0 · · Score: 1
    Screw you and your lazy writers, Slashdot. I was looking at doing this months ago and tons of cases are available on etsy/ebay/amazon/etc... This is as old as the Pi and even before that people have been making their own systems.
    You gonna write about that kid that made a clock by buying a clock and taking the case off next time? No, because I'm pretty sure you milked that cow already.

    This just in: Kid buys LEGO spaceship set, makes spaceship out of it!

    Surfuckingprise.

  25. Download a better virtual memory manager by tepples · · Score: 1

    You don't "download more RAM" you idiot.

    But you can download software to make more efficient use of the RAM you have. About two decades ago, Connectix made an installable module for classic Mac OS that overhauled its virtual memory manager, setting up what amounted to a compressed swap file in a RAM disk. It was called RAM Doubler, and in an era of 16 MB RAM, it worked. Years later, the Linux developers reinvented it as zram. (Or were they waiting for Connectix's patent to expire?)

    Or you can download 4 GB of DDR using a BitTorrent tracker and play it in StepMania.

  26. Not news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This has been done hundreds of times since the first RasPi came out. My grandmother could do this (if she were still alive). Next you'll be posting about how a cargeek kitted out his car with racing stripes?

  27. "hardest part may just be finding a PC with SD" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Never seen an SD to USB? They sell them at Target and Walmart.

  28. Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If not, then no, it doesn't even come close to touching a Wii as an emulation machine.

    1. Re:Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV?

      The Pi has composite video output.

      Since when do CRT TVs support 240p? NTSC is a 525-scanline interlaced format.

    2. Re: Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by SlashdotWanker · · Score: 1

      Why yes it can actually: https://github.com/raspberrypi.... It works really well for snes and nes emulation but you have to tweak settings a bit in the retroarch config to get it pixel perfect. I'm really enjoying 240p on my Trinitron CRT using the zune av cables. I've preordered a Retrotink-C hat for component output but the composite output is just fine if you're feeling nostalgic.

    3. Re: Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by loufoque · · Score: 1

      why would you output 240p instead of 480i, I don't get it

    4. Re: Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by SlashdotWanker · · Score: 1

      Classic consoles originally output 240p, so it gets the output of the pi looking extremely close to the actual console output. Also gets rid of flickering from an interlaced resolution. It's kind of impressive how much better 240p looks.

    5. Re: Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also see: http://retrorgb.com/rpi240p.html

    6. Re:Can a Raspberry Pi output 240p to a CRT TV? by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      Since you asked, analog video standard contain "useless" lines that won't be displayed, since some time is needed for the deflector thing on the Y axis to go back from the bottom to the top of its range. Thus, NTSC (or PAL 60, used for consoles, computers but not broadcast) have an effective 480i resolution not 525i.
      Then, classic console have some hackish way to "cancel" the display of each other line (while getting rid of the 1-line offset between two fields) and so achieve a real 240p. A broadcast station might not have approved a messed up signal like that, but for the cable between a console and TV, it did the job and that's we had anyway.

      On e.g. a SNES or Megadrive connected through RGB SCART ("PAL", but not really, just PAL res and refresh, and straight RGB signal) you would see how convincing the display is, not unlike 320x200 VGA on monitors of that age. It might be 288p at 50Hz though, with small black bars on top and bottom.
      Maybe the console's or computer's vertical resolution was 192, 200, 224, 240 sometimes so I guess there's letterboxing or overscan or something. Later consoles moved to straight 480i60 and 576i50 it seems (and less common 480p options, or 1080i on original Xbox)

  29. How is this news? by SuperDre · · Score: 1

    Using RP's for emulation has been done since the RP has been released, so how is this actual news?

  30. He didn't build shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    he has just put together existing hardware and software, in a way that's been done a dozen times the last decade.

  31. Not news by loufoque · · Score: 1

    Is installing software on a computer now newsworthy in the new society that embraces mediocrity?

  32. News? by greenspider · · Score: 1

    So basically, "Yet another customer buys Raspberry Pi + recommended components and installs RetroPi"?

  33. And this is how by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RetroPie dies. Something many of us have been using for years suddenly becomes news and soon the freaking scammers will start selling it. Just like Kodi the end is near.

  34. So What? by fedos · · Score: 1

    There's nothing new here. A significant portion of the people buying the Raspberry Pi are doing this.

  35. Arm Cortex TrustZone by Neuroelectronic · · Score: 1

    Now there's a /. article.

  36. Troll? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought he was quoting Kotaku.

  37. Up next: Geek flashes phone with custom ROM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is not news.

  38. Old/Busted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First: If you look at the comment thread in the article, it appears this was originally posted around december of 2016.
    second: This is probably the most common use for the Raspberry pi. I've made 4 of these in the last couple years and mine were at least in a case i 3d printed to look like an NES.

  39. This is not news.... by tim620 · · Score: 1
    Come on Slashdot! Really? This is not news. RetroPi, Recalbox, and others, have been around for quite a while, for the Raspberry Pi. I put one of these together last year. It is not that hard.

    I'm very disappointed in this article and the fact that slashdot would even post it.