5 Retro Game Projects with Raspberry Pi Zero

The Raspberry Pi Zero, as the original ancestor, has taken the DIY and homebrew world by storm, making it possible to revisit old designs and inspire novice and veteran Pi alike with a whole host of new ideas.

Somewhat surprisingly, the absence of things like an Ethernet jack and GPIO pins didn’t prove a barrier — if anything, those omissions made the Pi Zero even more suitable for projects, especially in the fevered mind of retro game fans. Always desperate for an 8-bit fix, these players, with their Olympus competitiveness and, indeed, squad, have been working to squeeze the Raspberry Pi Zero projects of all kinds, from TVs to existing game consoles and controllers…

Turn an old TV into a retro game console

We love it and believe you will too. It integrates the entire high-tech and compact design of the Raspberry Pi Zero into the spacious interior of a CRT TV to transform it into a retro game console.

This project is a perfect example of the ease with which the comparative lack of USB ports and missing GPIO pins was easily overcome. With the addition of a USB hub to the inside of the TV and soldering an RCA cable to the TV-out jack on the Pi Zero board, the Pi Zero was previously set up to run RetroPie can deliver a truly retro gaming experience.

Mobile Gaming with PiGRRL

A Nintendo Gameboy Color clone with a Raspberry Pi interior, Project PiGRRL — designed in this way, available as a kit from Adafruit — comes with the Raspberry Pi A+ help , along with the display, controllers, cables, breadboard, and battery, among others. However, you must find your own case, or have one 3D printed

Now, while there’s no Raspberry Pi Zero in this video, it’s quite clear that you could replace the old model A+ to replace it and enjoy a device that’s just as compact while playing the same Gameboy title.

Converting an Xbox controller to a game console

Taking the idea of squeezing the Raspberry Pi Zero into an existing game console, taking it one step further, why not shove the device into a game controller? What Terence Eden did, and with a little penknife exposure to the insides of the controller, he soon turned on the Pi Zero and started working with the game controller acting as both controller and case.

Check out Eden’s full blog for instructions, which ended up playing Doom pretty soon after finishing. While he is realistic about long term build possibilities:

“Not quite sustainable from a long-term POV! BluTak is not used to hold everything in place.»

… there is no reason why it shouldn’t work in the long run with a slightly different approach. After all, this NES controller also hides a Raspberry Pi Zero (although it does require a 3D printed underside).

Stick Quake 3 in a gaming mouse

This idea came from the brains at Eben Upton’s own Raspberry Pi Foundation (who we interviewed back in 2013), so while amazing, you shouldn’t fire him.

Indeed, with this build script for Quake 3 on Raspbian, the job is half done for you. All you need to worry about is finding the right gaming mouse, one with enough internal space to fit your Raspberry Pi zero and any cables (USB connector from mouse, TV out/HDMI, etc.) but with enough buttons that allow you to play without a keyboard. Don’t think it’s possible? It.

However, you do not need to use the official script to install Quake 3 on the Pi Zero. This YouTube video provides an alternative method.

Imagine Quake 3 LAN parties that you could host with a laptop or an entire PC around someone’s house with just a mouse!

Raspberry Pi Zero in a portable megadrive

Finally, the Pi Zero’s cute length, width, and height means that, at least in theory, it could fit into an existing portable handheld game console. YouTube user Has Beard, who plays games of course, thinks so, and since before launching the Pi Zero, he is trying to squeeze the Raspberry Pi into a Sega Mega Drive Portable Ultimate.

As you can see in this video, the Pi Zero is the first Raspberry Pi that makes the project viable. But will it be possible to reach the end?