The Raspberry Pi Guide to Retro Gaming

Creating the perfect retro gaming setup in the comfort of your own home is easy with a Raspberry Pi

This book shows you all the tips and tricks you need to start playing all your favourites from yesteryear. Retro gaming enthusiasts love Raspberry Pi for how easy it is to use for their retro games, especially when they can do it all on one device and not need a roomful of consoles and computers like in the 80s and 90s.

Inside you’ll find information on how to create a simple, quick setup to relive the glory days of gaming, along with more advanced tips on achieving the perfect emulation machine thanks to advanced techniques, hardware upscalers, and dedicated video converters. There’s a lot of devices and extra tips that you'll find in here, from finding or making the right controller to connecting older peripherals to your Raspberry Pi.

Our step-by-step guides also include how to create a nifty pocket handheld for retrogaming on the go, and a full-size arcade machine to maximise your nostalgia. All this and we’ll also show you where to find legal ROMs, play your old floppies and CDs, and get games running from online stores.

Rob Zwetsloot is the Features Editor of Raspberry Pi Official Magazine and an ex-games writer. More importantly, Rob has been obsessed with the Mega Drive and Sonic the Hedgehog ever since zipping through Mystic Cave Zone on a cousin’s Amstrad Mega PC (a 386 PC with an inbuilt Mega Drive) at age six. Having missed out on the fourth console generation, he’s spent the last 25 years emulating them (and older systems) on all kinds of computers. Rob has also been writing about Raspberry Pi since the original released in February 2012, covering all the various forms of emulation solutions that have appeared over those numerous years.

K.G. Orphanides is a freelance writer for many tech, computer, and video game publications while also being a retro game preservationist, historian, and a game developer too. They’re the retro gaming and classic computer specialist on Raspberry Pi Official Magazine, having written numerous tutorials and guides for the magazine over the past decade. As well as a love for older games K.G. also stays up to date on homebrew indie games made for older systems, with extensive lists you’ll find in this book.

Brian Jepson manages the development, production, and distribution of books and magazines for Raspberry Pi Press, the publishing imprint of Raspberry Pi Ltd. With over 30 years of experience in the publishing industry, Brian pursues a passion for making computing and technology accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. Brian also enjoys creating electronic devices that interact with the physical world. Outside of work, Brian collaborates with like-minded artists, technologists, and non-profits in Rhode Island to create experiences that get people excited about STEM/STEAM careers and hobbies.

Sean McManus used to pop into WH Smiths to program their demo Spectrum until he got his own CPC 464 and devoted his bedroom coding years to Amstrad BASIC. His listings appeared in Amstrad Action and Amstrad Computer User. Today, he writes for Raspberry Pi Official Magazine and BBC News Online, among others. His books include Mission Python: Code a Space Adventure Game, Scratch Programming in Easy Steps, and Raspberry Pi For Dummies (with Mike Cook).