What Is Raspberry Pi?

[Kittet3]

Hi everyone! I did a quick search and couldn't find anything about this (although a lot of posts about raspberries)

 

I've heard about Raspberry Pi, but never really knew what it was. I got to see one in action yesterday and it was being used as an emulator to play old games on the sega, playstation, game boy, game boy advance, mac, and a bunch of other systems I've never heard about. I did a little research on it to try and figure out how it works and got a bunch of tutorials that basically said 'Plug this SD card with 9 hours of downloaded software on it and a USB controller into this hard drive and you'll good to go'.

 

I was wondering if anyone here had experience with the raspberry pi and know if it's really that easy to set up. I also couldn't figure out how to get the games loaded on it- one person said a USB, but that really didn't answer the question. Is there a site that sells emulated games for such a use? It seems like such a useful little thing but I never see it being talked about much.

 

Thank you for answering such a silly question!

 

[Asvinia]

They're like mini computers, cheap and easy to use for simple things. So if you have something small that doesn't require a lot of power but it's something you want to keep running, or you just need to run now and again, they're quite useful.

They're really good for emulators because you can plug them into almost anything, they're also good for storing movies, music and TV if you want to use it for that.

 

They're mostly used by uh.. 'tech nerds'(?) for setting up virtual machines, or as things to just experiment maybe making programs with. For emulators you would download the RoMs onto the SD card, insert the card into the Pi and tell the Pi to access the card, much the same as you do with a normal PC with an emulator.

 

The place to get the games I imagine would be anywhere you can download the RoMs. I haven't done that myself for a long time so I couldn't recommend anything.

[Kittet3]

1 hour ago, Asvinia said:

They're mostly used by uh.. 'tech nerds'(?) for setting up virtual machines, or as things to just experiment maybe making programs with. For emulators you would download the RoMs onto the SD card, insert the card into the Pi and tell the Pi to access the card, much the same as you do with a normal PC with an emulator.

 

The place to get the games I imagine would be anywhere you can download the RoMs. I haven't done that myself for a long time so I couldn't recommend anything.

4

Is this something that would require above average knowledge with computers to create then? 

[Asvinia]

8 hours ago, Kittet3 said:

Is this something that would require above average knowledge with computers to create then? 

 

For an emulator, probably not.

Here's a guide on how to set one up

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/137374-can-t-buy-a-nes-classic-mini-how-to-build-your-own-retro-console-for-just-50

or here:

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-retro-game-console-498561192

Edited February 26, 2017 by Asvinia

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

On 26-2-2017 at 5:08 AM, Kittet3 said:

Is this something that would require above average knowledge with computers to create then? 

 

On 26-2-2017 at 1:05 PM, Asvinia said:

 

For an emulator, probably not.

Here's a guide on how to set one up

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/137374-can-t-buy-a-nes-classic-mini-how-to-build-your-own-retro-console-for-just-50

or here:

http://lifehacker.com/how-to-turn-your-raspberry-pi-into-a-retro-game-console-498561192

 

I know I'm pretty late to this thread but I'm about to use this site (look at the doc tab for the guide): https://retropie.org.uk/

[MMDE]

Raspberry Pi is what we call a dev chip. It's basically a small piece of hardware with a CPU that you can run code on and with a lot of connection possibilities. It's often used to develop prototypes or smaller projects that usually involve physical interaction. Like small robots, or input devices etc.

Rasperry Pi usually comes with Wi-Fi capabilities, along with the board having connectors you connect to various sensors etc, both for reading and "writing" input to other devices/sensors etc.

 

Yes, people use it to make emulators like those overpriced mini NES/SNES Nintendo has been releasing lately. Basically super cheap hardware that runs a limited library of emulated games, total rip off if you ask me.

Edited January 30, 2018 by MMDE

[Oobedoob S Benubi]

17 hours ago, MMDE said:

Yes, people use it to make emulators like those overpriced mini NES/SNES Nintendo has been releasing lately. Basically super cheap hardware that runs a limited library of emulated games, total rip off if you ask me.

 

Depends on your point of view.

 

Many people just like the plug and play aspect of the Minis, combined with getting the looks of the classic consoles. It's also the 'legal' way to enjoy these games if you don't have the original systems and cartridges.

 

Personally, I haven't bought either Mini because I don't like how there's no way to get updates with more games on there.

 

The games on there would cost much more if you'd buy them on the eShops for €5 a piece, so I wouldn't call the Minis exactly a rip-off, even if they aren't for me.

 

But yeah, you can do a whole lot more with RetroPie for about the same money as a Mini, it's just more of a kit then.