Raspberry PI for Gaming Newbie Buyers Guide

BenMcLean

What you need for a Raspberry PI based gaming setup:

First, please note that anything the Raspberry PI can do, a desktop PC or laptop can also do and probably faster. The PI models are great for if you want a dedicated device just for gaming to sit in your living room all the time, but you can also run all the same software on a PC. Ultimately, Raspberry PIs are just cheap little PCs, only their processors are ARM-based instead of x86-based.

But if you're sure you want to get a Raspberry PI for gaming then I've put a lot of time in on this hobby since I started in 2016 so I know exactly what to get. I'm going to recommend Amazon for everything except the actual computer, because those just aren't sold stand-alone on Amazon for some reason. I've never bought from pishop.us before but their site says in stock at the moment of writing this and they seem reputable based on Google searches. As an alternative to buying online, you can also get PI stuff in person at Micro Center. They usually have most of it, but this is loss leader stuff for them so they only sell it to you in store.

Computer

You've got three relevant options for the actual computer:

The Raspberry PI 400, which stuffs the PI inside a keyboard with a big metal heat sink. This is what I'm using and I recommend it because having a keyboard is nice. $70. https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-400/
The Raspberry PI 4B with 4 GB of RAM has specs nearly identical to the 400 model except that you need a keyboard and a case separately. $55. https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-4gb/
The Raspberry PI 4B with 8 GB of RAM. The performance gain is small for gaming because RAM is usually not the bottleneck. Also you need a keyboard and case separately. I used one of these before I switched to using the 400 and I did not notice the performance difference in games. $75. https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-8gb/

Case

If you get the 400 model then you don't need a case.
If you don't get the 400 model then you will need a case because these are sold as open circuit boards. I recommend the RetroFlag NESPI case because it looks like a Nintendo, it has a safe shutdown option, it comes with a little fan and little heat sinks and it can optionally mount a SATA SSD like a cartridge. RetroFlag make the best gaming console cases for every Raspberry PI board.
Also, good news: the NESPI case has gotten cheaper since the last time I checked. $36.
https://www.amazon.com/GeeekPi-RETROFLAG-Raspberry-Shutdown-Heatsinks/dp/B097XWGB7R/
You can also get many way simpler and cheaper cases, but that safe shutdown option is really good to have. Make sure your case is for the PI 4 because PI 4 boards usually do not fit inside PI 3 cases.

Power

You will need a power adapter that works with the PI 400 or 4B which both take 5.1V 3.0A over USB-C. That's more power than normal USB devices so despite the power port's standard physical shape, you can't just plug these in anywhere and expect them to work. You need a compatible power adapter and lots of companies make them. I recommend getting one with a power switch built in. $7. https://www.amazon.com/Power-Supply-Adapter-Switch-Raspberry/dp/B07TSDJSQH/
The power adapter that the PI Shop site sells is also fine.

Display

You will need a male mini HDMI to female HDMI adapter because the PI 4 uses mini HDMI ports only. $8.
https://www.amazon.com/CableCreation-Mini-HDMI-Female-Adapter-Support/dp/B01HQ2H6OW/
The HDMI adapter that the PI Shop site sells is also fine.
You'll of course also need a standard HDMI cable to connect to your TV. I assume you've already got one of those around.

Storage

The PI models don't have on-board storage so that you can decide what to use for yourself, which is great and I hope they continue to make them this way.
If you get the RetroFlag NESPI case then you can use an SSD instead of a micro SD card although it is tricky to set up that way and requires at least an 8 GB micro SD card temporarily just to set it up with.
But to do it the normal easy way, you need a class 10 micro SD card to store your operating system and games. I recommend 256 GB but you can go bigger if you want. Don't go smaller than 128 GB because you'll regret it.
Also, a word to the wise: don't cheap out on the storage. No crappy Chinese offbrands. Get the real deal from Sandisk. If the price looks too good to be true then the card is probably fake. You can probably get away with Sandisk Ultra but I recommend Sandisk Extreme 256 GB. $42.
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-256GB-Extreme-microSD-Adapter/dp/B07FCR3316/

Total

So you end up spending something in the neighborhood of $130-$150 plus shipping to get a good Raspberry PI based gaming setup before controllers, depending on the options you select.
Going the path I recommend all the way:
$70 for the 400 model + $7 for the power adapter + $8 for the HDMI adapter + $42 for the Sandisk Extreme 256 GB micro SD card = $127 plus shipping.

Controllers

For controllers, you can use almost anything. If you already have controllers from almost any other console then they'll likely work either directly or with an adapter. There is almost no limit to the controllers. But if you are starting from nothing and you want to get good wireless Bluetooth controllers for a Raspberry PI setup then I recommend 8bitdo. They're not the cheapest (you can definitely get cheaper ones than 8bitdo) but they are high quality.
Flat style: $45. https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Controller-Joysticks-Vibration-Compatible/dp/B07BNR6HG9/
Flat style, different color: $45 https://www.amazon.com/8Bitdo-Sn30-Pro-Bluetooth-Gamepad-Gray/dp/B08Y9QLCKM/
Hand grip style: $50. https://www.amazon.com/8Bitdo-Sn30-Pro-Bluetooth-Gamepad-mac/dp/B07T8JKVNT/
The 8bitdo controllers do NOT lock you in to Raspberry PI only: You can use them with anything.
You might also consider getting travel cases for the controllers. There are lots of travel cases to choose from made specifically for 8bitdo controllers both first and third party.

Software

For the software, I recommend the free and open source RetroPie operating system. https://retropie.org.uk/
RetroPie is a gaming-focused OS based on Raspbian which is based on Debian which is a Linux distro.
There are definitely other options (including other free options made specifically for gaming such as Lakka and Recalbox) but RetroPie is the one I use and it is also the most popular.

There are people online who illegally sell SD cards pre-loaded with ROMs. I strongly recommend against buying these. Making your own setup your own is worth it.

Darksavior

@benmclean

The Raspberry PI 4B with 8 GB of RAM. The performance gain is small for gaming because RAM is usually not the bottleneck

Eh? The performance gain past 2GB is zero. Retropie uses around 1GB with swap and all. The extra ram might help with installing emulators from source or if you want to use it as a desktop someday.

You need a compatible power adapter and lots of companies make them.

I only recommend the official psu due to reliability. They are $8US so there shouldn't be a reason to get a 3rd party psu that no one knows how reliable they are.

If you're going with a plain pi4, for a case, I recommend the argon one v2 if you don't want that nespi. It has a fan and converts the microhdmi ports into normal sized ones.