How many of you found out about RetroPie because you couldn't buy the NES Classic?
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Kinda'...
I had a 'boys room' with 4 consoles setup so I could indulge my childhood gaming every now and again, but the arrival of my little girl meant the room was commandeered for storage, so the consoles, bar the SNES, were packed away. The SNES was moved to the lounge with the intention of it becoming the main console and me focusing on bulking up my library of games a little. That was a no-go too, as the titles I wanted to buy (mainly games I couldn't afford when I was younger), I still can't afford now. Then I thought about the NES Classic: Zelda, Mario trilogy and Metroid: those games alone would justify the price and meant it'd tide me over until I could afford some of the more expensive SNES titles.
I frequent a forum called 'Retro Asylum' which is dedicated to 'retro' gaming, and whilst discussing cart pricing, the NES console and disabling the region lock to get Jap games cheaper (albeit in Japanese) for my SNES (not a comfortable choice for me, but more an 'it'll do'choice), someone mentioned RPi. I kinda' knew about it but never really understood it. I got some info from a user of on the forum, did my research, ended up here, and for just under £60 I now have access to every game from my childhood (inc. Amiga) that I could ever want.
So, in part, yes, I'm here because of the NES Classic but in addition to ridiculous eBay price wars! Glad I made it here though, the RPi is amazing and fills me with that little-boy-excited-for-Christmas-feeling everytime I fire it up.
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I downloaded Nestopia years ago and Stella a while back, but I got really excited seeing the NES Classic. That it was coming in November was just too much waiting. A google search found RetroPie and the tech articles pretty quickly. I had also looked at the Raspberry Pi 1 when it came out and thought it was far to weak for anything I wanted to do. The Raspberry Pi 3 seems to be a different story. I built a RetroPie for my son in August and building 5 for my family for Christmas. They had a kick playing Nintendo all over again at Thanksgiving.
So, news of the NES Classic helped me find RetroPie, but also the latest Raspberry Pi. We will have bought 7 this year because of the NES Classic. And I really want an 8th as a proxy/DSN/etc. box. You could say that Nintendo sold a lot of Raspberry Pi3s.
BTW, if you want a metric, I suggest the availability of ~$10-20 NES/SNES controllers. You can put together the hardware for about $57 on the low end, but controllers seem to be getting hard to find.
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@herb_fargus That's my story. Couldn't get a mini nes. I was looking on YouTube for reviews and the guy did an a/b comparison to this "retropie" device. Now I'm happy I couldn't get one.
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I found Retro cuz of the classic but not due to shortage. i saw the first clip. and i thought it was cool. so i did a more looking in to the classic, and somehow i found RetroPie... and i never looked back.
Now i laugh at everyone trying to get a Classic. :)
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I knew about RetroPie (or at least knew it was possible to run emulators on a Raspberry Pi) for a while, but was planning to get an NES Classic for its simplicity -- I have a 5yr old and an 8yr old, and they would be able to use this as is without me worrying about them messing up the configuration. But the short length of the controller cables scuttled this. My HDMI are routed through the walls, limiting where the NES gets plugged in. Short cables would mean you would have to sit in an awkward place in order to play.
So after a little research I went the RetroPie route on an RPi 3 and got 8bitdo bluetooth controllers. Easy to play sitting in a comfortable spot. I do not regret the decision at all! Kids love playing Bomberman. I have already spent HOURS playing Dr. Mario. It just means that I need to be around to make sure that it gets shut down properly, and that they don't accidentally unpair the controllers.
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@j.e.f.f if you disable the runcommand joystick, then install emulationstation kids then disable the retropie menu in /opt/retropie/configs/all/emulationstation/es_systems.cfg then they cant mess anything up. Also i would disable the rgui menu hotkey for the controller. All easier than it sounds.
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I don't specifically remember, but I'm pretty sure the nes classic led me to RetroPie. I'm so glad it did. I started using linux for university related research two years ago, so this little device was a perfect playground for the player/researcher in me. I'm also glad it initiated me to the world of Raspberry Pi. I don't know why I was turned off by them when they launched... I was an idiot! I managed to program a Simon Says game on Python with LEDs for the first time last week. I am in love with this machine!
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After reading a review of it and seeing how it's controllers were a bit of a let down I remembered I had read about retropie a while ago and realised I could play more than nes games for about the same price
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I hang out on a tech/geek forum, and someone there started a thread about the Nintendo Classic shortly after it was announced. It took about 3 replies before someone brought up the RPi, including a few links. After a bit of discussion about the shortfalls of the Classic and the advantages of the RPi I decided to get a RetroPie system. I found a complete Vilros kit on Amazon and shared a link to it on FB since it was about a week until my birthday. My lovely wife bought me one. I've loved it ever since. It even inspired me to finally drop Windows and switch my main PC over to Ubuntu.
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Actually, kind of. I got intrestead in this kind of product when I saw the nes mini. My friend bought a RPi3 and I thought it would be fun.
But I have been into emulation for over 15 years.
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I just learned about it today and I'm ordering the best parts I can find for a few of them right now.
This thing is great! So Glad I wasn't able to locate the NES Classic, or I would have been chasing so many other consoles, just to do what this one machine can do!
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@Elterrible I recommend this this then
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@p33te Do you have a version thats good for the USA?
Also, anyone liquid cooled these puppies?
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I've been looking for a US power supply with a switch as well and I found this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01I1OESI6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AMIHZKLK542FQ
As for water cooling, the Pi 3 doesn't seem to get that hot.
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@enderandrew Not even with Overclocking?
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@enderandrew I didn't need a whole kit, but I did find the power supply sold separately so, this added a little more to the price, but it isn't bad.
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Even with overclocking, generally a simple heat sink will do. You could try a water-cooling set-up, but at some point you defeat the cost of the Pi being so cheap. And you might find it difficult to get a water-cooling set-up for a case so small, and a chip so small.
And I'm in the same boat where I'd prefer a different case and don't need a full kit. So I'm still looking for a decent US power supply with a built in switch as well.
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@enderandrew Here's the case I'm getting...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M3UBE3T/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3UCASNNG2EZ1E
It comes with a push button power switch, heatsink, and fan.
The only down side is the fact that you cannot pull the SD Card, without pulling the board. I'm getting around this by using a 64 Gig Card and my cost per machine is about $95.
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@Elterrible the same shop sells US and EU adapters too
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@herb_fargus I've been into the raspberry pi since day one and finding RetroPie a year or so ago, it's been great. I work on call and being able to take all my games from my arcade cab on the road with me is priceless. The support here and the updates are outstanding. I just want that NES classic to gut the case.
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