Did you know that you can burn 15,000 games
onto a microSD card in under 2 hours? What does that mean? Let’s do some math.
If the average videogame in the 1900s took a team of 10 individuals 6 months of
work then that equates to around 10,000 person hours. When you multiply that by
15,000 games you get around 150 million person hours of work. That is a lot of time,
passion, and creativity to fit on a memory device that is smaller than a
fingernail. Then the fact that you can cycle through these alphabetically, and
watch nostalgic video clips of each one until you find a title you want to play
is pretty fantastic. The modern world of electronics and computer science is
pretty impressive.
There are many ways to play, and amass a
collection of, retro videogames on your computer. Setting up and curating your
own custom “build” is fun, and can be a great introduction to certain aspects
of computer science. This blog post will cover a variety of ways to do this,
but will primarily focus on how to create backups for your videogame library
and play them on a tiny computer called a Raspberry Pi. First though, let’s
discuss how it can be done on a Windows PC.
Creating
an Arcade on Your Windows PC
As arcade cabinets from the 1900s age their
circuit boards decompose. The solder loosens and capacitors leak which damages the
connections. Many arcade machines from this era are already unplayable and many
of the games are considered obscure today and are no longer manufactured.
Emulation ensures that these titles can still be played.
The simplest way to play emulated games on
your PC is to through MAME, the multiple arcade machine emulator. You can
download MAME here: https://www.mamedev.org/ There are hundreds of free, public
domain games that you can find through browsing community servers. The software
is easy to use and you can expand your collection by downloading other games
from various websites. Websites like emuparadise.com offer a large selection of
games (scan everything you download for viruses). But MAME is mostly compatible
with arcade games, not console games.
To run console games, you may also opt for
other easy-to-use, free-to-download software. I recommend Retroarch and
Hyperspin. They will help you keep track of your games and the emulating
software that plays them. They also run MAME. Retroarch can be used with PC,
Linux, Apple OS, and Android. You can download these from their respective websites
to your computer and use them to catalog your game files. The game files are
typically called ROMS when they come from chips and cartridges and ISOs when they
originally come from discs.
It is important to mention that you should
own a physical copy of any game you plan to emulate. If you don’t then
downloading and playing them does constitute piracy. So think of your digital
collection as a backup of your actual collection. I used to collect retro
videogames from various consoles but found that having copies of them all on
one device was very convenient.
Creating
an Arcade on a Raspberry Pi
The hardware that you use to emulate older
hardware must be significantly more powerful. That is the nature of emulation.
It is easy to run many emulated videogame consoles on a modern desktop or
laptop. Even the PS3 and Xbox 360 can be emulated on a good computer with a
graphics card. But today it is also easy to run games from the 70s, 80s, and
90s on a cheap, portable microcomputer. This includes all of the best consoles
from the first generation (i.e. Odyssey and Atari) to the fifth (i.e. Nintendo
64 and Playstation). There are a few microcomputers that you could use,
including the Odroid, but most people prefer to use a small single-board
computer from the U.K. called the Raspberry Pi. Check out the table below for a
comparison between hardware specifications for the major consoles from the
1900s, and the Raspberry Pi.
Year
|
Console
Computer
System
|
CPU
Speed
Hz
|
RAM
Memory
Bytes
|
Hard
Drive
Capacity
Bytes
|
Screen
Resolution
Pixels
|
1972
|
Magnavox Odyssey
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
n/a
|
1977
|
Atari 2600
|
1,190,000
|
128
|
0
|
160
x 192
|
1979
|
Magnavox Odyssey 2
|
1,790,000
|
192
|
0
|
160
x 200
|
1980
|
Intellivision
|
2,000,000
|
524
|
0
|
159
x 96
|
1982
|
Atari 5200
|
1,790,000
|
16,000
|
0
|
320
x 200
|
1982
|
Colecovision
|
3,580,000
|
2,000
|
0
|
256
x 192
|
1985
|
Nintendo Ent. Sys.
|
1,800,000
|
2,000
|
0
|
256
x 240
|
1986
|
Sega Master Sys.
|
4,000,000
|
8,000
|
0
|
256
x 192
|
1986
|
Atari 7800
|
1,790,000
|
4,000
|
0
|
320
x 240
|
1989
|
Gameboy
|
4,190,000
|
8,000
|
0
|
160
x 144
|
1989
|
Turbo Grafx 16
|
7,160,000
|
256,000
|
0
|
256
x 239
|
1989
|
Sega Genesis
|
8,000,000
|
72,000
|
0
|
320
x 224
|
1991
|
Super Nintendo
|
3,600,000
|
128,000
|
0
|
160
x 144
|
1991
|
Neo Geo
|
12,000,000
|
64,000
|
0
|
320
x 224
|
1991
|
Game Gear
|
3,500,000
|
8,000
|
0
|
160
x 144
|
1992
|
Sega CD
|
12,500,000
|
8,000
|
0
|
320
x 224
|
1993
|
Atari Jaguar
|
26,600,000
|
2,000,000
|
0
|
320
x 224
|
1994
|
Sega Saturn
|
58,000,000
|
2,000,000
|
4,000,000
|
704
x 224
|
1995
|
Playstation
|
33,000,000
|
2,000,000
|
1,000,000
|
640
x 480
|
1996
|
Nintendo 64
|
93,000,000
|
4,000,000
|
32,000
|
720
x 576
|
1998
|
Gameboy Color
|
8,380,000
|
32,000
|
0
|
160
x 144
|
1999
|
Sega Dreamcast
|
200,000,000
|
24,000,000
|
128,000
|
640
x 480
|
2016
|
Rapsberry Pi 3
|
1,200,000,000
|
1,000,000,000
|
256,000,000,000
|
1920
x 1080
|
2019
|
Raspberry Pi 4
|
1,500,000,000
|
8,000,000,000
|
500,000,000,000
|
3840
x 2160
|
The newest version of the Raspberry Pi costs
around $60, but once you buy all of the necessary components, it will cost
closer to $120 in total. All the software you need for it is available for free
online. It is highly reliable, and highly portable with a height and width of
credit card, and most of the features of a high-end computer. To play games you
will need to download software called Retropie from retropie.org.uk. It is free
and it is a simple process. Just follow the simple instructions on the site. https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/
Current models of the
Raspberry Pi (3 and 4) have decent 64-bit, multicore, ARM CPUs that run at
billions of cycles per second (more than 1.0 Ghz). They also have one to eight gigabytes
of RAM and can accommodate microSD card hard drives up to 500 gigabytes. They
have wifi, Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet, USB 3 ports, HDMI, and run on 5V/2.5A
DC power. Below is a picture of the Raspberry Pi 3.
Somehow anti-piracy law has not kept Amazon
and Ebay from selling Raspberry Pi/ Retropie systems. You can find premade
systems there for around $200 with over 15,000 games. You can also opt to just
buy the microSD card hard drive with the data (for around $80), but buy the
Raspberry Pi separately to save money.
If you are really just in a hurry to
play games you could even decide to just buy a Pandora’s Box with a few
thousand games (also on Amazon and Ebay). The Pandora’s Box is a microcomputer
set in an arcade joystick that can connect directly to your TV. But no matter
what you choose to do keep in mind that, even though cases of people being
prosecuted are extremely rare, it is technically illegal to own and play games
that you did not pay for. Unless of course you own a physical copy of the disk
or cartridge, you own the original arcade PCB or memory chip, or the game is in
the public domain or has been abandoned (abandonware).
When you run Retropie you are able to select
from a list of emulators that you have installed. Once you choose the emulator,
you select from your list of games. The following is a list of fun emulators
that are easy to find.
⟩ Amstrad
CPC
⟩ Amiga
⟩ Atomiswave
⟩ Atari
2600
⟩ Atari
7800
⟩ Atari
Lynx
⟩ Capcom
Playsystem 1, 2, 3
⟩ ColecoVision
⟩ Commodore
64
⟩ CPC
⟩ Daphne
⟩ Final
Burn Alpha
⟩ Intellivision
⟩ Loric
⟩ Magnavox
Odyssey² / Videopac
⟩ MAME
⟩ Mini
S
⟩ MSX
⟩ Naomi
⟩ Neo-Geo
⟩ Neo-Geo
Pocket
⟩ Neo-Geo
Pocket Color
⟩ Nintendo
Entertainment System
⟩ Super
Nintendo
⟩ Nintendo
Game Boy
⟩ Nintendo
Game Boy Color
⟩ Nintendo
Game Boy Advance
⟩ Nintendo
DS
⟩ Nintendo
64
⟩ Nintendo
Virtual Boy
⟩ Famicom
⟩ Famicom
Disk System
⟩ Satellaview/Nintendo
BS-X
⟩ NES
Classic Edition
⟩ PC
Engine
⟩ Phillips
Video Pac
⟩ Scumm
VM
⟩ SNES
Classic Edition
⟩ Sega
MasterSystem
⟩ Sega
Genesis
⟩ Sega
CD
⟩ Sega
32X
⟩ Sega
Game Gear
⟩ SG-1000
⟩ Sharp
X68000
⟩ Sinclair
ZX Spectrum
⟩ Sony
PlayStation
⟩ Sony
PSP
⟩ Sony
PSP Minis
⟩ SuperGrafx
⟩ Texas
Instruments T-99
⟩ TurboGrafx
16
⟩ TurboGrafx
16 CD
⟩ Vectrex
⟩ WonderSwan
⟩ WonderSwan
Color
⟩ Z Machine
If you would like to see a list of my
favorite videogames just skip to the bottom of this post.
It is worth mentioning that the Raspberry Pi
also acts as a normal Linux-based operating system. It runs Linux in desktop form out-of-the-box and you can connect a mouse and keyboard and use it as a normal personal computer.To get to it select the
console for “Pixel OS.” From here you can browse the web, check email, use
Google Docs, save files, and much more.
Assembling
the Rapsberry Pi
When your pi comes in
the mail it will come in a few different pieces. You can order the pieces
separately, or buy them together as a kit from an online retailer like Amazon.
Canakit is a great kit although I found their fans for the Pi 4 are rather
loud. You can also buy it in the form of an electronics hobby kit that offers
the components to do educational electronics projects. If you don’t buy a kit
you will have to source your components individually. You will need the
Raspberry Pi board (computer), heat sinks, case, fan, HDMI cord, power supply
and hard drive. Luckily the mainboard (pictured above) has the CPU, RAM and
other major electronic components already soldered in. You will need to install
the heatsinks yourself. Peel off the backings of the stickers and place these
finned aluminum tabs on the 3 or 4 microprocessors. Next you need to install
the fan within the case. Then install the Pi within the case. Keep in mind that
you can choose from a large selection of cases some of which resemble retro
consoles. Finally you insert the microSD card into its slot and connect the
power supply. It is a fun process and will make you feel like you built your
own computer.
You will also need to
buy the controllers. There are hundreds of USB controllers that you can find
online (Amazon, Ebay, etc.) that will be compatible with your computer. You can
also connect Xbox One, 360, PS3 and PS4 controllers by Bluetooth to your
Rapsberry Pi (or to your Windows PC for that matter). You can find controllers
in the style of the original NES, the Sega Genesis, the Nintendo 64 and much
more. If you plan on navigating the 3D worlds found in Playstation and N64
games you will want a controller with thumbsticks. You can also purchase USB
compatible light guns (for shooting games), steering wheels (for driving
games), and aircraft control sticks (for flying games). There are over 100 MAME
games that accommodate four players at a time. It can be really fun to game
with three other friends on the same screen so consider buying four
controllers. They are as cheap as $10 a piece. You can google “list of 4 player
arcade games” to see which ones are will work. I would list them here, but the
list is just too long.
If you really want to
put together a full package you can throw some software on the Linux/Pixel OS.
You might put Google docs, Netflix, a free version of Minecraft, Kodi, and
possibly a PDF of this post so users can reference the Retro Pi menu controls
found below. You can also throw on Mugen and Open Bor as discussed in the next
section.
Running Mugen and Open Bor
Mugen is a
create-your-own fighting game software. It allows you to take character sprites
and backgrounds from other two dimensional fighting games and mix and match
them into your own “build.” It is common to have a character select screen with
hundreds of characters. The level of customization is amazing you can even add
your own music, sound effects, and drawings. There are hundreds of options to
tweak by going into the easy-to-read and heavily commented programming code in
the text file documents. You can even download a program called Fighter Factory
if you need more options for customization.
I spent a few hours
with it, had a lot of fun, and got a decent introduction to programming. The
original software can be downloaded for free from elecbyte.com. To add
characters and backgrounds you have to find Mugen hosting sites with the assets
you want, and then download them.
It is also possible
to download a finished build from someone else. You can type “mugen” into
youtube to see thousands of different high-level builds. Usually there is a
free download link in the description of the youtube video. Many of these
downloads have viruses so you must run everything you download through a virus
checker (perhaps after first downloading it from a second-hand computer that
you don’t care about). It can be really fun to customize your own Mugen build, even
if you are just building on top of someone else’s. Mugen is compatible with
Windows, Mac, and Linux, so if you want it on your Raspberry Pi you must
install the Linux version on the Pixel OS.
Open BOR, also known as Open Beats of Rage is
a set of 2D sidescrolling beat-em-up games. Like Mugen, they are free, public
domain, homebrew (made by individuals not companies) and recycle elements from
other games. There are many of them to choose from and they can be played on
Windows, Linux or inside of Retro Pi.
RetroPie
in a Standing Arcade Cabinet
If you really want that arcade feel you can
place your Retropie system into a standing arcade cabinet. There are many
youtube videos that walk you through exactly how to do this. You can build your
own cab out of wood, or buy a used one online. You can also use the new Arcade
1up cabinets that are sold at Target and Walmart to do this because they are
small, light, nice-looking, and inexpensive. It takes about an hour to put one
together and they generally only play 1 to 3 games. These cabinets are not
compatible with a Raspberry Pi right off the bat. You will have to buy and
insert different buttons (along with the button encoders) and a joystick, buy
an audio amplifier, and an auxiliary cord, as well as replace the video adapter
to allow compatibility. You can source the parts easily from Amazon and choose
the buttons that match your build’s colors and general aesthetic. You can even
get ones that glow. This is fun, costs around $100, and will take you an hour
or two to assemble. Here are some pictures of the ones I assembled and customized:
You will definitely need to spend a few
minutes mapping the controls for the buttons to get them how you like them. You
can use the instructions below to do that. You will also want to go into
Retroarch from the Retro Pi options menu to change the aspect ratio. For a
widescreen HDTV you want to use an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 16:10 because it is
not as stretched. But an arcade cabinet doesn’t have that modern rectangular screen,
it uses a screen that is much closer to a square used on the CRT (cathode ray
tube) televisions of the 1900s. Thus if you are using one of those you want to
change your aspect ratio to 4:3 for the proper look. From this menu you can
also play with the sharpness, brightness and gamma to get the best look for
your screen.
From here there are many ways to customize your arcade cabinet. You can put
them on risers to make them taller. You can wrap them in printed laminate with
graphics of your choosing. You can also install a steering wheel and pedals, a
light gun, and different forms of controllers. Most of the Arcade 1up back
plates are made of wood, but you can spray paint it any color you like. Here is the art that I put together for the front panel in the picture above. Feel free to use it in the same way I did.
I ran ½ inch gaffer’s stage tape along the
edges of mine to match the color and make the edges pop. You can also achieve a
similar effect by placing LEDs or black lights around the cabinet. You can use
a microcomputer like an Arduino to build a proximity sensor so that the screen
comes on when you approach it. You can build a coin insertion unit into your
cabinet and create an insert coin sensor so that you add credits to the game
when you place a coin in the slot. There are many things you can do. Look on
youtube, there are many ways to customize your build. Next though, let’s talk
about how to use the pi.
Starting up Your Raspberry Pi
I have found that it helps to plug the HDMI cable from the
Raspberry Pi into the television before you plug the power cable in. Next you
plug the power supply cable into your wall outlet, and then the other side into
the power port (micro USB or USB C) on the retro pie. Click the power button on
the power supply and you should see the small red and green LEDs on the Pi light
up. It will boot Retropie.
How to Shut
the System Down
Do not unplug or switch off your Retro Pi
while it is running. Abruptly cutting off the power while the system is on can
cause your hard drive to become corrupted. Always shut the pie down from the
Emulation Station user interface by pressing “start,” and then selecting
“quit,” and then “shut down system.” If you would rather restart, just select
“restart.” Wait for about ten seconds for it to run through the shutdown
process. When the TV loses signal from the Pi and the small, green LED inside
the case is no longer lit or blinking this usually means that it has safely and
completely shut down. Next turn off the power to the microcomputer by pressing
the power button on your power supply on/off switch, or by unplugging it from
the wall. Completely powering down will reduce the wear and tear on the
electronics and ensure your Retro Pi a long life. You know that it is
completely powered down when the red light goes off.
-
RETROPIE SHUTDOWN
press START on
your controller
select QUIT
select SHUTDOWN SYSTEM
-
PIXEL OS SHUTDOWN
select the BLUE ORB button
in the top left corner
select SHUTDOWN
select SHUTDOWN
How to
Navigate the Retro Pie Interface
Pressing “select” will take you to the
options. Pressing “start” will take you to the main menu. Press “A” to select a
console or game. “X” will select a console or game for you at random, and “Y” will
add a game to your favorites folder.
After you have used “right” and “left” to
select a console you can choose from a list of games. You can scroll through
the list by pressing “up” and “down.” Holding “up” or “down” for a few seconds
will speed up the scrolling function. You can also skip several games at a time
by pressing the right and left triggers. If you want to skip from one letter to
another, instead of waiting to scroll, simply press “select” and then choose a
letter to “jump to.”
To exit a game that you are playing press “select” and “start”
together at the same time. In many of the arcade games you must press “select”
to enter coins, and then “start” to start your game.
Buttons
The default button layout is pretty straight forward.
Button
|
Action
|
Select
|
Option
|
Start
|
Menu
|
A
|
Launch
|
B
|
Back
|
X
|
Random
|
Y
|
Save to Favorites
|
Right and Left Shoulder
|
Programmable
|
Hotkeys
Hotkeys enable you to press a combination of buttons to access
functions such as saving, loading, and exiting emulators.. By default, the
hotkey is select.
Hotkeys
|
Action
|
Select+Start
|
Exit
|
Select+Right Shoulder
|
Save
|
Select+Left Shoulder
|
Load
|
Select+Right
|
Input State Slot Increase
|
Select+Left
|
Input State Slot Decrease
|
Select+X
|
RGUI Menu
|
Select+B
|
Reset
|
Add Games
to your Favorites Folder
If you would like to save a game to your
favorites folder simply press “Y” while the game is selected in the games list.
If you want to remove a game from your favorites folder press “Y” again.
Create a
Collections Folder of Games
You can also create folders to hold titles in
different categories such as “classics,” “retro,” “fighting,” “sports,” and
“action/adventure.” To create a new folder or collection of games press
“start,” then “game selection settings,” then “create new custom collection.”
After you do this a text box will open. To enter your cursor into the box press
“A” on the gamepad, and then use your connected USB keyboard to enter the name
of the collection folder. Press “A” again and then go and select the games you
want to add using the “Y” button. Once you are done, remember to go back to
that menu and select “finalize collection” to save it.
Change
the Theme of the User Interface
If you want to change the theme, press start
from the Retro Pi menu and then select “UI settings.” Then select “theme set,”
and choose the theme that you want to try out. After you find a theme that you
like you might want to restart the Retro Pi so that the system’s resources are
reoptimized at this new setting. If you would like to download more themes you
can do so from the Retro Pi menu discussed below. There are dozens of themes,
some of them are really cool looking. My favorites, in order, are: slick_bluey,
carbon, magazine madness 2, cardcrazy, cygnus, hurstybluetake2, license2game,
retrowave, stirling, retrosynth, and tronkyfran.
Retro Pi Menu
From the console select screen you can navigate to the Retro Pi
menu in order to customize your machine. Use a
simple Google search to find out how to use the Retro Pie menu to perform the
following helpful functions. You can connect a Bluetooth device such as a
wireless remote, or a PS3 controller. You can update your system to the newest
software version. You can also overclock your Retro Pi so that it runs faster,
and has fewer frame rate dips when playing Dreamcast, Playstation, and Nintendo
64 games. You can alter your game selection screen so that it displays a video
clip of each game. To do this you will have to “scrape” the videos from the
Retro Pie server. You can also change your splash screen, connect to wifi, and
alter several other settings.
It can be fun to make
a personalized splash screen. I found some pictures that I liked online and put
them into a collage using Powerpoint and Photoshop. Then I downloaded the
Nintendo font from a free font website and typed my name out in it to create
what you see below. For your custom splash screen to display at startup you
will need to insert the file for it in a specific folder that you can navigate
to from the Pixel OS (Linux desktop). Find it at:
root/pi/retropi/splashscreens. You can actually insert several of these and
then choose to randomize them from the Retro Pi setup.
Connect
to the Internet
Open the main RetroPie menu and select “WiFi”. This will open the WiFi
menu. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to select “connect to Wifi network” which
will open a list of all the availalbe WiFi networks. Select your network from
the list and you'll be prompted to enter your key/password. Please note that
while you're entering your password it will not show up on-screen. This is
normal and doesn't mean your keyboard is broken. Just enter your password
correctly and once you hit enter your Pi will communicate and negotiate with
your router to obtain an IP address. Assuming you entered the correct
key/password it should complete in just a few seconds and you'll now see your
Pi's IP address listed above the menu options. You are now connected to your
WiFi network and can exit back to RetroPie.
Adding and Configuring a New
Controller
If your new controller is wired or wireless, just plug the usb
cord or dongle in to the back of your Pi. If you have a bluetooth controller,
you'll first need to pair it with the Pi at the Retro Pi menu.
Once your controller is plugged in (or paired) you'll need to press “start” on your current
controller and select “configure input.” This will open the controller
configuration menu.
Simply follow the on-screen instructions and press the buttons the menu
requests. If it asks for a button your controller doesn't have, just press any
button on the controller and hold it for two seconds and it will skip the
assignment. When it reaches the end, the last button will be for the hotkey button.
You should use the select button for this.
Saving and Loading Games Mid
Play
One of the best features of your RetroPie system is the ability to
save and load your game progress whenever you want. It's easy to do and can be
a big help when you are playing many retrogames because of their insane
difficulty. For instance, if you start a boss fight, you might want to save it
just before the fight, so that if you lose you can start over again at the boss
without having to complete the whole level again. You can also have
multiple save game slots so that you don't have to overwrite your previous
saved game. To select your save game slot, simply press and hold “select” on
your controller and press left and right on your d-pad to move back and forth
through the save slots. You'll see a message in the bottom left corner telling
you what slot you have selected.
To save your game simply press and hold “select” and then R1 (the right
shoulder button). You will see a message in the bottom left corner that your
game has been saved in whatever the currently selected save game slot is. To
load your saved game simply select the save game slot you want to load and
again, press and hold “select” and then L1 (the left shoulder
button). It will almost instantly load your game from where it was saved.
Backup
Your MicroSD Card
Making a backup of your microSD card gives
you peace of mind knowing that if your hard drive becomes corrupted you'll be
able to fully restore your system. It's recommended to make a backup any time
you update or make major changes to your system.
Most likely, when you
insert your microSD card in to your PC, Windows will tell you that it needs to
be formatted. Do not format your card! Windows cannot recognize the
file system of your card so it thinks it's "blank" and needs to be
formatted. So close that popup. You will need to download free software called
Win32 Disk Imager. It's the software we'll use to backup your microSD card. Download
the software from the link below.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/
Download, install, and open the program. Then:
1.
Plug your microSD card into your PC
2.
Select your microSD card from the DEVICE drop-down
menu in Win32DiskImager
3.
Click the FOLDER icon and enter a filename and
location to save the image file. Be sure to put .img at the end of your
filename. Example: my-backup.img
4.
Click on the READ button
5.
Wait... This can take a while depending on the size of your
microSD card and the speed of your card reader, expect it to take several
minutes.
It will let you know when the process is
complete. Once it's finished, safely eject your microSD card from your PC, put
it back in your Raspberry Pi and go back to playing retro games!
Restore
Your MicroSD Card
If your Retro Pi stops working hopefully you
made a backup of your system using the steps above. If so, you can flash the
image back to your microSD card.
Partitioning Your Micro SD card:
- Plug your
microSD card into your usb card reader
- Open the Run
Dialog (by pressing the Windows Key + R) and type: diskpart
- Depending on
your Windows security settings you may have to authorize it to run
- Once it's loaded (it may take a little bit) type: list
disk (and hit enter)
- You need to
find your microSD card in the list and check what disk number it is
(you'll need it for the next step). It is typically the last one but this
could vary if you have other portable storage devices plugged in. Check
the SIZE column for the one that closest matches the size
of your microSD card.
- Now that you
know your disk number, type: select disk 3 (where 3 is
whatever your disk number was and then hit enter)
- It will tell
you your disk is now the selected disk, type: clean (hit
enter)
- It will tell
you it succeeded in cleaning the disk. If it gives you an ACCESS
DENIED error simply try again.
- Now you need
to type: create partition primary (hit enter)
- You should
see: DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
- Type: exit (hit
enter)
To format your SD card you must download a
special application called “guiformat.” You can save the application wherever
you want so long as you remember where you put it. You don't need to install
it, it's a stand-alone .EXE file.
http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?guiformat.htm
- Launch the
program you just downloaded (it may ask for permission, allow it)
- Select your
microSD card from the DRIVE drop-down menu
- Click: START and
authorize it to format
Your microSD card is now ready to be flashed
back to the default setting on your backup image.
Now you need to open up the program you downloaded in the last section of this
guide, WIN32 DISK IMAGER. Depending on your Windows security
setting you may need to authorize the program to run. Once it's open, follow
these steps...
- Click on the
little folder icon to load your .img file. This will be the image file you
created to backup your system.
- Make sure
your microSD card is selected in the drop-down
- Click
the WRITE button
This can take an hour or two. Remember to
eject the card from safely by right-clicking the drive and ejecting it. Failure
to do so can result in corruption of the disk causing it not to work.
You can use this method to replicating your
Pi build. You must use the same model to do so. All you have to do to create a
new Retro Pi is simply utilize the instructions above on backing up and
restoring the microSD card, to a new card and you can plug it into the Raspberry
Pi and play immediately. If you would like to add additional ROMs to your
collection that are not already there, just find a description of how to do so
on the web. It is easy but there are several steps.
Next, allow me to give you a list of some of
my favorite games.
A List of my Favorite
Games (in order)
Street
Fighter Alpha
Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade
SVC Chaos
Capcom
vs. SNK 1 and 2
Street
Fighter 2, 3, 4, and 5
Punisher
Arcade
Tomb
Raider
Panzer
Dragoon 1 and 2
Last
Blade 1 and 2
Dead or
Alive 3
Mark of
the Wolves
Devil May
Cry
Fez
Rez
Aliens
Versus Predator Arcade
Bubble
Bobble
Super
Mario Brothers 1, 2, and 3
Mortal
Kombat 1, 2, 3, 4, 9 and 10
Injustice
1 and 2
Rime
Journey
Onimusha
1, 2, 3, and Dawn of Dreams
Tekken 3,
and Tag
Call of
Duty
King of
Fighters
Soul
Calibur
Hulk
Ultimate Destruction
Halo
GTA 3,
Vice City, San Andreas, 4 and 5
Riddick
Escape from Butcher Bay
Capcom
Fighting Evolution
Virtual
On
Killswitch
Abzu
Beat
Sabre
Flower
Batman
PSVR
Mega Man
6
Gears of
War
Burnout Take
Down
Metal
Slug
X-men
Arcade
X-men
Children of the Atom
Fire
Watch
Last
Guardian
Dynasty
Warriors
Battle
circuit
Cadillacs
and Dinosaurs
Captain
America and the Avengers
Captain
commando
Dragon Ball
Z
Final Fight
Indiana
Jones and the fate of Atlantis
Joe Joe’s
bizarre adventure
Marvel
superheroes
Marvel superheroes
versus streetfighter
Red earth
Sengoku
three
Sawblade
Super
Mario world
Tetris
Twisted
metal Two
Virtua
Fighter Two
World
Heroes to Jet
X-Men
versus streetfighter
Zelda
A List of Aesthetically
Appealing Classics
3 wonders
64th St.
A B cop
Alien storm
Ambush
Apache three
Aqua Jack
Arabian fight
Art of fighting
Asterix
Astro flash
Asuras blade
B rap boys
Battle cry
Battletoads arcade
Big run
Biomechanical Toy
Black dragon
Blade master
Blandia
Blomby car
Blood warrior
Canon dancer
Capcom world
Captain commando
Continental circus
Cosmic cop
Crime city
Crime fighters
Cyber police e swat
Denjin makai 2
Dick Tracy
Don pachi 2
Double axle
Double dragon
Dragon master
Dragoon might
Dungeon magic
Dyna gear
Dynamite duke
Eight man
Far east of Eden
Fight fever
Fighters history
Fighters history
Final blow
Final fight
Finest hour
Forgotten worlds
Forgotten worlds
FujiYama buster
Galaxy fight
Galaxy force two
Ghost chaser
Gouket suji ichizoku
2
Growl
Guardians of the Hood
Gun force two
Hang on
Hippodrome
Hokuto no ken
Ikari warriors three
Jackie Chan
Judge dread
Kakutou
Karate Blazers
Karate champ
Karate kid
Karnov’s revenge
King of the monsters
Kizuna encounter
super tag battle
Knights of the round
Knights of valor
Knuckle bash
Knuckle Kaiser
Kyukyoku sentai
Lansquenet
Last battle
Last resort
Light bringer
Magician lord
Martial champion
Martial masters
Matrimelee
Meta moquester
Metamorphic force
Metamorphic force
Mighty warriors
Mobile suit Gundam Ex
Mobile suit Gundam
final shooting
Monster maulers
Mutation nation
Mutation nation
Narc
Nastar
Nastar
Ninja masters
Oriental legend
Park edge
Prehistoric Isle 2
Pretty soldier sailor
moon
Primetime fighter
Psychonics master
Pulstar
Racing hero
Rad racer
Ragnagard
Rambo III
Rastan
Riot
Riot city
Robo Army
Rush N attack
Rygar
Schmeiser robo
Shadow force
Shadow warriors
Shogun warriors
Silver Hawk two
Slam masters
Smash TV
Space hairier
Special criminal
investigation two
Splendor blast
Steel gunner two
Street ball
Streetsmart two
Stun runner
Super bubble bubble
Super puzzle fighter
Super tag battle
Superior soldiers
Superman arcade
Survival arts
Swat police
Tao taido
The astyanax
The double dynamites
The final round
The gladiator a.k.a.
the road of the sword
The immortal
The karate tournament
The killing blade
The king of dragons
Thunder blade
Thunder fox
Thunder heroes
Thunder strikes back
Top ranking stars
Tube panic
Ultimate team battle
UN squadron
Undercover cops
Universal warriors
Vendetta
Violence fight
Violent storm
Virtual fighter two
Voltage fighter
Warrior blade rastan
saga
Warriors of 8
Wild pilot
Wild thing
Wolf fang
If I could make or
have any game in the world it would be a 2D, sidescrolling, Marvel beat-em-up.
It would feature the Avengers and many other Marvel properties. It would be
made in the style of TMNT Arcade, or X-Men Arcade yet have updated 4K graphics.
All of the characters would have their 80s costumes and appearance and the game
would be set in the 80s with countless Easter eggs, cameos, and inclusions from
70s, 80s, and 90s comic books. If I could make a second game, it would be the
same thing, just with DC characters. If this sounds appealing I want to remind
you to try out Mugen and Open Bor because these actually come pretty close.