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Retropie Arcade Bartop

An retropie based bartop built for 2 players

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The project goal is to build an arcade bartop for 2 players, based on retropie.
Inspiration came from http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/the-build-page/porta-pi-arcade-kit/ , but made for 2 players instead of 1 and using an used 19" LCD screen.
Cost for all components is around 250 € (without the wood ; wood and paint is about 50 €).
For now, I built 2 of them and planning to build a third one.

View all 14 components

  • Bartop with acrylic glass

    Grégory Paul08/16/2017 at 16:46 0 comments

    The case of the first bartop has been replaced with a case made of acrylic glass.

  • Overclocking the Pi

    Grégory Paul12/17/2016 at 15:08 0 comments

    Some games on MAME and N64 emulators are lagging so I installed a heat sink and a fan (recovered from an used laptop) and overclocked a little bit the Pi 3 following that guide.

    Emulators are now running a a little bit more smoothly (some PSP / PSX games are not playable thought).

    With the fan, SOC (overclocked) temperature is around 50 ° C.

  • 3rd bartop built

    Grégory Paul12/04/2016 at 20:36 0 comments

    I just finished my 3rd bartop (and I think last). Build went smoothly (no joystick or screen problem like on the previous one).
    I added some LED lights at the bottom to make it cool.

  • 2 Xin-mo joystick problem...

    Grégory Paul10/31/2016 at 16:16 0 comments

    Like a lot of people, I had trouble using 2 Xin-Mo joysticks on my second arcade station. It was like both were the same joystick.
    It’s really strange since the first one didn’t had that problem and it seems that components are the same. I even dump the SD card from one Raspberry Pi to another without success (same problem on the second arcade station, running a Raspberry Pi 3).

    Solution found on Retropie-setup about Xin Mo Controller didn’t work for me.

    So, I finally connect one controller directly to Pi GPIO, like explained on post "Connecting Arcade Buttons to Raspberry Pi GPIO Pins" or on "Retro Gaming with Raspberry Pi".

    You’ll have to clone Adafruit-Retrogame, configure /boot/retrogame.cfg file, add a udev rule and launch retrogame at startup.

    Also, default mapping for select button (space) causes some problem in game (emulator running a lot faster). I had to change the default key (space) for 'b' to fix that bug.

    Update 15/05/2021 : Got the same problem on new bar top build and fixed it via that method (unplugged the 2nd player side's 4 pin (up, down, left, right) connector and turned it around and plugged it right).

  • Native resolution for 19" screen

    Grégory Paul10/31/2016 at 16:06 0 comments

    While installing a second station, I had a problem with resolution by default in 800x600 on a 19" screen.

    To force native resolution (1280x1024), I had to set in /boot/config.txt the following lines :

    hdmi_drive=1
    hdmi_group=2
    hdmi_mode=35

    More information can be found here : http://elinux.org/RPiconfig#Video

  • Power supply and Raspberry Pi 3

    Grégory Paul10/30/2016 at 17:30 0 comments

    The 3000 ma 5V power supply is enought to power a Raspberry Pi 2 and the Amplifier Board-PAM8803 using a micro usb Y splitter.

    However, if you use a Raspberry Pi 3, it isn’t enough to power both (bad audio quality). You’ll need a dedicated power supply for the amplifier.

View all 6 project logs

  • 1
    Install joystick

    Use jstest-gtk to test them

  • 2
    Build cabinet

    I inserted 2 power plugs directly inside the cabinet controlled by a switch. One plug will power the screen while the other powers a 5V adapter for the Pi and the amplifier (you’ll need to cut the one side of the Y USB cable to power the amplifier).

  • 3
    Assemble components

    Assembly is inspired by retrobuildgames guide.

    It’s a lot easier since screen is simply connected by DVI and joystick uses a USB controller board.

    Here some documentation about audio amplifier.

View all 6 instructions

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