Compact Retro Console

When I was little, I watched a movie called "Wreck-It-Ralph", that was the first time I saw a retro game, I was very curious as to why the game looked so square-y; and I started wondering, what were games like before. That's when I got interested in retro games and arcades. While I do enjoy playing modern games like GTA, Forza, and Mortal Kombat II. I love the simplicity of retro games, and how they aren't as complicated to play and you get such a different experience compared to newer games. I also love how the graphics significantly differ from game to game, even if they are from the same year/decade. Things like the release of the Game Boy color were groundbreaking for the industry, going from home consoles to something you hold in your hand. It's these foundations that have shaped the games we see today, and that's what I love about retro games.

1x Orange Pi Zero 2W (w/ pins soldered on)

1x MicroSD Card >8gb

1x mini-hdmi cable

1x usb-c plug in keyboard

1x monitor, any type works, even a TV

3d printer to print STL files

1x MicroSD Card Reader

1x copper heatsink

Computer for files

To flash the MicroSD, you first need to install Raspberry Pi Imager, and then download Batocera OS. Then, plug in your MicroSD card reader to your computer and insert the card. Open Raspberry Pi Imager, for the board, choose Raspberry Pi Zero 2W (this isn't too important), and for the OS scroll all the way down to custom, and when prompted choose the OS you downloaded, choose your MicroSD Card as the location, confirm the OS flash and it will start writing on the card. When it is done you can eject the card and insert it into the Orange Pi so that we can start the first boot.

Before we add games or change anything in the files, we are going to want to run the "first boot" so that all the necessary files and information is there. Here's how to boot up the board correctly:

1. Plug in your mini-hdmi cable into your screen and the board, and turn on the screen first.
2. Then you can plug your power cable into the USB0 port (closest to corner of board) so that the board powers on and boots, if you did it correctly you should see a big batocera logo pop-up on your screen.
3. When it is finally booted-up, plug in your keyboard/controller to start playing; ps5 and xbox controllers, and almost any other controller works with batocera, if you can't manage to connect it with the board refer to this page: https://wiki.batocera.org/supported_controllers.

Now we are going to print the case for the board to protect it, we are going to use this front case with CPU cutout and back case from Gremlin87's Orange Pi Zero 2W case, if you want before adding the case, it is recommended to add a heatsink for the cpu so it doesn't overheat. To snap the case on, place the board on the bottom part first, and then snap on the top firmly so that it stays connected, now your board is safer from falling or accidentally getting hit.

Now batocera already has a few games preinstalled like doom and classic donkey kong, but what if you want to add more games, well here is what you need to do:

1. First, make sure to choose a game that is from the consoles that batocera emulates, these consoles include the NES, the SNES, and many other retro consoles, if you are unsure whether the console you want is on batocera just search on google to see if it is compatible.
2. Next, find a rom file for the game, the file types supported are: .nes, .sfc, .md, .gb, .gbc, .gba, .zip, and .7z, but this varies from console to console so make sure first.
3. Download your file and also download Paragon ExtFS for Mac or Windows, this is so that you can actually read the SDcard because now it is in ext4.
4. Shutdown batocera and turn off your board first, then take out the Micro SDcard and plug it into your computer.
5. Navigate to ROMs and open the folder with the console your game belongs in. Then put the file inside, eject the card and insert it back into the board and boot, you should see your game now when you navigate to the console you chose.

The example shown is with Legend of Zelda a link to the past. I used a .sfc for the rom from internet archive, then I placed it inside the snes folder.