The very small and inexpensive Raspberry Pi, and its minuscule and even cheaper cousin the Pi Zero have many interesting uses, not the least of which is as the heart of a retro arcade setup. While we’ve accepted this as the new normal, those of us that grew up in the 1980s can marvel at the fact that the technology to run NES games originally cost around $200 in today’s dollars, and took up a respectable amount of space on one’s entertainment shelf.
Even more amazingly, people have fit a Raspberry Pi Zero, along with a micro SD card containing 2400 retro games, inside an original NES cartridge. With this setup, however, you do need to hook up external controllers.
For a more all-in-one solution, the Score:Zero pHAT for Raspberry Pi turns the Pi into a controller. It is a solder kit that connects directly to a Raspberry Pi’s GPIO ports, and has the button arrangement of a traditional NES gamepad.
Importantly, the device has also been tested with a Raspberry Pi Zero, which would provide even more compact use. A great project to extend the adventure is to build your own 3D-printed or wooden controller housing around it.
