So, I have the software I needed and confirmed it would run the games I wanted. It boots the machine into an Arcade menu like I wanted. Now it is time to get some Arcade controls!
This was all originally inspired by an Adafruit blog Retro Gaming with the Pi. This article had a full tutorial on how to achieve what I wanted and even supplied the parts with a handy list on the side for easy purchase (clever bastards). There were a few things I didn’t like/wanted to change about this tutorial so I modified the plan a bit to make it my own.
First, I used PiMame instead of stock Raspbian. PiMame was tailored to what I wanted already as I covered previously here.
Second, I did not like that they glued a keyboard on top of it. It looked Silly, It broke immersion in what I was trying to do. After reviewing the GPIO table and the parts they were offering I determined I could add 2 more buttons to the controller and achieve a no keyboard solution. The extra buttons would facilitate the “Insert coin” and “1Player” buttons….
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Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!