Building your very own NES Mini using a Raspberry Pi is incredibly simple, and I thought I’d take half an hour out of my morning nap time to whip up a quick — yet thorough — tutorial on how to do it. And anyone can do it, which is the really good news! In fact it’d make an ideal first project for someone who’s new to the Raspberry Pi.
I know we sell this stuff, and there’s an obvious click bait angle here, but hand on heart, I wrote this because I think the retro gamers out there are likely to a little disappointed with their NES Mini, while this wee nostalgic beast will feed your gaming demons for a long time to come.
The NESberry Pi
Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll be building.
Approximate Cost: £70/$90/€85 Rough Build Time: 1-2 hours Overview:
We take a Raspberry Pi computer, install an image on its SD card that’ll turn it into a NES, put it in a case, hook up two controllers, connect it to the TV, install some games, and it’s good to go. If you’re brand new to all this, you might want to set aside an hour, maybe two, to build your NESberry Pi mini console.
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!
Adafruit publishes a wide range of writing and video content, including interviews and reporting on the maker market and the wider technology world. Our standards page is intended as a guide to best practices that Adafruit uses, as well as an outline of the ethical standards Adafruit aspires to. While Adafruit is not an independent journalistic institution, Adafruit strives to be a fair, informative, and positive voice within the community – check it out here: adafruit.com/editorialstandards
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!
Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: The latest on Raspberry Pi RP2350-E9, Bluetooth 6, 4,000 Stars and more! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi
EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey