Building a Retro Game Console from an Android Device

nileshsrox

nileshsrox

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So, as the title says, I have an unused Android device lying around and recently my friend gave me his old Razer Kishi I am thinking of creating a console with all the retro games, obviously I won't get much time to play on it, but for the occasional fun and since the android device is lying around I thought of doing this
Has anyone here done something like this? if so, is there any guide for a complete noob like me, cuz the ones I am seeing on youtube are mostly too old or rather complicated tutorials.

I saw this guide but the apps he has mentioned, few of them are discontinued.

Hence I am posting this here asking maybe anyone has any experience with this!

The device I have is Redmi Note 7s with android 10
 
PPSSPP - PSP
Snes9x EX+ - Snes
Duckstation - PS1
Redream - Dreamcast
Dolphin Emulator - Wii/Gamecube (I have not used this myself)
ScummVM - old pc adventure games

None of these require any tweaks but might require bios files. Just install from playstore and point it to your roms.

Retroarch - Arcade, 8 bit, 16bit, etc.

Looks a lot harder than it really is. Follow any tutorial.

Tested on galaxy s8+ with custom android 10 rom. I use otg usb c to wired xbox 360 controller. I have also tested otg usb c to 4 port usb 2.0 hub to two wired xbox 360 controllers for local multiplayer. All works fine.

Hardly play on it because of all the wiring and prefer to play on TV (Pi 4) but it's still cool to have.

I was actually thinking of buying the kishi v1 (3.5k @ amazon) to play some snes rom hacks on the go but somehow dropped the idea.
 
Thanks! I tried rertroarch and played a lot of Donkey Kong and Adventure Island these past few days. tried running Spiderman 2 on ps2 emulator aethersx2 but it was super laggy on that old device, tried running the same thing on my S24 Ultra and it was running super smooth.
Oh I also installed Daijisho to get the front end working!

MrB said:
I was actually thinking of buying the kishi v1 (3.5k @ amazon) to play some snes rom hacks on the go but somehow dropped the idea.
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I have the kishi v1 that my friend gave me honestly its good but not that good, it was a hassle trying to fit my s24 in it, had to cut off the rubber grips in it for the phone to fit, if you can on low price or if u can find a used one go for kishi v2 else at this point I wont recommend kishi v1 as it is for older smaller devices.

MrB said:
Hardly play on it because of all the wiring and prefer to play on TV (Pi 4) but it's still cool to have.
Click to expand...
Have you made a retropie? I would like to give that diy a try too, any links for that? also does it run newer gen games like ps2 and psp?
 
You can use LaunchBox as it has a great frontend. Honestly, using the old device for emulation is pointless, especially if you have a S24 Ultra and can use it connected while limiting charge at 85%. Also, PS3 and XBox emulators are not available on Android, even if a SD 8 Gen 3 is capable of running it. If you have a decent laptop or even a tablet capable of video out, then a Pi for emulation on TV isn't worth it at all.
 
I really wanted the old device to be the device for emulation, not the s24, wanted to make that a dedicated device for it, everything works great except for ps2 and i wanted to play sm2 and gow on it still its fine since other retro games work really nice!

Also another question for everyone in this forum, I just saw this Reddit post where someone modded the razer kishi to be of a tablet size, it needed 14pin ribbon cable and a ribbon cable extender
This and this maybe using this I can also mod my razer kishi for a tablet? but on amazon India both are pretty expensive and will arrive late, does anyone have any idea if and where I can find these?
 
Thanks for your feedback. Given the price, the kishi was something I thought I wanted but didn't really need.

Emulators are hardware dependent. My s8+ is exynos chip, it won't do dolphin but the snapdragon s8+ will. I'm really happy that these old devices can play something and at that very well. Fiddle around with bezels, video filters to get the look you want.

Pi 4 is also really simple today. I tried retropie many years ago so don't have any feedback for it. I would recommend recalbox or batocera. Just flash sd card and your set. There's alot of videos for both os. You will need to keep your expectations low as the pi 4 can only go upto ps1. Some dreamcast and N64 games have issues as well. Have not tried psp but doubt those games will look any good on a large screen telly. Note - I have not pushed the boundaries of the pi. For me 16 bit with cd (MSU-1) quality sound and hq filter is where it shines.
 
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