Review
raspberrypi.org/magpi The Official Raspberry Pi Projects Book 201
DELUXE ARCADE CONTROLLER KIT
Last word
A great little kit. It’s a fun
build but also a good
quality product to use. We’d
prefer the Raspberry Pi to
be a bit more accessible,
but otherwise the high
customisability is a big plus.magpi.cc/YTnKkS
£100 / $132
The final part of the build
involves attaching little rubber feet
to the bottom – very welcome, as
the case had been slipping a bit on
the glass table it had been built on.
The stick feels solid and has a
decent weight to it thanks to the
included components, so you feel
pretty safe giving the buttons and
joystick a proper workout. The
included Sanwa components are
quite important as not only are
they high-quality and can survive
a bit of classic Street Fighter
button mashing/frame-perfect
combo-timing, they’re also quite
customisable. For instance, if
you don’t fancy the button colour
scheme, you can always swap them
out. The joystick itself can also be
customised: the version that comes
with the kit has square four-way
gates, but they can be upgraded to
an octagonal eight-way gate, or
any other gate style if you prefer.Quick configuration
Software customisation for
RetroPie is also very simple.With a custom add-on board to
connect the controls to the Pi over
GPIO, we initially feared we’d have
to download custom scripts for the
job. Not so, though, and while you
do need to go into the RetroPie
configuration menu and install
an extra driver (snesdev), it’s all
quick and included in the RetroPie
archive. Once that’s done, you
can configure the stick controls,The stick feels solid and has a
decent weight to it thanks to
the included components
as well as any extra controllers
you’ve plugged into the USB ports.
Co-op Contra, anyone?
This kit is a great, solid package
and it looks good as well. We
recommend investing in some
nice, long HDMI and USB cables
to power the box and don’t be
afraid to put some stickers or a
little custom decal onto the case
as well.
All in all, the Deluxe Arcade
Controller Kit may just be the
perfect gift for the retro games fan
in your household.