http://retroflag.com/GPi-CASE.html
JUNE 12th it will be on sale:
US Amazon
UK Amazon
EDIT: I received a RetrpF;ag GPi Case for review purposes. See my thoughts below on the case.
So I got the package today and it comes in this nice throwback Japanese box.
Inside this is what I was supplied with the unit, screws and screwdriver as well as the usb power cable if you do not want to use batteries. I think the retail version comes with a felt bag to protect the GameBoy.
The cartridge is the main way to install the device with the supplied screws, alas they are VERY fragile and one of my screw broke off. I was still able to install the pi zero but I wished they gave some spare screws. Other than the whole process was very easy and not needing to solder was amazing. The Pi makes contact with the pins on the board which allows it to send signals to the main board.
Installation was okay for me, but I think people just jumping into this without knowing about Pi's will struggle a bit. It would have been nice if the company had made a pre-installed bistro as it would save some headache but thier implementation is still pretty easy, you install retropie/recalbox as you normally do and you plug the SD card into your computer and download the setup scripts here: http://download.retroflag.com/ after that it should be working.
I would highly recommend enabling SSH and Wifi before using the scripts as it made the process a bit easier for me, one thing you might have to do is reset emulationstation config if you use a keyboard beforehand to do this. As after the install you will no longer be able to plug the SD card into a normal pi through HDMI unless you make changes to the config. Also by enabling Wifi beforehand it shows the case as a network device to install games.
GameBoy games worked great and shown in the correct aspect ratio.
and so did GBC games.
SNES worked amazingly weel, will need to try more games out.
So did Megadrive.
I did try N64 Mario but I was only getting around 10-15fps - this is more a fault of the pi zero not being powerful enough, but hopefully later revisions might allow us to play N64 games on this case.
Overall the game play experience is solid. the handheld is very reminiscent of what the original GameBoy was made from. the form factor is nice and pocket able and the buttons feel great. The two back buttons use some soft of micro-switches, these were okay but I would not expect to be using them for fighting games any time soon. The screen is GREAT, with a contrast wheel to control how bright the screen gets. the D-PAD felt good, not the same as the GameBoy original, felt more like the GBC variant. With the batteries you get about 3 hours of game time which fine enough but a rechargeable battery would have been nicer, they do give you a DC USB jack if you just want to run it from the wall or a power bank.
Here are my final thoughts
What's good:
Overall I am really pleased with this product. It has taken years for a product like this to come out for the Raspberry Pi at this price point and it is simply amazing for this price point. The build quality and feel is very authentic and one of the best GameBoy Pi cases I have ever seen.
JUNE 12th it will be on sale:
US Amazon
UK Amazon
EDIT: I received a RetrpF;ag GPi Case for review purposes. See my thoughts below on the case.
So I got the package today and it comes in this nice throwback Japanese box.
Inside this is what I was supplied with the unit, screws and screwdriver as well as the usb power cable if you do not want to use batteries. I think the retail version comes with a felt bag to protect the GameBoy.
The cartridge is the main way to install the device with the supplied screws, alas they are VERY fragile and one of my screw broke off. I was still able to install the pi zero but I wished they gave some spare screws. Other than the whole process was very easy and not needing to solder was amazing. The Pi makes contact with the pins on the board which allows it to send signals to the main board.
Installation was okay for me, but I think people just jumping into this without knowing about Pi's will struggle a bit. It would have been nice if the company had made a pre-installed bistro as it would save some headache but thier implementation is still pretty easy, you install retropie/recalbox as you normally do and you plug the SD card into your computer and download the setup scripts here: http://download.retroflag.com/ after that it should be working.
I would highly recommend enabling SSH and Wifi before using the scripts as it made the process a bit easier for me, one thing you might have to do is reset emulationstation config if you use a keyboard beforehand to do this. As after the install you will no longer be able to plug the SD card into a normal pi through HDMI unless you make changes to the config. Also by enabling Wifi beforehand it shows the case as a network device to install games.
GameBoy games worked great and shown in the correct aspect ratio.
and so did GBC games.
SNES worked amazingly weel, will need to try more games out.
So did Megadrive.
I did try N64 Mario but I was only getting around 10-15fps - this is more a fault of the pi zero not being powerful enough, but hopefully later revisions might allow us to play N64 games on this case.
Overall the game play experience is solid. the handheld is very reminiscent of what the original GameBoy was made from. the form factor is nice and pocket able and the buttons feel great. The two back buttons use some soft of micro-switches, these were okay but I would not expect to be using them for fighting games any time soon. The screen is GREAT, with a contrast wheel to control how bright the screen gets. the D-PAD felt good, not the same as the GameBoy original, felt more like the GBC variant. With the batteries you get about 3 hours of game time which fine enough but a rechargeable battery would have been nicer, they do give you a DC USB jack if you just want to run it from the wall or a power bank.
Here are my final thoughts
What's good:
- Amazing LCD screen with brightness control
- Great feeling buttons
- Good sound quality with a 3.5mm jack.
- Easy to install and get it running.
- Very clever design of the cartridge case could mean we could have modules for different pi's
- Very unmissable since it's running Linux.
- Able to upgrade it in the future with new pi zero's
- A breakout USB port would be good install games through USB
- A pre-formatted SD card would help people who are new to raspberry pi a lot.
- rechargeable battery with a micro-usb port or USB-C for charging.
Overall I am really pleased with this product. It has taken years for a product like this to come out for the Raspberry Pi at this price point and it is simply amazing for this price point. The build quality and feel is very authentic and one of the best GameBoy Pi cases I have ever seen.
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