Playing retro games is easy on a Raspberry Pi – and that pocket-sized computer is pretty good at it too! All you need is a little help to connect buttons and a joystick up and you can custom design your own arcade console, desktop or stand-up machine, even just a simple controller box. It makes for a fun weekend project that will last all year.

This Adafruit Arcade Bonnet is designed to make small emulator projects a little easier to build. Here’s what you can look forward to!

• It is the same size as a Pi Zero, so for really compact builds, this is super small. You can also use it with a Pi 2, 3, B+ or any 2×20 connector Pi.
• It has JST sockets so you can plug in six arcade buttons easily using our quick connects.
• Header breakouts for use with both clicky-type switched joysticks and…
• Header breakout and converter for using analog-type joysticks or thumbsticks with potentiometers inside.
• A 3W digital speaker output that can drive 4-8 ohm speakers for when using with a TV output, audio-less HDMI display or PiTFT. Works even when the Pi doesn’t have a headphone jack!
• Switches are all managed with an I2C-GPIO converter with interrupt out. The converter is very fast and frees up all the pins so you can use this Bonnet with a PiTFT or any other accessory/device that uses a lot of pins!

If you don’t need an amplified speaker output, analog-joystick input or minimal pin usage, check out our plain-jane Retrogame tutorial which just plugs all the buttons and joysticks right into the Pi directly.

This item as sold as a mini-kit, with a Bonnet and headers that need to be soldered in to attach it to a Raspberry Pi! It only takes a few minutes but soldering iron and solder are required.

Note: The terminal block included with your product may be blue or black.

It also does not come with any of the extras, so you can choose which buttons/joysticks/speaker you want! Here is a list of the items you can use:

Joysticks:

• Small Arcade Joystick
• Mini Analog Joystick
• Assembled 2 Axis Joystick
• Analog Thumbstick
• 2 Axis Joystick
• PSP Analog Joystick
• PSP3000 Analog Joystick

To connect them, you may want some 20 x 12″ Female jumper wires.

Speakers:

• 4 ohm 3 Watt speaker
• 8 ohm 1 Watt speaker
• Mono enclosed speaker
• Mini Metal speaker (may need to turn the volume down in Emulation station)
• Thin Plastic speaker (may need to turn the volume down in Emulation station)

Arcade Buttons:

• The JST connectors on the Bonnet mate perfectly with these quick-connects, which we really like.
• Any of our Arcade buttons will work. You can use any switch you like, really doesn’t even need to be a button!
• The translucent 30mm ones work nicely with the quick-connects and are recommended!

Note: Raspberry Pi, arcade buttons, joysticks, speaker, display, and quick-connect wires are NOT included, and must be purchased separately.

Once you’ve picked out all your buttons and joysticks and stuff, check out our Getting-started guide to help you get going!

Technical Details

Once you’ve picked out all your buttons and joysticks and stuff, check out our Getting-started guide to help you get going!

Unassembled Dimensions: 65.2mm x 30mm x 7.7mm / 2.6″ x 1.2″ x 0.3″

Unassembled Weight: 9.2g / 0.33oz