Pimoroni Picade Console
Power up your TV with Picade Console! It’s a compact, Raspberry Pi-powered retro games machine with authentic arcade controls that plug right into your TV, monitor, or other HDMI display.
Picade Console is a fight stick-style arcade console that riffs off the Pimoroni larger Picade with the same retro feel, same joystick and buttons, dedicated power button, and driven by the same powerful combo of the Raspberry Pi and Picade X HAT USB-C. It’s beautifully packaged and comes with stickers a neon-infused A3 Picade Console poster, and full assembly instructions.
It comes in kit form and takes an hour or two to build. The enclosure is made from powder-coated MDF and acrylic, giving it an authentic arcade look and feel. All you’ll need to add is a Raspberry Pi, USB-C power supply, HDMI cable, and microSD card.
*TV not included! Using a CRT TV requires additional adaptors.
Â
Features
- Compatible with Raspberry Pi 4
- Black, powder-coated panels
- Acrylic console with retro artwork
- Push-fit arcade buttons
- Joystick with black ball top
- Speaker (3W, 4Ω, 2.5″ driver)
- Easy access with removable back panel
- Dedicated illuminated power button
- Grippy rubber feet
- Dimensions (assembled): 245x120x140mm
Picade X HAT USB-C features
- Easy DuPont connectors for buttons and joystick
- Push-fit speaker terminals
- I2S audio DAC with 3W amplifier (mono)
- USB-C powered
- Power management, power switch pins, and power button
- Dedicated Picade Plasma Button connector
- 4-way joystick inputs
- 6Â player buttons
- 4Â utility buttons
- Metal standoffs to hold your Picade X HAT USB-C securely
Extras
- Picade Console poster/assembly instructions
- Picade stickers
Compact retro gaming
Picade Console is more compact and easier to build but has a bunch of features like a dedicated power button, better cable routing out the back of the console with a panel-mount USB-C connector for power, and retro-themed artwork.
Picade X HAT USB-C is packed full of useful features. Pimoroni uses simple DuPont connectors that just push in rather than fiddly screw terminals, and the speaker terminals are easy push-fit connectors.
There’s dedicated power management on-board Picade X HAT USB-C; just plug your USB-C power supply into the back of the Picade Console and it’ll power your Pi through the Picade X HAT USB-C. The power button connected to the HAT means that once your Pi is safely shut down, the power will be cut completely to the Pi. A simple press of the power button will boot your Picade Console up again.
Software setup
We recommend the RetroPie operating system for your Picade. You can download it from the RetroPie website and then burn it to a micro-SD card with Etcher.
Connect a USB keyboard to your Pi, and connect to Wi-Fi in the RetroPie menu. Press F4 to exit the terminal and then type curl https://get.pimoroni.com/picadehat | bash to run the Picade HAT installer.
Reboot your Pi, if it doesn’t prompt you to. Press the “Alt” key on your keyboard and then select “Configure input” to configure your Picade Console’s controls. You’ll find that the sound and power buttons should both be working now too!
