Picade – 10-inch display with PICO-8
The ultimate desktop retro arcade machine! Picade is a Raspberry Pi-powered mini arcade that you build yourself, with authentic arcade controls, a high resolution 4:3 display that's ideal for retro gaming, and a punchy speaker to hear those 8-bit game soundtracks at their best.
10" Picade now comes bundled with PICO-8. The 2020 edition also comes with some lovely new, retro-styled artwork as well as improvements and simplifications to the build process! *
The all-new Picade has been completely redesigned, from the inside out! There's new artwork, a new display and display driver board, dedicated power button, an all-new Picade X HAT (now with USB-C), easier wiring, easier access to the interior of the cabinet, beautiful new packaging, a bunch of extra goodies (stickers and an enamel Picade pin), and a gorgeous Picade poster and assembly instructions.
Picade comes in kit form, and it'll take around two to three hours to build. The cabinet is made from powder-coated MDF, giving it a quality look and feel similar to a full-size arcade. All you'll need to add is a Raspberry Pi, USB-C power supply, and micro-SD card.
Cabinet features
- Black, powder-coated panels
- Acrylic marquee and console with authentic artwork
- Push-fit arcade buttons
- Joystick with black ball top
- 3" speaker (5W, 4Ω)
- Easy access with removable back panel
- Dedicated illuminated power button
- Grippy rubber feet
- Approx dimensions: 310 x 260 x 250mm (H x W x D)
10-inch display features
- 1024x768 (4:3 ratio) IPS (wide viewing angle) display
- Pimoroni-designed and manufactured HDMI display driver board and keypad controls
- Powered by micro-USB cable (included) from your Pi
Picade X HAT features
- Easy DuPont connectors for buttons and joystick
- Push-fit speaker terminals
- I2S audio DAC with 3W amplifier (mono)
- USB-C power management, power switch pins, and power button
- 4-way joystick inputs
- 6 player buttons
- 4 utility buttons
- Metal standoffs to hold your Picade X HAT securely
Extras
- Picade enamel pin badge
- Pimoroni Super Sticker Selection
- Picade poster
- PICO-8 license
Building your Picade
If your Picade has a square PICO-8 sticker on the box and has marquee and bezel artwork that looks like this then you have a 2020 edition Picade (woop!) and you'll need to follow this online assembly tutorial.
If there's no PICO-8 sticker you'll need to follow this tutorial and video.
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 to 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's controls. You'll find that the sound and power button should both be working now too!
Notes
If your Picade display doesn't show anything when you first power it up, then it could be because the HDMI display is not being detected by the Raspberry Pi. This can happen because power isn't supplied to the USB ports on the Raspberry Pi for the first few seconds of booting. The solution is to edit the /boot/config.txt file on your RetroPie SD card, and add hdmi_force_hotplug=1 on a new line at the bottom of the file.
