TALENTEC Is Combining an Arcade Stick with a Raspberry Pi for Retro Gaming

The Raspberry Pi line of single-board computers (SBC) is very well-suited to video game emulation. With a Raspberry Pi, you can play most of your favorite home console, portable, and arcade games from the 16-bit generation or earlier. Because the Raspberry Pi is so perfect for the job, we see a lot of console projects that use it. But you still need the right controller to really replicate that classic gaming experience. TALENTEC is taking an interesting approach to that with their RasPi arcade sticks, , which put the Raspberry Pi inside of an arcade controller.

The TALENTEC arcade stick line is currently on Kickstarter, and the campaign has just a few days left to go. It’s close to reaching its funding goal, but isn’t quite there yet. The RasPi stick comes with an included Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ built in, and can run RetroPie, Recalbox, Batocera Linux, or Lakka. With one of those operating systems, you can emulate many different classic consoles or arcade games. If you don’t want the built-in Raspberry Pi, there is an option for a USB arcade stick that you can use with your PC, an external Raspberry Pi, a PS3, or a PS4 in legacy mode.

Both options include a joystick, eight 30mm arcade buttons, and two 24mm arcade buttons. There are a few different color scheme options available, so you can get the look that suits your tastes. The RasPi arcade stick is particularly interesting, because you can plug a second joystick into it for two-player video games. For instance, you could purchase one RasPi “smart” arcade stick and one USB “dumb” arcade stick and connect them together to play with a friend. There are also Pro versions available that have original Sanwa components for a better button feel.

If you want a TALENTEC arcade stick, the Kickstarter campaign is running until June 12th. A USB TALENTEC arcade stick costs about $66, while the smart RasPi arcade stick costs about $145. Depending on which options you choose, rewards can be delivered as early as July.