[HGC] The Raspberry Pi (B) As A Retro Gaming System With Happi Game Centre

HAPPI Gaming Centre on Raspberry Pie B and B+ (the first generation of Raspberry Pie low cost single board computers). I just love this little systems. There’s also a version for the new Raspberry Pi 2, but that’s still en route to me so in this video I check out the Retro Gaming Suite on my old trusty Raspberry Pie B.

This French retrogmaming suite that seems to be more user friendly then the other retro gaming suites available on the Pie when it comes to installing and configuring. And it is not as buggy as some of them are. It uses Emulation Station (ES) as a graphical front end (GUI) but it doesn’t suffer the issues with the front end the Retropie distribution is dealing with (black screen of death). Emulation Station is used in a manner that is compatible with the low RAM devices like the first generation of Raspberry Pies. Probably because the resolution is set to 720p.

The keyboard layout is in French so that’s a bit of a thing on a non-French keyboard as AZERTY is the way the French roll instead of QWERTY.

I have checked some of the console options available in the distribution. I didn’t check the Arcade emulation in this video. Perhaps in a future video I will.

I think this is a very good distribution with some speed isssues for some of the emulated platforms on a non overclocked standard Raspberry Pi B. I expect it to simply blast on ahead full speed on the Raspberry Pie 2. But that’s for another video.

Check out my experiences and further thoughts on this wonderful front end from France.

Verdict:
-Website & information on how to install and use are both in English and French and are very comprehensible
-Installation and configuration is simple. Not many settings but only a few controller defaults are defined, but it gives you ease of use and a slick GUI without a feeling of it all being bodged together.
-Pies supported B, B+ and 2
-video through HDMI 720p standard CRT shader enabled, that can be changed, doesn’t impact performance
-audio through HDMI varying quality depending on the emulator used
-The standard clocked B+ I was using the software on is a little under-powered for some of the emulators used

HAPPI GAME CENTER
http://mon-pi-et-moi.fr/

RETROPIE
http://blog.petrockblock.com/retropie/