Retro Gaming PC Installation

To bring back some mid-90s gaming experiences for a pop-up event we needed to find a simple, quick, and relatively inexpensive way to build a set of gaming computers running some retro game favorites.

We were able to source some HP, Tandy, and IBM desktop computers from around the internet. We sourced new but retro-feeling keyboards, mice, and headphones, and found some working refurbished early flat screen monitors. To complete the look some custom cases were created to make the monitors look like CRT monitors.

For functionality we built several Raspberry Pi computers with custom configurations to make them instantly boot to a game selection screen so that users and brand ambassadors would be able to simply turn them on and start gaming faster than these same games might have worked in their heyday.

We sourced cases for the Raspberry Pi’s that included both extra heatsinks and fans, as well as power supply with an inline power switch to make turning the systems on and off as easy as possible.

As each PC case was different we had to find an internal space to mount each Pi and still make cable access possible. Ultimately a very fun project with a quick turnaround and a successful deployment.

Author: Mike Wszalek