“I've been playing with retropie fro a while and this had been on my radar for a bit, in the end i bought it to assemble and give to my Brother for his birthday.
It took about 2 and a half hours to build. I'm sure he's going to love it.
I'd be interested in one for myself, but i think i'd be more interested in a bigger unit with room for 2 players to play on the cabinet. But that aside this is an incredible little kit. Included instructions are a bit woolly, but the web guide and the video complete the picture.”
“Don't buy this if you're not a tinkerer; the instructions are borderline useless (lots of missing things, lots of outdated things that have now changed, lots of things the authors didn't consider answering) and the videos should be viewed as entertainment more than instructions.
Now that the Picade has been updated to the 10-inch display, you'd expect the instructions to tell you how to assemble it; but they don't. They'll tell you for the 8-inch display, and even then they miss out lots of bits, but it's worse for the 10. Even down to trivial things like telling you how to identify the pieces that are for the 10-inch setup (since they still include the pieces for the 8-inch even though you won't use them), it seems like Pimoroni forgot to have someone unfamiliar with the kit try to assemble it from the instructions.
The kit itself is easy to assemble once you find all the tools (beware again, the instructions forget to tell you that you'll need a flathead screwdriver and a pair of snip nose pliers or an adjustable wrench) but there are a couple of places where putting nuts on the screws is extremely difficult and really does need some small hands and expertise at feeling around in the dark to get done. Surely there's a better way to do this...?
The joystick assembly on the console is held in place by rotating it slightly so that the nuts catch on the edge of the holes, since they're too small to catch if you place it straight. This does lead to the vertical axis being slightly off, which is Hell for some games. Surely they could have included a simple washer? Having assembled it, it would be really hard to take apart again so I can't fix mine in this way; I suggest you get a washer yourself before you start.
Once it's assembled, it's virtually impossible to debug, so I strongly suggest attaching the wiring and routing it through before you screw it into place, and just hope you don't have to open the console up again. The wires do seem to clip into place solidly, which is the only saving grace for the buttons.
The post-assembly startup instructions show you the screen of the Picade, and don't bother to tell you what you have to press to make it work as shown; the laughable comments made on the video say some things they don't mean, and don't say the things that work, so this is all experimental. They don't tell you how to correct things if you get them wrong, and as of now, mine doesn't have the buttons on the front of the case working. I assume it's just configuration, but you'd never figure it out on your own so the Pimoroni forums are a must. I still don't know what the "keypad" on the back of the Picade is for, or how to test if it's working, and the speaker didn't kick in until I'd installed the driver and started Retropie, so don't worry if you don't hear anything to begin with.
The new version of the Picade uses the new Picade HAT X, which seems to do all the same things as before, but changes the PSU connector for a USB-C one, to match the RPi 4's PSU. However, as the RPi 4 doesn't work with the Picade (mainly because Retropie doesn't work on it yet), I used my RPi 3 - the HAT X still works with it, but I had to use the RPi 4's PSU. The new power button also has an LED inside it, but I found that it took a few minutes to warm up to the point where you could see it was on at all, so be careful when you're looking out for it. You also need to be very careful about the pins you connect because the instructions are hopeless and getting it wrong means it'll never turn on for you.
I had lots of issues getting Retropie and the emulators up and running, but those weren't Pimoroni related. Having got it running, it's super-awesome to have a massive arcade at your fingertips. Running Burger Time, Gauntlet, and Moon Cresta just fill me with joy!
The new screen, the case, and the joystick are lovely pieces of kit, they seem to be very hard-wearing, and overall I'm very pleased with it. It's certainly worth the money IMO, I just wish the instructions were better!”
“Very satisfying experience to put it all together. Good material and sturdy design. Little piece of feedback: In the instructions it's not always clear which screws to put where, especially when mounting the X Hat to the Pi.”
“Really neat and fun product!
The 10-inch display is a little confusing to fit in as the kit contains also the acrylic bezels for the 8-inch model. Once you figure out you only need the correct Base 1 with the triangular inserts + Base 2 and only Top 1, it will all make sense. Although a photo of the correct result would be a massive time saver.
I've made a quick installation video here:
https://youtu.be/atlEsoQ081U”
“It is well made DIY kit for first retro cabinet. I fully enjoyed assembly time and it was fun but it was not enough for 10 inch display information. There is only text description so I had to search more visual information on internet. Mine was overall works fine. Especially 10 inch screen is perfect to enjoy retro game.”
“The Picade is absolutely amazing. Easy and intuitive to build. Looks outstanding in my living room and myself and my kids love it. It even achieved the impossible and made my wife give it a go. I was missing some pegs and had a faulty power button but one email to the pirates and next they they sent me the parts. Honestly when you buy from Pimoroni you are not just buying the product but joining their extended family.”
