Is The400 Mini as good a solution as a Retropie (for Atari things)?

[+Larry]

I'd be inclined to say "NO," but I'd be interested in others views.  What do you think?  

[mimo]

Absolutely not

[glreno]

Depends on how much work you want to spend setting up a RetroPie.

 

I bought the 400, but I already had Altirra on my PC.

The 400 is for playing games, Altirra is for programming. The difference FOR ME is that when I'm playing games I don't want to mess with which firmware I'm running and which disk drive I'm emulating today. When I'm playing with MAC/65 then I do.

 

If you're already happy with your emulator setup, great. If you're just getting started, the 400 Mini already has a legit copy of the OS loaded, a bunch of good games, and looks way cooler than any case you're going to put that Pi in.

 

...yes the joystick sucks, but so did the original CX-85, so they successfully replicated that part.

[leech]

What would be nice is if someone took the Pi400 and made an 'Atari' distro for it that could run the various Atari systems... It's pretty cool for a little minikit / all in one computer.  I have one from Orange too that's slightly different, but cool, since it has a VGA port.

[masseo1]

I would also say no.

I love the 400 mini, its a 1 trick pony, its really plug and play, which is a benefit for many.

I have a raspberry pi 3 running RetroPie and that covers nearly all of my Atari needs, but I end up getting lost playing Genesis, Master System and dreamcast games. I've played with Atari 8-bit games in there, but since its not the only choice available, its rarely my first choice.

Its not a bad thing just to play with the Atari 8-bit stuff and you sure can do it on the pie,  but the mini 400 forces my focus on Atari 8bit, and it has definitely helped me dig into the 8-bit's great library. I haven't played with any other retro system since plugging the 400 mini into my TV. If I get the New ZX Spectrum (If it releases in the USA), that will live along side the 400 mini.