Some time ago I built an arcade machine to play retro games, using a Raspberry Pi and RetroPie to emulate old consoles. Since then, I always wondered if I could also build a handheld game console from scratch, downscaling all the components until I could make it portable enough for the hands. This project moved fast and was finished long time ago, but I had a lot of setbacks. The camera I was using suddenly broke and I couldn't finish the last scenes until very recently.
Step-by-step DIY guide: leandrolinares.com/blog/diy-h...
Update on this project: leandrolinares.com/blog/handh...
Materials (with affiliate links):
- Raspberry Pi (4GB minimum): amzn.to/3rEKhcD
- 5" Touchscreen IPS Display 800x480: amzn.to/3ryVvPP
- UPS+Battery PiSugar 5000mAh: amzn.to/49Uliaz
- Soft Tactile Button 8mm: amzn.to/3AlhsWl
- Soft Silicone 6mm Push-Buttons: amzn.to/3FN7VbN
- Filament Prusament PETG 1.75mm: amzn.to/3qJJ3O0
- Check this guide for a more detailed list of materials: leandrolinares.com/blog/diy-h...
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Music:
Would you like to use the music you listened in this video? Create an account on EpidemicSound using my referral code: share.epidemicsound.com/zhhk2j
Timestamps
0:00 First prototype
0:37 Display
1:05 Buttons
1:58 Battery
2:29 Wiring
3:51 Case
5:33 Reveal
I hope you enjoy the video! I'd really appreciate it if you consider subscribing :)
How would you add analog sticks to build? And how did you get buttons to work, did you write script?
To make buttons to work I installed Adafruit Retrogame github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-Retrogame Since the raspberry pi doesn't have analog inputs, you need either a specialized hat or add, for example, an arduino.
Can you please upload more of such builds@@LeandroLinares
@@xc864 you can use a ardunio micro but it this plus sides and down sides
@@LeandroLinareswhat are you gonna name the console
What a time to be alive. The fact that anyone can build a portable gaming console that runs every game of my childhood never stops to amaze me.
Anyone with the right skillset, tools and enough money
not necessarily with skills, you just have to really want it. Really, anyone can do something like that, THEY JUST HAVE TO WANT TO!!!! Nowadays you can find everything you need on the internet, so...
@@mihaiciornei5648 Wanting to do something often leads to developing the skillset you need. But we still have to acknowledge the time people have to put in to learn something like this. Yes, you can learn these skills online but even if there is a step by step tutorial it's not easy and not everyone can do it.
Anyone, huh?
@@MediaMagnet. yes
This is honestly one of the cleanest builds I've seen on a DIY console.
please start uploading again❤
Fr
Darn, right it is! We here at Leandro Linares Enterprises don't make no Dirty Builds on our DIY consoles. You ain't gonna find no dirt stains on our products!
I remember watching this kind of stuff years ago, before 3s printing was a big thing. People were playing electronic Frankenstein. Pretty cool, not so clean.
@@ZackThoreson Haha yeah me too, they all had very cyberpunk vibes
The whole vibe of your cinematography+soundtrack is so pre 2015 I love it
bro i respect ur hardwork ,....definetly subscribing
The sheer amount of knowledge, passion and patience this brother posses is mind blowing. Loved every bit of it.
Yeah it’s really impressive I would have absolutely no idea how to build like this myself but I absolutely love my aya Neo 2021
@@therunawaykid6523 i also recently got myself a deck and i am loving every bit of it. although i missed the sale by few days haha
🤦♂
@@jorisbonson386 ?
@@rekushiii ?
Great build man!' Awesome cinematograpy, was a joy to watch ^^
Thank you so much. Really appreciated 🙏
right!
@@LeandroLinares out of interest what is the battery life and can it be hooked up to an external display to play the games?
@@LeandroLinares please give me
@@lensterrodrigues5173?
this is just a hidden gem, this is a truly understandable video with all the stages and development. and most importantly, even without a single word(!) everything is absolutely clear from the main idea of the video
You did it so well that I really couldn't stop myself from looking at this handheld console. One of my biggest dreams is to design my own handheld console and thanks to this video I got more enthusiastic THANKS and good luck.
just came across your vids from yt recommendations, its so cool to get to see how consoles work with all the electronics. Great vid!
This is literally one of the best builds and looks professional that I've ever seen, amazing and great job. Wow! Are you selling this case, I would buy it quickly.
You make it look so easy. Excellent build 👌
Beautiful. Immaculate. Marvelous. Thank you for sharing what humanity can accomplish when there is joy involved. This made me cry.
designing a handheld looked more complicated than i imagined! Thanks for sharing it. Lets appreciate every console designer, factory assembler on handheld of their hardwork for our entertainment.
great video, interesting design process. love seeing how others make things. you made it look so easy!! would love an extended video about the build process, how you made certain design choices, what you'd do for V2 and pros vs cons ect! subscribed for more!
This project is just perfect, I really would love one day be able to bring to the reality my ideas as you. Thanks for this I really appreciate this type of content. Te ganaste un nuevo sub:)
Thank you so much for the kind words!
This has been something I've wanted to try for so long! I think you've inspired me to get started!
dude..this is sick! really admiring and I really enjoyed what you've done!
All about this project is amazing! The final product and the making of. Your building and shooting skills are awesome :)
Wow! That's awesome! I just picked up my first printer, I hope to be able to do this kinda of stuff too
This was so amazing to watch from start to finish.
Nicely done! The more I look, the more the DIY aesthetics of it feels like a style in itself
This is inspirational, the end product looks amazing. I'm building one based off a laptop, not quite as all out as yours (mine uses joycons rather than custom controls) but still taken more than a year to design and build, so I appreciate what went into this!
Sounds like an amazing project. Repurposing components is one of my favorites hobbies. Please send pics (or video?) when you finish!
Heyy awsomeee btw what magor is this to learn in school (just asking)
@@kairodriguez5738 Not sure sorry! But you could look for something computer science or Design Technology related and see what is involved in the course :)
@@kairodriguez5738probably computer science or robotics if thats a thing
May I ask how yours turned out?
just wanted to say i love all your projects! as an accountant, im way out of my league when it comes to learning basic engineering principles like this but your videos have helped me get my feet wet with small electronic projects. Very much appreciated!
One of the best build videos I have ever seen. Pretty cool
Looks so simple and beautiful
What a legend, I'm definitely gunna try my hand at something like this. Absolutely beautiful!!!
Can it only play games? Or can I have it play games and run vlc for movies TV and music I install? Really really wanna give this a try!
What an AMAZING job!!! It's always good to have people who expose a little of their gifts so that others can be inspired and creative to make their products when they feel like it. This inspires people to create new projects and it will definitely always be good! I'm from Brazil :) 🇧🇷
Thanks Kelvin 🙏 It means a lot when people appreciates what I do
@@LeandroLinares how long did it take to complete?
This is love, loving what you already loved
that's awesome, the components are so neat, the spirit
I don't know why companies can't just make such a simple design, if one man can do it. It looks absolutely gorgeous, it's perfectly sized and seems very comfortable.
Exactly, it's always a nasty square, with a dozen buttons. Either really small or really large. And a $h!t d-pad and small buttons as well. Oh, not to mention they're always cramped.
Great build, enjoyed the video. Looking forward to your next handheld!
Amazing job... One of THE cleanest build
This video made my eyes stick to the screen until the end! What a clean console. Great Video!
Man, I had this same concept in my head for the last 3 years. The only thing I couldn't get around was the power supply. I wish I had known about the PiSugar as I couldn't find anything that could had a discharge above 1.5A. I was using the 3A+ for a slim fit. Same screen as yours. Was wanting to add at least one Joy. I'm glad to see someone did it. Please keep revising this. Sell some kits. Makes some cheddar!
Hey! I've been in that same place with the power supply for a very long time!! I also tried to add a joystick but couldn't find a workaround to the raspi not having analog inputs. Adding a hat for that was out of the equation for the size of using a model B. I tried to find a tactile 8-way directional switch (some kind of digital joystick) but only found the 4-way ones (no diagonals). Anyway, I hope this video encourages you to finish your project!!
@@LeandroLinares hey man, could you upload the 3d file for the case ? It's absolutely perfect and I wanna use the same one in my project. Amazing build and video, you just inspired lots of people to get into raspberry pi!
@@dragos8839 hey, thanks!! The case needed a bunch of tweaks that I didn't show in the video, and using the exact same components is a must. I'd say the 3d files are far from finished, and I'm already moving into the next project. So, I probably wont spend time on finishing it in the near future.
@@LeandroLinares it's perfect the way it is, it's the closest I've seen to what I want to do. I could edit it a little on my own (cut/add a few things), it would be extremely helpful if you could share the file. Thank you very much for this and great work again!
@@LeandroLinares good job man. I just want to know if the buttons are automatically recognized as the correct input for that button is press? or do you need to map it out via a code in pi?
Amazing build. It was also well lit and edited. Great job
That is so cool! You're really to be able to make all the parts and figure out how to put it all together
An awesome indie project, liked the design as well
This looks legit man, its so smooth something like an actual product
Thank you Thank you 🙏
Hey, This is super awesome. Do you have the stl files somewhere, if not, can i buy them from you or a website? Thanks. This is the best design i have ever seen for a handheld video game!
Dude, this is amazing work!
This is great. Straight to the point. No BS. Perfect! I subbed🎉
Hands down to the best cleanest build I've ever seen for RPI 4 🔥🥵. Would be helpful if the circuitry and the stl files shared!
This looks like something that would be on a store shelf. It is very well built.
except cable management. But it can be solved with custom pcb
Thank you. I am planning my own build. Modifying the STL to your specific hand size would be ultimate.
You successfully complete the project.. what a great design❤❤
Damn this is super impressive, i really liked how you layes out the steps
This looks great I love how it looks like it’s more easy to grip then a switch but it feels like it should had have analog sticks
gta sa without sticks 😭
This is such professionally done. Great work for a prototype and proof of concept. Just needed sanding!
Thanks! 🙏 I sanded it, but PETG turned out to be very difficult to work with. I was afraid the console was going to reach high temps, but it didn't. So, I'll use PLA next time, sand it, and paint it :chef-kiss:
Made it look so easy! Awesome build!
This showed up on my home page, love it! Very nice build and looks like a fun project. Sure it’s been mentioned but you should sell the STL files as a project for people to print on their own. I would love to build this and would gladly pay for the project files and print it on my own for a build.
currently learning all these skills from scratch to create my own custom gaming controller (has a twist to it) and loving the process and i honestly dont know how many times ive come back to your video for tips, motivation and the way you make it look soo simple helps me when im over thinking the process. Absolutely love your content and the music, hope to see some new content from you soon!
Thanks a lot 🙏 I really appreciate it
I really really really want to do this myself! This is a project of yours that I am jealous of!
Your editing is of an absolute pro. This video is awesome and you deserve millions of subs for this. You did a great job and I want to build my own now! Thank you for. The inspiration and I hope you have have a great day thank you for this.
Thank you 🙏
@@LeandroLinares Your welcome!
Seu trabalho é incrível!, você poderia fazer agora os botões analógicos e dar uma customizada na carcaça ia ficar maravilhoso.
Carcaça de aluminio ficaria absurdo.
Could you please link the stl files/thingiverse link in the description? Thanks! The build looks incredible and I have an rpi 3b which I think will work for it.
Amazing video! Really inspires me to finally get started on my own similar project!
I love it. I'm trying to do exactly this, just waiting on pi zero 2 w's to get accessible. Great job!
I hope all the pi's get accessible again soon. Send pics when you build yours 🙏
Mano, Anbernic e Retroid tem que aprender com esse cara, a ergonomia desse console parece ser muito boa e confortável, pena que essas empresas não fazem portáteis se baseando nisso, projeto muito bom
to be fair, my RG405 is pretty ergonomically pleasing. I love the design.
@@necrolyptic É bom mesmo, mas esse é melhor. Ainda assim, o RG405 ficaria bem melhor do que é se eles mudassem o estilo dos botões de Gatilho (L & R).
Muy buen proyecto! Podrías compartir el STL para poder imprimir? Muchas gracias y éxitos!!!
That screen is SO GOOD!
It looks so good! And that mask with the pens at 4:02 was sick ;D congrats!
this is literally what I want, I would buy this if this was a whole project was available as a kit.
This is so satisfying to watch!!
This is truly amazing !!!
You made all these companies look like toddlers.
Wow amazing build. Any chance you would share the 3d files for the print? Thank you for making content like this
I’ll do you one better, if You know a little bit of modeling, source a scan of an Xbox controller and use that as a 3d ref for your base, it’ll turn it better than his, especially since he didn’t get the profile of the controller.
Nice..will give it a shot @@Dulioatm
dang. this is the slickest video and diy console ive seen in my day.
Brilliant bro....! good to see you guys!!!
I always come back this video because damn.. this is the form factor we have always wanted but have never really got. You should start a company.
Yeah I agree definitely one of the nicest looking home made devices I’ve seen on yt, a lot of the time things like this can either look unfinished or badly built
This is awesome! It looks like it's very comfortable to hold and ergonomic, too. It's really neat to see DIY stuff like this from start to finish, and the fact that everything but the components were 3D printed is also interesting. How did the 3D printed buttons/D-pad feel? Did you like the responsiveness and feel of the buttons? I mean I saw that you went through several different options, but as they were all 3D printed, I just wanted to know how nice they feel compared to buttons/d-pad on a first party controller?
Hey, thanks 🙏 The responsiveness of the buttons feel good. It's not as good as a real controller, though. Especially with the d-pad. I need to give the d-pad more room to move because it feels kind of limited sometimes.
Nice flow/camera work. 🤎
I love how this is all step by step
Can I get the case stl file for 3d printing also is there a way I can add joysticks to it
если использовать ее чисто для игр - то проще просто пс виту купить, а так тут еще и минипк с линухсом из коробки, было бы круто как дек подключать ее к экрану
тут же не идет речь про минипк, это просто чел сделал консоль с эмулятором старых игр, так как на большее железо ардуино не сможет
@@deeathyymashina чел это распберри.... подключи клаву, зажми кнопки нужные и из этого эмулятора ты попадешь в линукс. Причем это мощная распберри.
@@deeathyymashina у него Raspberry Pi 4 model B, посмотри на ее характеристики и что с нее делали.
Bro well done the screen peel at the end was so satisfying...... 😍😁😊.
What a beautiful little thing! I just wish there were more details as in how you managed to fit the size on those components while you were designing the shell.
And just imagine that if you also design the pcb and all the soldering yourself. I can see a lot of protential in it.
Sensacional o design e projeto mano! Teria como você me enviar os arquivos 3D? Ficaria muito grato.. tenho uma noção de programação e eletrônica mas de impressão sou bem iniciante, inclusive encomendei uma Ender 3 v2 essa semana! Queria tentar reproduzir seu projeto, se você não se importar )
"I _designed_ my own gaming console." Proceeds to make a Steam Deck.
I'd kill to have those skills... Damn. You're a genius! The handled looks amazing, makes me want one
Absolutely amazing.
Beautiful work. I hope the video blows up!
Wow amazing job, Congratulations. Very inspiring i must say. Just subscribed to your channel. Keep up the great work.
I like the fact that it was right to the point.
Sending ❤ Congratulations, looks amazing!
Really cool! Congratulations!
This looks amazing I am trying to build for myself and I love your case
This is absolutely amazing.
Wonderful! Congratulations!
If someone would release a console like this in the industry i would buy it jut because it is so clean! Good job
This was awesome to watch and witness
so much effort, keep up the grind
The new switch looks cool!
need more video to make console like this with full tutorial by the way nyc effort👌
You are amazing dude! Well done!!
Thanks for this video. Really inspiring 👍
It looks excellent, impressive how many disciplines you're good at to 100% complete the project. I want to see a nice paintjob on your gadget. 😎
Thanks a lot! Really appreciate it 🙏 For the next iteration I'll be switching to PLA and painting it!
@@LeandroLinares sos español?
This was the coolest video I ever seen in my life!😮
I LOVE THIS EDITING AND HOW IT LOOKS LIKE ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
This was so good to watch.❤
You are incredibly talented.