Retro gaming consoles are always a hit. After building the full size cabinet, I decided to build a portable one. The goal was to contain everything in the case, including controllers, HDMI cable, 5V wall wart, and an extension cord, because you’ll always need one. I chose a familiar look and scaled it up by about 30% to have enough room for all the stuff.

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MDF Frame

Construction is all wood. Or at least “wood-ish”. The structure is a mix of 1/2″ and 3/4″ MDF with some 1/4″ hardboard for trim pieces. Paint is Rustoleum 2x UltraCover with a generous amount of wood putty and sanding to fill in the gaps. The grille on the right side is 1/4″ hardboard made with multiple shallow passes on the tablesaw done on each side. It’s actually functional as an air vent. The various grooves were all made with a palm router, edge guide, and stop blocks. The flip-up front door doesn’t open, it’s just for show.

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What’s Inside?

Internally, it’s based on a Raspberry Pi 3B running RetroPie and USB versions of old school controllers. Panel mount connectors keep everything self-contained and easy to setup and breakdown. The front has one dual USB jack for the USB controllers and the back has connectors for 5V power input and HDMI out. I don’t remember which connector and cable I used for the 5V connection, but it’s an important decision since the Pi draws a fair amount of current from the 5V supply.

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All parts are off Amazon except for the nameplate which is 1/8″ acrylic milled on my homemade CNC (TBD). Stickers were then cut out with a Portrait Silhouette and attached to the back.

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Total cost (not including scrap wood for the case): ~$120.