A Raspberry Pi Handheld Modeled After the Nintendo Switch

Nintendo has a long history of producing stellar video game consoles and handhelds. The NES, Nintendo 64, Wii, Game Boy, and 3DS are all genuinely legendary at this point. And that streak has continued with the Nintendo Switch, which combines the best aspects of both home and handheld consoles. It’s only natural that gamers would want to replicate the Switch with their own builds, and the Nintimdo RP is one of the best we’ve seen.

The Nintimdo RP was developed by Tim Lindquist, and he has provided the BOM, build instructions, and all of the files necessary for you to build your own. At first glance, it looks almost exactly like a real Nintendo Switch. But it’s actually a completely custom Raspberry Pi handheld that’s running RetroPie, which is an OS intended specifically for video game emulation on the Raspberry Pi. With it, you can play games from dozens of classic consoles, even up to the Nintendo 64.

To complete this project, you’ll need a full size Raspberry Pi — ideally the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, which is currently the most powerful model. You’ll also need quite a few additional components to make everything work, including the touchscreen LCD, a Teensy ++ 2.0 to capture button presses, LiPo charging circuitry, and a speaker and amplifier. The buttons and joysticks are upcycled from a Wii Classic Controller, so you’ll need to find one of those to sacrifice.

Once you have all of the components, you can use Lindquist’s STL files to 3D print the pieces of the enclosure. Then, prepare to spend a lot of time wiring everything up and mounting it, because there are a lot of components packed into the compact case. Finally, you can setup the software, which is the easiest part of the build. The Teensy needs to have the button capture code uploaded, but the RetroPie install is standard and easy to do. Once you’re done, you’ll have a very capable gaming handheld that looks just like a Nintendo Switch, and there is even a charging dock you can build for it!