Gaming Console: Running Your Favorite Games On An ODROID-C2 Using Android

February 1, 2018 @sodiniss Android, Gaming 0

I built a gaming console using an ODROID-C2 running Android 6. I use it to play with friends wherever I am. You can check out a video of the console in action at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfTRXIWRP8g.

Figure 1 - Gaming console using an ODROID-C2 and Android 6
Figure 1 - Gaming console using an ODROID-C2 and Android 6

Materials

  • ODROID-C2
  • Bluetooth dongle
  • 3 PS3 Bluetooth controllers
  • 1 Xbox360 wired controller
  • Wireless keyboard
  • 2.5” HDD with USB adapter
  • 5v2a usb charger
  • HDMI cable

I keep everything in a nice laptop bag. It’s "almost DIY", since Android is not Retropie. You have to configure everything by yourself if you're going to use it for gaming purposes. It took me some time to choose the right apps to use, but now it's working the way that I intended.

Software

  • Emulators: EPSXE opengl, Mupen64fz, Retroarch, and Reicast
  • Sixaxis controller to allow PS3 controllers configuration
  • Sambadroid for sharing the SD card through the LAN
  • Mixplorer as a file manager
  • HAL launcher
  • Teamviewer host
  • Droidmote server for using a smartphone as remote/ controller

Figure 2 shows the Lego case that I made with some pieces lying around. I love it, even if I had to cut some pieces. I keep it vertical because apparently it never gets hot)

Figure 2 - Lego case
Figure 2 - Lego case

As seen in the Figure 3, all of the pieces are glued together, except the upper part.

Figure 3 - Glued parts of case
Figure 3 - Glued parts of case

Figure 4 reflects the attachment and use of a standard hard drive (HDD). Note that the HDD matches the lego case size almost perfectly and gives it a neat look. I typically use it when I want to watch a movie.

Figure 4 - HDD attached
Figure 4 - HDD attached

The lego case did the trick as can be seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5 - Lego pieces working well as parts of a case
Figure 5 - Lego pieces working well as parts of a case

Figure 6 is the Home Screen HAL Launcher with customized settings for this Nvidia inspired look.

Figure 6 - Home screen
Figure 6 - Home screen

After manually adding game links to the Home Screen, it should look like Figure 7. Each game has its own customized tile, which I made with Photoshop. That was a lot of work, but I could not be happier, since it looks amazing. I prefer it over the various game front-ends because I do not have hundreds of games.

Figure 7 - Gaming links on Home Screen
Figure 7 - Gaming links on Home Screen

Figure 8 shows the Crash Team Racing running on ePSXe with OpenGL plugin with enhanced graphics and multi threading. The labels are darker, but that is the best configuration I could come up for the little ODROID-C2.

Figure 8 - Crash Team Racing
Figure 8 - Crash Team Racing

Figure 9 is Quake II running on ePSXe, playing with modern fps customized controls.

Figure 9 - Quake II
Figure 9 - Quake II

Figure 10 shows Super Smash Bros on Mupen64fz with high-res textures pack and a widescreen hack. It is the same for other n64 games.

Figure 10 - Super Smash Bros
Figure 10 - Super Smash Bros

Figure 11 demonstrates a game running in 60 fps, which looks beautiful.

Figure 11 - 60 fps option
Figure 11 - 60 fps option

Figure 12 is one of the very few games on Android that supports 4 players in a screen as well as gamepads.

Figure 12 - Multi-player game
Figure 12 - Multi-player game

Figure 3 is a screenshot of Firestrikers for SNES.

Figure 13 - Firestrikers
Figure 13 - Firestrikers

Finally, Figure 14 shows the Crash Bash game.

Figure 14 - Crash Bash
Figure 14 - Crash Bash

To view the original article, please visit https://imgur.com/gallery/cr74L.

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