Meet Recalbox RGB Dual: Pixel Perfect Retro Gaming On Your Old CRT!

When it comes to retro gaming, I’ll confess to being a purist. I’d much rather enjoy a classic console game on its original hardware and original disc or cartridge. At some point in our lives, though, we reach for simpler, time-saving things. Maybe we crave a setup that doesn’t require half the space in our living room and a rat’s nest of cabling and various plugs. Which is exactly why I’ve been getting into Recalbox.

Retro Gaming Snobs, Assemble!

But as a bit of a retro gaming snob, piping those emulated games, digitally, to modern HD screens doesn’t feel right. They look a little too clean and sharp, don’t they? Say what you want about those ancient CRT displays, but that’s how these games were meant to be played.

Tell you what, let me illustrate this with an assist from meme lord Drake:

It sounds counterintuitive, but those scanlines combined with a lower resolution image make a dramatic impact. This is how the original developers intended their creation to look.

And as of today, there’s finally an easy solution for getting that pixel-perfect analog signal to your CRT. The people behind retro gaming emulator OS Recalbox are launching the Recalbox RGB Dual.

The little device is yet another genius use-case for Raspberry Pis. It’s a H.A.T. (Hardware Attached on Top) module that plugs right into a Raspberry Pi4, Pi 400 or Pi3. The result? Two glorious new video outputs: SCART and VGA! Its creators emphasize that zero configuration is required.

Combined with Recalbox 8.0, the RGB Dual will provide 15KHz signals on SCART and is 50hz and 60hz compatible. Better still, it will automatically select the original resolution and framerate of the game.

What You Need To Enjoy RGB Dual:

• A Raspberry Pi 400, Rpi 4 or Rpi3 with power supply
• SD card
• Recalbox 8.0 installed on the SD card
• A controller
• A CRT television

Recalbox RGB Dual is selling on Kickstarter for an introductory price of 30€ (or about $34 USD). But the company’s objective is to keep the price low even after the Kickstarter campaign finishes.

Recalbox 8.0 Also Launches Today!

Recalbox itself is an open-source emulation console that’s pretty versatile. I’m personally running it on the ODroid GO Super. You can install it on a wide range of hardware including PCs running Linux, macOS or Windows. But when you couple it with a Raspberry Pi 400, Rpi 4 or Rpi3, you get that sweet RGB Dual functionality.

Recalbox 8.0 is also launching with a hefty amount of new systems, depending on where you’re installing it. That’s impressive considering it already supports more than 100. Here’s a sampling of what’s new in version 8.0:

• Sega Saturn comes to Raspberry Pi 4
• Playstation 2 arrives on Recalbox for PC
• The BBC Micro launches exclusively on Recalbox (all platforms)

Today is a very, very awesome day for retro gaming enthusiasts.

So go rummage through your garage and resurrect that CRT TV that’s gathering dust! Save it from being shamed as e-waste! The Recalbox RGB Dual begins its one-month Kickstarter campaign this week, alongside the launch of Recalbox 8.0.