7+ BEST Retro Gaming Distribution Systems [Ranked]

Retro gaming is making a comeback.

Growing interest in retro games is largely due to the fact that retro gaming has gone viral on popular live streaming platforms.

For example, the retro gaming category has over 1.3 million followers on Twitch.

While Gen Xers are the main demographic behind this meta trend, retro games are also gaining popularity among Gen Z.

This has resulted in surging demand for vintage games, consoles, and arcade cabinets.

The average price for a Nintendo 64 game has doubled over the last 5 years.

Best Retro Gaming Distribution Systems

Batocera is an open-source, retro-gaming distribution system.

A big reason why the platform is trending is because it can be used across a variety of devices (handheld devices, PCs, Raspberry Pis, etc.)

Batocera has almost 12,000 members on their Discord server.

The platform has approximately 1,000 stars on GitHub.

Lakka is another open-source platform that’s built on top of the RetroArch emulator.

It’s simple to set up and supports a wide range of devices.

One big advantage of Lakka is that it can turn almost any computer into a retro gaming console.

Lakka also has a strong community with over 8,000 members on their Discord server.

RetroPie is one of the most popular retro gaming distribution systems.

The platform runs on Raspberry Pi devices and comes with a pre-loaded emulator suite.

RetroPie has a strong online community with active forums and a wide range of resources.

Other popular retro gaming distribution systems include:

– Recalbox

– EmulationStation

– RetroArch

– OpenEmu (for macOS)

– MAME4Droid (for Android)

If you’re looking to get into retro gaming, then these are some of the best distribution systems to check out.

All of these platforms have active online communities and offer a wide range of resources.

So regardless of which platform you choose, you’ll be able to find everything you need to get started with retro gaming.