There’s a certain charm to retro games that modern titles can’t quite replicate. In the ’90s and early 2000s, consoles offered straightforward, endlessly replayable experiences without day-one patches, season passes, or mandatory online updates. You plugged in the cartridge, grabbed a controller, and played.

Today, emulation lets us revisit those experiences on modern hardware. The challenge is doing it in a way that feels as good as it used to — without relying on cheap plastic boxes or clunky old PCs under the TV.

Why Mini PCs?

Corporate mini PCs are hitting the second-hand market in huge numbers as Windows 10 support winds down. Machines that once sat under office desks are now being resold for a fraction of their original price.

They’re ideal candidates for this kind of project:

Compact — small enough to live in a media cabinet.
Capable — plenty of performance for retro emulation and light modern gaming.
Affordable — often $200–250 AUD for an i5 with SSD and RAM included.
Sustainable — repurposing hardware that might otherwise become e-waste.

For my build, I chose an HP ProDesk 600 G4 Mini with an i5-8500T, 16GB RAM, and 256GB NVMe storage.

Custom Enclosure

While the hardware is solid, affordable and a great option for an entertainment, emulation or HTPC, the stock case isn’t particularly attractive for a living room. Fortunately, the wonder of 3D printing gives us a great option for making our own alternative.

After a bit of mucking around creating a 3D representation of the motherboard inside, I designed a new case for the hardware inspired by classic hi-fi gear, and the consoles of yesteryear.

Paired with a couple of 8BitDo’s controllers, it really looks the part!

The case is split into a few easy-to-print parts and includes a recess on the front for a decorative insert — mine’s laser-cut Tasmanian blackwood, but you could use any material that fits your style.

The whole thing can be printed in PETG or PLA on a standard 3D printer, no need for anything fancy!

Software

I’m using Retrobat - because my unit came with Windows preinstalled - but you could run the full fat Batocera if yours doesn’t come with windows.

I’m also running the Moonlight / Sunshine combo to allow me to play games from my main PC on the TV. This has been very impressive. I’ve not used this combo before, and I was genuinely impressed with how seamless it all was.

Performance & Cost

Handles emulation up to PS2/GameCube level smoothly.
Can stream newer PC games via Moonlight.
Doubles as a compact media PC or even a small home server with the right software.

Total build cost: ~$275 AUD (~$180 USD), including the mini PC, filament, and hardware. That’s less than the going rate for a second-hand Nintendo 64 where I live — and this machine plays everything.