Retro Gaming on the Amazon Fire TV Stick (2024 Guide)

[@kumarp3074]

This was my original way of playing retro games on my TV. I got the original Fire TV Stick back in 2014 and was able to side load Retroarch on it via ADB command line tool. I later upgraded to a newer model of the Fire TV and added a USB hub via an OTG cable so I could connect an external USB drive and wired controllers. I still have that setup with my Fire TV Cube which is still useful for playing older games.

[@KWPZ21]

Is your OTG cable USB 3.0 or 2.0?

[@realai581]

Who would have ever thought you could do this. This is so cool, the fact you can play games on the FireStick is just mindblowing.

[@poopdogg666]

Its a modified android for tv

[@bobbykellar4359]

I've have a similar setup with stand alone emulators and dig emulator similar to retro arch .. it's for all systems. I also have basically all of the coin up games for the arcade on the mame emulator

[@valley_robot]

It's android, it has its own games library, adding emulators and roms is child's play

[@realai581]

@@valley_robot That makes sense actually, I never really looked into FireStick, but with that being said it is still pretty dang cool you can emulate on such a small device, you know?

[@kattz753]

Amazon blocked any other launchers besides their own a couple of years ago, so unfortunately, no other launcher can be used. You have perfect timing. I just brought my Firestick out this afternoon. It was glitchy and losing connection to my flash drive, which is 3.0. I switched to.a USB 2 and it's fine now. Thanks!

[@ryancox4689]

I use an older version of DIG, which works just fine.

[@valley_robot]

Just root it and put a custom rom on it , absolute nonsense using this thing on amazon OS

[@kattz753]

Yeah, I could root it. I'm too lazy. I have so many devices here that I could use. (Single-board comouters, tablets, Chromecast Google TV Stick) The Firestick is kind of a pain in the butt. I'll never buy another one.

[@WrappedInPlasticine]

Have you tried a powered USB hub?

[@WrappedInPlasticine]

Great video for beginners. I had come off the streets after losing my job, house and everything in storage back in 2017 and had to reclaim all that my family and I lost. After I reclaimed my furniture and was focusing on entertainment. I got a fire stick and got one of those OTG cables and a powered USB hub so I could plug in additional devices that needed more power. I replaced it with a PC and no longer own a fire stick but this should still work, in theory. I used a different setup, I got a 256gb SATA SSD + SATA-USB adapter by uGreen. It didn't require an external power source but if it needed it, I got that extra umph from the powered hub.

[@CheeseTouchTales]

How are you doing now man?

[@WrappedInPlasticine]

@@CheeseTouchTales thank you so much for checking, it really means a lot to me. You could've not and kept on scrolling like the others but you chose to stop and ask, it speaks to your character and I appreciate it. We all are doing great, esp now that my kiddos have someone to call "Mom" (their biological incubator was only that) and now we are a whole family unit. It goes to show that no matter how bad it gets, if you don't give up, it will get better.

[@CheeseTouchTales]

@@WrappedInPlasticine nice :D good to see your doing great 👍

[@CheeseTouchTales]

@@WrappedInPlasticine good to see your doing great man ;D

[@TheCatmmo]

I did this with my Fire TV stick years ago, and it works pretty well. I have a TV now and did the same thing. It's nice if you have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse for navigation too. It plays pretty well on lower end games. I usually just sideload apks on mine, but using the downloader app works well, also.

[@frankmoolah]

@Retro Game Corps Here's a tip: after sideloading DraStic, when browsing the directory for your ROM folder, use the mouse pointer to change it from "Grid mode" to "List mode" [through the 'list' icon to the right] to avoid having to use the mouse pointer blindly in order select your ROM folder using the fire TV remote instead... You're welcome 😉

[@olivernewton8584]

You absolute diamond

[@frankmoolah]

@olivernewton8584 that was breathtaking (in my Keanu voice 😁)

[@tylerbowling]

I got this to work on my Inisgnia Fire TV as well. Awesome! Thank you!

[@DucksAndDucks]

TY for this video--love having a firestick on every TV in the house with some retro games on it, so appreciate getting the heads up on a lot of this stuff!

[@W0lfenstrike]

This little thing could be a nice gift for someone who wants something simple to play 2D games with or even for parents with small children and a tight budget, after setting up Retroarch, finish up by enabling Kiosk mode and it's (mostly) fool/kids proof.

[@jaycee6438]

Exactly my thought

[@jurjcluners8490]

Russ making me get things I don't even need just so I can say I have it or give it to a buddy whose needs it fulfills perfectly.

[@ryancampbell955]

I did this a couple years ago. It's super easy and works great! It's also a great way to let my kids play older games. I highly recommend.

[@Bigboibremmer]

Hi, what website did you use for Roms please.

[@ryancampbell955]

@@Bigboibremmer hey, no particular site. I just do a Google search for whatever game I'm looking for.

[@Bigboibremmer]

@@ryancampbell955 thanks, I was just worried about dodgy sites but will check it out.

[@amirarsalanb5773]

Hi Russ love your videos you are the best keep going ❤ I need some help I have fire tv cube 3rd gen is there a way I can play gamecube on it ? It says 32 bits I can’t run dolphin on it. And if anyone knows some tricks that I can make the most out of my fire cube I would love to hear.

[@gagz9k]

My boy doing some fun intros. BAM, liked and shared the video.

[@ozzydoop5933]

Your video helped me to learn about RA & RETRO gaming on a Firestick 4k - the hassle i have is not seeing tge actual USB because of the unuts operating system which is OS 6- after some tinkering it does work but i needed a file explorer app just to confirm that the USB was present, then after a few hurdles & restarts i am happily gaming now but in the most basic of ways as i havent really sorted all the directories out, getting there thanks to you - several watches before i nailed it, so to anyone out there thinking that their Firestick isn't reading the the USB, dont worry it does, its just not displayed on the firesticks interface display screen 😀

[@SirMuddyToast]

Thanks for this! Just found out an old 64gb Kingston USB2 card and put a USB adapter and 2 SN30 controllers on my wishlist for payday. Looking forward to suprising the wife with 2 player retro gaming sessions on the living room TV!!

[@SirMuddyToast]

We do have an adaptor to power the Firestick off the TV USB port rather than the wall plug. Any experience with these and if they work with this setup? (Mission USB Power Cable for Amazon Fire TV)

[@PhoenixIndustries]

I was able to FTP my roms directly to my fire cube with the help of winscp and es explorer so I didn’t need a splitter or usb drive. It’s been working great

[@mattb6522]

Good video! This sounds like a nifty little option if you have a Fire TV Stick. I feel like almost any 8 or 16 bit title now can practically run on like a toaster. 😅 Seems like a good, inexpensive option to play many lighter weight retro games. It always seems like the Saturn gets the short end of the stick as it is one of the few '90s consoles that still has many emulation issues even in this day and age.

[@TheEdward86k]

This worked great , bought a gamestick from amazon but it was returned as was not great and followed this tutorial and now have any retro game I need . Thanks

[@herogear_art]

I have one! And did the retro emu guide you made originally! Buuuut I didn’t know it did N64! Gonna have to check this out!

[@ADHDreams]

Cool tip customizing the output size! I did this for the gba port of celeste classic to zoom in using custom interger scaled output size and it looks FANTASTIC, with some black bars only on the left n right of the screen on my rg351p (3:2) and my rp2s (4:3)

[@donnyf12]

Man you are fantastic! I was already trying to do this to add space on my firestick for my dvr app and I kept getting crashes and random reboots. I had no idea until I watch this video that the problem was with the power hungry usb sticks! In for a new 128GB stick using your link. Thanks for this and all your content!

[@joeygunther694]

I have the same issue

[@donnyf12]

@@joeygunther694 this did not fix things for me unfortunately​

[@john2001plus]

I bought a 4K Firestick a couple of years ago with the intent of using it for emulation. I never got around it using it, but currently setting up emulation on my new mini-PC.

[@mikeh.9954]

This is wild! Who knew so much could be done with the Fire TV Stick ...

[@lexlopez15]

A lot of people did. There are several videos that show you how from a few years back. Just do a search for them.

[@BeeLow0519]

Damn this could be the best way to get parents and little siblings into retro games.

[@WillShattuck]

I might do this for my kids on my tv.

[@demonhighwayman9403]

Thanks for this video, it gave me motivation to try emulation again with my nokia 8000 android tv box. After some formatting of a 16Gb version of the same usb stick you were using things actually started working, all I was ever interested in on this device was genesis and snes games I had as a young teen and the nokia (also a quad core)runs them great using an 8bitdo snes style controller.

[@julianvalencia9224]

Thanks for your consistency Russ you are a legend and one of the most helpful youtubers out there, would love to see a video on your favorite SNES games when you get a chance.

[@JAC3DG33K]

Great video and I learned the hard way to use a USB 2.0 vs. a 3.0. A 3.0 works for a few seconds and then crashes, so snagging a cheap 2.0 now. Thanks.

[@unclemike84]

And, BAM, another great video by Russ. Is the channel going to be renamed to Retro BAM Corps? LOL

[@Rollthered]

BAM! Another great video by Game Corps. Bam!!!

[@jaycee6438]

i bought a firestick a few years ago and put retroarch on it. I did it as a “just to try it” ; It was pretty cool and we used it a few times…. I may buy another one since a fire-stick upgrade would be nice…

[@danielstek203]

Great video! Keep this type of content coming. Sending thanks from across the pond 🤘

[@qquack1950]

Love the steam deck cushion, so cute

[@WillShattuck]

Great Intro Russ. I didn’t realize I missed the no face intros like in the old days. LOL.

[@Blackbird9070]

Russ is channeling his inner Emeril Lagasse today 🎉

[@ToyKeeper]

I love how people can just take any old brick of computronium and turn it into a full-featured retro mega-console. This timeline may be pretty messed up, but there are at least some good parts.

[@mr-iz8cx]

Appreciate you linking everything through your site. Nice one

[@audiop.9371]

The 2024 Fire Cube , claims 2x as Powerful as their 4k Max Stick. Maybe can do a video on the 2024 4k Cube.

[@audiop.9371]

The Fire TV Cube 3rd Generation is the most powerful one , unless theres a 4th generation out at the moment. The 3rd generation on the chart in comparison, is like Double the Power compared to the 4k Stick Max. Im very curious on how well it can handel newer systems Emulators,

[@kingforaday8725]

These type of devices are great for travelling. I always take one on a road trip. I have found myself in a room with an older TV or one where its difficult to get to some of the inputs so I also carry a small bag of video adapters.

[@Solegor]

Thanks for the tutorial and linking everything through your website! I can report back that i launched everything successfully on my 2nd gen Fire TV stick which i bought back in 2017. It's definitely not as potent of a device but it can comfortably run everything up to SNES and GBA. With some SNES games there is a little bit of slowdown, but nothing drastic. And for GBA, mGba core is too slow, i tried some other cores and one worked much better (gbSP probably, don't remember of the top of my head), practically no slowdown in any games. Also my stick doesn't even have 16 GB on board, only around 6, out of which like 4 max are free. But since PS1 and any other disc-based consoles won't run on my Fire TV stick at all , there was enough space for all my NES, SNES, Mega Drive and GBA roms. And I've connected Dualschock 4 that was lying around. So for me it's a win still, as 0 additional money was spent and some old Fire TV stick which I wasn't using for years, now is a nice small 8-16 bit retro machine🎉

[@petercintron5030]

Nice! I have one at home but I only use it for streaming. ❤ love your vids

[@petercintron5030]

Also Bam! 😂 1:00

[@Brucey69]

i gotta stop impulse buying at this stuff, your videos make everything look so much fun

[@chrisumali9841]

Thanks for the demo and info, have a great day

[@AnythingVids]

“Bam!”- Russ, 2024

[@Sui2807]

I tried setting this up a while back, but had no luck with it and ended up buying a bunch of those splitter cables cos I thought that was where the problem was. It didn't even occur to me to try a USB 2.0 drive. Thanks!

[@bep86]

Would this work with a usb hub rather than a splitter?

[@Bushidounohana]

Brilliant as always, Russ, thank you for your work!

[@JuliusGrohl]

Man, at this point, Russ is an official Internet treasure

[@disnoise]

Please a video about retro gamming in a Chromcast 4k, that will be nice :)!

[@Raphtor13]

You know what I would love to see you do is a walkthrough for getting Pretendo up and running on 3DS and maybe WiiU too.

[@_ericc.]

This is so sick I cannot wait to do this

[@eLinwelin]

You are the reason I got otg cable for my fire stick, thank you🎉

[@hibikiholmes2867]

I'd love for you to make a similar video but with a Chromecast!

[@scotmarsella3702]

Nice job!!! I have been emulating on a Nvidia Shield for a long time. I think you know TDUK. I have been watching his KZbin videos concerning the streaming side for a few years.

[@FunkyHQYT]

Bam! A Retro Game Corps video!

[@lorensims4846]

Fascinating. "Some games play slow." Well, you're playing on a Fire Stick after all. I'm only interested in Atari 8-bit games, so I think I can probably use the Fire Sticks I have. I'll also be looking for a dedicated Atari emulator that will run on here, but it's clearly worth a try. Thanks!

[@Tom2112Tom]

I love "subverting" big company's "razor handle" products (products they sell super cheap so that they can sell you a bunch of other stuff). YEAH! Stickin it to the man AND playing retro games!

[@TAGMedia7]

Something I feel that should be taken into account for these emulation showcases is the measuring of audio latency. I never personally noticed it until Digital Foundry started mentioning it in their mini console reviews, and now I can't not-notice it (it's no wonder I used to have issues with music and rhythm titles!)

[@kendarr]

This works super well for gaming streaming as well, I used a lot with steam link

[@gamernix5329]

BAM! is what all the kids will be saying soon. Thanks for the update on this device.

[@mohammadasifulislam2329]

Your videos are so relaxing 😌

[@rometherevenant8749]

Dont matter if im buying or passing on whatever is in the thumbnail, if Russ uploads im watching.

[@irkandcrew]

The Emeral Live episode BAM BAM!

[@henryblazer20]

super helpful thank you!

[@numberoneappgames]

This would be a fun project for the weekend hobbyist. I would love to see what you can do with an older used NUC box for fun. :)

[@poopdogg666]

steam os or batocera for one of those

[@SLRModShop]

"also bam" I rolled my eyes so hard But then you just went overboard with it and I was just smiling like a mor*n 😆

[@pizzaman42]

12:32 when I'm trying to map the buttons with my USB controller, each button press brings up the Amazon Firestick, and can't map the buttons... is there a way to disable the Firestick from popping up while mapping these buttons?

[@EdesWR]

I used the Fire TV Stick Lite for a while and played even PSOne/N64 without any problems!

[@Paul-ng4jx]

I’m very familiar with this app, but I’ve never really set it up in detail so I’m gonna watch your one video

[@mayhembro]

Recently got Daijishu setup and working. It requires selecting a proper core in Daijishu game list edit and the same core already downloaded in Retroarch.

[@FreddyPingus]

In other words that little stick has the same emulation power of a raspberry pi 3. For that price it's saying something :D

[@CLONE_IX]

Can you do a game streaming test with this one and maybe compare it to other sticks in the price range?

[@jsanch7]

BAM I had no idea I could do this with my Fire Stick!

[@danlittle519]

Fire sticks are awesome for emulation I preferred the fire stick to the pi3b+ Pi5 is a big step up though

[@thegrayzero]

Here we go again, another insta click on a video about a device i dont have nor planning on buying

[@NickTriHard]

Actually I'd be more worried if you had every single thing he talks about.

[@thegrayzero]

Nah, at this point I just watch his videos as a form of ASMR

[@SteveJohnson-ht6kv]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@jaycee6438]

I have a fire stick and did this a few years ago... using RetroArch!! it was pretty cool…

[@thegrayzero]

@derrickfinzer_retro I...I so want to type "whoosh" right now but I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not 😅

[@mark_midmark]

I love that you also do written guides, and this video is really cool! I may surprise my friend for Christmas 👀

[@seanbrent4245]

This is pretty cool. I wonder if my older fire stick would work

[@lexlopez15]

Yes but not as easy as the new firesticks because it involves installing adb shell and inputting a bit of code for the firestick to recognize the USB drive... There are several videos from years by different KZbinrs that show you how to do it, you just have to do a search for it.

[@azuresky2200]

If you try it please post if it works! :)

[@lexlopez15]

@@azuresky2200 there are plenty of videos showing it works on old firesticks. Just do a search on KZbin for it.

[@E.Cristian7]

Hey Russ! Great guide as always, nice to see another device as a door to retro gaming and other stuff. About your website is there a possibility to include a Dark Mode option? The black theme would be a nice way to some sore eyes read through your awesome guides. Thanks!

[@benbuttars5594]

Did you try any two player gaming? I’d be interested to see how it handled two connections at a time.

[@MisterClay]

How do you get a second controller to work with this?

[@tupaaak]

I'm trying to do this but my wired USB joysticks keep popping up Amazon shortcuts and I don't know how to disable these

[@RetroVGs]

Wow, impressive feature of the Firestick! Thanks for enlightening us!

[@chivatech]

I could see this being handy for when you’re traveling and staying at hotels.

[@nullgator8073]

Would love to see this for other streaming sticks if possible

[@AndyAKratz]

This is cool. Remember, RetroArch is NOT an emulator; it's a frontend. The cores that you use with the RetroArch frontend are the emulators.

[@svcross-do]

Could you also do this with a Chromecast TV 4K?

[@BoniBlackout]

Yes, I have one. I guess it has the same performance (4xA55 and Mali G31 2gb ram, but only 8GB storage). I use retroarch 32bit cause I read 64bit isn’t supported cause it has android 32bit.

[@Tapman]

Chromecast does not have alot of internal storage. Of the 8GB I think only 4GB can be actually used. But you can use a USB-hub for more storage

[@svcross-do]

@@Tapman yep, this is why I find it interesting.

[@Paul-ng4jx]

Plus like I said, I got the fire cube because it’s got USB a built right into the back of it so I don’t have to worry about a load draw crappy old USB memory stick when I got a high speed USB 3.0 yes it’s USB-C but I got a USB-C to USB adapter and it works perfect

[@ferrellsl]

I would really like to see a comparison between Redream and Flycast. Redream plays everything I've thrown at it very well.

[@jasonc3876]

I’ve had a Nvidia shield pro for some years and I’ve always wanted to turn it into an emulation device. I just get put off by all the setting up and the downloading of roms. I’d love to see a video on how to set up an a Nvidia shield Pro for emulation, a plug and play option would be amazing.

[@XxjeffersonDkidxX]

I would love a series of videos about tv boxes retro gaming. There is a lot of tv boxes and it's really hard to tell who is the best in emulating what consoles.

[@poopdogg666]

unless its an nvidia shield all the tv stick options aren't great

[@superpiratesevents473]

This video is AWESOME! Can you do this with 2 controllers?? Multiplayer?

[@adelin081]

Well... this video just gave me the idea of maybe installing emulation station de on my shield tv pro, I already have an external hdd connected to it, and use it as a NAS, might as well backup all my roms there and test out emulation station.

[@bevinbell6600]

I found it easier to use lemroid then retroarch. Lemroid will scan the directory and load the cores automatically. The only part that is hard is getting the games into a folder that lemroid as access too, the fire stick restricts the usable folder to only the one you make in lemroid.

[@TheLexikitty]

I had one of these until they plastered ads all over the Home Screen.. I should pull it out and see if I can rip that part out. Also, BAM

[@jinstinky501]

I'm getting a fire stick so I hack Sony from my hotel room while under arrest.

[@hargel3870]

Real

[@davidhg117]

Underrated comment 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@NEStalgia1985]

The only thing I like about Amazon fire stick is the fact that I can run play store and android apps. I dislike Amazon products so much I won't buy em period. Why you say, I watched. My grandparents buy 9 fire tables and they got scammed into getting the advertisement edition and couldn't exchange them.

[@NEStalgia1985]

Bro tell us bout the formatting over 32gb models much earlier. Almost user friendly keep trying

[@ChrisSimpson1979]

Funniest comment and ode to a true genius

[@pontiacfirebird04]

Cant get any usb sticks to work with this. Have formatted in fat32, checked they are 2.0 but still nothing. Theres not even the option for usb settings on the About menu? Any ideas?

[@DungarooTV]

This is pretty cool and inexpensive to set up, but I personally think setting up emulators via Retroarch on a Nintendo Switch or Valve Steam Deck is still the best way to play emulators on the go and docked on a TV with mobility.

[@momosgarage]

What about those old Amazon Fire Wireless Game Controllers, do they still work? What about 1st Gen Fire Sticks, can they be repurposed for game emulation?

[@ohdaUtube]

Is there a reason why Saturn standalone on the firestick 4k max from 2021 worked but not on the 2023 refreshed version of the stick? Does this mean the 2021 version is better?

[@MotownBatman]

BAM! Sounds like Emeril Lagasse in the Late 90s LOL