Streaming of Video Games to a TV using Raspberry Pi

Bored of playing video games on your computer? Here’s an easy way to do so without having to empty your pockets. Make sure you have a NVIDIA GTX300 graphics card or higher before starting this project. If you don’t have one, please don’t start this project!

The parts required include a MicroSD card for a Raspberry Pi 2 or a normal SD Card if you have an older model. This is required to store the operating system. You will need a power supply; your cell phone charger will do. 1Amp power supply will suffice for the Pi. Ethernet cable or a Wi-Fi USB dongle is required for connecting to the internet. The Raspberry Pi has a built in Ethernet port. Also required is a monitor and keyboard and you’re good to go!

On the software side, you will need GeForce Experience installed. Be sure your drivers are up to date. Click on the little tab that says ‘shield’. Your PC is now ready. Before powering up your Pi, you need to install an operating system on your Pi. This is available on the Raspberry Pi website. Download the Raspbian operating system onto the MicroSDcard. Once that is done, be sure to click on the raspi-config and enable the SSH option. You can also customize your audio option. The authors have used HDMI for audio.

By enabling SSH on the PI, you can simply tunnel into the machine. It acts a secure tunnel for the Linux installation on the Pi over the interwebs. You require the IP address and host name of your Pi while pairing with compatible PCs. To SSH on Windows, use PuTTy configuration to enter details of your Pi.The next step is to download Limelight Embedded. You’ll need to download the latest Embedded version. The easiest way to download it onto your Pi is by copying the link address onto the Putty window. The Raspberry Pi downloads the files itself.

The command ‘list’ shows you the compatible PCs and apps. The next step is to pair with streaming PC. Type in the code in the streaming PC and the pairing is done. You can adjust the resolution and number of frames per second. Then add the game you want to stream and that’s it! Also, map the controller properly using bunch of commands after which you can get the controller to do what you want it to do.

So here’s a cheap way to stream video games onto your television set. There may be an issue of lagging, but here’s a puzzle for you to solve!