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rynlingEmudeck: Emulation Made Easy on steamOS
https://www.emudeck.com/
There's been a bit of discourse surrounding the Switch 2, especially regarding the price of the system and its games. I think a $500 game console with AAA games going for $70+ is fairly normal, but there are other issues. The main issues are: (a) you can't "own" a game on this console, even if you buy a physical cartridge; (b) you can only access a larger library of older games through a subscription service; and (c) many high-profile titles are Nintendo console exclusives. There's also the giant elephant in the room, which is that the general level of income hasn't increased along with inflation. This makes buying a Switch 2 more financially painful than it needs to be, especially since Nintendo is supposed to provide "accessible" consoles and games.
No one asked, but my recommendation (to people who can afford it) is to get a Steam Deck, which is essentially a gaming PC in handheld form. The $400 model is perfectly fine and plays Elden Ring and FFVII Rebirth with no problems at all. For me, the primary selling point of the Steam Deck is that you can also download Emudeck, which makes it easy to play an archived library of games for older systems ranging from the Game Boy to the Wii. Emulators for more recent systems (like the WiiU) take a bit of extra effort, but there are plenty of easily accessible tutorials on YouTube and Reddit. Thankfully, once you get everything running, Emudeck takes care of itself and lets you access your games through the main Steam Deck interface.
Setting up Emudeck is also a good introduction to figuring out how to navigate the console's Linux desktop. What this means is that you can download and play interesting super-indie games from sources like Itch.io that would never be published for an actual licensed gaming console.
There's a lot of chauvinism surrounding game emulation, and I think older people tend to forget that gaming PCs are expensive and not accessible to everyone (such as people with limited space, or students who move a lot, or people like me who need "work" and "play" to be on separate screens).
For someone who enjoys the convenience of a Nintendo handheld system, a Steam Deck running Emudeck is a godsend. Best of all, you don't have to join a Discord server to figure any of this out; even a monkey (like me) can do it.
https://www.emudeck.com/
There's been a bit of discourse surrounding the Switch 2, especially regarding the price of the system and its games. I think a $500 game console with AAA games going for $70+ is fairly normal, but there are other issues. The main issues are: (a) you can't "own" a game on this console, even if you buy a physical cartridge; (b) you can only access a larger library of older games through a subscription service; and (c) many high-profile titles are Nintendo console exclusives. There's also the giant elephant in the room, which is that the general level of income hasn't increased along with inflation. This makes buying a Switch 2 more financially painful than it needs to be, especially since Nintendo is supposed to provide "accessible" consoles and games.
No one asked, but my recommendation (to people who can afford it) is to get a Steam Deck, which is essentially a gaming PC in handheld form. The $400 model is perfectly fine and plays Elden Ring and FFVII Rebirth with no problems at all. For me, the primary selling point of the Steam Deck is that you can also download Emudeck, which makes it easy to play an archived library of games for older systems ranging from the Game Boy to the Wii. Emulators for more recent systems (like the WiiU) take a bit of extra effort, but there are plenty of easily accessible tutorials on YouTube and Reddit. Thankfully, once you get everything running, Emudeck takes care of itself and lets you access your games through the main Steam Deck interface.
Setting up Emudeck is also a good introduction to figuring out how to navigate the console's Linux desktop. What this means is that you can download and play interesting super-indie games from sources like Itch.io that would never be published for an actual licensed gaming console.
There's a lot of chauvinism surrounding game emulation, and I think older people tend to forget that gaming PCs are expensive and not accessible to everyone (such as people with limited space, or students who move a lot, or people like me who need "work" and "play" to be on separate screens).
For someone who enjoys the convenience of a Nintendo handheld system, a Steam Deck running Emudeck is a godsend. Best of all, you don't have to join a Discord server to figure any of this out; even a monkey (like me) can do it.
no subject
Date: 2025-04-07 09:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-04-08 12:22 pm (UTC)The Steam Deck is an incredible machine, though. I'm happy it exists. My only two concerns are that it's slightly too large and heavy for my hands, and you really have to exit whatever software you're playing before you put the thing in sleep mode. To me, the Nintendo Switch Lite is still a perfect console.
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Date: 2025-04-08 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2025-04-14 10:36 pm (UTC)