this post was submitted on 31 Jul 2023
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For a good while, there was a bit of hype built around the Xbox Series S, in particular for the retro gaming scene. It was a cheaper device that offered a small form factor. Likewise, it allowed consumers to download emulators and enjoy various retro video games. But while this process was available, some consumers were skeptical. Of course, it didn’t take Microsoft too long before they outright banned emulators from being available in the marketplace, making it impossible to download and enjoy. That’s just the emulators being used in the Xbox Series X/S retail mode.

[…]

RETAIL MODE ON XBOX IS DEAD!

  • 15-day suspensions handed out to users of retail emulators as a warning shot from Microsoft.
  • Devs warning users to delete emulators
  • Retail Mode team disbanding and shutting down the Patreon. Sorry to bear the bad news. RT to warn others

[Article continues…]

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Pro-tip: Linus torvalds won’t ban you from using Linux if you use emulators

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Seriously. I never understood why people do consoles and buy into every sleazy tactic the companies pull.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Why not both?

This comment was sponsored by [email protected]

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

well, you see... not long ago, Valve barred Dolphin from their store because Nintendo told them to

but yeah, you can also run other stuff on the Steam Deck, it's a full featured Linux machine

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I used them for years until I switched to a gaming pc and steam link. The steam link is unfortunately dead as a concept so I just keep my tv as mirrored screen of my main monitor and plugged into my desktop.

But for what it’s worth it is easier to just buy a console if all you’re interested in is couch gaming

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Do you know if it works with arch based distros?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you very much! I’m loving Garuda but it can be inconvenient that it’s built on arch whenever I want something that isn’t a detailed explanation of what’s broken

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Neither will Windows. But issue is this was a way to use emulators, play purchased Xbox games, and still have an active friends list at the same time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Neither will Windows, yet. It won't be long before they start telling you what you're allowed to do, for your own benefit of course.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"How DARE you to run... EMULATORS... on YOUR Xbox? Oh, sorry... OUR Xbox!HAH!"

- Billy bill

Thankfully even a $10 dollar device can run playstation games nowadays so el oh el to whoever is running emulators on a console.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

ALL YOUR GAMES ARE BELONG TO US

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You'll own nothing and you'll be happy

~Microsuck

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

This is a real bummer. If I own the console Microsoft shouldn’t be able to dictate what software I run on it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If i own the console

Oh no, don’t give them ideas. Soon they’ll make you rent the console like some tech companies are doing. :(

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Pretty sure you own the console, but none of the software which is a license. So if you flash the console with new core software, you're good. But then you probably can't use an MS account, buy their games, run their games, use friends etc.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

They kinda already do that, you can finance an Xbox over the course of 3 years

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sure, there is a path to do that if you keep your Xbox off the internet. But then you lose multiplayer with friends, being able to download new games, etc.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Wait, you guys have friends?! 🥺

(e: You all seem to think I’m kidding. I’m really not. B1ueSkyRanger on Xbox.)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

You can still run all the emulators in developer mode. you just have to switch back to the walled-garden mode if you want to play actual xbox games.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

It just sounds like console gaming is getting shittier as the years go by. Like now I can't do what I want with it? They know the only things keeping old games from the void are emulators and enthusiasts right? Are they making these old games available? No? Then they should fuck off.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They dont want you playing the old games, because the old games were good with high replayability and staying power. The new games are designed for you to drop it before you mindlessly buy the new one hoping it will be better (it probably won't).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Or the endless microtransactions. Oh god the hideous microtransactions! These two things are why I stopped playing new shit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My App Store is a graveyard of games I deleted the moment they showed me an ad. I don’t care how good the game is, I’m not watching ads in order to play. I’ll happily pay a fixed price because developers and designers need to eat, but I play games to have fun, and constant ad interruptions are the opposite of fun.

Even worse, many games now want like $10 a week. Bitch, that’s more than I pay for Sibelius and the full Adobe suite.

Micro transactions, subscriptions, and ads absolutely ruin gaming. I’ll happily pay $10 for a decent game and $20 for a good one, but fuck off with the ads or ridiculous subscriptions.

/rant

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Lol don't even get me started on phone games, last game I played on a phone was fucking Bejeweled 3 ffs! Been done with those!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Honestly, that’s why I’ve been liking Apple Arcade so much. $5 a month, tons of quality mobile games with 0 micro transactions. Most games work across my phone/iPad/MacBook. I know that subscriptions kinda blow. But I don’t have Netflix or Hulu or any of the big streaming sites.

They just recently added Stardee Valley, and it’s also where I found out that Slay the Spire is fucking awesome. On top of that, there’s many updated classic mobile games that had all the micro transactions ripped out and put on there.

I’m no Apple shill, but I give credit where it’s due. Apple Arcade fuckin slaps

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Don’t forget the best invention mankind has come up with: loot boxes! Where’s your sense of pride and accomplishment?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I don’t think they care about the void, honestly. There was a story last week pointing out that like 87% of games are being lost to time. They don’t seem to care. They’ll just keep churning out clones and bullshit so long as the money keeps flowing. And it will.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Its a slow motion septic pipe burst. I'm just watching as 80% of people don't care and neither to 100% of organizations. These are pieces of our digital history. They matter. We can't see how things were before all the bullshit profit squeezing if no one preserves them. Even my "techie" friends don't give a shit. "Why would I care abiut old games?" Its so much more than that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I totally agree. It’s not frivolous; it’s an important part of who we are now, and it’s a real shame we’re already losing it.

In case you’re interested, there’s a fantastic video by NeverKnowsBest on [the entire history of video games] that I watched yesterday and found fascinating. There’s lots of vintage footage and interviews that I’d never seen before. It’s six hours long and I watched it in one go, it was so interesting.

I hope there are enough independent people saving at least some of our gaming history, because it’s a shame to see it evaporate like this.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I hope there are enough independent people saving at least some of our gaming history, because it’s a shame to see it evaporate like this.

I have a buddy who had fond memories of an old Apple ][ game, but he couldn't find it anywhere. No copy of the software existed anywhere he could find, for sale or otherwise.

After a literal decade of searching, he finally found a copy of the game disk on eBay! He picked up a 5.25" floppy USB drive, hooked up an Apple ][ emulator... And nothing. The disk was encrypted in some way that made it unreadable.

Not one to give up easily, he then found and purchased an Apple ][ with a working drive.

The disk worked!

He started researching old copy protection schemes and it turned out that the disk had information written between the standard tracks to make it unreadable by standard hardware, but accessible to the software on the disk when it manually tweaked the drive head's position.

One USB driver patch (and a couple months) later, he was able to extract the original software from the disk for archival. It works in emulators and is finally archived.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That’s amazing. I’m glad some independent people are doing things like this. Kudos to your friend.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Is there a reason you'd want to use retail mode for emulators over developer mode? I don't know what the two modes offer.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Exhibit number I-lost-count in why my 50/50 PC/console split a decade or two ago is now a 100/0 split.

Steam Deck killed off the last console gaming I was doing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The steam deck is the first "console" I've brought in a LONG time. It's definitely done right. The controls feel good, and have plenty of options for various games.

The default mode lets me play all my computer steam library. It's slick and mostly just works, even with older games.

On top of that, if I need to, I can just boot to a Linux desktop. It works with Bluetooth keyboards and mice, as well as giving hdmi and usb sockets via the USB c port (needs an adapter/dock). This means it can double for word processing etc, if required.

I actually struggle to find a viable feature it is missing.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Bought*

Yeah the steam deck is pog, keen to see future advancements

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Are these modified consoles or are they getting the emulator off the Xbox's own fucking store?

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Why would anyone use an unmodded console for emulating? Rooted devices and PCs are the way to go.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Because it’s easy? Why wouldn’t you? If I had an Xbox sitting around and it was an easy option that performed well, I’d give it a shot.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Mac-only household and I can’t afford a PC just for gaming. I don’t want one, anyhow. I’ve been gaming since 1977 and have always preferred consoles, from the Intellivision through every Nintendo (except the Wii), PlayStation, and Xbox iteration. I like controllers and hate Windows with the passion of a white dwarf.

But that’s just me.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Many emulators run on mac or Linux and you can buy usb-ended controllers for damn near every console that has ever existed.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh shit, really? I didn’t know that. Mac hasn’t been good for gaming historically, and I basically gave up trying ages ago.

I think you’ve just destroyed my week.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

https://www.retroarch.com/index.php?page=platforms

RetroArch has versions for both ARM and Intel based Mac's. You shouldn't have a problem playing up to Dreamcast, possibly later. There is a bit of a learning curve, but RetroArch is on pretty much everything now, and it's worth learning.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I haven't owned a mac in a long while, but I had one around 2012 and back then I was happily running N64 and SNES emulation and was somewhat active in the Super Mario World romhacking scene. I can only imagine it has improved since then. I know for a fact you can run tons of emulators on Linux because I have them all installed on my steam deck.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Can confirm - used to run Windows 11, got a steamdeck -> installed all the emulators - switch emulation is OP, was so impressed I ended out switching gaming pc over to linux. 90% of titles run just fine, the remaining 10% seem to be certain EA titles (and apparently that's just due to their crappy launcher).

Emulators to check out:

Linux-specific gaming (outside of Steam):

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

If you can do it on Linux, you can do it on Mac, right?

It’s a Unix system.