Play on your PC as if it was a console, on Linux, Windows, etc.

[Cyan]

We know playing on PC requires you to set your hardware up, unlike a console were everything is already set for you from the get go. Although it's much easier to play on PC than in the past, in fact quite easy, the customisation and freedom requires you to tinker with some details. And some people want to avoid that.

That being said, there are some specialized OSes that make gaming on a PC a breeze, and some apps for certain OSes that try to do the same. I am not an expert on the subject so any suggestion is welcome.

This is a thread to discuss PC OSes oriented to gaming, gaming hubs or frontends where it is very easy to organize your games, emulators and so on and so forth.

edit: I was sharing a video where a guy uses Batocera (a Linux based gaming OS) to great effect and he said in the video that he got rid of his Xbox Series X and started using Batocera. (I removed the video 'cos the quality was awful.

This is the web of Batocera: https://batocera.org/ .

I use two totally independent Windows 11 partitions on my PC, a 1TB SSD one for productivity and gaming, and a 2TB NVMe one only for gaming. The good thing about both independent partitions to use W11 is that they communicate very easily. In each W11 partition the other drive is detected as simply the D: drive, which makes install and uninstall games on each drive a breeze.

I am thinking about trying Batocera in the NVMe W11 partition, but I'm not sure 'cos I have a LOT of games installed there and I've also linked my Steam account to both drive partitions and if I reconvert one partition to Batocera (Linux), I lose that.

So yeah, not entirely decided for now. Also, with an OS or app like that gaming with my family is going to be very quick and easy. Any suggestions welcome.

 

[Cyan]

found some alternatives to Batocera.

https://alternativeto.net/software/batocera-linux/

I used that webpage 'cos I remember hearing about some options like RetroArch (which I used twice but I don't get used to the interface), but different to RetroArch, and reading that page made me remember of RetroBat and Emulation Desktop Edition.

RETROBAT Officiel - Emulation station powered for Windows

RetroBat V6 is a software distribution designed for emulation and to be the easiest way to enjoy your game collection on your Windows computer.

www.retrobat.org

ES-DE Frontend

ES-DE (EmulationStation Desktop Edition) is a gaming frontend for Linux, macOS, Windows and Android

www.es-de.org

I think I am going to give Retrobat a try, 'cos it is the app (I remember the site was in french) I wanted to try like a year ago but I didn't in the end.

RetroBat is a software distribution designed for emulation and to be the easiest way to enjoy your game collection on your Windows computer. The supplied EmulationStation interface is fully functional and highly customizable. You can run all your games from it and search online for visuals to enhance the presentation of your collection.

RetroBat allows you to download, update and configure the most renowned emulators directly from the interface. You will discover or rediscover the best games designed for consoles, arcades and computers released to date.

No need to get lost in the options of a multitude of software, all the important options are integrated in the same unified interface.

With RetroBat, you save time that you can use to play!