Since games began to be marketed, many people have become fans of them. Atari, Commodore and Spectrum, 8-bit and 16-bit consoles, later the PS1... and today with graphics close to what we see in movies. On PCs, emulation has also been played a lot, as much or more than on consoles, and today emulation is still very popular. It is an open secret that has led to EmuDeck to introduce its own Linux-powered console.
EmuDeck was born as a script for the «Emulation made easy for SteamOS«, but it has also reached other distributions, Windows and even macOS. Considering that there are portable consoles of all kinds that are working, the developers of EmuDeck They thought it would be a good idea to launch a console, but not a portable one, but a fixed one like the PlayStation or Xbox, with the main difference that this would be a PC with which you could play retro and not so retro titles.
EmuDeck Machine might not have the most attractive prices
The EmuDeck Machines, because there are two models, They are now on Indiegogo, and will start shipping when they reach the minimum expected. Prices for backers start at €359 for the basic model and €759 — in Europe — for the most powerful, prices that will rise if things go well and they end up selling them en masse. There is also the possibility of purchasing a package with a Nova Lite controller.
The operating system you will use is Bazzite, the best alternative to SteamOS until Valve releases itIt is an immutable operating system with virtually everything SteamOS offers, but based on Fedora and available for any PC with x64 architecture.
There will be two models, one with an Intel N97 and another with an AMD Ryzen 8600GThe most basic model will have 8GB of RAM, the most powerful 16GB. There will also be differences in the WiFi, which is faster, as expected, in the most expensive model, which will cost €829 if purchased outside of the promotion and with the remote control included, €699 without the Nova Lite, an offer not available in Europe.
Specifications
The differences between both models can be seen in the following image:
The most basic version will be able to run Hades, Cemu, PCSX2 and Dolphin, but it will not be able to run RPCS3 or Xenia, nor will it be able to run games like CyberPunk 2077, GTA V, Red Dead Redemption and The Last of Us, among others. It is clear that the combination is the EM1 with controller for a final price of 429€ if you expect to emulate up to PS2 and for the rest EM2 for €829.
Moreover, a Dock is being prepared which will increase the power and resolution, but they do not make clear if this will only be for the EM2 or will also be compatible with the EM1. Games like GTA V that would run at 110 FPS at 1080p on the EM2 would go to 163 FPS with the Dock at the same resolution or 40 FPS in 4K.
Will it be worth it?
From my point of view, and taking into account that the version that can handle more recent games is priced a little below that of the ASUS Rog Ally X, I'm not so sure about it.
Everyone decides, but to do so, you have to keep in mind that There are timid rumors circulating that Valve is going to launch a "fixed" consoleIt would be another consolidated PC, and since Valve is looking to make money with games, the price would be just right so as not to lose money, that is, almost like having a computer at cost price.
The latter are just rumors, or perhaps just the illusion of some of us who want a cheap gaming PC, but it is not impossible. SteamOS is adding features that feed these rumors, but…
What is confirmed is that EmuDeck has presented some retro consoles with design similar to that of a SEGA Saturn and will begin shipping around December.