If you’re familiar with the EmuDeck name, you’re likely a Steam Deck owner looking for a simple, user-friendly way to run emulators on your Steam Deck handheld. Now, one of the programmers behind that software suite is dipping their toes into branded gaming hardware with the EmuDeck Machines project, which is now seeking funding on IndieGogo.
The EmuDeck Machines will of course come with EmuDeck software pre-installed, allowing users to easily “play their retro games from the comfort of their couch.” But they also promise to be able to run games from Steam and other popular PC launchers via the Linux-based, gaming-focused Bazzite OS. The vibe is definitely similar to that of Valve’s own aborted Steam Machines attempt from years ago, albeit in a less “official” capacity.
“I used to be a PC guy, but in the last 20 years I've switched to Mac, and in the Apple ecosystem, choosing a computer is easy,” project lead DragoonDorise told Ars in an email. “But then I wanted a gaming rig, so I started my search and boy oh boy was I lost. The PC industry seems to try to trick you at every turn, with trillions of options, hard to understand what's good and what's not. If you're tech savvy, it's not hard, you know what to buy and what to avoid. Then it hit me: I made emulation easy with EmuDeck, why not make hardware easy too?”
“The idea behind the EmuDeck Machine is to make hardware simple, just like EmuDeck did with software,” DragoonDorise wrote on the EmuDeck Patreon. “This isn't aimed at tech-savvy people. It's for people who want a hassle-free experience, just buy and play,” they added on Reddit.
What's in it?
The EmuDeck Machines come in two promised configurations. On the low-end EM1 model, an early bird price of $365 gets you an Intel N97-based system with 8GB of RAM and no dedicated graphics card. That's enough to play a game of about Hades with a smooth 60 fps and emulators of systems from the PS2/Wii era.
Upgrading to the $676 EM2 gets you an overclocked Radeon 760M GPU and an upgrade to 16GB of RAM. That promises buttery-smooth gaming performance for high-end games like Cyberpunk2077 And Returnaccording to DragoonDorise, as well as support for PS3 and Xbox 360 emulators. If the Indiegogo project is fully funded, DragoonDorise also promises that an optional Docking Station will be available next year to provide the EM2 with “Radeon 7600” graphics power.
Both models come with 512GB of storage, which can be expanded with external USB hard drives and a Gamesir wireless controller. It all comes in a square 8.6-inch chassis that's clearly inspired by the Sega Dreamcast, with four USB ports where the usual controller ports would be.
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While DragoonDorise says it currently only has a “working prototype” of the EmuDeck Machines, the IndieGogo project is promising an ambitious schedule that will see the hardware ship in December. “The only thing I'm missing now is the case, everything else is already sorted out,” DragoonDorise told Ars. “Where I'm going to get my components, cables, etc., that's all sorted out. And the timings I posted on IGG are according to what my manufacturer told me. If we end up being delayed, I'll just be transparent with my backers.”
Should potential investors be concerned about a software developer moving into hardware for the first time? “I have experience with distribution, because I used to have an online store that sold hundreds of devices a month,” DragoonDorise tells Ars. “I've never been on the vendor side, but you know what? When I started coding EmuDeck, all I knew about Linux was how to change directories and stuff, and it ended up being a huge success because I cared about the project, I believed it could be something that people would love to use. This is the same, my heart is in this thing.”
Overall, DragoonDorise's comments make EmuDeck Machines' efforts seem more like a fun hobby than an attempt at an ongoing business. “This is a project I'm doing mostly for fun, just like EmuDeck,” they told Ars. “I built a mini-ITX PC… and I was like, 'Hey, this is cool, let's do this,'” they wrote on Reddit. “I've always dreamed of doing this[ed] of making a video console, so this is it,” they continued in another Reddit comment.
As of this writing, the EmuDeck Machines effort has raised nearly $13,000 in pledges in just under 24 hours. But DragoonDorise tells Ars that he's only making $50 from each unit sold, writing on Reddit that they're “not trying to get rich here, I don't even expect to make money. I'm doing this because I think [it] is a fun project and I thought people would enjoy it.”
DragoonDorise adds in the comments on Patreon that they've tried to make the machines affordable for customers, but that “Indiegogo takes a big cut of the proceeds… they're going to make more money than I do.”
For fans of the EmuDeck software, DragoonDorise also promises on Patreon that working on EmuDeck Machines hardware “does not mean things will change on the software side of EmuDeck, rather it will bring more features.” In fact, features like CloudSync, ROM Library, and the EmuDecky plugin were added to EmuDeck “because I imagined the EmuDeck Machine with those features so many months ago,” they write, “and they finally made it into the regular EmuDeck for each and every one of you.”
Updated (5:23pm) to add email responses from DargoonDorise
