Here's where I have an apparent disconnect. And I'm not picking on Wicket, it's just that I do not understand why if a person that does not purchase modern games to be used on a modern game system would want to use Linux on that modern gaming system to play older games.

Prior generation console emulation has come a very far way on other devices and they do hardware emulation quite effortlessly - some are handheld even.

It's not that I believe that I'm right - I am a person that still plays some games like Mario Odyssey on my Nintendo Switch - but it's just a disconnect that I have. If you place Linux on a device not originally intended to run it, just to play older games (no comment on how you might procure those older games), then doesn't that mean that Nintendo (in this case) still has your money for purchasing the device?

Or is "sticking it to the man" mean that much now?

Curious question. Just one that I perhaps as a gamer do not get the fixation to put Linux in places where it actually loses function.

And for the record, I modded my Nintendo GameCube to play Japanese games, I modded my Sega Dreamcast to play all regions of games, I modified my SNK NeoGeo to have an HDMI port, I soldered a modchip into my first gen Sony PlayStation amongst other things. MAME was my then go-to emulation then later I found a perfect emulator for Killer Instinct and the NeoGeo as well.

Now? Just a Sony PlayStation Vita, Nintendo WiiU, a Nintendo Switch and an older Sony PlayStation 3 that was supposed to have gotten Linux but didn't... not by Sony at least.

I skipped the fun of rooting and modding...
I just use an emulator on my computer to play console games nowadays ...
used to enjoy the old nintendo and super nintendo classics back in the way way before timey times...

but frankly..the only console game worth the play time...
was / is "Vagrant Story"
Damn damn good game ...

(Disclaimer: as a non-gamer, I may be speaking from the wrong orifice.)

But that depends on what you consider "function", does it not? The way I read wicket's post was that the goal was not to run old games on a new console, but to run Linux on it. Running old games was just by the way, to illustrate that he is not against games on principle. He said, quite explicitly, that if Linux on a console were as option, he would consider buying one, for the first time in 17 years. In other words, he is "sticking it to the man" right now, by not buying one. The ability to run Linux would soften his stance.

I actually agree with you both. I have never driven a tractor but if one could be obtained cheaply and then modified for a purpose it was never intended for, namely my daily commute of 35 miles on a motorway, I might consider one

Now there's an idea...
Tractors are simpler to use than a car...and are for more multipurpose...
Not to mention all that space for modding...
I mean an OLDE tractor...one that can actually be worked on by oneself.
Not the modern ones...(glorified riding lawnmowers)
Good idea for the garden too.
quite a time saver....a good tractor.

The point of a console is to make gaming fun, easy to access as in "plug and play", no-hassle, definitely NO CODING, and to provide a "standardized" selling channel for content providers (=game studios).
Now the landscape has shifted due to the enormous influence of the internet (downloads vs physical sales), but the console paradigm has not. Sure, its has adapted to it (with downloads etc), but with strings attached (see the "constant 1.5 GB downloads to be able to play games" mentioned before). As such, in my personal, humble opinion, it _just_ _doesnt_ _work_. It's like trying to fit a square in a triangle hole. Sure it works for steam, on a pc. But on a console? Hell no.

I personally like Nintendo exactly for staying on this tradition even with the switch, in 2017. Say what you want, being able to own physical games is worth not being able to play the old ones on the same hw (except through emulators), because thats what the point of consoles is, in the end. When I want to play, I want to pick up the gamepad, switch on the tv and bang - enjoy.
I dont want hassle with bloody terminals, mices, configuration files, drivers, sound drivers, resolution configurations, and what not. I pay for the fun, not for the headaches caused by complexity of modern operating systems (and sorry but that includes downloads as well). Consoles are games as a service, in hardware form!

I hope you’ve heard of DreamPi, Henkaku and SD2Vita for your devices.

I agree with your point though: I understand, people like, wicked who want to own their devices. I’m a person like that myself. I will hack the switch just for the fun of it. But, I’m not looking forward to all the emulators and such, running on the 1000th hacked device, with another fork of retroarch now...but that’s another topic/issue.

Yes. No. Yes.

Thanks for the pointer. Weird part, I travel a lot so having those handhelds is less cumbersome than a collection of boards loosely fit inside of a 3D printed case or whatever.

Side note: I used to be in the video game industry. So there's a bit of camaraderie that I share with that industry. My Dreamcast I've had since the official release day - that's my "baby".

At least for me (and I guess that's true for wicket too), getting Linux to run on it is part of the "gaming experience", maybe even the most important part of it.

It is fun to see if you can do it and it's fun to figure out how to solve problems along the way - solving actual technical problems, not fiddling with spanners the manufacturer has thrown in your works intentionally.

If you've played with model railways or Lego during your childhood you might know the feeling:
Building up the tracks and landscapes or the cars and spaceships is the actual fun. Playing with the finished thing beyond the stage of mere function testing gets boring pretty quickly.

It's a totally different feeling to hit a wall because something is technically not possible or because your skills don't suffice (yet) on one hand and the manufacturer basically telling you "You're not allowed to do that for no good reason." on the other.


Oh, and on the point of EULAs:
Just remember that every time you accept one of those, the licensor slaughters a little kitten!

Naw. I remember those days very well. I got Linux on my Compaq iPaq 2210, my 1st Gen 5GB Apple iPod, so forth. Was fun while it lasted - putting Linux everywhere.

But I didn't see it as gaming. I did see triumph. Different take on doing the same thing decades later.

Totally!

Now I'm starting to see your gaming analogy...

Okay. I'm sold. I totally get your point and agree... definitely a "game" of sorts.

Too bad you didn't say puppy. I don't really care for cats