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An Open Console That Could Actually Ship

September 1, 2025
open-source gaming hardware Linux Mesa Godot retrogaming community 📁 Xaxis/an-open-console-that-could-actually-ship

I went looking for truly open gaming platforms, what we can learn from the near misses, and a practical blueprint for building one people will actually use.

Table of Contents

The question I sent a friend, turned into a rabbit hole

I emailed a buddy this morning and asked: why is there no obviously successful, soup to nuts, open source game platform you can assemble from PCB to OS to 3D printed shell? I do not mean a one-off Raspberry Pi build. I mean a platform that multiple companies sell, a place where indie devs actually ship games, and where the whole stack is open enough for an enthusiast to build and hack.

Then I did the reading. There have been serious attempts. None reached escape velocity. But the path to something viable is clearer than I expected.

Below is a map of what exists, why those efforts stalled, and how I would design a platform that stands a real chance.

Quick definition check

When I say open source here, I mean:

  • Schematics and PCB files are published or at least the schematics, with a documented path for homebrew building or modding.
  • The OS, drivers, and SDK are open, with permissive licensing where possible.
  • The platform is designed from day one for multiple vendors and community forks.

I am not demanding that all games be open source. The platform is the thing.

What already exists and what we can learn

The handheld lineage people forget

  • OpenPandora and its successor DragonBox Pyra: Linux handhelds with keyboards, analog nubs, and communities that kept them alive for years. Pyra runs Debian and was explicitly designed for modularity, including a swappable CPU board and published schematics pre-release. It aimed for FSF RYF compliance but still relied on a proprietary SGX GPU blob, which limited the dream of a fully free stack.

  • GCW Zero: a Linux handheld funded on Kickstarter in 2013, built for homebrew and emulation with OpenDingux. It shipped, it worked, and people liked it, but software momentum and supply were limited.

  • ClockworkPi GameShell and uConsole: explicitly modular kits you assemble yourself. Cases are 3D printable, parts are swappable, and the community maintains STL repos and forums. uConsole leans on the Raspberry Pi CM4, which is accessible and documented. This is the closest vibe to what I mean by an open platform anyone can join.

  • ODROID-GO and variants: open kit, schematics and code on GitHub, and inexpensive components that invited tinkering. Great for education. Not really a cohesive ecosystem.

  • Tiny open kits like Arduboy and PocketSprite: fully hackable, documented, and beloved, but intentionally tiny scope. They prove that publishing everything and building a scene around it can work, just at micro scale.

  • MiSTer FPGA: not a console in the modern sense, but an open project with a huge and active ecosystem that reimplements classic hardware on commodity FPGA boards. The community is thriving, documentation is excellent, and multiple vendors sell add-ons. It shows how strong a platform can be when you standardize a core and let the community bloom.

The lesson from the failed “open-ish” consoles

  • OUYA nailed Kickstarter hype, but the store lacked must-have games, the controller and performance were shaky, and the value prop overlapped with phones people already owned. Sales fizzled and dev interest faded.

  • Valve’s Steam Machines launched before Valve solved the Windows-game-on-Linux problem. Asking devs to port natively to Linux did not scale. Only after Proton arrived did the Linux gaming story click, culminating in Steam Deck. The moral is brutal: compatibility first, then hardware.

Why none became a mainstream platform

  1. GPU driver reality: without strong, up-to-date, open drivers, modern 3D games are a non-starter. The good news: Mesa’s Panfrost for Arm Mali and Freedreno/Turnip for Qualcomm Adreno have matured a lot. Panfrost is OpenGL ES conformant on Mali G52, G57 and G610, and PanVK has Vulkan conformance for Mali G610. Turnip is a Vulkan 1.3 driver for Adreno 6xx and is now mainstream in Mesa builds for ARM64. That is a big shift from five years ago.

  2. Content problem: no widely adopted SDK plus no clear path for publishing means no games. Godot is exploding in popularity, but official console exports involve partners due to SDK restrictions. For PC-style Linux targets, it is fine. For proprietary consoles, there are legal hoops. Our open platform should lean into PC-style distribution instead of chasing Sony or Nintendo.

  3. Distribution and UX: OUYA had a store, but not the games. Others had Linux, but not a great ten-foot experience. Valve’s gamescope micro-compositor is a real answer for couch UX on Linux. It is open, proven on Steam Deck, and ripe for reuse.

  4. Manufacturing and certification drag: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth raise FCC and CE realities. Using pre-certified radio modules reduces cost and risk, but you still have to verify the final product. Kits and reference designs can thread the needle.

A plan that can work in 2025

If I had a year to focus, here is how I would design an open platform with a real shot.

1) Choose silicon that likes open drivers

Pick a SoC family where Mesa already sings. Two practical routes:

  • Rockchip RK3588S or RK3566: widely available boards and modules, Mali G610 or G52 GPUs with Panfrost and PanVK maturing. Documentation and community are workable, and performance per watt is solid for handheld or set-top boxes.

  • Qualcomm-based modules with Adreno 6xx: harder to source as hacker-friendly compute modules, but the Turnip Vulkan driver is excellent. If a vendor-friendly CM materializes, this becomes attractive.

Design constraints I would lock in:

  • 5 to 15 watt envelope for handheld, 15 to 25 watts for a small console.
  • NVMe storage, replaceable battery on handheld.
  • Standard M.2 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth using a pre-certified module to help with regulatory work.

2) Make the OS feel like a console from power button to play

  • Base it on a familiar Linux distro with a write-protected root option to keep user changes safe.

  • Boot straight into a gamescope session that presents a clean launcher, handles controller-first navigation, and offers FPS limiter, upscaling, and suspend-resume reliably. So basically how Steam Deck works.

  • Include a developer switch that reboots into a normal desktop for hacking. The same image serves both players and tinkerers.

3) Pick a boring, proven game SDK

  • Ship SDL and friends as first-class citizens with great samples. A shocking number of commercial games rely on SDL already, and it is battle tested across platforms. Pair it with a modern Vulkan stack and you have a clean path for native titles.

  • Treat Godot as the first-class engine for indies. For our platform, it exports to Linux cleanly today. Document a one page path for Godot devs to make a gamepad-friendly build and publish. Clarify that official console exports are handled by partner companies due to SDK rules, which is fine because we are not trying to be a Switch or PlayStation.

4) Make publishing dead simple

Two lanes:

  • Flatpak packages for the built-in store. This gives us one packaging format across many distros and clean sandboxing. Yes, Flatpaks are bigger, but they are stable and dev friendly.

  • Itch.io integration for indie distribution and game jams. Itch has an open revenue share system with a 10 percent default cut and Creator Day events that reduce it further. The culture there matches an open console.

5) Hardware openness that invites clones

  • Publish complete schematics and the enclosure as printable and CNC-able CAD. Start with a reference mainboard and cartridge-like compute module so hobbyists can swap brains over time.

  • If you include radios, use pre-certified Wi-Fi and BT modules. You still test the final product for EMC, but you skip the most painful parts and make clones easier to certify. Provide a clear “integrator guide” patterned on FCC modular guidance.

6) Governance that vendors will trust

  • Create a lightweight foundation that owns the trademarks and test suites. Vendors can ship compatible hardware if they pass the tests and contribute fixes upstream.

  • Version the platform like a web browser. Quarterly OS releases, with long-term support branches for vendors. Keep the userland small, the compositor solid, and the driver stack current.

7) A clear developer story

  • One page docs for each pathway: native SDL, Godot, and emulators.
  • A sample store-ready template including achievements, cloud save hooks, and controller glyphs.
  • Continuous integration recipes that auto-build Flatpaks and upload to the store or itch.

8) Community mechanics that work

  • Opinionated defaults for mods and community content.
  • Built-in crash reporting with privacy controls and public dashboards so devs see stability by device.
  • First-party hosted game jams that target our hardware profile.

What I would build first

To prove the core, I would stage it like this:

  1. Prototype A: RK3588S mini console
    Use an off-the-shelf board from a reputable vendor. Add an NVMe SSD, a pre-certified Wi-Fi module, and a 3D printed enclosure. Ship an image that boots straight into a gamescope UI and runs a small library of SDL and Godot games, plus a few emulators with legally gray content removed. The test is not bleeding edge performance. The test is the experience: cold boot to menu, controller-focused UX, suspend-resume, and a one-click update story.

  2. Prototype B: handheld shell around the same compute
    Design around a common screen and joystick module. Publish CAD and a BOM that a hobbyist can reproduce. Use a standard battery form factor with an accessible bay. Make thermal constraints known and visible.

  3. Developer Preview Program
    Invite a dozen small studios to bring one existing title over in a weekend. If they can package via Flatpak and publish to our store or itch with zero handholding, we are on the right track. If they cannot, fix the docs and SDK until they can.

The annoying bits

  • Anti-cheat and DRM: kernel anti-cheats often break on Linux or with open drivers. Proton and Gamescope help, but a fully open stack may still exclude certain games. That is acceptable for v1 if we aim the platform at indies, retro-style games, and emulation that is law abiding-ish.

  • GPU limits: even with Panfrost and Turnip maturing, specific SoC quirks will bite us. Pick one or two reference GPUs and over-invest in testing. Track Mesa versions closely and push fixes upstream. The conformance work on mali G52 and G610, and the mainstreaming of Turnip, are the strongest green lights we have had so far.

  • Regulatory work is still work: pre-certified radio modules reduce cost and schedule, but they do not eliminate product-level testing. Call this out early to partners and document the path.

Why this time can be different

The ingredients lined up in a way they were not a decade ago:

  • Open GPU drivers are good enough for a modern indie catalog. PanVK hitting Vulkan conformance on G610 and Turnip reaching default build status on ARM64 distributions are not small milestones.

  • The games-first Linux UX exists in the open. Gamescope is not a whitepaper. It is code you can ship today.

  • Distribution is indie-friendly. Flatpak and itch let small teams ship without asking a megacorp for permission.

  • We do not need permission from a console vendor. We can build a console that boots fast, plays well, and invites hacking. The governance model is the safety net that lets clones flourish without fragmenting the platform.

If you wanted to help tomorrow

  • Grab an RK3588S dev board or a CM4-based uConsole and try a minimal gamescope session that boots to a controller UI. Prove the suspend and the updater.
  • Port one SDL demo and one Godot sample and package them as Flatpaks. Measure cold boot to gameplay.
  • Draft a one page hardware spec that lists exact panels, sticks, triggers, and battery, with drop-in alternatives. Publish the CAD for the enclosure and accept pull requests.

Do that, and you have a seed platform others can clone, sell, and extend. If we keep the OS tight, the drivers fresh, the store boring, and the docs kind, we can actually have an open console scene that is fun to build for and fun to play.

And if we never ship, at least we finally wrote down a plan that might not fall into the same traps as last time.