Playing Real Game Boy & SNES Cartridges on the Steam Machine

You need to know something about me: I love retro gaming. What we now call "retro" are actually the games of my childhood. I even have the first two video games I ever played in my collection: Guardian Angel and Rastan on cassette for the ZX Spectrum. (Yes, I'm that old.) I'm so happy I was able to track those two down.

Where was I? Right, retro gaming. Because here's the other thing you need to know about me…

I love retro gaming, just not emulation

I'm just not that invested in emulation. This isn't about what it represents, and I won't get into the legal side of it. I simply realised that I spent a lot more time setting up emulators, on whichever of my many devices, than actually playing the games once they were there.

And trust me, I've tried plenty: a Windows PC, handhelds like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, and even a dedicated Raspberry Pi build. Every time, the next day I didn't even bother opening the emulator again.

I also bought an Anbernic to have a dedicated retro handheld. I used it a few times, even reinstalled the whole OS and emulation setup on it… and now it's sitting in a drawer. I pick it up maybe once every couple of months.

Why physical still matters to me

The conclusion I took from all of this: I'm the type of person who will always enjoy playing a dedicated, physical copy. And I couldn't be more frustrated with the all-digital world we're heading towards (thanks, Sony). Even with retro games, I enjoy them a lot more when I have the actual cartridge or disc from my collection and can plug it into a console.

I know, I'm opening a whole new discussion here: it's getting harder and harder to find these old copies. I'm glad I got a lot of my collection early, when prices were still decent, and even so, finding one specific game can be tough. But I find myself reaching for my physical collection far more often, even if I don't have that specific game right now.

"I'm the type of person who will always enjoy playing a dedicated, physical copy."

The plan: the Steam Machine meets the Operators

If you've read my Steam Machine review, you know I love it. I use it more than any other device I own right now. And ever since I planned on getting one, I was already eyeing a small setup that would let me play retro games on it… and most importantly, my retro games.

Meet the Operators. If you've followed me for a while, you probably knew where this was going. A few months ago I even interviewed the team at Epilogue, the makers of the Operators, and one of my questions back then was exactly this: how well would the GB Operator and SN Operator work with the Steam Machine?

The Steam Machine already sits next to my TV. So adding these (dare I say) good-looking devices, where I can just plug in a cartridge and play my favourite retro games, was a no-brainer.

How to set it up

This is quick, because it's genuinely easy. You only need one app for both Operators: Playback, from Epilogue.

1. Switch to Desktop Mode on the Steam Machine.
2. Download Playback from the official Epilogue website and install it like any other Linux app.
3. Connect the Operators to the Steam Machine with USB-A or USB-C.
4. Plug in a cartridge (Game Boy, Game Boy Advance or SNES) and open Playback. Your game is right there on the screen.
5. Add Playback to Steam as a non-Steam app, so it shows up in Game Mode. From then on, you can launch it from the couch without ever going back to Desktop Mode.

More than just playing

I won't go through every feature of the Operators here (I made a dedicated SN Operator review for that), but to keep it short: you can play your games directly on the Steam Machine (duh), back up the save files of games that have them, or even make a full dump of your cartridge.

So if you are the type who likes emulation, this is a legal way to do it, using the games you actually own.

How it's been to use

Frankly, I love it. It works exactly the way I imagined it before I even set it up: easy to install, easy to use, and a great "one device does it all" kind of thing.

I know I could already do this, and I did, to some extent, with my Steam Deck and ROG Ally. But there's something about having a dedicated TV device that does everything that's just so satisfying. It all comes down to how often I actually use it. For me, that's the key point, and the reason I wanted to share this setup. If something makes me use it more often than my other devices, it has done its job.

If you're a fan of the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance or SNES and still have a decent number of cartridges, I can recommend this setup. I play these games a lot more often than before, and definitely a lot more than on the original hardware.

Is it perfect?

Maybe not. But at the same time, I don't really know what else I'd want from it. Maybe one day there will be an Operator, or something else, that handles several generations of cartridges in a single device, which would make the setup a lot cleaner. What I do know is that the Steam Machine is the perfect partner for these hardware devices.

Should you get this setup?

Would I buy a Steam Machine just for this? Absolutely not. Are the Operators right for you? That depends on your use case. What I can tell you is that they work great. The team behind them has clearly thought through how to make everything work as well as possible, and the community around them is very good at helping with anything you need.

Want to see it in action? Watch the full video, and tell me in the comments: do you still play your old cartridges, or have you gone all in on emulation?