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PayPalThe developer of ChimeraOS has announced Kazeta, a new Linux OS that aims to provide more of a classic gaming console like experience.
We have a Linux distribution for basically everything nowadays right? So why make another one as a passion project? Answering that, developer Alesh Slovak said in an email it's addressing these points they've been thinking on lately:
- I noticed a lot of non-technical people using ChimeraOS/SteamOS getting lost in Steam’s complex menu structure and struggling with basic things like launching and closing games.
- I became disenchanted with digital storefronts and have come back around to appreciating physical media: game cartridges, CDs, DVDs
- I have gotten more and more into collecting old physical games and systems and found them to be a much more pleasant experience than what modern gaming offers
- I have become more and more concerned with preserving my digital game collection for play in the future.
And so with that in mind the basic idea is that you grab DRM free games (from stores like GOG), and pop them onto SD Cards to turn them into cartridges that Kazeta will detect.
More from the developer:
To play a game cartridge on Kazeta, you simply insert the cartridge and turn on the system. When you are done playing, you press the power button to turn it off. That’s it. There are no accounts, no online requirements, no cloud, no nothing.
The cherry on top is that the cartridges are treated as read-only and save data is captured separately, keeping your games untouched and preserved forever.
If you boot a Kazeta system with no cartridge inserted, it will boot into a retro-style bios menu where you can manage your game saves, just like the gaming consoles from the latter half of the ‘90s.
Kazeta is definitely not for everyone. It requires a bit of work to get started, but I have been using it quite a bit the last few months and it has brought me a lot of joy. I hope it can bring joy to others as well.
See more on the website.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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But I doubt non-technical people will get much benefit out of it when you have to manually prepare your games in the first place. If you could buy prepared games that would be different. If GOG would be willing to sell cartridges with installed games that would be pretty cool.
Could be a fun gift idea if you're willing to set it up, though. I would've loved to have "my own console" as a child.
For now I'm quite happy just having my offline installers from gog backed up on a HDD.
I also want to back them up onto a portable ssd at some point so if I ever need to install a gog game I can just ug it into the USB port and install my games as needed
In terms of retro emulation, I'm quite happy with batocera atm
you grab DRM free games (from stores like GOG)
If you have problems launching and closing games on Steam you will never get through „grabbing” anything from GOG or any other store.
That said, this appeals to me a lot.
Last edited by damarrin on 1 Sep 2025 at 1:32 pm UTC
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