"Stallman approved" gaming console - is it possible?

The best libreboot computer is GM45 based, which is too old and weak to serve as a gaming console. GPU performance is not the only problem, but API (e.g. OpenGL) support is more important, depending on the game's API requirements.

However, there are many newer computing devices supported by coreboot. It is true that ME cannot be completely removed on newer platforms, but this is not coreboot's fault. It is Intel that planted the 30-minute time bomb, and coreboot does its best to defuse the time bomb while granting users maximum possible freedom.

Ok, Dream SBC of which I think is legally viable.

An AMD64 compatible clone from when the patents on AMD64 expire that is a superset to the OG Xbox and has a libre GPU that's at least marginally faster than a Geforce 6800 Ultra that's D3D9c, OpenGL and glide compatible and has libre drivers for DOS, NT 3.51, (the newest version windows without the NSA Keys) OS/2, NT4.0, Win9x, NT5.X and NT6.X and obviously Linux-Libre with libre firmware and have a built in sound card that supports A3D, EAX and OpenAL and be a multi-niche device that tries to capitalize on the need for legacy OS compatibility with mini PCIe slots fore converting into PCI and ISA for CNC RTOS functionality and have USB for "I just need an XP machine as an appliance for my $50,000 industrial printer that only has XP drivers." and it would be appealing to the people that want a new OG Xbox, the price of older consoles are going up and the people that want the ultimate Windows 98 machine and I guess it would make a good machine for targeting ReactOS driver compatibility.

But there's a problem with infrastructure, I don't think there's x86 IPCores floating around that's more than a Pentium MMX Clone.

Pyra.

https://pyra-handheld.com/boards/pages/pyra/

I have heard that that can run even F1 2017 linux version on it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/515220/F1_2017/

I recently got F1 2005 (PS2) and Logicool GT Force quite cheap, so-so fun, but then graphic sucks anyway. It makes me sad. Because there are many people who enjoy latest high graphics games such as F1 2020 or PES 2020 or something. In 2005, the spectators are completely freezing.

I'm in the process of making my Trisquel desktop a gaming system. The best GPU I have seen that works with Trisquel is an Nvidia GTX 780 Ti so it would play many games. Itch.io is a open source client if you prefer clients as is Game Jolt. Lutris can be used to manage games from non client stores such as GOG. Newer CPUs such as my Ryzen 5 2600X seem to work on Trisquel.

Hear hear I've been longing for such a system for many years.

How great would it be to have it as actual hardware and sold? Even if it's motherboards from old Libreboot-compatible laptops put into new cases.

It would have to have (and I think boot by defaut into) the so-called "10 Foot Interface" - perhaps GNOME Games or Gamehub can be used as is or at least modified to remove support for unfree software.

I also like the Sony Xross Media Bar (XMB) user interface, because it includes video, photos, and music as well as games. Retroarch resembles it but in my opinion is too complicated and focused on emulation. In the handheld scene, there are two frontends that resemble the XMB: GP2XMB and DinguXMB. I guess those would need to be ported to PC hardware, and also to be able to launch photos, video, and music within that UI. It would be nice to also add in support for video services like PeerTube, MediaGoblin, etc.

On the games themselves: an in-UI system to browse on online "store" of them, perhaps using a "pay what you want" approach like elementary OS's App Center. I think it would make the most sense for each game to be its own AppImage.

Companies like Khan Games, Greenboy Games, and Songbird Productions are releasing new (unfree) software for old consoles, on physical hardware cartridges, to this day. So maybe even though you could download a game electronically, there would still be a market for physical media, because that's so much part of the console experience. So it would be great if this Libre console had a cartridge slot, but for something standard and open (more or less) rather than proprietay. I would suggest CompactFlash cards. Yes they're the biggest of the widely used flash memory cards out there, but that's a good thing, enabling cover art and game logos to be more legible, and making it harder to lose the carts.

Maybe also have an optical drive, to allow for cheaper media, and to let the console play CDs and DVDs.

Another thought: it would be good to have a unified, system-wide approach and UI to handling game controller configuration and mapping. So the various libre games out there would we modified to eliminate their code for that and hand it off to the OS, or at least use a common look and feel for it.