Socket Is a Cartridge-Focused Graphical Frontend That Will Probably Come To Steam Deck

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Emulating my classic and retro games has always been something I enjoy doing, but I always need some form of graphical frontend to do it. This is a program specifically designed to bring in your library and organize it with unique themes and information, while showing artwork, box art, descriptions, and more. However, there’s one that I just saw for the first time myself that may take the cake as one of my favorites because it focuses on the physical cartridges and discs of older devices.

Socket is an up-and-coming frontend created by Depmots, and it looks incredible. Discovered and covered recently by Retrododo, this frontend is focused on providing a unique interface that is curated around cartridge and disc designs. It has unique designs for each system, ranging from the Nintendo 64 cartridges and PS1 discs to the Nintendo DS cards and PSP UMDs. On top of that, once selected, they will drop down and be “inserted” with a similar animation as it is to actually put these physical media inside our devices.

It's designed to mimic what it's like to sift through your old physical library and look through your discs and cartridges to find the game you want to play, and it looks like it does a fantastic job of invoking that nostalgia.

It’s still very early in development, but I was immediately drawn to it because of the physical media aspect. The frontend currently only supports the Nintendo 64, Switch, DS, PS1, GBA, and PSP, and each one does take some work to develop, so it may come relatively slowly. However, we will be seeing the first alpha in around a month, but it’s not set in stone just yet.

Currently, the frontend is being developed for Android, but it appears as though Steam Deck support is being heavily considered. Over on the Socket Discord server, there have been multiple people asking about support for the Steam Deck, and Depmots has replied, mentioning that it should work on the Steam Deck after some work. The frontend is developed using the Godot engine, so there’s a lot of flexibility in exporting it to other platforms. I asked Depmots about it, and they said that while it isn't on the roadmap specifically, he doesn't see any reason why it wouldn't be supported down the line.

Honestly, this would be awesome to see, and it’s definitely going to be something I try for myself. However, I plan to try it out as soon as it releases on Android regardless.

For now, we can follow progress more closely via the Socket Discord server, but I’m very excited to see what Depmots is going to do with this frontend.

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