Kazeta is a new OS by the creator of ChimeraOS. You might have seen some news on it in the last few days, or at least some posts on social media. Its not trying to be the next big gaming platform, it’s more like a little love letter to the old style of gaming. Instead of all those menus, online accounts, and updates, it takes things back to the basics: stick in a ‘cartridge’ you make yourself, turn on the system, and play. That’s it! No fuss, just the game you wanted to play.

What makes it extra fun is that the ‘cartridges’ are really just SD cards you load games onto. Label them, stack them, swap them around, it’s built to make you feel like you’re back in the ’90s, digging through a shoebox of game carts. For someone who wasn’t alive for that era of gaming (not even close, honestly), it’s a neat little glimpse of what it was like. A tactile vision of when games came on actual carts…well, kind of.

Kazeta is a neat mix of nostalgia and practicality, especially if you’re tired of modern gaming feeling like a chore.

I got the chance to chat with Alkazar, the dev behind Kazeta, and he shared some great insights into building the OS. This feature pulls together our conversation and what makes the project so unique.

You can find the link to that article I wrote here (on Gardiner Bryant’s site), and I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think, of it…and my writing!

  • KindaABigDyl@programming.devEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    I’ve been wanting to make something like this for a while but never got around to it.

    I also wanted to get a dedicated piece of hardware ala the Steam Deck or a Raspberry Pi or something, so Indie devs would have a spec to target to ensure smooth gameplay while not having to do any kind of special build since it would run normal Linux. A proper Linux Console

    I also wanted to design a custom controller for it. I actually got the PCB designed, but never made it and never made the enclosure. It was gonna be kinda like the new Horis where it’s half-modern controller/half-SNES controller, only mine is based on the XBox layout not the PlayStation’s, and also I had the buttons oriented somewhat like a gamecube, with a big “main” button, a smaller secondary button, and two auxiliary buttons (tho arranged in XBox order still)

    Maybe I’ll come back to the project someday.

  • Coelacanth@feddit.nuEnglish
    0·
    3 days ago

    I love it! I don’t know why but game cartridges always had a much better feel to them than disks to me. Could just be nostalgia for the times, though. But I recently dug out my 3DS and there is just something so satisfying about the click of inserting a game.

    • brsrklf@jlai.luEnglish
      0·
      3 days ago

      Switch still have them. Of course now some publishers on Switch 2 are shitting on the very concept of cartridges by making empty carts that are just keys to download the game.

  • Tynan@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    4 days ago

    That’s adorable, and I’m about to click that link but I’m willing to bet tie similarity to the word “cassette” is not a coincidence.

    Yeah I was right!