Virtual systems are systems that do not physically exist: they gather games from all your real systems according to a criterion — your favorites, multiplayer games, last played games, lightgun games… They show up in the system list just like any console.
Recalbox 10.1 adds two new arcade-focused ones: the spinner system and the trackball system.
START to open the MAIN MENU, then enter SYSTEM-LISTS & GAMELISTS SETTINGS.VIRTUAL SYSTEMS section, enable the systems you want:| Option | System content |
|---|---|
SHOW ALL-GAMES SYSTEM |
all games from all systems |
SHOW MULTIPLAYER SYSTEM |
all games playable by 2 or more players |
SHOW LAST-PLAYED SYSTEM |
the last games you launched, sorted by date |
SHOW LIGHTGUN SYSTEM |
games playable with a lightgun |
SHOW SPINNER SYSTEM — new in 10.1 |
arcade games played with a spinner (rotary knob), such as Arkanoid or Tempest |
SHOW TRACKBALL SYSTEM — new in 10.1 |
arcade games played with a trackball, such as Marble Madness or Centipede |
SHOW PORTS SYSTEM |
all ports (Doom, Cave Story…) in the same place |
VIRTUAL SYSTEMS PER GENRE |
one system per game genre (shoot'em up, platform, fighting, puzzle…) to pick from a list |
📷 Screenshot to come:
virtual-systems-menu.png
The change is immediate: an enabled virtual system appears in the system list (and disappears if you disable it).
These two systems rely on Recalbox's internal arcade database, which lists the original controls of every arcade game. Recalbox thus automatically detects, among your arcade games, the ones that were played with a spinner (rotary knob, like Arkanoid or Tempest) or a trackball (like Marble Madness or Centipede) — no scraping needed. Only arcade games are concerned.
The VIRTUAL SYSTEMS PER GENRE option opens a list of genres (shoot'em up, platform, fighting, puzzle…) to enable individually. A game's genre comes from its scrape: remember to scrape your games with the internal scraper to fill these systems.
The Favorites virtual system automatically gathers all games marked as favorites, as soon as you have at least one. The related options live in the GAMES section of the same menu:
ENABLE ADDING/REMOVING FAVORITESSHOW ONLY FAVORITESSHOW FAVORITES FIRSTStill in SYSTEM-LISTS & GAMELISTS SETTINGS, the ARCADE SYSTEMS section offers:
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
ENABLE AGGREGATED ARCADE SYSTEM |
shows a single Arcade system gathering MAME, FinalBurn Neo, Neo-Geo… |
HIDE ORIGINAL SYSTEMS |
hides the original arcade systems while the Arcade system is enabled |
MANUFACTURER VIRTUAL SYSTEMS |
enables per-manufacturer or per-board systems (CPS1/2/3, SEGA, TAITO…) |
📷 Screenshot to come:
virtual-systems-arcade.png
Tate games (vertical screen) have their own virtual system, enabled in MAIN MENU > TATE SETTINGS > ENABLE TATE VIRTUAL SYSTEM.
| Key | Virtual system |
|---|---|
emulationstation.collection.allgames |
all games |
emulationstation.collection.multiplayer |
multiplayer |
emulationstation.collection.lastplayed |
last played |
emulationstation.collection.lightgun |
lightgun |
emulationstation.collection.dial |
spinner |
emulationstation.collection.trackball |
trackball |
emulationstation.collection.ports |
ports |
emulationstation.collection.tate |
Tate |
Each key accepts 0 (disabled, default) or 1 (enabled).