PC meets Console.

I am sure I was not the first person who lifted an eyebrow the first time I saw Steam Big Picture Mode. But I also saw one thing I felt I was missing to be the ultimate console in my living room, Emulators! So I had a few chats with my like minded friends and co-workers. We discussed how we would all like to see it work, what would make it seem like ultimate gaming console.

So I started up a little project with the following in mind.
 -99% of all controls, must be through the gamepad.
 -the remaing 1% is for limitations in Steam, popup windows login, some purchasing pieces etc.
-The following emulators were necessary.

  Dolphin (Wii, and Gamecube)
  Project64 (N64)
  Snes9x (SNES)
  JNes (NES)
  Fusion (Sega Genesis)
  PSX (Playstation 1)
  PCSX2 (Playstation 2)

 Other Software
  Steam
  Xpadder (For Maximize and Close buttons on 360 controller)

 Hardware Laptop or HTPC
 XBox 360 Controller 

If you have seen the video I put up here you can see what I was able to come up with.

 So it took a bit of trial and error to get the different emulators working below I have detailed how I got each working.

I used two methods to add the games to Steam.

1. Batch Files (Thanks to dardack on Youtube for the tip on this).
2. File Association (Associating the ROM file types in windows with the emulator exe). Read more about associating file types here.

Creating Steam Links 
1. Launch Steam.
2. Choose Games from the file menu.
3. Then Choose add non-steam game.
4. Choose browse.
5. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
6. Click, Add selected program.
7. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .bat.
8. Rename the actual batch file back to .bat.

Dolphin - Wii and Game Cube

Steam shortcut method: Batch Files

  1. Create a batch file using the template.
2. Change the batch file extension to .exe
3. Launch Steam.
4. Choose Games from the file menu.
5. Then Choose add non-steam game.
6. Choose browse.
7. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
8. Name the game.
9. Click, Add selected program.
10. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .bat.
11. Rename the actual batch file back to .bat. Dolphin Batch Template:

CD "E:\Emulators\Dolphin" "E:\Emulators\Dolphin\Dolphin.exe" /e "E:\Emulators\Dolphin\The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword [Wii][NTSC][Srubbed]-TLS.iso" /b

Project 64 - Nintendo 64

Steam shortcut method: File Association.
NOTE: I needed to use version 1.7 in order to use this method.
Associate the .n64 extension to Project 64.

1. Change the ROM file extension to .exe
2. Launch Steam.
3. Choose Games from the file menu.
4. Then Choose add non-steam game.
5. Choose browse.
6. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
7. Name the game.
8. Click, Add selected program.
9. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .n64.

Snes9x - Super Nintendo

Steam shortcut method: File Association.
Associate the .smc extension to Snes9x.

1. Change the ROM file extension to .exe
2. Launch Steam.
3. Choose Games from the file menu.
4. Then Choose add non-steam game.
5. Choose browse.
6. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
7. Name the game.
8. Click, Add selected program.
9. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .smc.

JNes - Nintendo Entertainment System

Steam shortcut method: File Association.
Associate the .nes extension to JNes.

1. Change the ROM file extension to .exe
2. Launch Steam.
3. Choose Games from the file menu.
4. Then Choose add non-steam game.
5. Choose browse.
6. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
7. Name the game.
8. Click, Add selected program.
9. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .nes.

Fusion

Steam shortcut method: File Association.
Associate the .bin extension to Fusion.

1. Change the ROM file extension to .exe
2. Launch Steam.
3. Choose Games from the file menu.
4. Then Choose add non-steam game.
5. Choose browse.
6. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
7. Name the game.
8. Click, Add selected program.
9. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to bin.

PSX - Playstation

Steam shortcut method: Batch Files

1. Create a batch file using the template.
2. Change the batch file extension to .exe
3. Launch Steam.
4. Choose Games from the file menu.
5. Then Choose add non-steam game.
6. Choose browse.
7. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
8. Name the game.
9. Click, Add selected program.
10. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .bat.
11. Rename the actual batch file back to .bat.

PSX Batch Template:

CD "E:\Emulators\PSX"
"E:\Emulators\PSX\psxfin.exe" -f "E:\Emulators\PSX\cdimages\FINAL FANTASY TACTICS.img"

PCSX2 - Playstation 2

Steam shortcut method: Batch Files

1. Create a batch file using the template.
2. Change the batch file extension to .exe
3. Launch Steam.
4. Choose Games from the file menu.
5. Then Choose add non-steam game.
6. Choose browse.
7. Select the renamed file (This is detailed in each emulator section below).
8. Name the game.
9. Click, Add selected program.
10. Right click the game you just added in the library, choose properties. Rename the file in the target line to .bat.
11. Rename the actual batch file back to .bat.

PCSX2 Batch Template:

CD "E:\Emulators\PcSx2"
"E:\Emulators\PcSx2\pcsx2-r5350.exe" "E:\Emulators\PcSx2\FINAL_FANTASY_X.ISO"

Xpadder
I used Xpadder to  take care of maximizing for a couple emulators and for closing some others.

Addition tips and Tricks

You can change images for the games by switching to grid view in Steam, then right clicking the game and choosing "set custom image".

For easier grouping of games try naming them with the platform in the name. i.e. "Sega Sonic the Hedgehog 3" or "SNES Super Mario World".

You can create a shortcut in the startup folder with "X:\Steam\Steam.exe -bigpicture" to open steam when the computer launches directly in Big Picture Mode.

**Update 08/10/13** You can also use a PS3 controller, in tandem or in place of the Xbox 360 controller. I had tried this back when I first worked out this project but there were issues with getting the controller to re-sync on boot. Thanks to Marcus for trying out the new MotionJoy and confirming this!



Well that's it for now, good luck, have fun, and happy gaming!