ConsoleMini

Turn your Mac mini into a living-room PS1 - PS4 + retro console.
Plug a controller, pick a system, play. Beautiful big-picture launcher built with Electron + React + Tailwind + Framer Motion.

Download DMG · Website · Install · Systems · FAQ

Demo

Screenshots

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Why

OpenEmu is great but does not cover modern PlayStation. RetroArch is powerful but the menu is rough on a TV. Pegasus is heavy on macOS. ConsoleMini is purpose-built for the Mac mini → TV → controller loop: a single controller-first big-picture UI that wraps every solid macOS emulator and gets out of the way.

• One launcher, ten systems
• Controller-first navigation (HTML5 Gamepad API)
• Apple Silicon native, codesigned, hardened-runtime
• Kiosk mode: the Mac mini boots straight into the launcher
• Zero ROMs, zero BIOS - bring your own (legally)

Supported systems

Console	Emulator	Install	Notes
PS1	DuckStation	brew install --cask duckstation	Stable, fast on M-series
PS2	PCSX2	brew install --cask pcsx2	Apple Silicon native
PS3	RPCS3	brew install --cask rpcs3	macOS arm64 build, heavy
PS4	shadPS4	manual download	Experimental, low compatibility
PSP	PPSSPP	brew install --cask ppsspp	Native, runs at 4x easily
N64	Mupen64Plus	brew install mupen64plus	CLI core
SNES / NES	RetroArch + cores	brew install --cask retroarch	Pull cores from Online Updater
GBA	mGBA	brew install --cask mgba
Dreamcast	Flycast	brew install --cask flycast

The Settings tab inside the app shows live install status and one-click installs everything via scripts/install-emulators.sh.

Install

Homebrew (recommended)

brew tap momenbasel/tap
brew install --cask consolemini

The cask pulls the signed + notarized .dmg from the GitHub release, verifies the SHA-256, and drops ConsoleMini.app in /Applications. Upgrade later with brew upgrade --cask consolemini.

From release (direct)

open https://github.com/momenbasel/ConsoleMini/releases/latest

Drop ConsoleMini.app into /Applications and launch. Releases are signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized via CI on tag push.

From source

git clone https://github.com/momenbasel/ConsoleMini.git
cd ConsoleMini
bash scripts/setup.sh        # installs deps + every supported emulator via Homebrew
npm run dev:electron         # Electron + Vite hot reload

Build a distributable yourself:

npm run package              # signed .app + .dmg in release/

Living-room kiosk mode

bash scripts/setup-kiosk.sh  # auto-launch at login + no sleep + Dock hidden

Controller support

Any controller exposed through the HTML5 Gamepad API works for menu navigation: DualShock 4, DualSense, Xbox, 8BitDo, etc. For in-game input, the underlying emulator owns the controller - pair it once over Bluetooth and every emulator picks it up.

Pad	Action
D-pad / Left stick	Navigate
A / Cross	Confirm
B / Circle	Back
Start	Open menu
Select	Toggle search

Source: src/lib/gamepad.ts.

Save states

ConsoleMini does not re-implement save states — it delegates to each emulator's native save-state system, which is already robust, well-tested, and survives app/emulator updates. ConsoleMini simply launches the emulator with your ROM and gets out of the way, then indexes the state vaults so you can see (and reveal in Finder) what's on disk.

Console	Emulator	Save / Load hotkey	Vault path
PS1	DuckStation	F1 / F3	~/Library/Application Support/DuckStation/savestates/
PS2	PCSX2	F1 / F3	~/Library/Application Support/PCSX2/sstates/
PS3	RPCS3	Ctrl+S / Ctrl+E	~/Library/Application Support/rpcs3/savestates/
PSP	PPSSPP	F1 / F2	~/Library/Application Support/PPSSPP/PSP/PPSSPP_STATE/
N64	Mupen64Plus	F5 / F7	~/.config/mupen64plus/save/
SNES / NES	RetroArch	F2 / F4	~/Library/Application Support/RetroArch/states/
GBA	mGBA	F1 / F4	~/Library/Application Support/mGBA/states/
Dreamcast	Flycast	in-game menu	~/Library/Application Support/Flycast/data/

The Settings → Save states panel inside the app lists every vault live, counts files, shows last-modified time, and has a per-row Reveal button that opens the vault in Finder. Nothing is ever touched by ConsoleMini — this is a read-only dashboard over your emulators' own save data.

Tip: pair this with iCloud Drive by ln -s ~/iCloud.../Saves/mgba ~/Library/Application\ Support/mGBA/states and every save syncs between Macs.

Project layout

ConsoleMini/
  electron/              # Electron main + preload (Node side)
  src/                   # React UI (Vite, Tailwind, Framer Motion)
  scripts/
    install-emulators.sh # Homebrew installer for every supported emulator
    setup.sh             # one-shot dev bootstrap
    setup-kiosk.sh       # auto-launch + sleep disable for living-room mode
    gen-icon.sh          # SVG -> .icns + iconset
  config/consoles.json   # runtime overrides for binary paths/args
  assets/                # icon.svg, banner.svg
  build/                 # generated icon.icns, entitlements
  docs/                  # GitHub Pages landing site
  marketing/             # launch copy for HN, Reddit, X, Product Hunt

FAQ

Does it ship ROMs or BIOS? No. Bring your own legally. ConsoleMini only indexes paths and launches the right emulator.

Will my DualShock / DualSense / Xbox / 8BitDo controller work? Yes for menu navigation. In-game input is handled by each emulator directly.

How is this different from OpenEmu / Pegasus / EmulationStation? OpenEmu does not cover modern PlayStation. RetroArch's menu is rough on a TV. Pegasus is heavier and Linux-leaning. ConsoleMini is purpose-built for the macOS / Mac mini → TV setup with native codesign, kiosk script, and per-system catalogue.

Does the PS4 emulator actually work? shadPS4 is upstream-experimental on macOS. ConsoleMini wires it up but title compatibility is thin today.

Codesign / notarization? Signed with a Developer ID Application identity + Hardened Runtime and notarized by Apple via GitHub Actions (triggered on v* tags). If you pull a pre-notarized build (e.g. local build), strip the quarantine bit with xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/ConsoleMini.app.

Save states? Every emulator's native save-state system works out of the box — ConsoleMini only launches the emulator with your ROM, then indexes the vault. See Save states.

Mac mini Intel or M-series? Both. arm64 + x64 builds shipped. M-series recommended for PS3 / PS4.

License? MIT. See LICENSE.

Roadmap

• Cover art scraper (LaunchBox / IGDB) with local cache
• Per-game hours played + last-played sort
• iCloud Drive cloud-save folder mapper
• In-app RetroArch core installer
• Themes (CRT scanline shader overlay, neon, minimal)
• Phone-as-controller via QR pairing

Contributing

PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md. New systems are a one-file change in src/lib/emulators.ts and electron/consoles.ts.

Legal

Emulators install from upstream. You must legally own any game you load. ConsoleMini ships zero ROMs and zero BIOS files. PlayStation, PS1 - PS4, Nintendo, Sega trademarks belong to their respective owners. This project is not affiliated.

Related projects

DuckStation · PCSX2 · RPCS3 · shadPS4 · PPSSPP · RetroArch · mGBA · Flycast · Mupen64Plus · OpenEmu · Pegasus Frontend · EmulationStation

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