Install Sony Playstation Now (PS Now) on Ubuntu

I’m always looking at ways to play video games on Ubuntu Linux. This one is a doozy. With Playstation Now, you can play over 700 real PS2, PS3 and PS4 games on your Ubuntu computer. The technology uses streaming from remote server where the gaming console exists. Sony typically will give you a couple weeks as a free trial though the deals vary. I was able to take advantage of a Black Friday sale with one full year of PS Now for only $70. Fantastic deal.

Here’s how to install PS Now on Ubuntu:

First install wine if it’s not already installed. Wine is a Linux program that helps us run Windows programs on the Linux platform.

sudo apt install wine-stable

Next, download winetricks into your downloads folder.

cd "${HOME}/Downloads"
wget  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Winetricks/winetricks/master/src/winetricks
chmod +x winetricks

Now install some Windows apps with winetricks.

./winetricks corefonts
./winetricks vulkansdk
./winetricks dxvk
./winetricks vcrun2013

Now we are going to install Lutris, which is a program that helps you install games and other apps on your Wine Windows installation.

sudo apt-get install lutris

Once you find Lutris in your application menu and launch it.
Now visit the Lutris website and launch the PS Now installer.
https://lutris.net/games/playstation-now/
After you select ‘install’ you will see a Playstation Now icon in the Lutris application.

Here’s where I ran into trouble with this installation Mind you, I figured all this out by using directions cobbled together from many broken install methods I found on the web! When I tried to launch PS Now from Lutris, I was met with a message that said, “Vulkan is not installed” even though I installed it with winetricks (above).

Here’s the fix:

Right-click on the Playstation Now icon in Lutris.
Select “configure”.
Select the “runner options” tab.
Turn “Enable DXVK” off.
Save and relaunch. After poking on a couple dialog boxes, you should be good to go!

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Sega Master System

If you are unfamiliar with the 8-Bit Sega Master System, the game system that Sega sold before the 16-Bit Sega Genesis – you are in for a treat. This third generation video game system debuted in 1985 in Japan as the Sega Mark III.  The name wasn’t very well revived so when it debuted in 1986 in North America, it was relabeled the Master System. The system competed with the Nintendo NES, which debuted a year earlier. In Japan and North America, the system was far less popular than it was in Europe and Brazil. The incredibly popular Sega Genesis followed in the market two years later, making the Master System a footnote outside of Europe and Brazil. Despite this, many great games were created. I put together a list of the best games, though there are many more. If you are interested in checking out what the system offered, check out the titles below. Also, just for fun check out this embeded youtube video with 25 popular Master System titles.

A Sega Master System console will run you around $50 on ebay. Just like any other retro game system, the game cartridges can run anywhere from $10 to $300 depending on the rarity, condition, desirability, and completeness (box, manual, etc.)

If you have a gen 1 or gen 2 Sega Genesis, you can use a “power base converter” (which ranges between $50-100 on ebay) to play Sega Master System games.

Another option is to buy a Mega EverDrive X7, which will allow you to load up Master System, 32X and Genesis cartridge roms. Don’t ask me for roms or where to find them!

Another interesting option is to emulate the system with a Raspberry Pi using RetroPie. There are plenty of youtube videos around to show you how to do this. Essentially, you are going to install an OS image onto a micro SD card, put it in your Raspberry Pi, then install your rom images to the rom directory. This is a great option and highly encourage!

Good luck and happy gaming!

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Would you like to be Google free?

By now you have probably heard that Google spys on your growing habits, searches, traveling locations, app usage and more. Google is so pervasive that it’s almost impossible to stop from being “the product” that gets sold and resold right? Wrong!

Now there are great Google alternatives.

Duckduckgo has setup a great guide that you can follow to help free yourself from the clutches of Google.