LaunchBox Community Roundup (December)

AstroBob · Thursday at 12:36 AM

Hey everyone,

It’s officially 2025—can you believe it?! We hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season and is feeling refreshed and ready for the new year.

As we step into January, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on everything that happened in our community as we rounded out 2024. Let's dive in!

TEAM UPDATES:

LaunchBox for Windows (13.18) & Android (1.16) Released 🚀

We closed out the year with an exciting double release! These updates brought new features, including the ability to manually import ROM files for multiple platforms simultaneously on Windows, a complete MAUI framework overhaul, and support for direct game imports from network drives with local download options on Android.

Alongside these additions, both platforms received numerous fixes, improvements, and optimizations, making them better than ever. It was a great way to wrap up the year! 🚀

We’re Expanding the Games Database! 💿

With some new backend changes implemented, we're ready and looking to expand our growing games database, starting with platforms. We put out a call to gauge which platforms you'd like to see added to the games database, and encourage you to share your picks and join the discussion over on our thread

COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTIONS:

While our team has been hard at work, our community has been buzzing with activity. We’re actively exploring new ways to showcase these amazing contributions, and although it’s challenging to showcase absolutely everything, we wanted to highlight a few cool things that stood out this month.

We’re actively thinking of ways to expand this and feature more of your fantastic work, so stay tuned for more highlights in the future!

A wonderful little virtual LaunchBox award, courtesy of @DemmyTree 🙌

Best Emulators of 2024 🏆

Modern Vintage Gamer has put together a fantastic recap showcasing the best emulators of 2024! The video dives into the progress made by these emulators over the past year, highlighting major updates, exciting new features, and the advancements that have brought some of our favorite systems to life in incredible detail.

If you’re looking to upgrade your build with support for higher-end systems, this video provides a comprehensive overview of what to expect. 🎮✨

Boot Directly into the Nintendo Wii System Menu from LaunchBox 🐬

We’ve all done it—booted up the Wii system menu just to bask in its iconic ambient music and relive the joy of navigating those channels like it’s 2006. (Don’t pretend you haven’t!)

Thanks to a great tip from @Retro_Rage you can now set up an entry in LaunchBox that lets you boot directly into the Wii system menu from Big Box. No need to dig through settings—just one click, and you’re back in nostalgic bliss.

Let’s be real: who says the Wii system menu isn’t the game of the year? 😏

Sega Master System 2.5D Boxart Pack 🎁

We received an amazing submission from @ABeezy13 , who has re-created the entire Sega Master System front box set in stunning 2.5D! 📦✨ If you're the type of user who likes a little depth to their boxes, this pack has you covered

Cover Packs Galore 📼

It's great to see some lesser-known platforms get some love, this time a full cover pack for the ZX Spectrum from @thisvampireheart

And @ci2own has been on a roll with full packs for platforms such as the Atari 7800 and Sega Mark III

THIS MONTH:

January Winter Game Discovery Playlist ☃️

With January here and the winter season in full swing, it’s time to bundle up, grab some hot cocoa, and dive into some frosty fun. ❄️🎮 To celebrate, we’ve added a brand-new Winter Sports Playlist to your Game Discovery Center in Big Box! This curated collection features thrilling games inspired by snowboarding, skiing, ice hockey, and more. Whether you’re carving up the slopes or perfecting your moves on the ice, these games are sure to bring the chill of winter right to your screen. 🏂⛷️✨ Get ready to embrace the season in style!