[Hard Core Rikki]

It seems Free, a french provider of digital/HD TV services has been planning to roll in a free gaming service based on emulation to subscribers of its HD service, to be accessible via Freebox TV. There have been a few basic games internally developped, with the provider specifying the gaming library will be completed by "hundreds of emulated games".

News of this update has leaked from Free's portal and since have been removed from it, with videos taken out from online streaming platforms.

So far the platforms supported have not been specified.
The sample screnshot displayed on the page was for Duke Nukem 3D, which might hint at a Dosbox-based solution (which was used previously for a number of Steam releases of Dos-based games).

The large size of the recently pushed 1.6.0 firmware update for Freebox HD could suggest the apps having been pushed for local stored as a still disabled functionalty (which would corroborate an older find by the OpenFreebox project insidethe firmware code:

Quote

# CONFIG_PACKAGE_DOOM_DOOM (Doom, FPS*)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_FCEU_FCEU (Emulateur Nintendo NES)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_GNUBOY_GNUBOY (Emulateur Gameboy)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_HERETIC_HERETIC (Heretic, FPS*)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_HEXEN_HEXEN (Hexen, FPS*)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_LTRIS_LTRIS (Tetris)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_QUAKE_QUAKE (Quake, FPS*)
# CONFIG_PACKAGE_WOLF3D_WOLF3D (Wolfenstein 3D, FPS*)

+ un fichier baptisé SMSPLUS. A priori un émulateur Sega Master System / Gamegear.

*FPS = First Person Shooter ; jeu de tir à la première personne, comme Half-Life, Halo, etc...

Translation of the info page (removed since):

Quote

"Directly accessible on your TV via the Freebox TV service, the games proposed by Free can be played with the included remote.

The game library developped internally (minesweeper, solitaire, morpion, bomberbox, Sokobox, Scavenger, Snakebox...) can be easily complemented by hundreds of emulated games.

For that, it suffices to be in possession of emulator ROMS or obtain ones from any existing legal download platforms (like pdroms.de) and to copy them on the FreeboxTV hard drive through FTP, a USB key (or any DDE) which can be connected to the Freebox HD.

A Software Development Kit (SDK) as well as tutorials are also available so that hobbyist subscribers eager to develop new games for the community can do so.

Available starting from today, this free service is available to all DSL subscribers equipped with a Freebox HD, wether or not qualifying for the TV service.

It is also available on a second TV for MultiTV subscribers.

Free will soon extend this service to support multiplayer."

Original source: Freezone via Numerama

[Phil]

I can see Nintendo writing a lawsuit already

[Hard Core Rikki]

When you think about it, it makes far more sense to deploy or licence an emulator, rather than individual games.

[Xtreme2damax]

I'm in agreement with what Phil said, we shall see how long this lasts. The only way I see it lasting is if they've worked out a licensing deal with Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, or they don't distribute the games or any copyrighted files with the emulation service.