Wiki · NXStation

1. Getting Started & Setup

Title Override vs. Applet Mode

Always launch NXStation via Title Override — hold R while opening any retail Switch game, then pick NXStation from the menu. This gives the app full RAM access for smooth video previews, PDF manuals, and media loading.

Do not launch from the Gallery / Album applet (Applet Mode). Applet Mode limits available memory and can cause previews to lag, fail to load, or crash.

Installation & Updating

In-app updates

Open NXStation (Title Override).
Press + to open Settings.
Choose Check for Updates.
Follow the prompts to download and install the latest release automatically.

Manual installation

Download NXStation.nro from GitHub Releases.
Copy it to sdmc:/switch/NXStation/NXStation.nro on your SD card.
Keep or update settings/roms_config.json in the same folder if you customize systems.

SD Card File Structure

Recommended layout on your SD card:

sdmc:/
├── switch/
│   ├── NXStation/
│   │   ├── NXStation.nro
│   │   ├── cores/
│   │   │   ├── tico-azahar.nro
│   │   │   └── tico-dolphin.nro
│   │   ├── settings/
│   │   │   ├── roms_config.json
│   │   │   ├── user_cores.json
│   │   │   ├── user_screenscraper.json
│   │   │   ├── user_favorites.json
│   │   │   └── user_settings.json
│   │   ├── data/
│   │   │   ├── theme/{ThemeName}/theme.xml
│   │   │   ├── backgrounds/{systemId}.jpg
│   │   │   └── resources/placeholder images
│   │   └── log/
│   ├── retroarch_switch.nro
│   └── (other homebrew)
├── retroarch/
│   └── cores/*_libretro_libnx.nro
└── roms/
    └── {systemId}/
        ├── gamelist.xml
        ├── images/
        ├── videos/
        ├── manuals/
        └── your-game-files...

Supported Systems

NXStation ships with 28 systems in the default roms_config.json, covering Atari, Nintendo, Sega, arcade, Sony, and PC Engine platforms:

atari2600, atari5200, atari7800, atarilynx, atarijaguar, atarist
nes, snes, n64, gb, gbc, gba, nds, 3ds, gc, wii
megadrive, mastersystem, gamegear, saturn, dreamcast
cps1, cps2, neogeo, arcade
psx, psp, pce

You can add more systems by editing roms_config.json when a matching RetroArch core exists.

PlayStation 2 is not supported. PS2 emulation is not practical on Nintendo Switch hardware with current libretro cores. Do not expect a PS2 folder in the default config — focus on PS1 (psx) and PSP (psp) instead.

GameCube, Wii, and 3DS are experimental. These systems are listed in the default config because standalone Tico cores can produce playable results, but they are not bundled with NXStation. You must download the core .nro files yourself, place them in sdmc:/switch/NXStation/cores/, then point each system to the correct core in Settings → Core Paths. See Custom Standalone Cores for download links and setup steps.

2. Controls & Navigation

Main System Carousel

Button	Action
`L` / `R` or `←` `→`	Previous / next system
`A`	Open selected system’s game list
`+`	Open Settings
`Y`	Main menu (search, jump to system, analytics)
`B`	Back / close popup

Game List View

Button	Action
`A`	Launch game (opens RetroArch core)
`X`	Toggle favorite (starred games sort to top)
`Y`	Game options / scrape menu
`L` / `R`	Page up / page down in long lists
`R₃` (right stick press)	Random game
`B`	Return to system carousel

Dialogs, Scraper & Manual Viewer

Button	Action
`A`	Confirm / select row
`B`	Cancel / close dialog
`Y`	Toggle scrape options (box art, thumbnail, video, manual, …)
`L` / `R`	Scroll long scrape logs or help text

Manual viewer (when reading a scraped PDF manual):

Button	Action
`L` / `R` or swipe	Previous / next page or spread
`Y`	Layout menu (Cover + Spread vs single page)
`LT` / `RT` or pinch	Zoom out / in
Right stick (when zoomed)	Pan around the page
`B`	Close manual viewer

3. Scraping, Artwork & Video Previews

ScreenScraper Setup

Create a free account at screenscraper.fr.
In NXStation: Settings → enter your website username and password.
Or edit sdmc:/switch/NXStation/settings/user_screenscraper.json directly:
```
{
  "ssid": "your_username",
  "sspassword": "your_password"
}
```
Open a game list, press Y, choose scrape options, and run a single-game or batch scrape.

Developer API keys are built into the app — you only need your personal ScreenScraper login.

Adding Your Own Box Art & Videos

Files are matched by the ROM filename stem (name without extension). Example ROM: Chrono Trigger.sfc → stem Chrono Trigger.

ES-DE folder layout (recommended — auto-discovered):

Box art: sdmc:/roms/{systemId}/images/{stem}-image.jpg
Thumbnail: sdmc:/roms/{systemId}/images/{stem}-thumb.jpg
Video: sdmc:/roms/{systemId}/videos/{stem}-video.mp4

Supported image extensions: .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp

Supported video extensions: .mp4, .webm, .mkv

Using gamelist.xml for custom paths or names:

If your files use different names or folders, add entries to sdmc:/roms/{systemId}/gamelist.xml:

<game>
  <path>./Chrono Trigger.sfc</path>
  <name>Chrono Trigger</name>
  <image>./images/my-custom-box.jpg</image>
  <thumbnail>./images/my-custom-thumb.jpg</thumbnail>
  <video>./videos/my-preview.mp4</video>
</game>

After adding files, run Rescan Libraries in Settings or restart NXStation.

Video Preview Recommendations

Use H.264 in an .mp4 container for best compatibility.
Scale videos to max 480×320 before copying to the SD card — NXStation decodes at this size to avoid memory issues.
Shorter clips (10–30 seconds) load faster in the game list preview pane.

Game Manuals (ScreenScraper PDF)

Manual scraping is off by default. When enabled, NXStation downloads the ScreenScraper manual as a PDF and saves it to sdmc:/roms/{systemId}/manuals/{stem}-manual.pdf.

Highlight a game and press Y → Menu → Scrape.
Turn Manual On in the scrape toggles (along with box art, thumbnail, video if desired).
Run the scrape. On success, the PDF is stored next to your ROM collection.
To read it: press Y → Menu → Show Metadata → tap Manual (shown only when a PDF is present).

You can also copy a PDF manually to manuals/{stem}-manual.pdf or reference it in gamelist.xml with a <manual> tag, then rescan libraries.

The manual viewer renders the PDF directly (no low-quality JPEG conversion). Use Cover + Spread mode for a book-like layout: page 1 alone, then two-page spreads. See the controls table in Section 2.

4. Game Playtime Analytics & Personality Metrics

5. Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

6. Custom Standalone Cores (Tico)

NXStation ships with RetroArch libretro cores for most systems. GameCube, Wii, and 3DS are different: the best results today come from standalone Tico cores maintained by the community. These are separate .nro homebrew apps — you download them yourself and point NXStation at the file.

Recommended cores

Core	Systems	Download
tico-dolphin	`gc`, `wii`	github.com/ticohq/tico-dolphin
tico-azahar	`3ds`	github.com/ticohq/tico-azahar

Grab the latest release .nro from each repo’s Releases page. Performance, compatibility, and how cleanly you return to NXStation all vary by title and by core version — expect a bumpy ride.

Install on SD card

Create sdmc:/switch/NXStation/cores/ if it does not exist.
Copy the downloaded files, for example:
- tico-dolphin.nro
- tico-azahar.nro
Keep filenames simple — you will browse to the exact path in Settings.

sdmc:/switch/NXStation/cores/
├── tico-dolphin.nro
└── tico-azahar.nro

Set core path in NXStation

Open Settings (press + on the main carousel).
Go to Core Paths.
Select the system (gc, wii, or 3ds).
Browse to sdmc:/switch/NXStation/cores/ and pick the matching .nro.
Launch a game from that system’s list — NXStation forwards the ROM to the standalone core.

Overrides are saved in sdmc:/switch/NXStation/settings/user_cores.json. The default roms_config.json may still list RetroArch paths until you override them per system.

7. Making Your Own Theme

Theme structure

Each theme is a folder with a theme.xml file:

sdmc:/switch/NXStation/data/theme/MyTheme/
├── theme.xml          (required — color definitions)
├── placeholder.jpg    (optional — system carousel fallback)
├── placeholder_box.png (optional — missing box art)
└── backgrounds/
    └── snes.jpg       (optional — per-system wallpaper)

Supported color keys

Colors use #RRGGBB or #RRGGBBAA hex values. Example entries:

Key	Used for
`brls/background`	Main app background
`brls/accent`	Highlights, focus accents
`brls/text`	Primary text
`nxstation/card_bg`	Game list cards
`nxstation/card_border`	Card outlines
`nxstation/dialog_bg`	Popup dialogs
`nxstation/dialog_row`	Menu rows inside dialogs
`nxstation/title_text`	Headings
`nxstation/detail_text`	Subtitles, hints
`nxstation/log_success`	Scrape log — OK lines
`nxstation/log_failure`	Scrape log — errors

See the bundled Vampire theme for a complete reference with every key defined.

Install a custom theme

Copy your theme folder to sdmc:/switch/NXStation/data/theme/YourThemeName/.
Ensure theme.xml is inside that folder.
In NXStation: Settings → Theme → select your theme.

Blank theme template

Download the starter template and rename the folder to your theme name:

Download blank theme.xml

Place the file in data/theme/YourThemeName/theme.xml on your SD card, then edit the hex colors to taste.

NXStation Wiki

Title Override vs. Applet Mode

Installation & Updating

SD Card File Structure

Supported Systems

Main System Carousel

Game List View

Dialogs, Scraper & Manual Viewer

ScreenScraper Setup

Adding Your Own Box Art & Videos

Video Preview Recommendations

Game Manuals (ScreenScraper PDF)

Enabling RetroArch Logging

Opening Analytics in NXStation

Per-system core overrides

Empty game list?

Favorites & Last Played

More help

Recommended cores

Install on SD card

Set core path in NXStation

Theme structure

Supported color keys

Install a custom theme

Blank theme template