Thank you for reply, I end up with following solution to avoid full graphical enviroments:
sudo apt install openbox xterm xinitadd line on /etc/xdg/openbox/autostart
xterm -fs 14 -x maximized /usr/bin/emulationstationedit /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config
and change from ubuntus defaults "console" to "anybody"
Still have some issues,
auto launch openbox on boot (seems suprising difficult). I would like to control settings -terminal window with a gamepad. steam link is only available for ARM devices it seems.