Just wanted to leave this last message here for anyone that finds themselves in a similar position.

I ended up using the below github to get this situation sorted out. I used the "remove orphans" feature after using notepad ++ to change all of the paths of the directory that I wanted to get rid of to "remove.zip"

The gameslist editor linked below then saw these xml entries as "orphans" and allowed for easy removal of the entries without messing with anything else in the gameslist.xml file.

https://github.com/NeeeeB/GameList_Editor/releases

Thank you @ getupor for leading my mind down this path.

@nightbirdmedia Please start a new topic and provide details of set up.

Please do not post a support request without first reading and following the advice in https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3/read-this-first

@mitu, I'll check the script but to me the fact that the source code of ES refers to the buttons by two different names is incorrect.

Emulationstation works with more than 1 type of controller and/or keyboard. The fact that it works fine for a lot of other people contradicts your observation.

Anyway, I have to say that I didn't download the full package at first. I mean I only downloaded the source code of ES to compile, then when I realised I missed the themes I installed the configuration script. I need to do more testing though.

If you didn't install the package correctly, then you'll get incorrect results. Install the package from the RetroPie-Setup package - the stable version - then re-configure your controller and see if the .cfg file is correctly generated.

@mitu that makes sense, and i'm actually thinking the updates crossed over each other, making the update confuse each other, retropie and etc. I should have thought of this, but anyways, thank you for clarification, that's all I really needed to know

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/29093/gamelist-xml-extractor

@mitu did a great script that exports your gamelists to Excel :
https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/16319/gamelist-excel-export-script