Bruh. Can we please just go back to talking about video games? I’m tired of this circle jerk. I’m happy for you that you bought an OLED, I’m happy that everyone is happy with themselves for buying an OLED. Pat yourselves on the back. Good job. I’m proud of you.

Can we please talk about video games now?

I bought 2, returned 1, and I’ll play the other one eventually. It’s just a little 2 hour narrative game.

I’ve found a pretty decent tactic. I try not to browse the shop when there are sales. I wishlist things, and when they go on sale, I start to consider them.

When I was younger, I had all the free time and the limiting factor was the number of games I could access. Now I have unlimited access to games and the limiting factor is the time I have.

I don’t need every game I would enjoy playing, I just need enough enjoyment to fill my free time.

In the hands, it feels very comfortable. Only complaint is the bumpers are a bit difficult to reach compared to a dual shock or xbox controller.

But the weight of it, and having to hold it with my elbows slightly bent to have it in a good position aggravates a persistent elbow injury I have. Though this is also aggravated by holding my phone too long, or sitting too close to my keyboard, causing my arms to be too bent for extended periods of time. So not necessarily the SteamDeck’s fault.

That said, picking it up and playing it an hour or 2, I’m not bothered at all. But when I first got it and spent an entire weekend glued to it I definitely and embarrassingly was injured.

I have tennis elbow from climbing that comes back every now and then, and the SteamDeck definitely aggravates it unfortunately. My elbow just doesn’t like to be slightly bent while carrying the weight of it. I have to rest it on my lap while sitting on the couch, which then means I’m looking down into my lap and causing some neck discomfort.

And I always want to hold it closer to my face to see better.

I’m only 32, make it stop please 😭

I’ve learned to love it, after I learned to not touch any settings I didn’t fully understand. Early in when trying to set up my desktop mode how I wanted, I ended up, like, deleting the bar at the bottom? And somehow totally screwing up the resolution on an external monitor and the relation between it and the deck as the main monitor or something. I’m decently computer literate, but Linux will watch you jam a fork in the electrical outlet and say nothing to stop you.

As someone who similarly fell out of gaming and then got back into it but is a very casual gamer, I think the SteamDeck is a great choice.

Handheld and suspending a game to be picked up later is great.

You can tinker with it if you want, it’s a PC after all, or you can treat it as the Valve Steam Console, buy only games that you know will run well, and have a pretty effortless time.

There will definitely be hiccups. Less than a windows PC, but more than an Xbox. But valve is constantly improving it. Maybe it’ll just decide to restart and need internet access to reboot, leaving it useless for your flight.

If you want to play newer AAA glitzy and glammy games, this won’t be a good choice for you. But if you’re looking at simpler, less demanding games, then you’ll find more of them and at a lower price on the Deck.

This is honestly what’s keeping me out of emulation. I have limited play-time available to me, and I know if I started emulating on my deck I would spend all that time just finding ROMs and testing them, and being like “oh neat I can play chuchu rocket” but then never playing it again.

It’s on a good level by default for me. After the update I seriously thought they changed the homescreen or something. Like, I knew something was different, and better, but couldn’t place my finger on it. Like when someone gets a new haircut and it takes you a bit to notice.

Cobalt Core is even more gorgeous now.

Im early into Cobalt Core and Let’s Revolution. Both fantastic. Into the Breach is an all-time favorite of mine.

Cobalt Core is like Into the Breach and Slay the Spire mixed. It’s a deck builder but also there is an element of placement. So you have damage, shield, and mobility to think about. I personally did not like Slay the Spire because the stacks of effects would get so convoluted I would often not be sure exactly what would happen. Cobalt Core lets you stack some mechanics, but it stays more manageable. My last run I upgraded a card that does damage based on cards in your hand to do double that damage, then I proceeded to build my deck around amassing cards in my hand while being very mobile. I’d dodge attacks for a few turns then one-shot or nearly one-shot the enemy.

Also it’s less complicated than Into the Breach, so I’m not spending 10 minutes optimizing a turn, or trying to find my way out of a situation that may be impossible to avoid. But I absolutely loved Into the Breach.

It probably sounds like I’m really trying to sell it. And that’s because I am. I love games like this, and I want them to get support. Music and pixel art is great as well. AND you can save and exit at any point, very appreciated.

Let’s Revolution is like a Rouge-lite minesweeper type game. It’s odd. You have to look at it and maybe even play it for a bit to know if you’ll actually like it. I’ve never seen a game like it. But one great thing is the characters are VERY different. The first wants/encourages that you clear the whole map and kill every enemy. The second character you get wants/encourages you to avoid revealing the map. The third doesn’t even start with an attack, and pushes you to just get the objective. I haven’t unlocked the others yet. This game is a bit tough to learn how the characters play.

I absolutely loved Cult of the Lamb. Recently I’ve put it down though since I’ve >!“beat” the game and am now at the point where you have to beat it again to get the tears!<

I maxed out my cult trees. And the cult management was actually the more addictive part to me. Often times I’d decide to do a run because I needed resources for my cult. I still dumped like 30 hours or so into it probably, which is a lot for me. Definitely got my money our of it, but I don’t know if I will continue past where I am.

Though, it stays on my steamdeck because if I have the itch to play a rouge-lite “whatever genre that type of combat is”, it’s there. Also I can’t abandon my cult. I love those little guys and gals.

Also also, I just need to shout out the sound design and music. Phenomenal. I love the “voices” of all the characters you meet. And many of the quotes are pretty awesome.

Balder’s Gate 3 because I’ll eventually get back into it and beat it, I promise. I really want that game to be a game I do multiple runs in trying different goofy things, but I still haven’t finished my original run. It’s just so much game, and instead I play smaller games.

I also keep an fps campaign for when that itch comes. Was Titanfall 2 (amazing) now it’s Wolfenstein.

Then a ton of small indies. Cobalt Core, brotato, let’s revolution, halls of torment, cult of the lamb. I have two gaming moods, mindless and tactical overanalyzing.

Something about these two games together is just funny to me.

I don’t like OLED screens. You’re telling me you want your screen to be made of LEDs? Like… those diodes I can buy at radio shack? Ridiculous. I don’t know if you know what LCD means, but my screen is literally made of LIQUID CRYSTALS. You have any clue how badass that is?

And honestly, a larger screen would just annoy me. 7 is such a nice number. 7.4 just sounds wrong and ugly.

Cobalt Core. Great tactical rouge-lite. Into the Breach was an all time favorite for me and after like 50 hours I was done with it. This is scratching the same itch, but add in deck building, which I absolutely love. And the turns are simpler, so I’m not planning out my move for 10 minutes line in Into the Breach.