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Latest Comments by Mrowl
Epic Games sheds 830 people due to 'spending way more money than we earn'
6 Oct 2023 at 6:40 pm UTC Likes: 2

I would love to see Fortnite die off one day, just to see if it has any serious impact on Epic.

Nintendo Switch emulator yuzu makes some big progress in the latest report
13 Jul 2023 at 8:29 pm UTC Likes: 4

These are exciting times, especially with the handheld PC market finally underway. If Nintendo sticks to a similar architecture, similar OS and API's, etc, I have a feeling Yuzu may even be able to emulate Switch 2 games, in a similar fashion to how Dolphin could emulate GameCube and Wii games.

Upload VR Showcase bundle has some good picks for VR fans
17 Jun 2023 at 8:09 pm UTC

I really want to buy a VR headset this year, and I'm strongly leaning towards the Quest 3. But if Valve were to announce the Steam Deckard standalone VR headset and price it competitively with the Quest 3, I would be on it in a heartbeat.

It's a shame to see PCVR in the sorry state it's currently in; I think the Valve Deckard, if it even exists, will help to revive PCVR and SteamVR in particular. But it does need to be priced in the $500'ish range, and will it be ARM or x86 based? How will PC / Steam VR backwards compatibility work?

Nintendo blocked Dolphin emulator release on Steam
28 May 2023 at 8:08 pm UTC Likes: 6

Quoting: poiuzIs it really that hard to understand significance of a release on the biggest PC gaming platform? It has nothing to do with the Deck.
Sure, Steam is huge, but so is Google Play:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dolphinemu.dolphinemu [External Link]

And as you can see, it has 5 million+ downloads there.

I will continue to believe the Deck played a part, because Nintendo genuinely fears it: they know there's a lot more harware similarity and software overlap with the Deck, than there is with smartphones and other devices.

Nintendo blocked Dolphin emulator release on Steam
28 May 2023 at 5:46 pm UTC Likes: 1

In fairness, packaging the decryption keys, or anything that can be easily copyright claimed, with the emulator was not a smart move. Hopefully they can remove what ever needs to be and leave it to the user's discretion to obtain that content themselves (which a lot of people are already used to with with other emulators that require bios files, etc).

Either way, the emulator is already out there and used by millions on Android and PC, etc, why Nintendo chose this moment to go after it is quite hilarious and petty.

If they think the Steam Deck is a problem, they haven't seen nothing yet: all the upcoming powerful handheld PC's coming to market will be able to emulate the Switch 1 (and likely even the Switch 2) with ease. And for a lot of people - especially those who find Nintendo to be a scummy, litigious company - they're just going to buy a powerful handheld PC and emulate all of Nintendo's games - and frankly, good on them.

Huge Steam Beta upgrade with new overlay, screenshot manager & more
28 Apr 2023 at 3:12 pm UTC Likes: 1

Things like this are why people will always prefer to buy their PC games, via Steam, because Valve genuinely care the most about your PC gaming experience (though, GoG are also doing great things, too).

Steam Deck hitting retail stores in Japan from April 29th, South Korea to follow
21 Apr 2023 at 8:18 pm UTC Likes: 1

In recent years, the stigma of Japan not liking PC gaming has been changing with the rise of eSports and MMO's. But prior to that, Japan had shied away from PC gaming for a long time, mostly due to the size of a gaming rig and the cost. The Steam Deck could be a gateway drug that brings many Japanese gamers, who are still on the fence, over to PC gaming and Steam.

However, even though I personally love the size and ergonomics of the Deck, I think if Valve really wants it to be a success in Asian countries, especially Japan, they really need to design a slimmer, more pocketable version. Additionally, it needs a 50WH battery upgrade and more vivid, colour accurate IPS panel.

Asus announce the ROG Ally gaming handheld
4 Apr 2023 at 1:01 pm UTC Likes: 1

Now is the perfect time for Valve to consider releasing a "Steam Deck Mini", and sell it at the same $399 starting price point, but perhaps with 128GB eMMC, instead of 64?

All these companies keep using Steam Deck's large size as a selling point for their product, so a Steam Deck Mini would just outright kill that rhetoric.

It should use the same tech specs as the Deck, but with a larger capacity battery (50Wh, instead of 40Wh). And no, it doesn't need to have an OLED screen, it just needs to have a more vibrant IPS screen, with higher SRGB range (Steam Deck currently only covers around 60-68%).

If they can't do a Joy-Con style design, then they should consider taking off the trackpads, and emulating their functionality via "virtual trackpads" on the touchscreen. It wouldn't be as good as the physical ones, but it's better than nothing.

Lastly, I really want to see removable front and back plates, so we can customise the entire look of the thing. I would like to see the same level of modularity and user-replaceability, too.

Counter-Strike 2 from Valve releasing Summer 2023, Limited Test starts today
22 Mar 2023 at 9:20 pm UTC Likes: 1

I don't know why, but CS GO Deathmatch with Bots (with trackpad and gyro aiming) is one of my favourite things to play on Steam Deck, specifically while "watching" a TV show, while lounging on the couch. I'm not very good at Counter-Strike (or any KB/M centric FPS) nowadays (I used to be quite good, back in the 1.5 days), so I don't play CS on desktop anymore.

Counter-Strike 2 is reportedly a real thing and coming soon
6 Mar 2023 at 7:05 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: Mountain ManI miss the good ol' days when Valve used to make top tier single player games. :sad:
They wouldn't have designed Half Life Alyx's ending that way, if they didn't have plans to follow up with 3. Gabe's comments in July 2021 even alluded to HL3 being in the works.