Running Out Of SteamDeck.

With Covids lingering malignancy still inflicting it’s pernicious influence on the world, the Steamdecks delay was sadly inevitable. As a consequence of this, my interminable enthusiasm for this device has been somewhat tempered. Not that I’m not still eager to own this intriguing handheld aberration to PC gaming, but more out spite of it’s beleaguered release. When a date is officially announced, even one as vague as the one solicited by Steam, you have a perceptible time scale to which to relate your anticipation. Even though I wasn’t fortunate to have secured a December 2021 reservation, knowing that this product was available gives the device a tangible actuality, rather than just a series of specifications and ambiguous images with no substance.

I’ve stated in a previous post concerning my incongruous attraction to obtaining this device, considering my dearth of familiarity with PC gaming. Detailing that it’s keen console influence is what has attracted me to another division of gaming that I would otherwise have dismissed. To the extent that I did present my interest by reserving a unit, and have since steadily accumulated a modest catalogue of Steam games to a library I can’t access at present. Purchasing titles that boast a significant reduction, during the regular Steam sales of course. Some familiar. Most cheap, but no less intriguing. But it’s these scattered moment’s of commerce that have kept me engaged with a device I’m likely not going to see for a year!

Having made the reservation back in July, a couple of day’s after the active Steam user’s were granted initial dibs, the December release seemed imminent. With the delay and no clarification on a specific or even broad schedule for a release, it’s difficult to sustain that initial enthusiasm that seemed so resolute. Like I said, I’m still excited. And no doubt that discharged ardour will slowly replenish as we get closer to an eventual release. But for the moment all I can do is be patient and pragmatic, by building a Steam library that will make all my reservations and lingering exasperation seem foolish in hindsight.

Steam Power: Why A Console Gamer Will Be Getting A Steam Deck.

PC gaming has always been somewhat of an outlier in my very console specific psychology. The notion of using a mouse a keyboard to play games is as baffling to me as steering a car with a trifle. Being a “console peasant” affords me the opportunity to game, with availability limited by the natural domestic responsibilities we all prioritise. Even if I wasn’t inhibited by the restraints of life or the deficiencies of money, with the limitations of my router and it’s localised remoteness, there simply isn’t anywhere for a PC to go, without considerable logistical alterations. So when the Steam Deck was announced you’d think I’d regard it with the same bemoaning apathy as any other elitist related hardware. Yet the reality is that I’m rather intrigued by the device. So much so that I even reserved one.

The Steam Deck, which I confess sounded like a wallpaper stripper when it was first trending, is a portable games console/PC developed by Valve, equipped with GPU’s, AMD’s and APU’s, as well as other industry standard abbreviations I’m too technically feeble to comprehend. The hybrid device which, when docked can be connected to a monitor or television, comes in 3 base models with differing internal storage options. The most expensive version is the format I’ve chosen.

The appeal to me as a console peasant, is a having a device that facilitates access to a service previously restricted. Steam has an extensive catalogue of titles I’ve never had the opportunity to play. As well as title’s that I have experienced that I can now play on the go. With the mobility, docking alternative and a huge library provided by Steam, this device has the potential to be the preferential alternative to my PlayStation. But the Steam Deck seems like a strange aberration for a community fanatical about the processing power of a PC?

Perhaps I’m wrong here, deceived by a generalised misconception, perpetuated by the elitist snobs in the gaming firmament. But this hardware, with it’s diminished power and console aesthetic, is a bit like selling plimsolls from “Shoezone” to a cobbler! Why would a PC gamer, bred with the habitual elitist attitude that is repelled by anything less than 60 fps, want to buy an inferior machine? It’s portable, sure. Provisioned with multi-touch capacitive, designed to replicate precision mouse control. But is that enough? That’s rhetorical really, I don’t have any answers. I’m not an analyst! I’d like to think that PC gamer’s don’t believe great ideas are limited to raw power.

Despite my extensive proclivity for frugality, I do on a occasion experience intermittent breaches of impulsive whimsy and capitulate to spontaneous desires, with mixed results. But with a Q2 2022 availability reserved and it’s scheduled release likely to be months before I’ll even receive confirmation of it’s acquisition let alone have the device dispatched, I have ample time to consider early reviews before committing a substantial cost. But I’m optimistic that the Steam Deck can provide an alternative to the current console ecosystem and rigours of their respective jurisdiction. Here’s hoping.

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Will you be getting the Steam Deck? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.

I’ll Never Understand Google Analytic’s.

Roughly 3 months ago I received notification detailing an update to a steam title called “Kitty Powers Matchmaker”. Now because I’m trying to write new, original content (because I’m pompous) that is formally derived from my own intimate experiences, many requests such as these are often dismissed or forgotten entirely. This isn’t because I consider such presumptuous inquiries detestable, I actually consider such invitations rather flattering, complimenting my more auteuristic musings with concise data. I just find my time should be utilised in a less commercialised way. My inbox is usually endowed with a clustered abundance of notifications concerning any number of mobile or independent console games, with the particulars of the messages ordinarily containing prompted overtures devoid of impartial transparency. Featuring stuff like “From the prestigious studio developer of such critically acclaimed masterpieces like “Pirate Gem 5” and “Moderately Irritated Birds” comes the most generic, no one gives a poop about game, based on another game, but is completely separate and ironically original…..etc. You get the idea and I understand that it’s all for promotional purposes and are trying to sell a product. But in this instance I liked to have a varied depiction of the games industry, especially those with a distinct premise that Kitty Powers Matchmaker presented. I was intrigued by the design so I decided to publish the details with minimal effort on my part. All the relevant information pertaining to game were contained within the email, as well as a hue of images that I felt were particularly compliant to the themes and ideas the developers were attempting convey. And considering that at that time I wasn’t blessed with a considerable amount of freedom, as well as social constraints that didn’t permit a protracted articles concerning arbitrary deterrent in a game or a dream I had about being attacked by giant crabs, this appeared to be a congenial collaboration generated through reliant necessity from both parties, utilising each others functions for mutually beneficial purposes.

So I published a very basic article they covered the overall message that the email characterised…..and I promptly forgot about it. It wasn’t until approximately a week later that I noticed an irregularity with statistics. Somehow, through some systemic circumvent in Google’s internal analytic’s I was securing an obscene amount views, seemingly attracting more visitations than a site purely dedicated to Christina Hendricks ample bust?! The cause of this elevated fluctuation was rooted in the seemingly innocuous demand for the very article I had forgotten. This is the asinine article that was attracting 100’s of potential subscribers to my site? This?! Not some polished whimsy or humorous annunciation that has taken weeks to evaluate and articulate, but this! I’m not ungrateful for the sudden solicitation of prospective new readers to a site often strewn with fewer visitors than a pub that distributes non-alcoholic beers, but it kind of makes a mockery of the entire system when something I had little input maintains such an eminent position in Google’s page ranking. It’s probably just my arcane understanding of the way Google conducts its business, but it seems farcical that something with so little attention afforded to its content can–in my opinion– grant such adverse importance. Once lying adjacent to the official site, it has since plummeted down the listings thanks to the generous acclaim that has been generated by far more influential gaming publications. I recognise that I’m hardly amongst the higher echelons of commutative distinction, but one principled in humility at least, and I’m kind of glad about this. It’s curious how its ascendancy in Google listing was achieved and why punitive restrictions are placed on my more sedulous pieces. Maybe Google hates me? Or maybe I shouldn’t try so hard?

Have you ever received more views or appreciation for something that didn’t require as much work? Let me know your thoughts. Comment, like and subscribe. Cheers as always.

Kitty Power’s Matchmaker.

So few games attempt to promote tolerance and parity for any and all sexual orientations, embracing the open diversity of modern relations, until now.

Gay, straight, hipster, geek – forget about Hollywood hunks and hotties. Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker believes in love for everyone, regardless of gender, sexuality, hair colour, or penchants for giant robot anime.

 

With Kitty as your mentor and a little black book brimming with eager candidates, it’s up to you to find those perfect matches-to-be and guide your clients through the nerve-wracking tribulations of dating. Want to join the excitement? You can even toss yourself into the dating pool for other matchmakers.

 

Praised by critics and public alike on mobile devices, Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker is available now on Steam, for PC and Mac, with all new voiceovers from Kitty herself.

Check out the trailer and images below.

 

Glad I don’t have to date any more! Kitty Powers Matchmaker is available now on Steam with all new voice-overs for Kitty herself.