Finally, I’m A Steam Deck Owner!

It’s been a very long and arduous journey. A journey fraught with uncertainty, delays and vague speculative assumptions. In the intervening period between reserving my Steam Deck and actually receiving the device, Frodo Baggins was able to trek across Middle Earth, through corpse ridden marshes, treacherous mountain peaks, the clutches of men and their tenacious obsession with power. All while being pursued by ring wraiths, paralysed by an 8-foot arachnid and endured the insufferable burden of the rings virulent malignancy. All without even wearing a stitch on his bulbous feet. In short, Frodo has no idea what real suffering is! With the interminable component shortage, a perpetuating consequence of COVID, one that resulted in a revised release and an adjusted time frame that is still very oblique. The Steam decks gradual release has been a fatiguing experience for a company renowned for its software.

But today that all changes. A day that will mark a pivotal moment in my life. A life that will be forever partitioned into a period of “before” and “after” the Steam deck. Appropriately abbreviated to “S.T.D” in the Gregorian calendar. There’s a sense of relief, like a year long bowel movement that has finally been shifted. But also a burgeoning sense of anxiety. An interminable reluctance elicited by such a prolonged yearning. A need that its release can’t possibly satisfy, with a daunting accumilation of aspirations you’ve conjured in your subconscious. The kind of self inflicted sabotage that occurs when you’ve invested a significant amount of not so disposable income on an extravagant device, that has been festering in my account for almost a year!

There’s an expectation that has gestated into this great irrepressible entity. Its tormenting binds finally splintered into a cacophony of euphoric liberation. Possessing the Steam deck is a lot like bringing home a new pet. And with any new addition to the household, it’s compulsory to accessorise. In this instance its natural to manifest this same effusive sense of pride by purchasing software. A vigorous process that only further expedites the flourishing relationship between man and device. If such a bond can exist between a living organism and inanimate object. But judging by my experience with the Steam deck so far, I think it could become my most cherished possession. One that I can also take for walks.

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Do you own a Steam deck? If so what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Cheers.

Portable Gaming: The Future For Time Deprived Adults.

Handheld consoles were a very influential means of gaming in my formative years. Without access to my own television or static console, handhelds were my only source for placating my Goomba stomping impulses. Though my parents owned and indeed flaunted a variety of game consoles in the living room, much of my participation was moderated by their capricious authority. With the introduction of the Gameboy, excursions into the bleak, dreary world, enforced by a mother concerned by my solitary proclivities, provided the freedom to indulge in recreational procrastination wherever I happened to be.

As I got older and secured access to home consoles as well as a television of my own, my interest in portable devices waned. Though I retained the services of devices like the Gameboy Advance, DS and PSP, most became superfluous. Decorative companions to their much more affluent contemporaries. And though the Switch ignited a renewed vigour for the portable format, it’s the advent of emulation devices that has galvanised an inherent affinity I thought was long dormant.

The conceit of emulators on the surface seems like an ambivalent legality to me. What is the legal precedent is for them? Is it piracy? Is the ownership of a device furnished with software capable of emulating games an illicit breach of copyright? If so, how can there be such a thriving market for such a legally precarious arrangement? Retro hand-held emulation, is an ostensibly saturated market. One that is only becoming more clustered. A cursory search online provides a myriad of amenities that facilitate an extensive range of specifications to accommodate a discrete requirement. Whether it’s access to Nintendo’s expansive library or Sony’s catalogue. There’s almost certainly a device that caters to your specific needs.

It’s fascinating aberration in gaming that I wish I knew more about, and will endeavour to do so. Emulators, particularly one’s with ambulant functionality seems purpose built for those that want to satisfy those nostalgic inclinations, but have neither the time nor means to facilitate them. Sadly it isn’t always possible to appropriate the living room television from my 5 year old daughter, to placate a sudden proclivity to dispatch a small enclave of militia with swift head rearrangements. The accessibility of a portable device, to pacify a compulsion during those brief 15 minute interludes that grace a busy day, with a brief foray into a game is very appealing to me. Much more than the 8 hour sessions I used to engage in.

Though I have reserved a Steam Deck, with an expected delivery date scheduled sometime between June and the collapse of our solar system, it’s the retro orientated devices like the Odin Pro that I find most intriguing. With handhelds, even when you exclude mobile phones, are liable to be the primary means of games entertainment for people with finite time to play. Power might be important, but accessibility might be more valuable.

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.