ascagnel

Significant — you’d need to either get the old Linux build working (not an easy task today) or you can install it on Windows, copy the files over, and run it via Proton (but you’d need to manually add the registry key with your CD key to the Proton prefix’s registry).

Three thoughts:

• Valve doesn’t use physical media, so there isn’t a need to enforce DRM at the hardware level
• the Deck itself is sold at a small profit regardless of the configuration, so there’s no benefit to pushing users to higher-price configurations
• Valve enforces its DRM in software via the OS

The biggest reasons to lock down hardware aren’t really there on the Deck. On top of that, it benefits Valve to have other devices running their storefront, so using off-the-shelf parts when possible makes it easier for others to use the Deck as a template.

August-November of that year was headlined by a slew of all-time greats: Half-Life 2, San Andreas, MGS3, Halo 2, The Sims 2…

If you were into video games in any way in that time period, you had something great to play, regardless of platform.

Rainbow Six Siege is up there — there’s six dimensions of assholery in the game by my count.

• Tom Clancy games tend to attract right-wing assholes because they’re Tom Clancy
• competitive FPS
• one-shot one-kill gameplay
• friendly fire on by default
• character picks
• you need to play to a specific meta

Universal Paperclips! It’s an idle game that relies on you making smart planning decisions to optimize things, so there’s a degree of strategy that most of them lack.

More that the article being a few years old means it’s missed out on a number of notable releases in the interim.

Note the date of the article: October 2021.

That's my thought as well -- the licensed sports game market is probably more reliable (and generates more revenue vs. development cost) than originals, and they can "streamline" their business by splitting the originals business off for a sale. Not including sports probably makes the originals side more attractive to platform holders, as most sports games probably include provisions that require multiplatform releases (see also: the MLB signing a publishing deal for Sony's "The Show" on non-Sony platforms).

I have AA (via their bundle, it’s not really worth it on its own), and within a few weeks I wasn’t able to find online matches. It also didn’t feel great to play (both on touchscreen and controller), and they never released anything beyond 3-on-3 hockey. I would not recommend.

We know why Dolphin wasn’t put on Steam.

1. Dolphin ships with a decryption key for Wii games
2. Valve’s legal got worried about hosting that, and reached out to Nintendo
3. Nintendo did their usual thing and said no (because they wrongly believe all emulation of their hardware is illegal, except if they do it)
4. Valve pulled down the Dolphin page on their own, without a legal demand from Nintendo

Valve continues to host RetroArch and the various cores, so it’s not like they’re opposed to emulation in general. The ability to copyright “magic numbers” in the US (Valve is an American company) isn’t up for debate, and it would also put them in violation of the DMCA, so it’s not hard to see why Valve would be worried about this specific emulator.

As for Dolphin, they have options:

• they can choose to keep shipping as-is, without being on Steam
• they can choose to add BIOS support and sidestep the entire question of decrypting keys
• they can require users to enter their own decryption key they dump directly from their consoles (which, realistically, means that users would get one off the web separate from Dolphin)

The best description of it I’ve heard is “direct-to-video Mass Effect”. Which is to say: it’s got the elements you’re looking for in a Mass Effect title, but it fails to execute on those elements very well.

Spelunky HD

A roguelike platformer. While it lacks any meta-progression (like the similar Rogue Legacy games), the core platforming keeps me coming back again and again. The systems-based nature of the game keeps things fresh through many play-throughs.

Umurangi Generation

A photography game that's more cyberpunk than the game titled Cyberpunk. It gradually introduces you into its neon-soaked, Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired world where humanity fights the good fight against kaiju.

Florence

A story of love, loss, and moving on.