For larger RAM chips if went up - sometimes more than double - in half a year. I can literally look at the RAM I purchased in June and it’s more than twice that price now

I’ve been keeping some money set aside for a newer VR system, specifically one that supports wireless connection to PC. Was considering one of the newer HTC models but Linux support seemed… spotty. In glad I waited and have already wishlisted the Frame

I previously played with just Steam and there’s basically one setting to enable - allowing the install of non-native games - and then (for supported games) it’s pretty much the same as Windows. In some cases you need to select the Proton version but generally using “latest” does the trick. There are games that require Proton-GE to work. These were essentially ones where Valve’s Proton version doesn’t have workarounds for various DRM etc (likely because doing so would get them in trouble). On Steam Deck this is done by pretty much going into the local Appstore in “desktop mode” to install. Other distros may vary.

For non-Steam games it’s a bit more of a pain, and can vary widely by game. I’ve installed a ton either just by running the Windows installer from Wine or scripts provided by Lutris.

Honestly if you’ve got the cash and want to try things, grab a Deck and give that a shot. If it works for you, take the leap to Linux on PC. Alternatively on PC, add/resize a disk and go dual-boot. The guided installers on Ubuntu variants generally make this pretty easy.

I kinda feel like Terra developed a bit more over the course of the game, from orphan half-fey under the control of the empire to joining a rebel group while finding herself and discovering her past. In the end she doesn’t get assigned a “love interest” and become mother to a bunch of war-orphans as she gets in touch with her humanity.

Celes comes in a bit more badass to start - as a super-soldier-serum (magic infused) general who turned against the same immoral empire - but a lot of her side story aside from the island is a bit… weird what with the whole Locke Ultros opera thing. It’s like the story writers couldn’t decide whether she was a superhero or damsel in distress.

Locke’s own backstory with the Phoenix quest is neat though.

Isn’t FTL more of a base (ship) builder than a space dogfight type game?

It was everything for awhile, but the end architecture design did allow people to choose to not use secure-boot or to load their own keys on some boards. It did make some devices - mainly tabletized laptops - pretty much unusable for anything but the installed OS though.

Browser DRM though… That’s just getting started

I setup a mini PC that runs as a PXE server. Pretty much anything with an Ethernet port can boot from it and play a bunch of of classic games I’ve got on disc, plus some GoG titles etc. It’s awesome.

Projects like OpenSpy also make some of the old dead titles playable again

This is one reason why the changes to the boot process on X86 were a major concern, if machines only boot an an OS with a “trusted” signing keys then it is a pretty straight path to MS-only. Lack of published architecture assist gets here and there are X86 machines that will fail spectacularly on Linux due to this (weird EFI boot stuff, certain chipsets for such drivers can’t be had or made, etc). Hardware-level DRM is a major threat.

Then add in stuff like browser-based DRM. Oh cool, you can install whatever you want but this differently stuff will only play on Chrome with the DRM extension enabled, maybe sending CPUID info, and doing a bunch of other stuff for lock-in that makes the IE6+ActiveX/MS-JS pale in comparison

LoL. Yeah I’ve got a ton and I’ve never actually launched a single one

I’ve picked up a ton of their free games. I’ve yet to actually install their client and actually play one

Yeah, I get that Bedrock is for consoles, but as far as far as “performance” that’s mostly a front-end consideration.

I just wish that there was a level of compatibility where one could still self-host and allow the console etc players to join

What’s getting destroyed? You wouldn’t be able to login to the server but the data would still be there. Transfer the account (or make a new one) and the data’s still there as well.

I’m more annoyed that Microsoft split off Java Edition and Bedrock into two pieces of incompatible software, but I’m honestly surprised they’ve supported the old auth services for this long.

Even if it requires some screws to swap that’s still good for breathing extra life into old phones.

I had multiple models of Surface Pro. The first several generations ran great on Linux, but the later models got hella expensive without offering much new for the price. I ended up with a Lenovo X12 which is similar in turn factor but had more storage/RAM/power for less price

I feel like the implementation was a bit gimmicky. I first used an IR transceiver as a remote on a late-model palm and the interface was much better than most apps I found on Android.

I wonder if it would be possible to pack that functionality into a smart-watch

Well, what we’ve seen this far is not making it mandatory just means that the battery will not be user-replaceable on 99% of devices, because that’s the most profitable way of doing it even if it results in a lot of extra waste

I feel like OLED screens partly replace this, since they could have a small indicator on the screen without needing to power a backlight etc

I liked the physical toggle for silent mode on iPhones. Flip/slide-out keyboards were also kinda cool

As far as apps though… I really loved having a good programmable remote app on devices with an IR transceiver. The best one was actually on Palm of all things, and you could add custom icons to a layout and then record inputs from your actual remotes to replay.

You’re in luck for the battery thing. It’s basically going to be mandatory in the EU which should hopefully help push change everywhere