I'd like you to meet Mr. Pokeylope

Speaking of achievements, finally 100%'d Psychonauts on Steam... Never did show Mr. Pokeylope to all of the campers before.

Not exactly useful, but still a neat curiosity: Found a 2MB Compaq Matrox MGA Millennium + 2MB WRAM expansion module + Quadrant Cinemaster C Rev 1.2C for $7 at a thrift store; neglected to grab the video cable for the MPEG-2 card from the pile though because the store was closing and they were rushing us out :/ Went back the next day, and the cable was gone - but I did find two gray/purple SN30 Retro Set controllers and a Razer Tartarus Chroma for ~$11 - the former needed a firmware update and the latter needed a thorough cleaning, but all three work great! Too bad about that Synapse software though... Ew. Also found an original, $200 Wooting 60HE keyboard for $7 at a different thrift store - it needed a cleaning and a keycap, plus one of the LEDs doesn't do blue very well; but otherwise works perfectly... Now if only I liked 60% keyboards :/ Oh, and a Casio EV-510 for $5 - always wanted something like that, and this one works great with its 3.5mm AV input.

Upgraded to Android 17, and... Time for GrapheneOS? Getting closer.

EndeavourOS + NVIDIA 10-series + NVIDIA drivers + Steam on the OptiPlex was simple enough, but still annoying; and performance lags behind Windows 11. Round two with i3 was unnecessary - still don't need tiling in my life; back to Xfce. Keeping an eye out for a really cheap 6x00 Radeon someday (recently missed a $55 6500 XT) but dual-booting from two SSDs for now. Windows 11 on the 2014 X1 Carbon was getting painful, so Endeavour's on there now too. Also playing with lighter options on the HP - Archcraft is ~12GB smaller than Endeavour out of the box, but the default polybar configuration is a little janky on the 1366x768 display and managing Plank can be a bit of a chore.

DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations gets awkward once the spear shows up... More buttons, parry timing adjustments... Keyboard gymnastics... In DOOM :( Feels kinda like Eternal again, and that's just not what I'm here for. Also, in order to use the Tartarus, at least two keys need to be re-mapped... More gymnastics. It's all basically an extended tutorial though, so I'm still really enjoying the DLC.

AMOK on Saturn is so good; gotta get the PC version running again, and I'd really like to see how far along the 32X version was.

Decent prices at a couple of local stores on:

• AH-3 Thunderstrike (SCD) - Didn't realise it was different from the Amiga and DOS versions - thanks, Core!
• Battlecorps (SCD) - More Core! I just really like this one; very of-its-time.
• Soulstar (SCD) - The best of Core? Always so expensive; saved ~$100 off the usual prices though.
• Real Pinball (3DO) - More exclusives! 
• VR Stalker (3DO) - Another exclusive; also, an American Laser Games title that doesn't use a lightgun.
• Dreams (PS4) - A few things I'd like to try-out on there while we still can.
• Foamstars (PS5) - Free Splatoon from Square? Sure, why not.

Underachiever?

Small computers have always been more expensive compared to full desktops, and the latest Steam Machine is a welcome departure from the trend; beyond that, I know nobody likes hearing "It's not for you", but that argument's always been worth exploring and it feels appropriate here - the new Steam Machine's not going to replace enthusiasts' gaming PCs, custom-built or otherwise; it's not going to replace phones or consoles for casual players; it's not going to replace anything - it's going to offer a turn-key baseline for people who want to enter the PC video game realm. There'll be overlap with all of the above, but there's a specific niche that provides a telling perspective when considered alongside Steam Deck hardware sales numbers in context with console hardware sales numbers. Underserved users get attention and Steam makes its cost back on each unit, while Steam Store penetration and sales dictate the project's sustainability.

Finally sat-down with the System Shock remake, and I am grateful or it. I played the original in the '90s, and it was just so rough. I love the new aesthetic and I only cooled a little on the experience during the last few sections (gameplay changes drastically, and some of the backtracking becomes a chore), but was still satisfied by the end... I just wish any of the Epic Games Achievements had triggered :/

Got Sonic Superstars for just under $13 CDN, and it feels awful - like Sonic 4 all over again... And people liked this? Sonic fans are weird.

Found Desert Falcon for 7800, as well as Pole Position and Star Castle for Vectrex at a game stall in a weird local mall - they supposedly also had a copy of Fortress of Narzod at some point, but may have sold it; need to go back with a proper list and more cash, regardless.