2000 AD
Prog 2443
Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Video Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
Played for exactly 2 hours today, the vast majority of which was spent finally using up the ingredients I'd been collecting constantly over the past 18 hours of play, turning them into so many potions that I could only sell a small fraction of them, and had to go store the rest. But, as I surmised yesterday, this reduced the burden of my inventory massively. I had actually intended to play through a dungeon, but it was realising that there was no way I could carry the loot out of there that finally spurred me to act. I increased a couple of levels in the process, too, so that was nice.
It does mean it feels less like I played the game and more like I did a couple of hours of admin, though. Oh well, it's done now, and I can have some actual fun tomorrow. And also maybe pick up fewer ingredients going forward...
Played for exactly 2 hours today, the vast majority of which was spent finally using up the ingredients I'd been collecting constantly over the past 18 hours of play, turning them into so many potions that I could only sell a small fraction of them, and had to go store the rest. But, as I surmised yesterday, this reduced the burden of my inventory massively. I had actually intended to play through a dungeon, but it was realising that there was no way I could carry the loot out of there that finally spurred me to act. I increased a couple of levels in the process, too, so that was nice.
It does mean it feels less like I played the game and more like I did a couple of hours of admin, though. Oh well, it's done now, and I can have some actual fun tomorrow. And also maybe pick up fewer ingredients going forward...
Articles
Valve announces three new products: the Steam Frame, Steam Machine and Steam Controller
by Jacob Ridley (from PC Gamer)
Regular readers* will know how much I've been loving my Steam Deck, so the semi-surprise news** today from Valve about a whole suite of additional related products was very exciting. Just a few months ago, I might not have really cared, but I feel like I'm big back into gaming now, and so I instantly want all of these. Of course, whether they'll be friendly to my budget is another matter...
Would they negate my Deck, though? No, I don't think so. I have enjoyed playing it docked to the TV, but I've mostly played it handheld in other places around the house. I really like being able to do that — indeed, I could just go sit in front of my TV with it if I wanted to, because I bought a dock — so I think I'd keep doing that even if I get the Steam Machine. But then what's the benefit of the Machine? It's a lot more powerful, primarily, meaning I could run more demanding games; and I could also use it to stream them to my Deck, if I didn't just want to play those games on my TV. So, to me, it does seem like there's a definite use case for having both. The only money wasted is on the aforementioned dock — why would I dock my Deck and play that when I could use the Machine? Maybe I'll think of some other use for it. Maybe I could sell it.
The same goes for a controller I bought for when I use my Deck with the TV. It looks like the Steam Controller will be superior to the one I chose, so it remains a tempting buy, but I don't have friends round to play or anything, so I don't need mulitple controllers. I'll have to see about the price and reviews of the Controller and decide if it's worth the upgrade. I imagine selling the one I've already got would be even easier than selling the dock.
Of course, the Steam Frame is an entirely different proposition that doesn't trample on either the Deck or Machine. I'd actually already been toying with getting a VR headset — indeed, if the Xbox limited edition Meta Quest 3S hadn't sold out so quickly, I might well have bought one. I was mulling it for a while, and damn near decided I'd cave and get it, but then they were gone. Well, that's turned out to be a boon: one of the selling points was it came bundled with several months of Game Pass, which used to be good but has recently gone to shit, and other things I liked included the colour scheme and exclusive Xbox controller, both of which the Frame either equals (colour) or negates (Steam Controller). (I wasn't just interested in the aesthetics: one of the things that gave me pause was reading how much better the Quest 3 (no S) was). Now, maybe a Quest or something will still be a better device — I'll have to see what the price and reviews are like — but I'm pretty ensconced in the Steam ecosystem at this point (but, happily, with knowledge of effective ways to add games from other sources, so I'm not too tied-in), so the Frame might generally be a better choice of device for me.
The big disadvantage to possibly jumping on all of these "day one" is one of expectations. I got the Deck after it had been out for years; the Meta Quest has been around a fair while — that means there's a user base who've worked out the best ways to use them; some kinks have been ironed out, or workarounds found. I've benefitted from all of that with the Deck, and it was informing my VR purchase. Do I just trust to Valve, and that the existing community will continue to find tips and tricks that I can piggyback onto over time, or do I wait and see? Something to think about.
* Don't worry, I know there aren't any.
** There were whisperings and rumours, especially over the last 24 hours, but nothing concrete before the actual announcement.
by Jacob Ridley (from PC Gamer)
Regular readers* will know how much I've been loving my Steam Deck, so the semi-surprise news** today from Valve about a whole suite of additional related products was very exciting. Just a few months ago, I might not have really cared, but I feel like I'm big back into gaming now, and so I instantly want all of these. Of course, whether they'll be friendly to my budget is another matter...
Would they negate my Deck, though? No, I don't think so. I have enjoyed playing it docked to the TV, but I've mostly played it handheld in other places around the house. I really like being able to do that — indeed, I could just go sit in front of my TV with it if I wanted to, because I bought a dock — so I think I'd keep doing that even if I get the Steam Machine. But then what's the benefit of the Machine? It's a lot more powerful, primarily, meaning I could run more demanding games; and I could also use it to stream them to my Deck, if I didn't just want to play those games on my TV. So, to me, it does seem like there's a definite use case for having both. The only money wasted is on the aforementioned dock — why would I dock my Deck and play that when I could use the Machine? Maybe I'll think of some other use for it. Maybe I could sell it.
The same goes for a controller I bought for when I use my Deck with the TV. It looks like the Steam Controller will be superior to the one I chose, so it remains a tempting buy, but I don't have friends round to play or anything, so I don't need mulitple controllers. I'll have to see about the price and reviews of the Controller and decide if it's worth the upgrade. I imagine selling the one I've already got would be even easier than selling the dock.
Of course, the Steam Frame is an entirely different proposition that doesn't trample on either the Deck or Machine. I'd actually already been toying with getting a VR headset — indeed, if the Xbox limited edition Meta Quest 3S hadn't sold out so quickly, I might well have bought one. I was mulling it for a while, and damn near decided I'd cave and get it, but then they were gone. Well, that's turned out to be a boon: one of the selling points was it came bundled with several months of Game Pass, which used to be good but has recently gone to shit, and other things I liked included the colour scheme and exclusive Xbox controller, both of which the Frame either equals (colour) or negates (Steam Controller). (I wasn't just interested in the aesthetics: one of the things that gave me pause was reading how much better the Quest 3 (no S) was). Now, maybe a Quest or something will still be a better device — I'll have to see what the price and reviews are like — but I'm pretty ensconced in the Steam ecosystem at this point (but, happily, with knowledge of effective ways to add games from other sources, so I'm not too tied-in), so the Frame might generally be a better choice of device for me.
The big disadvantage to possibly jumping on all of these "day one" is one of expectations. I got the Deck after it had been out for years; the Meta Quest has been around a fair while — that means there's a user base who've worked out the best ways to use them; some kinks have been ironed out, or workarounds found. I've benefitted from all of that with the Deck, and it was informing my VR purchase. Do I just trust to Valve, and that the existing community will continue to find tips and tricks that I can piggyback onto over time, or do I wait and see? Something to think about.
* Don't worry, I know there aren't any.
** There were whisperings and rumours, especially over the last 24 hours, but nothing concrete before the actual announcement.
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