The em dash? I always use it—love it—you’ll have to take it from cold, dead hands.

Yep, the key is to use mouse instead of joystick-mouse.

I admire the cut of your jib.

You’re not wrong that the market has changed.

I often tell people that the biggest innovations in PC gaming are not graphics but form factors and inputs.

That’s more of a killer feature for Linux in general.

And I can’t undersell how big of a deal that is. When Windows 10 dies, I’m switching my desktop to Linux simply because Proton makes me want to use Linux.

And yet, when I look at my library, only half of new games released within the past five years support X-input. They are still exclusively keyboard-and-mouse.

Granted, that’s way more than what was available 10 years ago, but it’s still a problem.

Or it would be if the Steam Deck didn’t make it trivially easy to adapt keyboard-and-mouse controls to a controller. Which happened because of the innovation first introduced with the Steam Controller.

It’s now at the point where keyboard-and-mouse is optional—just a preference if you want to use it.

Okay, but I didn’t want to buy a new console. Instead, I wanted to use my PC as a console replacement.

But also, there’s a surprising amount of games that never got a console release. For example, Blood and Septerra Core—never arrived on any console. I own those games, and the Steam controller let me play them on my TV very easily.

That’s the key. If you’re wanting to play something like Street Fighter VI, the Steam controller probably won’t fly.

But because I wanted to play Dungeon Siege on my TV, it works far better than a traditional controller ever could.

For the Steam controller to work for you, you have to come in with the mentality of it replacing a keyboard-and-mouse.

I feel a right stick is more useful for games deliberately designed as twin stick shooters. Geometry Wars is a good example of this. Using a trackpad for aiming is fine, but that doesn’t really feel like an arcade experience.

Yes, that’s the other thing: the trackpad D-pad is not as good as a button D-pad.

Actually, my kid’s needs really are substantially different from others.

My daughter is autistic. She has trouble communicating verbally. But on Roblox, she finds it much easier to socialize.

She has never spent a cent on microtransactions but gets the opportunity to talk to other kids without being bullied.

I’m not taking that away from her just because strangers on the Internet can’t fathom different kids have different needs.

I think I know my kid better than you, a random Internet stranger who’s never met her before in her life. And consequently, has no understanding of what her actual needs are.

I’m skeptical that people here are as knowledgeable as they claim.

I know from several other threads that the majority of folks here stick to a few handfuls of games and sink 1,000s of hours into them. That might make them an expert at a specific MMO, but it certainly doesn’t make them experts in every game at a glance.

I have a more compelling suggestion: only judge games you play.

Because the post doesn’t suggest anything.

I mean, I wrote a whole lot of text explaining why I collect so many games.

It’s a random stranger gloating about spending thousands of dollars on games they barely play.

I haven’t even told you how much money I’ve spent. And of the money I’ve spent, it’s not exactly a lot. I know people who’ve spent more money on hardware than I’ve spent on games.

No interest in starting any meaningful conversation whatsoever.

And yet, there’s lots of conversation here. You’ve already written paragraphs. Go figure.

OP did not say anything meaningful or specific about their favorite “stories” or “moments” in games

If you want to see posts where I talk about specific games, just go through my history.

and did not show any interest in learning about yours or ours.

If you want to share your story, do so. Actually, you already did.

You or OP can do whatever you want, but if you gloat about your senseless consumption habits online while showing zero interest in starting any meaningful discussion

Oh, there’s sense. Maybe not sense in your prescribed manner, but there’s sense.

don’t throw out the pikachu face when you get clowned.

I really don’t mind the many different reactions.

Talk about them then. No one’s stopping you or OP—although I imagine it’s hard to talk about thousands of games they haven’t played 😂

Yep, no one’s stopping me – which is why I talk about specific games.

Wouldn’t it have been nice if OP did this instead of generically gloating about amassing a huge library of games they barely play?

Just because you’re seeing this post here now doesn’t mean I don’t talk about specific games elsewhere. In fact, if you go through my posting history, you can see all the many times I talk about my experiences with games. Feel free to comment on them.

The reason why you’re commenting here now, and not on my post about Curse: Eye of Isis is because this specific post created an emotional reaction in you.

Or hell, you can look on my Akkoma account. I posted this about Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death last night:

https://atomicpoet.org/notice/AvkWBhY1PJvUqiElYu

Again, my kid has never spent a single cent on microtransactions.

Once again, choice is on your side. There are hundreds of thousands of games on mobile, many that are not service-based.

I read you loud and clear—I get that you don’t play mobile games because you think they’re shit.

And my point is simple: if you don’t play them, your opinion on them counts for exactly nothing.

No games played = no credibility. It’s that straightforward.

You just told me you don’t play anything, so by your own admission, you’ve seen nothing.

I don’t need to have played every game ever made. But I do own several thousand and have played thousands more.

From that experience, I can tell you this: you never truly understand a game until you play it yourself. That’s why I don’t waste time forming opinions about games I haven’t actually tried.

Try it sometime—it might change your perspective.