I was writing this out on my local !letstalkaboutgames@feddit.uk and realised I was basically making a patient gamers post, so here’s a copy and paste:

Despite everything you might read from gaming journos about corporate greed destroying the gaming industry I still think it’s an amazing time to be into video games. I’m absolutely spoiled for choice with games to play and I think it’s just down to not caring about online multiplayer or getting caught up in marketing hype.

You don’t have to pay through the nose to buy a fancy machine to play half-finished blockbusters, there are decades of classics that you can still play. Borrow a friend’s old console and play some old games-of-the-year, find some random classics on Humble Bundle or GOG, see what random freebies I’ve posted in !freegames@feddit.uk, stick an emulator on your phone or find one that runs in a web browser.

Example: I played Metroid Prime after seeing a Lemmy post talking about. I could either:

  • Dig out a GameCube or buy a Wii on eBay for £5 and find a copy of the game at CEX if I fancy the retro experience
  • Buy the remastered Switch version if I fancied splashing out
  • Just pirate a ROM if I feel rebellious
  • Dump my own ROM and play it on PrimeHack if I feel like tinkering

This is just one example of a great game that passed me by, there are thousands of others out there. We have a crazy amount of choice not only of what to play but how we choose to play it. The bittersweet part is that this could all change so enjoy it while you can!

  • insomniac_lemon
    6•10 months ago

    So I just dusted off my PS3 (with an air compressor).

    Discs apparently work again, not sure if from the air or some other temporary thing (I’ve seen some say tilt and “let it warm up” like aging motors or something). Not seeing any issues now.

    Controller’s lights wouldn’t even come on, but turns out it needed the original cable and connected to the PS3. Had to fix the L1 button but the triggers fell out (design sucks) making the triggers too sensitive and then I fixed those too. Seems to hold at least some charge and it obviously wasn’t puffed.

    Popped my R:FOM disc in, works great. Got the auger (to the level that starts in a tunnel, turrets+trenches).

    Haven’t gotten to FW stuff yet, seems straightforward and I have the compat. info I need.

    Looking through the menus jogged my memory. The game I mentioned was a PSP mini (playable on PS3) and is called Deflector (gameplay at ~1min+). Not really that interesting TBH, but seeing quite a few minis based on Flash games so it makes me wonder if you could convert Flash games somehow and how well it’d work for making new homebrew games especially if it can use other things besides Flash (though it does use PSP emulation so performance might not be the best). I also see a package for LUA, but it’s old so not sure if it’d still work.

    (Updated comment, original below)

    I was just wanting to re-play one of my old games (Resistance: FoM), but that only brought up PS3 gloom because I can’t easily run them.

    I mean free games are nice, pretty much all I play now aside from things I bought on sale many years ago.

      • insomniac_lemon
        3•11 months ago

        I don’t think I played the story co-op, but I played versus maybe 3 times. Splitscreen isn’t good for that because screen-peeking.

        Resistance 2 had some interesting co-op/online stuff (XP system with unlocks, different stuff than story mode) that I mostly played solo IIRC (janky, still need 2 controllers). No broadband available until mid-2016, but I was able to play online via a distant neighor’s wifi (they knew) at midnight for a few games and was probably the worst player thanks to high ping (rubberbanding).

      • insomniac_lemon
        4•11 months ago

        I’ve got 2 already:
        my orginal 60GB version (YLoD, heatgun fixed a few+ times until it shut-off due to overheating for the first time so I gave up)
        one with a broken disc-drive I traded for, put my old drive (with its the console keeping its original disc-drive daughterboard) in and eventually it stopped reading discs (not sure if it burned out or firmware DRM timeout thing, cleaner disc didn’t work)

        I could probably fix either but I don’t want to spend money on it, plus given the situation I’d probably need to fix both.

        Can’t rip my own disc (I have a blu-ray drive but not the right kind for PS3 ripping). Emu is a hassle esp. w/big files (and I have a 1050Ti). Bookmarks are dead (or need acct?) and I can’t seem to find a demo image to see how well it’d run.

          • insomniac_lemon
            3•11 months ago

            Yeah, sorry. I could probably do something, it’s just tedious especially now. Maybe eventually, though I remember stuff (like a cheap laser puzzle game from the PSN, also some old animations sold on the PSN though I did remember Stickman Exodus) that I probably won’t ever find again.

            On a very similar note I really like the idea of creating some sort of content, not sure if things will ever align there either. I’d like to create minimalist stuff (that could probably run on the PS1 even), so it’s a shame that it’ll never be as simple as clicking export from Godot (it could happen 3rd-party maybe, but might be too niche) and copying a file over.

            • @smeg@feddit.ukOPEnglish
              2•11 months ago

              Given the classic example of running Doom on everything I think eventually if an old platform is popular enough then its hacking/homebrew community will find a way of running anything on it. Maybe your Godot dream will be reality one day!

              • insomniac_lemon
                1•11 months ago

                Doom ports are a meme at this point, which is a motivation for a straightforward task (for someone who knows what they’re doing, at least). A flexible engine, less likely.

                I assume these types of scenarios/features fare better:

                • newer hardware
                • open (SDK and sideloading OOTB)
                • bespoke engine (limited capability)
                • WASM or similar universal shim layer (I assume)

                Likely meaning money (and healthy homebrew scenes in some cases might be sunk cost, like the Playdate which I’m sure is great if cost isn’t an issue). Though honestly the main reason I care at all is just to use hardware that I already have*. I don’t really need a handheld console even though I expect that will likely have a better homebrew scene. (If unclear, I’m just saying the PS3 bit isn’t important for the idea, and if it’s dead then the novelty/excuse is gone too)

                I guess some older consoles have options now but those also usually need some sort of extra buy (mostly the step itself being an issue) plus I don’t have most of my old consoles.

                *=especially if semi-unique features. Like sixaxis for the PS3 (analog triggers if comparing to KB+M)… though I do wonder if someone could make accelerometer controls work for the steam controller rather than just gyro. Then again, on top of my other PS3 issues I don’t even know if my controllers are still alive.