the phrase "the steamdeck is the modern PSP" popped into my head the other day
i've owned a lot of handheld devices over the years, but there's only a select few that meet all the criteria the PSP set down
- good buttons
- a device that feels like it comes out of the box doing so much for its era, while being tweakable to do so much more without having to jump through too many hoops to do so
- a customized, responsive interface that also plays well with the tweaks
- mainstream support including easy access to accessories
i've said this before, but the PSP quickly became my "everything device". even before homebrew.
it was my main music player to the extent that i regifted an ipod to a family member because i just absolutely hated itunes compared to dragging and dropping folders of albums 1
i used to bring a portable DVD player and a binder of DVDs on family trips, but there was less reason to do that when i could just rip and convert to 480x272 videos
and then once homebrew came along, it's how i first experienced earthbound and sam & max hit the road, how i re-experienced large parts of my PS1 library. there were plugins available for modding games; i remember grand theft auto: liberty city stories getting a map editor mod
and every time i use rsync to grab files off my steam deck - including screenshots that have been filed by lnshot - i get similar vibes.
a lot of things the PSP did out of the box are now table stakes for everyone but nintendo 2, but so few things present a consolized interface while making it so trivial to pop the hood; community tools already letting my copy of ratchet & clank 2 appear alongside regular steam games in my library
i know that in a pinch, i could install unity on there if i needed to make a quick tweak to my vrchat avatar
or install handbrake and transcode a DVD
or get a compatible stylus and use krita or aseprite
or install a bunch of non-workshop skyrim mods 3
and then just... go back to the simple interface afterwards, integrating these things in if you'd want to - when other ultra mini PCs feel like they'd kick you fully back to windows
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back then my collection was small enough that i didn't need to use playlists for syncing, so this method became more impractical as it grew, eventually leading back to a dedicated player. my only regret about it at that time is the relatively low capacity of memory sticks does mean there's a lot of things I ripped as potato quality WMAs and have never gone back to re-rip.
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suddenly reminded of people attempting to watch 3D films in the 3ds photos app by converting them to Motion JPEG
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i suspect the main issue with this one would likely be watching out for ones reliant on Windows being case insensitive
