Pondering about Neat Hardware

Nvidia Shield Tablet, Asus ROG Flow Z13 and Nintendo Switch OLED.

It's been a while since I expressed my interest in talking about other topics related to gaming. For a while I just didn't have a specific topic in mind and also didn't come up with something  truly nothing, so I guess I can talk about nothing this time around. After all, this is a personal blog. Even though I've been making a slow progress this year so far, there's much more to be done. In my frequent episodes of self-reflection, I've realized that I lack a "new hardware goal". You see, my current smartphone & laptop are old, outdated and I'm surprised they're still working. Although I can't say the same about my tablet that I stopped using anyway.

While my long-term wish is to make through all the odds, I'm struggling to be selfish. It's hard to think about getting a new computer and whatnot when you have a menacing elephant in the room. How about dealing with low income and family debts instead of daydreaming about some laptop? While I agree with it since that's my actual thoughts, I started to realized that this could be problematic. I'm too fixated on a larger ultimate goal I just can't deal with at the moment, which results in obvious personal issues. There's a need for some middle point and that's what I wanted to waste my free time on. Because I actually have no idea what I would like to get for myself.

PC, Laptops & Deck.

There's an issue through. Due to ongoing pandemic and current status of the market, building a new personal computer from scratch seems nearly impossible. Some components are overpriced and it's fair to say that this trend wouldn't slow down anytime soon. From a little observation I've made, it seems like paying for a PC instead might be more achievable. Still, I have no idea where to start with this one.

Besides, it just so happened that I ended up being more of a "laptop person" since that's what we've settled on. And I had some unreasonable thoughts in that field. I enjoy looking at weird device that's often way above what I could afford, which is practically nothing. I've paid specific interest to Asus due to my old tablet produced by them. For example, their ROG Mothership is an enourmous beast with alien charm to it. Proportions aren't a concept to me since I'm using it always at home anyway. Somewhat recently Asus has also presented ROG Flow Z13 that comes much closer to Microsoft's Surface in terms of size and I adore all of them. For something less focused on games, there's Zenbook Duo 14. All of them are damn expensive and aiming for them is pointless, but I went all-in into dreaming.

In comparison to previously mentioned devices, I've started to realize that the most affortable "cool PC" I can aim for actually a Steam Deck. I would still need at least a copy of Windows 10, dock with monitor and required cables, but even then I assume that ends up costing less than any of previously mentioned Asus laptops. There's probably some drawbacks to utilizing a device like this in such manner, but I'm a kind of dork who would've went for it. Not because I don't really have other options, but also because I just think that it's pretty neat to have a "Switch-esque" setup.

Consoles. Old and New.

Speaking of which, that's a wonderful transition. Back in good old days, my dad had a fine collection of consoles & games. Most of it went away as he started to sell his stuff in order for us to make ends meet. But even before that, I entertained the idea of getting a "retro collection" of my own...  or rather expand it. Technically I still have my working Game Boy Advance SP that's actually a Chinese version of a handheld carrying iQue brand... Why I haven't thought of it as a topic for an "article"? Either way, I have a humble cartridge collection of various "types". More games, maybe even with boxes? Would be nice. Right now I just need a working charger since official ones got lost, and latest knockoff currently malfunctioning. 

I think there's probably three consoles I'm really interested in, but only confident in one and that's Super Nintendo. There's a lot of nice games I would've like to own & play in authentic way on European version. Getting some accesories such as Super NES Mouse and Super Game Boy could be fun as well. Which leads me to Nintendo GameCube mostly due to its parity with aforementioned GBA. Besides Game Boy Player, the console itself is useful in some GameCube titles: from The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures to a port of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Third candidate was an original Xbox and I guess its mostly due to how interesting its homebrew scene seems to be. Of course, it would've been nice to have a large extensive "library" with all kinds of games & consoles, but that's just too much to handle. Seems more feasible to focus on GBA and then with SNES... Although PSOne with LCD screen looks kind of cute... Xbox 360 is cool...

As for the most recent consoles, Nintendo Switch is obviously in the lead for me with Xbox Series X being at the close second. There're some games to choose from on both platform, but Nintendo does have a bit of an advantage here with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, for example. Getting physical games might be problematic since that's what I would prefer. Although I see myself waiting for long-time rumored "Super Switch" or whatever its called. Similarly to original Xbox, Series has Developer Mode that also opens up some interesting options. Not to mention that I wanted to get a gamepad for a while now, but Series ones costs here around ₽8000 (~$100 at the moment)? Is that okay?

Android Stuff.

That leaves me with mobile devices. I know that mobile gaming is mostly a meme and I'm not really interested in it myself, but I gotta admit that there's a bit of goodness in there. Even if most of it relates to either emulators or ports of older games. My current phone is dank and getting a new one would just make my life easier for me, but I don't have specific options in mind at the moment. Being able to replay the likes of Plants vs. Zombies or Cut The Rope if I feel like is a fine bonus.

Lastly, there's my dead Asus MeMO Pad ME172V. It served me well when I actively used it to waste my time like an idiot on YouTube and such. Sometimes even playing some games, even though it clearly struggled to handle Hearthstone. Problem is likely in battery, but, in all honestly, there's really no reason to replace it. Much as well just find a new device, which might sound redundant in my case. However, if I were to pick something, that just has to be Nvidia SHIELD Tablet (not K1; would rather have stylus and charger) in full bundle with controller and cover. Now that would be kind of curious.

Conclusion.

Of all things mentioned here, closest to a reality would be a new charger for Game Boy Advance SP and gamepad (likely Xbox 360's) for PC. After that goes new smartphone, but my current income isn't there yet. There's actually a lot of neat looking tech out there. My problem is that its just too expensive to me. It's cool to be more silly for a second and daydream about this kind of stuff though. As sad as that might be, I better use that as an opportunity and encourage myself to work even harder towards greener pastures. My mind keeps rolling out processing some ideas for that while I keep working as copywriter.

You just have to work hard in order to afford anything. It's pointless to expect the lemonade from life, after all. Every person should pursue his goals & dream no matter how hard they're. At least give them a try. Some people might say that me pointing this out means I've learned this lesson well and they would be wrong. No, I am still learning. I have to.