A fight is going on inside me.
It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil–he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, a fascination with From Software games, a willingness to put up with Sony's DRM, and now, a passivity towards being forced to see ads while using a PlayStation 5.
The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, running GNU/Linux based SteamOS on a handheld gaming device, plays lots of popular new and old PC titles, can run emulators for older consoles, and is the portable Steam Deck that you can take anywhere with you.
Yesterday I fed the evil wolf. Walmart advertised an exclusive PlayStation 5 restock. I was able to buy it before it sold out in under 10 minutes. I admit I'm sucker for Lovecraftian games and chose to give in for something capable of playing both the new Demon's Souls and Bloodborne. The guilty feeling hasn't left me yet. Seeing this now is like a slap in the face, leaving me even more disgusted with myself than before.
I predict the extreme demand for PlayStation 5 consoles has emboldened Sony to venture down this dark path. Perhaps part of the equation is perceived loss of profits due to constrained production that's causing the current restocking madness.
If those aforementioned games weren't PlayStation exclusives, I'd have blown my gaming budget on a Steam Deck instead. I hope the Steam Deck continues to be successful. It's success contributes to the proliferation of Linux devices; it normalizes the idea that a computer should be modifiable by the person who owns it; and helps to preserve the hacker ethos for younger generations.
