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Weekend Gamer: PC Handhelds 2023

Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

Steam Deck OLED
steampowered.com

Faced with competitions from Asus ROG Ally and the recently-released Lenovo Legion Go, Valve announced the new Steam Deck OLED.

The Steam Deck OLED addressed most of the complaints of their first version of the Steam Deck… mainly a better display and a better battery life.

While I’ve had the original Steam Deck since August 2022, I didn’t immediately notice how bad the screen was until I had the ROG Ally to compare it to. Looking at a side-by-side image, you can clearly see the clarity of the ROG Ally display vs the original Steam Deck.

Since Valve decided to keep its original 800p display, I don’t believe it will compare to a native 1080p or better resolution. However, looking at 800p on an OLED display will probably look fantastic.

Almost everything inside the Steam Deck have been upgraded, including larger cooling fan and maximum storage to 1TB (previous Steam Deck maxed out at 512GB).

Unfortunately, the processor is still relatively the same speed… which means the ROG Ally and Legion Go still have a speed advantage over the Steam Deck. The other unfortunately thing is that the Steam Deck still uses SteamOS, which is based on Linux… meaning that some Windows-based games (like all the anticheat software) will not run on the Steam Deck.

As a handheld gaming enthusiast, I am very interested in playing around with the Steam Deck OLED… but as someone who owns the original Steam Deck (and with a gaming budget), this is probably a pass for me.

NOTE: There’ll be a limited-edition version of the Steam Deck OLED which has a transparent case. It looks great, but I would imagine that it will be priced above $700. For that price, I would rather get the Legion Go.

Read More Lenovo I am very excited about this, because I am currently rocking a Lenovo Legion Gaming PC since Nov 2022, and it’s a pretty solid desktop PC. It comes with an NVIDIA 3060 card that can run any modern games. …

Legion Go
lenovo.com

You know I’ve been interested in the Lenovo Legion Go since August 2023, and now, in November 2023, the Legion Go is out now.

In my original writeup, I said that Lenovo is somewhat late to the game. And as much as I am interested in testing out the Legion Go, I already own the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, so I don’t really need yet another handheld in my life.

The pricing is the same as the ROG Ally, but for $50 more you can upgrade the storage to 1TB. However, for $100 more, MicroCenter will upgrade the storage to 2TB for you… making the total price $800.

If you don’t own a PC handheld gaming device, all the devices offer something different. Steam Deck is Linux and user-friendly, ROG Ally is Windows, and now the Legion Go offers the largest display (8.8 inches) and detachable controllers. The two standout features of the Legion Go might tip gamers in their direction, but unfortunately the size and weight doesn’t exactly make it portable. If you’re looking for a large display and controllers (including first person mode), the Legion Go sounds like it’s for you.

For me, I’m all in the ROG Ally world, because the 1080p/120hz display is so good, and it’s small and portable. It’s smaller than the Steam Deck, which is a monster (it’s larger than you think).

I say all this, but if I have the extra cash and I see it in stores, I might bite and do an impulse buy.

Read More ROG Ally Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus. The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics …

ROG Ally
asus.com

I’m more interested in seeing the upcoming Switch 2 or “Super Switch”… even though I probably won’t buy it. The original Switch processor is very slow and any current modern games won’t even run on the Switch. The last game I bought, it suffered from horrible stutter, I realized it’s not a great gaming device. I’m hoping the Switch 2 will be much faster.

If Switch 2 games are not compatible with the original Switch, then I definitely will not be buying the Switch 2. I don’t want to re-buy all my games… no one does.

I hope there’s a Steam Deck 2 (unlikely since they just announced the Steam Deck OLED) in the works… and I’m hoping for a new ROG Ally 2. What I would like to see in a future ROG Ally is the ability to use any eGPU, two USB-C, official dock, better battery life, better grip/design… maybe take a cue from Valve and put in a great OLED screen.

While we wait for the ROG Ally 2, Asus released the inferior (but cheaper) version of the ROG Ally. The cheaper version uses the Z1 chip (vs the faster Z1 Extreme chip) and costs $599. Personally speaking, I suggest spending the extra cash and getting the Z1 Extreme chip, which is currently selling for $620 because of the upcoming Black Friday Deals.

If you really want to save, the Z1 version is currently on sale for $500 because of Black Friday, and it’s a fantastic price.

Right now, my handheld gaming device of choice is the ROG Ally. When I’m not gaming on the go, I have it docked with the ROG Azoth Keyboard and a 32 inch monitor, for a desktop experience. The device is powerful enough to run all my Windows software and I can use it as a secondary productivity device.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer and Technology.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

ROG Ally

ROG Ally Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

You guys know that I love my Steam Deck. I don’t always have time to play video games, so having a portable handheld PC, I can play games whenever I get the chance (in fact, I played a little Fallout 4 on my lunch break today).

I do have one major complaint about the Steam Deck: it does not run Windows by default. You can install Windows, but I don’t want to buy a Windows license and it seems complicated to install (I’m sure it’s easy). So for a time, I did entertain the thought of buying an OneXPlayer or Aya Neo, but pricing and long wait time and expensive shipping fees have steered me away.

Now enter the ROG Ally from Asus.

The ROG Ally will address all the things that I wanted in my Steam Deck: Windows, faster chip, better screen, higher resolution, pleasing looks, and the ability to dock in their enhance graphics with the XG Mobile dock, 120hz refresh, lighter, thinner… just everything better! Best of all, you can walk into a Best Buy and buy it (if they have it in stock), starting on May 11, 2023!

You can’t underestimate how amazing it would be to run Windows 11 natively on the ROG Ally. This opens up a whole new avenue of games, from GOG to Battle Net to Epic Games to Xbox Game Pass…. And you can also run Steam! I’m very interested in running Diablo 4 on the ROG Ally, which is something I couldn’t do currently on my Steam Deck.

Now for the bad news. The retail prices haven’t been announced yet for the ROG Ally. They said they are going to be competitive, but I’m going to guess that it’ll cost about $800 to $1,200. It won’t be cheap… but I’m definitely going to try to buy one.

The other thing is that there will be two version of the ROG Ally, like a good version and a “lite” version. I’ll have to wait to see how the cheaper version perform… or the price differences. Again, there’s a lot of unknowns, we’ll have to wait and see.

Once I get a hold of the ROG Ally, it might just replace the Steam Deck... Just like how the Steam Deck replaced my Nintendo Switch (that thing is so slow!)

Ryzen Z1 Extreme vs Ryzen Z1 via techgoing

UPDATE: “Leaked” prices suggests that the highest spec ROG Ally will sell for $699.99. That is a really good price. I wonder if the cheaper version will sell for $500 or so? Looking at the chart for the two chips in the upcoming ROG Ally, the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme is over twice as much teraflops than the regular Ryzen Z1 chip. Which ever chip that people will get - it is still a massive improvement over the Nintendo Switch... which, by now, is a bit of a joke, when it comes to running modern triple A games.

While I did sign up on Best Buy to notify me when the ROG Ally is in stock, I feel that with so much demand for this product that I may not actually get one until later this year or next year. The May 11 I mentioned earlier, I think that may be the pre-order date and not actual ship date. May 11th is just around the corner, so I guess I will find out if it is available or not.

Yours,

Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Steam Winter Sale 2022

Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

Here are three reasons why you would want to invest in buying games on Steam:

1. You can play your games on any PC or Linux… this includes my PC, laptop, and Steam Deck. If you buy your games on Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch, you’ve locked your games on their system.

2. All “Exclusive” games on the PlayStation and Xbox will eventually be available on Steam. This means the PC is the only place you can play both Halo and God of War. Note that Sony only decided to make their games available on Steam starting last year… which is the smartest decision they’ve ever made. Even exclusive games on the Switch can be played on your PC through emulation. It’s not legal, but it’s the only way you can play Nintendo games on your computer.

3. Games are dirt cheap, as evident in the Steam Winter Sale that kicked off today (December 22). You can get hundred of games for less than $3. On top of that, you can also get packages, like from Humble Bundle which will save you even more!

Anyway, this year, I’ve barely keep it under $100, but here are some games I would recommend:

The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt - $7.99 (80% off)

DOOM Eternal - $9.99 (75% off)

Halo: The Master Chief Collection - $15.99 (60% off)

Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition - $16.49 (67% off)

God of War - $29.99 (40% off)

Elden Ring - $41.99 (30% off)

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

Read more Weekend Gamer.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer Update (September 2022)

Read More Steam I’ve put down my $5 to preorder my Steam Deck. I decided to get the $400 entry model. I think that is a fantastic price, considering that I looked at similar handheld PCs, such as the Aya Neo and OneXPlayer, and they are usually $1,000 or more … Cyberpunk For some odd reason, Best Buy, allowed me to pick up my pre-order for Cyberpunk 2077 video game for the PC. The game is not officially out until December 10, 2020, on a variety of platforms: Windows …

I received my Steam Deck today. I haven’t played any games on it, as each games takes a million years to download on my cellular hotspot. But so far, so good, everything is working as expected.

First impression: the Steam Deck is massive! I had no idea, I mean I knew it was bigger than the Nintendo Switch, but it’s way bigger than I thought. It’s definitely not a pocketable device. Still, it’s more portable than, say a heavy gaming laptop. I’ll have more to say about the Steam Deck once I actually start playing games on it.

Prior to receiving my Steam Deck, I’ve been buying various accessories for it. I got a decal, a screen protector, and a very expensive 1TB SD card… and I think eventually I will upgrade the 2230 NVMe SSD chip (even though Valve does not recommend it because the SSD might draw too much power and brick the device).

The sticker decal sucked, it arrived folded, and the printing looks blurry. Plus it ripped when I was putting it on. I don’t think I will be buying anymore decals for the Steam Deck unless it’s official or at least licensed.

The other prepping thing I’ve done is buy some more Steam games (even though I own many of them on GOG or Xbox). So yeah, I bought Cyberpunk again. Yeah, I re-bought Elden Ring again on Steam.

Logitech G Cloud

Speaking of Steam Deck, Logitech announced their Logitech G Cloud, a $350 handheld device that can stream your Xbox Cloud Gaming, Steam Link, and NVIDIA GeForce Now games. The pricing doesn’t make any sense to me. You can buy a non-portable Xbox Series S or the original Nintendo Switch for less.

And speaking of Cyberpunk, you may recall that I bought the game in Dec 2020 and I noted that there will likely be bugs in the game. What I didn’t anticipate was the massive backlash against the game as it did not run properly on “last gen” consoles. I bought it for the PC, so it ran as expected. I personally didn’t have any complaints about Cyberpunk, but I understand why fans were so angry.

Fast-forward to today, with the recent update / upgrade to Cyberpunk for Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the fans did a 180 turn and all negatives were forgiven. With over 1 million players playing the game every night since the update it’s good to see the game doing so well, two years after it originally released.

As I previously mentioned, I did re-buy the game on Steam so I can test it out on my Steam Deck… so I’ll be joining one of the many players returning to the game.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer Update (August 2022)

Read More Steam Weekend gamer here. This weekend, we will look at Steam’s Steam Deck (not to be confused with Elgato’s Stream Deck). For some months, I’ve been eyeing on the handheld AYA Neo as a … Nintendo Switch I’ve wanted the Nintendo Switch since I first heard about it last October 2016. The system launched in March 2017, but it immediately sold out everywhere. … Xbox So, I joined Game Pass. There are two price points, the $10 per month pricing is strictly for Xbox games, and the $15, called Game Pass Ultimate includes PC, EA and Xbox Gold (you need this to play online … Sony Still, you know I’m still somewhat interested in seeing the next generation of gaming consoles… and today, Sony showed up what the upcoming PS5 will look like. And holy crap, it is so ugly. …

It’s the weekend, and here’s your Weekend Gamer update.

I’ve put down my $5 to preorder my Steam Deck.

I decided to get the $400 entry model. I think that is a fantastic price, considering that I looked at similar handheld PCs, such as the Aya Neo and OneXPlayer, and they are usually $1,000 or more. Even though Steam said they are ramping up production, and it’s listed as delivery date of “October-December 2022”, but I doubt that I will get my Steam Deck until 2023. The company already announced they are working on a Steam Deck 2. I think the smart move is to just wait for the second version, as it will fix all the problems in the first version...

I think my main reason for wanting a portable PC game console is that increasingly I’m very unhappy with the performance of my Nintendo Switch. I recently launched Diablo II on the Switch and it was just unplayable. Whenever there are hundreds of enemies on screen, the Switch just crawls to a snail’s pace. The Switch desperately needs a refresh. Come on, it’s been five years already!

Also, after six months, I finally cancelled my Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The main reason is that I honestly did not have the time to fully take advantage of Game Pass. I love the fact that I could I try out the full games that I normally wouldn’t pay money for... And for titles that would normally cost $60! It was a huge savings, but at the end of the day, I would just rather buy (and own) the games that I like. What I am trying say is that I end up just playing the games that I already paid for.

I had a problem with Game Pass removing some games when they end their license agreement with Xbox. It’s very frustrating to play a game one month and then come back a few months later only to find out that game is no longer accessible, because it left Game Pass.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back was when Microsoft announced that they will no longer be offering free downloads to Xbox 360 games in their subscription services (they simply ran out of games to give away). The one saving grace of Game Pass was that you were allowed to keep one Xbox 360 game for free (yours to keep forever!)… and it was going away as of October 1st.

Having said all those negative things, I still believe Game Pass is worth that $10 (or $15), because if you just play one game, you’ve literally made up the price of admission. It is excellent value for the money... but I didn’t have the time for it. When I find myself with more free time, I will definitely reactivate my Game Pass.

The opposite of not good value is PlayStation 5, which is still impossible to find in retail stores. I’ve seen a lot of Xbox Series X in stores recently. I’ve yet to see one PS5 in stores. In a move that I think is a mistake, Sony announced that they are raising prices for the PS5. While the USA is not one of the region that is getting a price hike, the announcement does not bode well.

Everything I’ve researched about PlayStation 5, from ripping people off on digital games to extra $10 charge for PS5 games to Sony blocking games from Game Pass... it tells me that PlayStation is very anti-consumer and they are only interested in profits.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Xbox Series X|S Accessories

Read More Xbox After more than a year, most gaming fans still couldn’t get their hands on either the Xbox Series X or PS5. Every time I see a news article like “PS5 in stock now at Walmart”, it’s almost sold out immediately. . ...

For $500, the Xbox Series X is a good value. Sure, you can spend more for a gaming PC, which admittedly can be use for various other things, such as productivity software, but it’s going to cost you much more than $500.

If you break down the components:

1 TB SSD ($120)

AMD Zen 2 CPU ($300)

16 GB GDDR6 SDRAM ($100)

Ultra HD Blu-ray ($100)

Xbox Game Controller ($60)

This isn’t even taken into account the custom motherboard and super quiet fans and design. I believe Xbox is losing money on every console they sell… but as you know, they will make back the money as they’ve now locked you into their ecosystem.

Once you’re locked in, you’re going to have to consider some of Xbox’s accessories, to take your gaming to the next level. This is where they are going to make money off of you.

Xbox Game Pass ($10 per month)

Seagate Expansion Card (1TB for $220, 2TB for $399)

Xbox Elite Controller 2 ($180)

Headset ($50 for wired, $149 for wireless)

Rechargeable Batteries ($10)

Halo Keyboard ($179)

Halo Mouse ($79)

The good news is that you don’t really need these accessories, and better news, if you have an older Xbox One or Xbox 360 accessory, you can use them for the new Xbox Series X. The only exception is the Seagate Expansion Card, which only exists on the X|S.

Like the PC, MicroSoft’s approach to backward compatibility is pretty amazing. All, or most, previous Xbox games and accessories will work on the X|S… something you don’t see that on the PlayStation (PS3 or earlier games won’t run on PS5) or Nintendo Switch (you have to pay full price for previous Nintendo games). No one wants to pay full price again for a game they previously purchased. That’s why I was blown away when I saw that all the games I bought from Xbox (going back from the original Xbox), just appeared on my account and that I can play them with no issues on the X.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Comparing the current gaming consoles

Read More Xbox With the console war coming up this Holiday 2020. Let’s talk about the new Xbox Series and PS5… and possibly the dark horse in the race, Nintendo Switch. . ...

So now that I’ve settled in with the Xbox Series X, I am surprisingly pleased with its performance. MicroSoft set out to build the fastest console in the world, and I think they achieved it. You see, they were so embarrassed because their last-gen Xbox One were underpowered compared to the PS4, that they were determine to beat their competitor with this console cycle.

If you are in the market for a new console, I am certainly recommending the Xbox. I feel with the purchase of Bethesda, Activision, and Blizzard, that the future looks healthy for any Xbox fan.

As for the PS5, I personally think it looks ugly. They’ve only gave users the option to add their own SSD in October 2020, while the Xbox had the hot-swappable Seagate PCIe 4.0 Storage in July 2020. I know the new storage is expensive, but the ability to pop it out and moving the storage to another Xbox is amazing.

There are many features that the PS5 lacks (such as quick resume), however, PS5 have some advantages of its own. One of which is their new Dual Sense controllers, which has adaptive triggers. Unfortunately, the downside is that previous PS4 controllers will not work on the PS5. I have heard from players that loved the adaptive triggers at first… but after playing it for a while, they just disable it because it got annoying.

The two dark horses in this race is the popular Nintendo Switch and the upcoming Steam Deck. Both are for the handheld market, however both can be docked and become gaming consoles for your television. I’m really interested in the Steam Deck, because I have a massive Steam PC game library and would love to just start playing on day one. However, given the lack of inventory, I doubt I could get my hands on one.

I know comparing the Switch to the Xbox and PS5 is an unfair comparison, but if you have to include them as they are in the gaming market. Plus, you never know with Nintendo… they may release a Super Switch and it might be comparable to the new Xbox. If you want the fastest or the best, you definitely do NOT want the Switch. The Switch’s hardware remains unchanged since 2017, and it shows. Modern games struggles on the system, opening up the Nintendo Marketplace is a slow process. Everything about the hardware of the Switch sucks… yet everybody loves the Switch.

To be honest, even though the Switch is the least expensive of the consoles, I feel like it’s way overpriced. For $50 less, you can get the Xbox Series S… which I did not listed below, because I felt the Series S has a different market. I feel if you want a Game Pass machine, the Xbox Series S is a deal, because at $299 it’s basically a “base model” or starter edition of the Series X. My biggest complaint about the Series S is that it is digital-only, which means you can only buy games from the Xbox Marketplace. With a machine with an optical disc drive, you have the option of buying a game at retailer. I would have to say that most games are cheaper (usually on sale) if you buy them on disc, especially if there is a sale or if you buy it used.

So below, I’m breaking down the gaming consoles for comparison. As usual, “green” is good, and “red” is bad.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

Compare	Xbox Series X	PS5 (Disc)	Steam Deck	Switch OLED
Price:	$499	$499	$649 (starts at $399)	$349
Release Date:	10 Nov 2020	12 Nov 2020	25 Feb 2022	08 Oct 2021
Optical Disc	Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, CD	Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD	None	None
CPU/GPU	AMD Zen 2 CPU, 8 Cores @ 3.8 GHz / RDNA 2, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz	AMD Zen 2 CPU, 8 cores @ 3.5 GHz / RDNA 2 , 36 Cus @ 2.23 GHz	Zen 2, 4-core, 8-threads @ 2.4–3.5 GHz	ARM 4 Cortex-A57 cores @ 1.02 GHz
Memory	16 GB GDDR6 SDRAM (10 GB @ 560 GB/s, 6 GB @ 336 GB/s)	16 GB of GDDR6 SDRAM (448 GB/s)	16 GB LPDDR5 @ 5500 MT/s	4 GB LPDDR4 @ 1331/1600 MHz
Storage	1 TB PCIe Gen 4 custom NVMe SSD with Storage Expansion Card option or external HDD	825 GB solid-state drive with upgradeable NVMe M.2 SSD, or external HDD	512 GB NVMe SSD (base model 64 GB eMMC) (with additional expandable external SD)	64 GB (with additional expandable external SD)
Resolution	4K up to 8k	4K up to 8k	720p (Docked: 8k)	720p (Docked: 1080p)
Backward Compatible	Majority of all Xbox Games, works with previous controllers and accessories	Most PS4 games will work on PS5, does not work with previous controllers	Works with any PC game	No previous Nintendo games will work on the Switch
Portability	Game streaming via Game Pass and xCloud (additional cost)	Game streaming via PlayStation Now (additional cost)	Yes, portable gaming	Yes, portable gaming
Controllers	Standard Xbox Controller with removable batteries	Dual Sense Controller with adaptive triggers and non-removable rechargeable batteries	Standard portable controllers	Removable Joy Cons, includes gyroscopes and ability to become two smaller controllers
Sound	Project Acoustics 3D Audio, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 7.1 surround sound	Tempest Engine 3D Audio, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, 7.1 surround sound	Stereo speakers (docked: Digital output)	Linear PCM 2.0 ch stereo speakers (Docked: Linear PCM 5.1 ch)

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Oceanhorn 2

Read More Nintendo Switch I’ve wanted the Nintendo Switch since I first heard about it last October 2016. The system launched in March 2017, but it immediately sold out everywhere. …

Someone reminded me that Nintendo has a New Year sale… and so I spent about $50 to get some games on sale. I purchased Borderlands: Legendary Edition, Oceanhorn, and Oceanhorn 2.

I’ve previously played the demo to the original Oceanhorn and it was good enough for me. I guess it didn’t inspired me to buy the original game… even though I’ve seen it on sale for as low as $5 on the Apple App Store. The sequel came out in 2019, and it was only available in Apple Arcade, a monthly gaming service from Apple.

Oceanhorn 2: Knights of the Lost Realm finally came out on the Switch in October 2020. Since it’s on sale, I purchased it, along with the original game, and am looking forward playing the two games.

As for Borderlands, I’ve previously already own and played all the 2K games. However, since it was on sale for a really good price ($20)… I figure I might as well add it to my Switch game collection. This is because I’m quietly waiting for a Super Switch or a Switch Pro, because the last two variants, the Switch Mini and Switch OLED were not upgrades. I just really want a fast, better Switch. So many modern games, such as Torchlight III struggles on the current Switch and it just sucks.

I’m still investing in Nintendo games, because I know when they do release a faster Switch or next generation Nintendo Console, that I can just carry my old library over. At least that’s what I’m hoping.

In the meantime, gamers can get excited for the launch of the Steam Deck, which is supposed to launch next month… but due to the pandemic and parts shortage, I doubt they will have a wide release. In fact, I’m still having a lot of problems trying to get my hands on an Xbox Series X. Why is it so difficult?

I guess I should look at the bright side, if I can’t find the consoles for sale, I’m saving money.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Nintendo Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

Nintendo Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda With a retro look, legendary flourishes, and the power to save Hyrule, the Game & Watch™: The Legend of Zelda™ system is a jam-packed tribute to 35 years of the Legend of Zelda series. Adventure through three iconic classics and enjoy all-new old-school fun with this stylish handheld system. • Included are three Full Legend of Zelda games; The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The adventure of Link, and the Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. • There's also a version of the Game & Watch classic, Vermin, starring Link, and a playable clock and timer. Read More Nintendo Switch I’ve wanted the Nintendo Switch since I first heard about it last October 2016. The system launched in March 2017, but it immediately sold out everywhere. …

Surprisingly, I’ve been really enjoying the recent Diablo II: Resurrected , that I pre-ordered on the PC … I loved it so much that I ended up re-buying it on the Nintendo Switch.

Speaking of Nintendo, I’ve recently added the latest Nintendo Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda to my gaming collection. If you have last year’s Nintendo Game & Watch: Super Mario Brothers, then you know what to expect with this new Game & Watch.

One thing is for sure, Nintendo makes really good hardware. The Game & Watch is well-made, looks great with the new color scheme (gold & bright neon green), and the D-Pad and buttons feels good. The best part is that the battery life will lasts you weeks on a charge. I put the original Mario Bros in off mode and turned it on six months later and it still held a good battery charge!

The Zelda Game & Watch comes with three games: the original classic The Legend of Zelda, the sequel Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and the Gameboy The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

Since I’ve never own the Gameboy, I never played the original black & white Link’s Awakening version… however, Nintendo re-made the game in 3-D and in color for the Nintendo Switch in 2018. I did buy and played the Switch version, however, I never beat it. I got to a point in the game that I didn’t know what to do or where to go, so I just gave up. I will probably re-visit this game in the future and hopefully win the game (or at least just play the original version).

As for the first two original Zelda games, yes, I’m proud to say that I did beat them both when I was very young. Our family was fortunate enough to own the original Nintendo Entertainment System (that came bundled with light gun and Duck Hunt)… so I know those original games very well. Beat Super Mario Bros, beat Zelda, heck, even beat Dragon Warrior (aka Dragon Quest).

The sad thing is that now that I’m much older, I don’t think I’ll have the time to actually play and beat Zelda again. I did started playing the first game again, by entering in a cheat code – holding down the A button for a few minutes and it will start the game with full hearts.

Using that cheat, I found and beat about three dungeons. At first the world can be overwhelming… but as I started to play, the world does seems much smaller than what I remembered.

Anyway, I’m having a lot of fun with it. I still have such fond memories of it… and playing it again for the first time in years, it just remind me of a simpler time.

I can’t say I would recommend the Game & Watch to anyone, only for those who grew up with the original classic Nintendo. I feel it’s overpriced at $50. This should be a $20 or $30 item… if it was in that lower price range, I would buy them as gifts.

Still, if you’re a Zelda fan, you need to have this. It’s small & light enough that you can just put it in a coat pocket.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

Nintendo Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Kingdoms of Amalur

Read More Steam Steam Deck is supposed to be a much faster alternative to the Switch. The other advantage that Steam will have over the Switch is that if you have a vast Steam library of games …

Weekend gamer here. As I get hype for the Steam Deck, I have decided to take a bigger interest in aquiring more games through Steam. I still prefer to buy games on GOG, but it’s obvious that they don’t always get the latest (or any DRM Games).

This weekend, I visited my local Gamestop to take advantage of some action figure sale and promotions and randomly saw Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning Collector's Edition for sale for $20. That’s a great price, considering that the original retailed was $100.

The collector edition comes with 2 game discs, 5 oversized postcards, the game soundtrack, a metal keychain, and a very large statue of Alyn Shir. The statue, judging by other similar-sized statues, would probably cost $50 by itself... so $20 for the whole thing was a very good deal.

Here’s the thing – I originally own the game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning when it was released in 2012. I was already into RPG and, seeing as the game was written by R. A. Salvatore with Todd McFarlane doing the artwork… I was on board! I had the game on Xbox 360 and PS3 (and eventually PC).

I was excited in 2012, and put in about 20 hours into the game, but ultimately lost interest in the game. I felt the game was boring and just moved on to other games.

Then something weird happened, the rights for the series were purchased by THQ Nordic, and they went back and remastered the game for a re-release under the new title Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning for release in September 2020 (the Nintendo Switch version came out in March 2021).

Despite all the sales, I refused to re-buy the game, seeing as I already own the original game and I didn’t exactly love it… why would I buy it again ? I’m kind of glad I didn’t re-buy the game in 2020, as now I don’t feel so bad to own the Collector’s Edition for $20.

I guess the way I see it, is that I’ve added one more game to my 300+ Steam game library… all these games are simply waiting to be unleashed on the upcoming Steam Deck! In many ways, the Steam Deck is a much better option than the Nintendo Switch.

Since Nintendo doesn’t allow their fans to download old SNES or NES game (they won’t sell you the old games, you have to subscribe to their online service), the Steam Deck’s open-ness approach means that you can likely sideload old Nintendo games on the Deck.

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