Tetris Plus is quite neat because, not only is there PlayStation and arcade versions, it was released for Game Boy too.

I regularly play it on my cabinet—it’s got a great PvP mode.

They’re gone. No mascots. No background worlds. Just the “elemental” machine skins.

Tetris Worlds had eye monsters because THQ wanted a console-friendly mascot game.

Tetris Elements has industrial pipes because ValuSoft (THQ’s budget imprint) wanted a cheap, self-contained PC release that didn’t require any cross-project asset wrangling.

Use vJoy + Universal Control Remapper (UCR), or reWASD, to mirror the controller input to all emulator instances.

This means pressing A once sends “A” to all 8 games.

Really want to find GBA Tribal Edition in the wild—if it actually exists.

Actually, those rear buttons are unique. They are not the same triggers and buttons. They are highly useful in FPS games for functions like crouch.

The em dash? I always use it—love it—you’ll have to take it from cold, dead hands.

Yep, the key is to use mouse instead of joystick-mouse.

I admire the cut of your jib.

You’re not wrong that the market has changed.

I often tell people that the biggest innovations in PC gaming are not graphics but form factors and inputs.

That’s more of a killer feature for Linux in general.

And I can’t undersell how big of a deal that is. When Windows 10 dies, I’m switching my desktop to Linux simply because Proton makes me want to use Linux.

And yet, when I look at my library, only half of new games released within the past five years support X-input. They are still exclusively keyboard-and-mouse.

Granted, that’s way more than what was available 10 years ago, but it’s still a problem.

Or it would be if the Steam Deck didn’t make it trivially easy to adapt keyboard-and-mouse controls to a controller. Which happened because of the innovation first introduced with the Steam Controller.

It’s now at the point where keyboard-and-mouse is optional—just a preference if you want to use it.

Okay, but I didn’t want to buy a new console. Instead, I wanted to use my PC as a console replacement.

But also, there’s a surprising amount of games that never got a console release. For example, Blood and Septerra Core—never arrived on any console. I own those games, and the Steam controller let me play them on my TV very easily.

Hey, the Steam controller is good for one other kind of game I play quite often: Diablo-style hack-'n-slash RPGs that are mouse-driven.

That’s the key. If you’re wanting to play something like Street Fighter VI, the Steam controller probably won’t fly.

But because I wanted to play Dungeon Siege on my TV, it works far better than a traditional controller ever could.

For the Steam controller to work for you, you have to come in with the mentality of it replacing a keyboard-and-mouse.

I feel a right stick is more useful for games deliberately designed as twin stick shooters. Geometry Wars is a good example of this. Using a trackpad for aiming is fine, but that doesn’t really feel like an arcade experience.

Yes, that’s the other thing: the trackpad D-pad is not as good as a button D-pad.

Actually, my kid’s needs really are substantially different from others.

My daughter is autistic. She has trouble communicating verbally. But on Roblox, she finds it much easier to socialize.

She has never spent a cent on microtransactions but gets the opportunity to talk to other kids without being bullied.

I’m not taking that away from her just because strangers on the Internet can’t fathom different kids have different needs.

I’m hearing you loud and clear.

Provide research with accompanying links or GTFO.

Dismissing? Nah.

Calling out groupthink when I see the same tired talking points—no research, no citations, just noise? Hell yeah, I’m gonna call that out.

I’ve never defended “corporate garbage.” I’ve said straight up: there are hundreds of thousands of mobile games, some you can buy outright—no microtransactions attached. More premium paid games on iOS alone than the entire NES, SNES, N64, and GameCube libraries combined.

Let me say it again: you don’t have to play gacha games. Plenty of premium mobile titles exist if you’re willing to look.

But here? Everyone ignores that fact, chooses groupthink instead, and barks the same tired lines.

And yeah, I know this won’t convince anyone here. They’re too busy flexing their Lemmy in-group credentials to entertain anything that breaks the echo chamber.

I’m saying it anyway, loud and clear.

There are literally people here insisting all mobile games are gacha. When I drop hard stats proving otherwise, instead of reconsidering, suddenly I’m a secret shill pushing for some stats company.

That’s the quality of convo I’m dealing with in this thread. And you? No different.

I think I know my kid better than you, a random Internet stranger who’s never met her before in her life. And consequently, has no understanding of what her actual needs are.