I should say, I’d rather have both the numpad and arrow key column on the left. I’m right handed. One benefit would is less travel anytime you need to move your hand from your mouse to keyboard and back, as well as those relative distances promoting slightly more even/ergonomic arm positioning.

The other benefit is that I might actually be inclined to use the numpad for games instead of wasd, which would free up the rest of the keyboard for more shortcuts.

Every time I see these kinds of split keyboards, it reminds me of this scene from Cowboy Bebop.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NXcTuAN7oUc

The numpad is still a popular option in roguelikes. It’s also worth noting that sometimes the ortholinear layout of numpad keys is more appropriate than the staggered layout of letter keys.

I’ve been moving toward preferring full keyboards, but I wish it were more normalized for them to put the numpad on the left side.

No, that’s really not how this ecosystem works. I’ll give an example based on the Retroid Pocket 5, just because that’s what I own and am familiar with. The company ships it with Android 13 by default. So this already has a full desktop environment, full suite of available app stores - everything that any other Android device can do, plus built in game input. No extra hardware needed. I can outright install Signal, Briar, Matrix, any of those kinds of things on it right now. Retroid never did any testing or development for that use case, it’s just what happens when a device has a full, open Android experience from all of the development that has gone into Android and apps over the years.

However, they also chose to use a chipset that has support for Linux as well. At least two projects have already ported their variants of Linux to the RP5 - Rocknix and Batocera. While it’s true that porting, testing, fixing, and maintaining operating systems has a labor cost, you’re trying to apply standard business logic to something that doesn’t operate that way. Batocera accepts donations, and Rocknix doesn’t even accept any financial compensation. These are volunteer projects, labors of love. They are not subject to capitalistic incentives, and nor is it entirely accurate to call open-source projects like these “products.” The processes involved are more organic, more democratized. It’s a commons, and anyone can get involved.

The reasons they’re designed the way they are is because that’s what fits their motivations and project goals. It’s the appliance model - they want the device to do one thing, and do it well - to play games, particularly retro games. So they put in only enough software to make that happen, and then try to make it as much of a polished experience as possible.

I am only trying to point out that the only thing getting in the way of more general purpose systems being available to these devices pretty much comes down to whether more people feel like trying to compile them.

An increasing number of these devices have touchscreens, so Phosh could work quite well. And for me it’s more about how these devices are leaving a lot of potential functionality off the table. When hundreds of thousands or more people are all using something, you can never predict all the different use-cases they’re going to have. So it’s strange to me that these frontend developers are putting so much effort into turning them into dumb single use appliances, when the entire world of Linux software can just as easily be made available.

But yeah I was thinking about a hypothetical search scenario. I don’t see it being useful for anything more than average local-level forces. Some of them support dual-booting, so those stripped down emulation frontends could come in handy in that case. Have one distro, ideally complete with full disk encryption. Then have another that actually is for the games. If somebody turns the display on and sees it demand a password, they’ll demand further investigation. So they would need to be met with an open menu with an obvious, full list of games ready to play, with no indications there is anything else to search into.

The Retroid Pocket 5 runs Android 13 and I could probably install Signal (or any other Android e2e messaging apps) on it right now. There are also other devices with similar specs and software.

A microphone can easily be added with headphones or earbuds. I’ve updated the post to include relevant info.

I’ve updated the post in response to yours and other comments. No need to rely on poor outdated solutions. Some of these devices, like the Retroid Pocket 5, almost are Android phones just with built in gaming inputs and no cellular chip. I can probably install Signal on it right now if I wanted to, though as it currently is, I would not trust Retroid as a company enough to rely on their firmware.

I’ve updated the post with relevant links and info. My first thought here is that your laptop is not pocketable, and if you were ever in a search and seizure situation, your laptop would be more likely to be one of the first things confiscated.

While a person probably could spin up a very hacky solution on a DS or PSP, there’s really no need to do anything so painful. I’ve updated the post to go a bit more into detail about this.

Completely agree. I almost said something about PoE, but then I remembered how within a few areas explored I had quickly turned my character into a flying meat grinder who could bonk explosive materials out of monsters.

The older Final Fantasy games. I made a point of doing a playthrough of the NES version of FF1, and I’m glad I did. The increased difficulty over the GBA version is mostly better than the absolute lack of challenge in later versions, but the added content and qol improvements make it preferable to play a hardmode hack of the gba version in the future.

The NES FF2 is just too much. I lose stats? No thanks.

And I’m really glad the Pixel Remaster version of FF3 exists now, the NES version was pretty unpolished and glitchy.

This is kind of the opposite for me. I didn’t try the original Diablo until long after playing plenty of more modern arpgs. While it’s very rough around the edges compared to current titles, I feel like it has something unique that later games lost - even D2. I think it’s the combo of your character feeling underpowered, like not much more than a normal person immersed in a world of otherworldly horrors; the way the darkness and aesthetic really comes together to create an atmosphere; and the slower, crunchier gameplay.

Pretty much all newer games put way too much emphasis on letting you play essentially a Marvel-style superhero who fills the screen with bright lights, and more more more numbers go up.

But then again I guess I have to admit I still spend more time playing the newer games.

Yup, that’s the part that drives me most crazy.

If it’s literally only one pencil for the rest of my life, probably the GraphGear 1000 since it would probably last the longest. If I can continue using multiple copies of the same kind of pencil, then it would be number 2 since that would be the most versatile and available one to use.

That’s English for ya! You would think that after the Great Vowel Shift people would have considered re-spelling words and names to more properly fit their roots, but evidently instead they just decided to start pronouncing everything wrong.

Just Egg is a product that makes a great scrambled egg or omelette alternative. That stuff is also ridiculously expensive though. Luckily the main ingredient, mung beans, are much cheaper than both eggs or Just Egg. Here’s a video recipe for making your own Just Egg.

Tofu scramble is even easier to make than scrambled eggs are (no need to worry about contact-based foodborne illness!) I like making them with diced potatoes, and they go great in breakfast wraps.

These days this should not be an issue for emulation, but unfortunately it is since the solution takes a small amount of education, and because there are no legal, official places to buy roms other than the rare packaged emulator re-release that some companies make.

I’d guess most people here already know how to verify a checksum, but the average computer user does not. It’s a skill that should be taught in schools.

But roms don’t have an official distribution channel, so to know that one is good, you have to rely on community projects like Redump and No-Intro. Compare your hashes to theirs, and you should be good. A tl;dr: just do a search of “myrient”, as that’s the most recommended place to get correct roms these days.

There are practical purposes beyond avoiding malware too. The RetroAchievements project makes it possible for people to earn achievements in emulators, but for it to work properly you need to use exactly the right versions of a rom that each game supports. RA relies heavily on RetroArch, and RetroArch uses it’s own method for hash verification, so here’s a guide for getting started with that.

I can hyperfocus when others have expectations of me (work), but in context of my own life and what I want to do with it, I can’t put the mental burden of managing me on someone else, and whenever anyone has tried I get become defiant against… my own self interests? FML.