I'm sure you've seen by now that I've been arranging interviews with developers of various Linux and Steam Deck programs and projects, done in a question-and-answer style, and posting them here to Lemmy.

These have mostly been with personal friends of mine. Projects like Heroic, Lutris, RomM Project, Junk Store and so on. My idea for these is to give you all a peek behind the curtain (so to speak) as to who is behind the projects you know and love - but this time the interviewee and content is a little different.

I got in touch with the lead dev and creator of what is called a 'Nintendo Switch Freeshop'. This dev runs the biggest piracy freeshop around - over 1 petabyte at its peak - and they're doing it right under Nintendo's nose. I wanted to know what brought them down this road, how they justify their piracy, and what it’s like operating something so massive (and illegal) in the shadow of one of the world’s most aggressive copyright enforcers. What I got was a surprisingly candid look into the mindset of someone who sees themselves less as a thief, and more as a digital archivist, a rebel, or even a necessary evil in a broken system.

This interview is conducted for journalistic and educational purposes only. The intention is to explore the motivations, ethics, and technical aspects behind unauthorized software distribution platforms this. The interviewer does not condone, support, or participate in software piracy, nor does this site provide access to or promote the use of illegal content or tools. Readers are encouraged to respect intellectual property laws in their respective jurisdictions.

This post was made with the moderators’ permission. I’ve omitted both the name of the shop and the interviewee to avoid inadvertently promoting or encouraging their work.

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Personal Background & Development History:

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How did you first get into software development or programming? I’m trying to imagine how someone ends up running the most prolific Nintendo Switch Freeshop (currently)...was this one a gradual progression from ‘regular projects’ to your program?

I was around 14 or 15 years old, stuck in my room during the COVID lockdown. One day, I created a simple JSON file that allowed me to install games on my 3DS using an app called Universal-Updater. The games were hosted on a free Dropbox account.

Originally, I uploaded the file to a random GitHub repository — mostly just to avoid losing it. At the time, I didn’t know much. I could only build small websites in JavaScript and tweak JSON files, but that was about it.

Then one morning, I woke up to find dozens of videos talking about my little 3DS script. Back then, it only had a few games and, to be honest, it was pretty bad. But I think people were feeling nostalgic about the old Freeshop, which probably explains why it got so much attention.

That’s when I had the idea to create the eShop, mainly to meet a need I personally had. I was also inspired by an old, now-defunct project made by a developer on GitHub — I think his name was "Tom Stalcker" or something like that, I can’t remember exactly. His work had left an impression on me, and I wanted to recreate something similar in my own way. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one looking for something like this. Seeing how much interest the project was generating, I started working on it more seriously — but still for fun, and out of passion.

I wouldn’t say it was a gradual or “traditional” progression. Once things started taking off and gaining some visibility, I focused entirely on making the kind of service I’d personally want to use as a user.

So no, I didn’t start with "regular projects", even if I’ve worked on other things since then that helped me level up my skills — both in development and in server management.

Speaking of your program, can you tell those reading here who haven’t a clue – what is it, what does it do, how does it run?!

This question is actually quite broad considering the number of related projects, but let’s say we’re talking about the most well-known one. To put it very simply, it’s like the Nintendo eShop — but without financial barriers. Everyone is equal, regardless of their wealth, and can download content (games, updates, additional content) without having to pay.

Its main purpose is the preservation of digital heritage.

Have you worked on any non-piracy-related projects in the past? Indie games, tools, programs or otherwise?

Yes, I’ve personally made some mini-games before. Usually, when it’s just for fun, I like to create mashups — for example, I’ll challenge myself to mix Mario Kart with Space Invaders, just out of curiosity and for my own enjoyment.

I also often build simple websites just for fun — to improve my skills, explore ideas, or sometimes simply because something made me laugh and I wanted to turn it into a little project.

What drew you specifically to console hacking/homebrew/piracy scene?

I didn’t have any money, and like many kids who own a console but can’t afford games, I just wanted to be able to play video games.

Would you consider yourself more of a developer, a hacker, or an activist or something else entirely?

I wouldn’t presume to label myself as any of those. I’d say I’m simply someone trying to do what I love, creating what I’d want to have as a user, while also trying to help as many people as possible.

Are you operating solo, or is this a collaborative effort?

Generally, I prefer not to answer this question, but no, I’m not working alone. It wouldn’t be possible to manage the community, handle the servers, add content, and do the programming all by myself. So yes, there are several of us, although for security reasons, I prefer not to specify how many we are or who manages what.

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Creation of the shop:

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When and how did the idea for your freeshop begin?

During the COVID period in 2019-2020, refer to the first question in the previous section.

What 'technical challenges' did you face in building a freeshop for the Switch compared to older consoles like the 3DS?

On the 3DS, I wouldn’t say it was very complex, because for the app itself, we had forked Universal-Updater at the time — although that might soon change given some big projects aiming to simply patch the 3DS eShop are in development.

But I’d say the biggest challenges we faced on the Switch were, first and foremost, dealing with DMCA takedowns from companies like Nintendo and Markscan...

Another major challenge was bandwidth for a public, free shop. In terms of numbers, the public shop serves at least 200TB every 24 hours on a normal day.

How do you source the game files and keep the library updated?

I’ll answer this question in two parts. First, I’ll explain how we managed to gather over 12,000 games right from the launch.

Without bragging, I’m someone who analyzes a lot, so I’m quite skilled at creating workarounds and even more so at developing automated scraping systems.

Using my knowledge, I created a set of scripts that, initially, scraped the biggest trusted sites offering Switch games. This required two things: integrating an ad blocker (like uBlock) directly into all the scripts, and then scraping the affiliate links.

Once all the links were collected, I wrote a simple script to bypass link shorteners stuffed with ads, to get the full list of 1fichier.com links. When the 1fichier.com links list was ready, I just used a program like JDownloader to mass-download everything.

But that only worked for the first few months. Later, I was contacted by someone who had a full backup of the entire content from an old shop.

Regarding adding new content, there are several sources: One external source is the scene, with dumps coming from teams like Venom, Suxxors, to name a few.

Since (another shop I'm omitting the name of) closed, most new content comes from our own dumps, which we do thanks to donations and payments we receive for our professional services.

We dump around 200 to 300 games per month, and up to 500 updates some months. DLCs occasionally come in dumps too, but that’s rarer — although we’re getting more interested in those lately.

Do you design it to be resilient against takedowns or detection? Speaking of, can you tell me about that side of this, I can’t imagine Nintendo is unaware of your efforts, have you been contacted at all, DMCA’d, any legal notices?

Regarding the systems we have in place, yes, we’ve implemented more than a hun- dred techniques, methods, and systems to ensure the entire project isn’t affected by DMCA takedowns.

As for the DMCAs, we receive them — whether for content, links, or other reasons — sometimes over 500 in certain months, either directed at us or companies linked to our services. Most of these are generated by automated systems from companies affiliated with Nintendo, like Markscan, and some are directly issued by the legal team of NOA (Nintendo of America).

Why create something this polished and accessible, knowing it could attract heavy legal attention?

The goal isn’t focused on the legal side. Whether it’s me personally or other members of the team, we primarily want to create a trustworthy service — exactly the kind of service we’d want to have ourselves as users.

Just because we’re doing something that goes beyond the legal boundaries in some countries doesn’t mean it has to seem shady, obscure, or inaccessible.

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Ethics, Legality, and Preservation:

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How do you personally justify what is undeniably piracy with the project?

Personally, I don’t limit myself by legal boundaries; my limits are ethical. As long as what I do is ethical and doesn’t harm almost anyone, I’m okay with it.

The most important thing is to consider who this project impacts — both positively and negatively — including our users, donors, Nintendo, game studios, and so on.

The reality is that out of 100 people affected, over 98% are helped and given the opportunity to dream.

So, since the project has a positive impact on more than 98% of the people directly or indirectly affected, I don’t mind it. I believe projects like this serve a necessary purpose.

Is this about game preservation, access, anti-corporate stance, for monetary gain — or just practicality? I’m super curious what stance you take for justifying this kind of platform. I interviewed one of the two ‘main’ PC gaming repackers last year, who said that where he lives (a ‘third world’ country) the price of games means any and all gaming was totally inaccessible to he and everyone he knows. He did this (in his words) as a way to give those who wouldn’t be able to game a chance to do so.

Our goal is both preservation and access, because by enabling access, we indirectly ensure preservation.

One of the first things to understand is that if services like this exist, it’s because there is demand — and where there is demand, there will always be supply.

Moreover, thanks to services like these, some games will still be available in 200 years simply because a service — whether ours or another — dumped and shared them.

If projects like (shop name omitted) eShop exist, it’s to give users and people confidence that when they come to our service, they will only find trusted, high-quality files. That’s also why, for example, you won’t find any ads on our platform. Monetary gain is not something we’re interested in. Of course, what cannot be denied is that an infrastructure like this isn’t free.

Generally, the people who pay or donate are not paying for the games themselves, but for the service we provide.

Do you think there's a meaningful difference between pirating current-gen games and legacy titles?

Of course there is a difference. I consider that “pirating” an old game isn’t really pi- racy as soon as the game is no longer commercially available, because piracy means stealing. But at what point can it be considered stealing when the content is no longer sold?

Regarding recent games, the main issue is the price, especially with Nintendo openly mocking its users by selling Mario Kart World for around $90. And we’re still talking about Mario Kart…

I agree with Nintendo that purchasing power has recently increased in Japan, but they forget one important detail: the majority of their users simply aren’t Japanese.

For example, the Brazilian currency is worth about four times less than the US dollar.

So, I would say that people who “pirate” retro games don’t have the same needs as those who pirate recent games.

Old games are mostly no longer legally accessible, whereas recent games are inaccessible mainly because of their price.

How would you respond to indie devs or studios who rely on every sale?

Unfortunately, some developers make great games but end up paying the price. However, blaming piracy isn’t the right target — if anyone should be blamed, it’s companies like Nintendo.

This question comes up quite often, and while the impact of piracy on indie developers is one of the few real indirect effects, it largely stems from decisions made by Nintendo and others.

What’s your take on Nintendo’s approach to digital rights and game availability?

I would simply say that Nintendo shows absolutely no respect for their community and is now solely focused on filling their pockets.

Back in the day, we had real games—not necessarily standing out for their visual quality, but for their ability to bring people together.

Today, Nintendo mostly just re-releases remakes originally from old consoles, selling them for $60. It’s getting worse with the Switch 2, where they now dare to sell texture packs or minor upgrades for $5 to $10.

Unfortunately, Nintendo’s priorities today are purely financial. And I’d rather not even talk about the closure of the 3DS eShop, which would have been a huge disaster if projects like hShop didn’t exist. I want to clarify that hShop is neither a competitor nor directly or indirectly affiliated with (shop name removed).

Our eShop for the Switch is simply what hShop is for the 3DS.

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Gaming Life & Relationship with Nintendo:

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What's your history with Nintendo consoles — were you a fan growing up?

I mainly played on the 3DS from when I was 6 until I was 15, so I don’t have as much experience with other consoles.

For many years, my 3DS was my only way to escape my reality, from a childhood that was simply very difficult...

The 3DS was simply Nintendo’s best era, and I don’t think we’ll see anything like that again given the current direction of their latest consoles...

Do you still play games regularly? If so, what’s your current favorite title or platform?

Unfortunately, over time, I play less and less. I truly enjoy only older games now, and I have less and less time to play. It’s one of my regrets not to make more time for it, but life seems to go faster and faster with each passing year.

Have your views of Nintendo changed over time — either as a fan or as a developer?

Yes, a lot, as I explained earlier.

Were there any particular events or decisions by Nintendo that directly motivated you?

See previous answers =)

Do you see a piracy front-end mimicking the Nintendo eShop as an act of protest against Nintendo’s practices? Or are you purely mercenary here – this is for money?

It’s important to know that (shop name edited out by me) eShop was fully funded by myself from 2019 to 2024, so no, this is not about money.

We simply want to provide a high-quality, trustworthy service that is as user-friendly as possible.

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The Broader Scene:

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What do you think the future holds for freeshops like yours

I can’t give a very detailed answer to this question, but it’s important to know that the more piracy is condemned, the more accessible it becomes. The community, pirates, and hackers will always evolve and become increasingly motivated...

Have you got any data for us? I’m beyond curious to know, have you got any idea of the metrics: total users, total downloads, how much data you host? I read that “at its peak the service was handling over 1 petabyte of data per day” – that’s a crazily large operation. And I really don’t expect to get an answer for this one, but how much have you made, an estimate would be nice, from your freeshop?

In terms of bandwidth, yes, it has reached several petabytes per day during some peak periods. However, on quieter days now, we handle between 200 and 300 terabytes within 24 hours. As for users, we recently surpassed the milestone of 3 million across all services combined.

Regarding financials, personally, this does not generate income for me. I prefer to prioritize improving our services and expanding our projects.

You should know that personally, money is not an issue for me. I’m a pretty simple person— as long as I have a roof over my head, food to eat, and internet access, that’s enough.

Between the ages of 18 and 20, I founded four bulletproof hosting companies, which I later sold. Today, I still own two companies—one in hosting and another providing large-scale network systems for major enterprises.

When I need extra money for vacations, I sometimes take on freelance work, like building websites and other projects. So, financial gain isn’t something I’m interested in.

Do you believe the piracy/homebrew community is growing or fracturing?

No, the community is growing and will continue to grow. It’s important to remember that the more piracy is punished, the more services will become available.

Also, as games become increasingly unaffordable, the demand will only keep rising.

Are you concerned about potential legal action or consequences? We all know about Gary Bowser, who was sentenced in 2021 to 40 months prison and $14.5m USD in fines. This has to play on your mind, right?

I am not worried about that at all. I’m not completely reckless—if it’s going to happen, it will happen. Life is short, so I prefer to do what I want now.

Besides, I’m not acting blindly; I’ve already taken precautions and prepared for any eventuality. When you do something like this, you always need to keep some advantages.

You also have to understand that Nintendo doesn’t have the same power everywhere. I could mention countries like Iran or Panama, just to name a few. Panama, for example, is one of the few countries that has no agreements with the NSA or similar agencies.

Do you plan to expand features — or create tools for other platforms? By your own words elsewhere on the internet, I read it’s been quite a tumultuous year for your program...what exactly happened?

We plan to eventually expand our projects across all platforms, including consoles up to the PS4 and PS5. We also aim to explore torrenting, IPTV services, and streaming platforms.

Our core goal remains the same: providing access and maintaining high-quality service.

This year has been quite eventful, with personal challenges as well as a tenfold growth in user numbers. As a result, we had to completely overhaul parts of our network, add new servers, improve some systems, and even rewrite others from scratch.

If Nintendo offered a better digital access or preservation model, would that change your approach? Further, what would make you close shop and change your stance? Would that even be an option?

I don’t think that will ever happen, but the only way to shut down services like ours would be to reduce the demand—because without demand, there’s no need for supply.

Personally, I don’t see myself involved in the project much longer. I created it in 2019, and now it’s 2025. Whether we like it or not, a project like this is extremely mentally exhausting, even if it’s enjoyable to manage. It’s complex and has grown very large.

But no worries—I’ve already started planning my succession, and trusted people will be ready to take over and contribute to the project. Personally, I plan to step away before 2027.

It would become too costly to maintain and pointless without users. But we all know Nintendo will never admit what they are doing or change their stance.

What do you think about the Nintendo Switch 2?

There’s so much to say—between game prices like Mario Kart World at $90, a $500 console that only comes with a black and white theme, $10 texture packs, and even paid software just to learn how to use the console...

I just hope other manufacturers like Sony, Microsoft, and the others don’t follow this same path.

But honestly, it doesn’t really matter, because by doing this they’re alienating a lot of people. There are now many who are solely focused on breaking the console’s security, and the more Nintendo continues down this road, the more they’re pushing their own community away.

Anything in general you’d like to say? The floor is yours!

The one thing I want to say to everyone is: don’t overcomplicate things. Today’s society has become way too complex. Live and enjoy the present moment because you never know what tomorrow will bring. Do what you want, when you want — we only have one life. And remember: in whatever you do, only those who achieve less than you will try to put you down.

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The end!

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...and that's that. Again, I'd encourage you all to remember this is not endorsing the program, it's just a chance to have someone explain how they justify doing what they do. As I keep on saying - a 'peek' behind the curtain.

This was quite brief, but their time was limited and I'm grateful that they even accepted my request and let me do this. I've edited some of their answers, as you'll see - 99% of these edits have been to remove the eShop's name.

I have also done a few of these interviews now, and posted them here to Lemmy, if you'd like to read them:

• RetroDECK

• Heroic Games Launcher

• Lutris

• Gardiner Bryant

• The RomM Project

...and I have more to come in the future.

Mastodon:

If you want more of this kind of thing, come join me on Mastodon!

Context: There was a huge backlash over Dave the Diver being nominated for best indie game because despite being a smaller pixelart game, the developer is owned by Nexon.

It's already hard enough without the ball being nailed to the ground.

That’s right, for hardware that’s now eight years old and never got a price discount. It currently sells for C$400 – but they’re about to jack the price.

There are Android tablets that are much cheaper than the Switch, more powerful, more battery efficient. Also, play games better.

Yet, Nintendo is jacking the price.

I love this game. It's a cell shaded coming of age adventure where you ride your scooter around the desert and explore ruins or meet unique characters. It's easily worth full price imo so this is definitely a steal.

It's really annoying to accidentally hit a key, then feel like I have to send a full message. Why is this the 'standard' among chat programs now, without even the option to turn it off?

Who is fighting for stuff like this?

Today's game is Sonic Mania. I wanted something quick and easy to jump into with tonight, and i picked this up on sale the other day. I grew up on Sonic 1-3, CD, and Knuckles so i have fond memories of the old 2D sonic (even though by the time i was born the genesis was far gone). I even put on the CRT shader! I didn't know much about Mania though and figured it was an original thing, and from what i can tell it mostly is, but the first zones of the first two levels are not.

I believe this game has also elected to fuck with me, because they included Chemical Plant zone which scares the fuck out of me. It's like specifically engineered too make me panic, especially with the section above with the moving platforms. I always struggle with it and it lives rent free in my head. Still like the level though, just fuck that specific part really.

The second parts of the levels are cool, like unique ideas. Chemical plant had these jelly things with syringes that were fun to do. It was fun to press down on it and learn what all the different jelly colors do.

Then there was the Mean Bean Machine minigame, which was awesome to see. I don't have much to say about it lol, i just thought it was cool to see them pay reference too it.

The boss for the 3 level was cool, it was a high speed chase where you had to hit certain rockets back. I lost it and took that as my cue to put the game down for the night, but it was a unique idea. This game seems to be doing a lot of unique boss ideas. It feels loyal to the original idea of the Genesis games but also a lot more unique because of the new hardware it can use. I'm enjoying it, though i probably will shelve it for now until i have another night where i just want something quick and easy to play.

In a statement, 11-Bit Studios confirms that an instance of AI-generated text appears in The Alters due to an "internal oversight"

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/11-bit-studios-acknowledges-the-use-of-ai-generated-text-in-the-alters

It’s funny watching console gamers mourn the “death” of Xbox.

I was a diehard fan of the original Xbox and 360. But to me, Xbox actually died back in December 2012—the day Valve launched Big Picture mode. That’s when every PC suddenly became a console.

The only reason I ever bought an Xbox in the first place was because it brought PC gaming into the living room. The original Xbox was basically a stripped-down PC with a custom OS—and I loved it for that. Finally, I had PC-grade performance on my TV.

But let’s be real: Valve ate Microsoft’s lunch. And with the Steam Deck, they came back for seconds.

The good news? Microsoft finally seems to understand that Valve—not Sony—is their real competition. And now they’re answering with the Xbox handheld.

About time.

As ever and always, I’m back with a week’s worth of gaming news I’ve spotted and thought I should share with you all!

Being in the middle of the various gaming sales ‘season’, you’re probably too busy either buying games and never playing them (yep, that old joke again) or enjoying your cheaply bought games on your PC or handheld!

Hopefully this week’s news is a nice little distraction from spending your money.

So what are these posts?

My aim for these News Posts in general is to make them a more clearly not a professional, but someone who cares about gaming manner than most gaming sites do now. I see so many sites, even the independent ones, bombarding with ads, banners and reminders to support them. I get it, I really do, but it’s an unpleasant experience to me.

My ever-lasting inspo is the old, old video game sites, blogs and magazines that I never had the privilege of being alive for:

• Image/gif/link heavy (though once again this week I have few GIFs, so this dot-point’s a bit needless)

• Personal voice (I can’t help rambling, send help – this won’t be even slightly professionally written)

• Mostly news or articles or points which you won’t find on normal gaming sites. These are the smaller, lesser things that I’m drawn to. I know you’ll have spotted the big news articles, so I’m hoping some of these smaller ones might have been missed by you.

A mixed bag of what I’ve considered news this week, so there really is a bit of everything ahead.

So grab a coffee? Or a tea? Or a fresh juice? And enjoy <3

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General Gaming News:

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Humble Choice Price Hike:

I get asked so very often why I’m not a member of these game bundle programs: Humble and Fanatical. I’ve not done it once, and...honestly I can’t tell you why. Maybe the biggest factor is that I’m a GOG supporter first-and-foremost. Maybe because I know I’ll end up with games I never have the intention of playing? I do mean to, eventually, but maybe I’ve waited too long.

Humble Choice started back in 2019 giving you games to keep each month, typically they’re Steam keys, though that’s not always true.

There’s been criticisms lately however, ones I see most often are

• A decline in quality game offerings (though to me that is subjective)
• Things few want like EA Origin keys
• IGN Coupons (WTF even is that?)
• Some customer support issues in the past

Anyway, adding to that is a price hike for some. There’s been a price increase in some parts of the world starting in May 2025, but it seems to now be crawling across the board:

Pricing:

Currency / Current / New

• USD / $129 / $154.99
• CAD / $159 / $194.99
• EUR / €109 / €134.99
• GBP / £98 / £‎119.99

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The Alters & Fashion:

ZA/UM claim to be the developer of Disco Elysium. That claim isn’t sitting well with the developers themselves who made the damn game.

Members of the original Disco Elysium team:

• lead designer Robert Kurvitz
• writer Helen Hindpere, and
• art director Aleksander Rostov

...were forced out of ZA/UM in late 2021, and never received proper compensation for a game they made. In fact, after they got kicked out, Rostov publicly encouraged players to pirate Disco Elysium, stating they made no money from current sales and viewed the official version as no longer representing their work.

Anyway...I’m just saying while ZA/UM claim to be the dev...that claim comes with a lot of baggage these days.

ZA/UM have a branch, which is...weirdly a fashion house. ZA/UM Atelier have a new collaboration with 11 Bit Studios (whose game The Alters has just released) which is releasing clothing inspired by The Alters.

“This collaboration with ZA/UM Atelier felt like a natural extension of that philosophy — an embodiment of identity through design. We can’t wait to see how our community responds to this fusion.” - Tomasz Kisilewicz, The Alters game director at 11 bit studios

Weird, right?

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GOG on Prime and CAPTCHA:

If you’ve been redeeming GOG games from Amazon Prime’s Prime Gaming each week, you’ll have by now seen the CAPTCHA challenges which pop up. You can be trying your best to select which squares feature a bit of a motorcycle for a long time.

I’ve seen a lot of complaints thinking things are broken, and asking why it even exists.

WHY:

It’s just crowd control. The number of people who claim a game to keep forever can be really high – esp for games which are popular (like just over a week ago we had Tomb Raider I-III Remastered given away), when this happens GOG’s servers can be hammered pretty hard, so this is just a method of slowing the people down.

It can be annoying, and take my advice, if it is too annoying, just wait a day or two to claim. The number of people drops low, then you’re not going to be limited.

IS IT BROKEN:

No, for the reasons explained above.

SHOULD YOU EVEN BOTHER WRITING THIS HERE?

Not really, but I have seen an awful lot of people who are worried that something in the service has gone wrong. And if there is even one person who reads this and now knows all is okay...then that’s fine by me!

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Gabe and Half-Life:

You’ve probably seen this by now, but even if you have...it’s too good to not share again. 3Dguy2 has made this stylized 3D model of Gabe in the obvious attire.

There was the usual tiring claims that this is A.I. generated and low-effort, and the artist shared their artstation page which you can find here with this link, if you wanna see more of their art! to quell those claims. They’re also emailing it to Gabe (who has a history of replying to regular users’ emails quite often!), so I hope they get a nice reply :)

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Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II Enhanced:

If you’re tired of recent games being re-released (looking at you TloU and GTA V) for another cash-grab, then prepare to be disappointed. Hellblade II (2024) is getting the same treatment:

• Comes to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Game Pass, Steam, and, for the first time, PlayStation 5 on August 12.
• This updated version includes graphical and gameplay additions, as well as an enhanced Photo Mode and developer commentary.
• August 12 will also see the game become Steam Deck Verified.

Performance Mode:

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is a cinematic experience of immersion where we push real-time visuals to deliver rich, believable environments and characters to sink you deep into Senua’s story. Now, with Performance Mode, we’re excited to give you the option to experience gameplay at 60 FPS (not available on Xbox Series S). The result is smoother gameplay, especially noticeable during combat and fast-moving moments of the game. On PC, where you’ve had more flexibility with performance based on your personal hardware, we’re now offering a ‘Very High’ preset to push that fidelity even further. The team has also been hard at work optimizing the game for Steam Deck, so when this update lands, the game will be Steam Deck Verified for the first time. Wherever you choose to play, we’ve made sure the experience is optimized for your chosen hardware.

The Dark Rot Returns:

The Dark Rot from Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has returned and offers an additional challenge for Senua on her quest to Iceland in this optional game mode. The Dark Rot will grow each time you fail, and if it reaches Senua’s head, her quest is over and all progress will be lost. Do you think you’re up to the challenge?

Enhanced Photo Mode: We have an incredible community of Virtual Photographers who have captured stunning moments from the world of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. We’re really excited, then, to enhance the toolset within Photo Mode with improvements across a multitude of settings, as well as an all-new ‘Motion’ tab for custom cinematic video capture. We can’t wait to see what you create with these new tools at your disposal.

Developer Commentary Let us take you behind the scenes of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II with over 4 hours of insightful commentary, exploring the craft and creative decisions that went into making the game. Hear from the ensemble cast, key collaborators in depicting Senua’s experience of psychosis, and members of the development team who poured their heart and soul into Senua’s story.

Here is a link to the YouTube video announcement for this, it will be arriving August 12th this year

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Runescape 3 & Microtransaction:

There’s a few headlines and videos being shared about which state that Runescape 3 is removing microtransactions. And this is not the whole truth.

Jagex are running a series of one to two week long experiments to gather data to re-evaluate their monetization practices.

We will turn off Treasure Hunter, instead offering bundles of Stars and Knowledge Bombs for direct purchase (capped at 1 bundle per day)

We will offer a large selection of past cosmetic overrides - including some previously only available via TH - for direct purchase all at once

They are temporarily disabling gambling through Treasure Hunter, while offering a capped direct daily purchase of experience and direct purchases of cosmetics. It seems they are trying out the daily FOMO method to condition players into purchasing the daily bundle so they don't miss out.

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FBC: Firebreak Reaches 1m players:

Maybe not the best numbers for a developer as beloved as Remedy is. Will it have the staying power for the long-run? I’d say...maybe not. They’re already making changes however, so I guess we’ve got to keep an eye on it. For now, here’s their own statement pic:

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Steam Deck Work/Play Case:

If you’ve followed along with me on Mastodon long enough then you’ll well and truly know I love sharing 3D printed gaming things. This one looks wonderful, too. Makes me think of a very William Gibson-ish Cyberdeck look. A Steam Deck user shared their print and thoughts on it:

I'm joining the ranks of users that will do anything but hold the deck. It's a nice print, but I had to use the split file version because it's too big for my printer to do in one piece.

Ergonomics are ok, there is some room for improvement. It's kinda nice to treat your steamdeck as a laptop.

The cults3d link has a list of compatible keyboards. I used a logitech K380. The K380s also works since it's the same dimensions. You can use the logitech pebble mouse. I got this mouse from aliexpress

Here’s a couple pics from the maker themselves, just for some color:

The creator of the file also has a video showcasing their design, and it’s well and truly worth a look – YouTube link here!

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Sales Season:

Everyone will be aware of the Steam Summer Sale on right now, but I’d love to remind people that its not the only front who is cutting prices for the season:

• Steam Summer Sale runs from 26th June to 10th July

• GOG’s Summer Sale runs from 18th of June to 9th of July

• Epic Games Summer Sale begins on 17th July

...have you picked up any games? What have you bought, recommend some deals for everyone here, because it might shock you but we do all love deals here!

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Warhammer: 40,000 Master Crafted – Refunds, Discounts & Patches:

Seems like no one was happy about the ‘Master Crafted Edition’ coming out recently: buggy, overpriced, no discount for anyone who owns the original, barely any reviews (and those that are there on the Steam page are negative) – they’ve clearly realized they’re in strife and had to correct it.

As it stands they have only ninety four user reviews on Steam, and those equate to being ‘Mostly Negative’.

The official statement is here, on Steam, if you’d like to read it in its entirety.

But to summarize,

• Refunds Extended: Full refunds available regardless of playtime if requested via Steam Support before July 10, 2025 (6pm BST / 10pm PST). This feels underhanded to me, sticking to a limited window for people being able to get their money back if they didn’t see this statement? Not right!

• Owners of the Anniversary Edition get 50% off the Master Crafted Edition from June 26 to July 10 (but If you already bought at full price and are eligible, you’ll need to request a refund, then rebuy at the discounted rate which is...suspect to say the least)

• Patch Improvements are also in the works, covering UI/UX, gameplay fixes, platform and controller support, networking, tech fixes and so on (read the above link to check their full notes on what they’re working on)

...I suppose to be fair, at least they’re trying to fix their mistakes, if only because it fell flat for them. More than some companies end up doing!

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Fallout 4 Themed RetroPie:

This is...amazing. Made by ‘CheezyJesus’, this build is about as nice as you can find for a RetroPie arcade machine.

Custom designed and 3D printed, it’s so good, it should be official. I’ll let them do the talking by just copying their words, and sharing the images but...no one can deny this effort. Fallout 4, by the way, is my fav of the series. Perhaps because I didn’t grow up on the games, and by the mere fact it is the most recently made – I just love it!

Anyway, in the users own words from hereon out:

This is the most ambitious project I had the absolute pleasure of doing so far.

A 3D printed Fallout 4 themed, RetroPie arcade machine, based on one of the computer terminals in the game. I wanted it to feel as vintage as possible. so I used a CRT from one of those early 2000's B/W portable TVs as a screen. And it looks great!

The hardest part was definitely sanding and painting. This was my first time sanding and painting a 3D print. It was challenging, especially with the size of the build.

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Brazil warns Nintendo:

Okay, a tiny bit of sensationalism in my little headline there, but its still 100% true.

Nintendo is facing at least some legal scrutiny in Brazil over the much criticized Switch 2 policy where they can ‘permanently disable consoles for unauthorized use’ without clear justification. This, along with a mandatory arbitration clause that prevents users from suing Nintendo in Brazilian courts, even in class actions directly violates Brazil’s Consumer Code, according to consumer agency Procon-SP.

Nintendo has 20 days to respond.

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Switch 2 Manual:

I’ve shown this users booklets/manuals off before. They make such high quality inserts for game cases (since as you know, modern gaming has well and truly done away with anything inside the game case), and they look better than you’d expect from the companies themselves.

I can’t help but share a lot of photos of this, since it’s so beautiful. Apologies in advance!

This time around RowanFN1 has made them for Mario Kart World. I’d say for $80 USD something like this wouldn’t be too much to ask, but alas...modern gaming is all about the money and stripping back the features. Anyway, as always, in their own words:

The Manual is a bit more traditional on all the info bits and controls etc. and has checklists for Grand Prix, knockout Tour, character outfits while viewing their stats. Meanwhile the Booklet is all about free roam and called the Explorapedia, listing all the P-Switch Missions, Peach Medallions, ? Switches and more for you to check off and complete in free roam.

I tried to combine them but that would've been about 90 odd pages, which is insane. So a 40 page Manual and a 52 page Booklet was the choice as I did really wanna cover all the areas.

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Playnite Theme for Handhelds:

If you’ve not heard of Playnite, its a free, open-source game launcher and library manager that unifies all your PC games—across platforms like Steam, GOG, Epic, and emulators—into a single customizable interface. Currently it’s only available for Windows, but the devs have promised an eventual Linux release also.

You can check out the Playnite link here if you’d like to read more on what it is, via their site.

A user by the name of AsciiMorseCode shared a theme they’ve made for handhelds which do run Windows, tailored to make it feel like a more handheld-friendly environment.

Toggle is my take on making Playnite feel natural on smaller screens while keeping performance smooth. I wanted something inspired by the Switch 2.

The whole design is built around thumb-friendly navigation. All the important buttons and controls are positioned where you can actually reach them comfortably when holding a handheld.

Performance was a huge priority - Toggle is intentionally lightweight so it runs smoothly even on lower-powered devices. Clean and fast was the goal.

If you’re running Playnite with a ROG Ally, or a Legion Go, or even a Steam Deck running Windows, the link to the GitHub release is here!

...one thing to note, though:

Works best with ExtraMetadataLoader for game logos and Now Playing for the session management features. I've included some recommended Playnite settings in the screenshots on GitHub, but note that wider screens will need to have more columns shown.

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AudioPin - (stop Windows devices changing)

Someone created a tool called AudioPin for Windows – which lets you create prioritized lists of audio devices for input and output, with the option to separately pin devices for communications.

Ever been annoyed by Windows audio defaults changing when you plug or unplug devices?

This utility allows a user to "pin" a selection of audio devices in windows with a prioritised list. On any change to audio devices AudioPin should very quickly re-assert your pinned devices setting the highest prioritised available device as default.

Not applicable to me, but I’m sure there’s at least some users here who might have missed this, and have the need for it. I’m sure I’ve done a terrible job of summarizing what it is and what it does, so the link to the GitHub page is right here for you to check it out!

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Death Stranding 2:

Norman Reedus (Sam Porter himself) posted this on his socials, just a nice reminder that Kojima can still deliver an amazing experience:

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Crystal Dynamics Cosplay:

The Community Director at Crystal Dynamics, Meagan Marie shared her cosplay dressing up as Lara Croft from Rise of the Tomb Raider from the peak of Mount Rainier/Tahoma.

The reason it looks so accurate? She’s had decades of cosplay:

Over the years cosplay has afforded me incredible opportunities, including being featured on CNN, in Time Magazine, Marie Claire UK, and even modeling for original Wonder Woman art for Justice League: A League of One by the phenomenal Chris Moeller.

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Quick Dot-Points of Interest:

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• Stalker 2 has released official modding tools. Some are angry that it requires 700GB of space, but that’s just the typical rage-bait headline. The reason for the size is that the devs are giving modders the uncompressed resources – which is rare and quite amazing of them

• Ready or Not will have new, more strict censoring on the game due to console ratings required for release. *"If a content change was just a texture swap, we were able to apply it to console only while keeping the PC version the same as before. However, if the change involved transforming an entire asset this was less feasible." *](https://steamcommunity.com/games/1144200/announcements/detail/526472884483260568)

• A man in California has stolen over $10K USD worth of Nintendo Switch games from libraries and is now finding himself being held accountable. Stealing from libraries? Hope he gets all the books thrown at him

• Callina Liang has been officially cast as Chun-Li in Legendary’s upcoming live-action Street Fighter movie. It is now in pre-production. No matter how great it might be though, it won’t have my girl Kylie Minogue’s Cammy in it, so it can never reach that level of amazing to me!

• Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson has also been cast for the live-action Street Fighter. He will be playing Balrog

• Xbox 360 has seen an update, fixing the game title cards looking ‘stretched’ (they now fit nicely) and adding an advert for the Series X. Interesting that MS remembered the 360 existed, here’s a picture of the new look if you’re curious.

• Donkey Kong Land is now officially 30 years old!

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Sable / Free:

If you haven’t already claimed it, Sable was a free title from Epic Games this last week until July 3rd. It’s a lot of things, but the best part of Sable to me is the art design. Beautiful colors and minimal animations. That and the music being provided by the band Japanese Breakfast!

While it does run into some performance issues in certain sections, I tested it on my Steam Deck and plays great! I’ve mostly been playing it on my desktop PC though, this time on Heroic with EOC enabled to collect achievements (something I never used to enjoy, but lately have been embracing a lot!)

It’s such a beautiful world, and well worth playing through.

The game has no combat, just pure exploration, some (very mild, and I’m risking it by calling it so) platforming sections, zero combat.

If you’ve claimed it, or perhaps you’ve bought it elsewhere and haven’t got to it yet...please give it a try. It’s such a nice little game.

Another little ‘box’ Sable ticks for me is the collecting. I know some people hate searching for little things scattered about gaming landscapes, but Sable does it so nicely. Ugh it’s so pretty.

The launch trailer is here, if you’d like to see some of the gameplay

And finally, I found something created by a fan – the LEGO hoverbike is a fan creation, and I thought it was kind nice, so here it is:

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NEC PC Engine LT:

Only because I thought this was super interesting, and haven’t ever seen it before! A user by the name of Retroaffaire shared their photos and words on this one:

Released in Japan in Dec 1991 for a hefty ¥99,800, has a great (for the time) built-in flip-up 4″ TFT screen. It’s essentially a fully-featured PC Engine with internal speakers, an AC-only power system, and a traditional controller port, and even a TV tuner. You could hook up the CD-ROM² unit too. Extremely limited production run, estimated between 1,000–5,000 units.

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The Future of my posts:

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If you’re just here for the news, that’s it for this week!

However for anyone who might be more invested in these week-by-week, I’m just going to be upfront about what’s next. You probably know I’ve had a few health hiccups these last few weeks. I’ve been type 1 diabetic since I was very small, and also have a rather more rare affliction called Addison’s Disease (J.F.K. had this, and it’s why he frequently carried a flask of chicken soup with him!)

Such a long time with the former has left me with newly diagnosed ‘proximal neuropathy’ – which means a small part of my hip feels either numb-to-touch, or like it’s being split with a hot knife. I don’t know, things are just piling on and I’m feeling quite sick each day. Stress makes my Addison’s worse, which in turn makes me physically worse off.

So! While it takes me a few minutes to write up a small post on my Mastodon acc, here it takes a little longer and even little things are taxing for me lately.

I’m just going to warn you all that I’m maybe pausing these for now. Maybe a week will go by and I’ll feel 100% and this will all seem pointless to have written, but then again, perhaps not. My next appointment is on the 17th with my specialist, so I’m realistically thinking I might be taking a break at least until then.

I do want to say though that I LOVE writing these. I love that Lemmy is a small, condensed and personalized gaming community and I recognize now after a few months so so many of the regular usernames who chime in and comment here. I’m so grateful you’ve all shared that you enjoy these with me. And so lucky that I’ve been encouraged to keep on writing them.

Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me that things improve, okay?

~ P.D.

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Previous Posts:

If you’d like to read my previous Gaming News posts (they’re mounting up in number now!), then you can find them here:

• Steam Deck / Gaming News #2
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #3
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #4
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #5
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #6
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #7
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #8
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #9
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #10
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #11
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #12
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #13
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #14
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #15
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #16
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #17
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #18
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #19
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #20
• Steam Deck / Gaming News #21

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Mastodon:

I do tend to post there each and every day, 99.99% gaming nonsense. If you want more of this, then come drop by!

Today's game is some more Ocarina of Time. I dove into the bottom of the wall and cleared the Dead Hands boss fight. It's one of my favorite Mini-bosses. I really wish it would be brought back in some form. It would probably scare kids shitless though so maybe not. Still though, really fond memories of stumbling into this room and getting the shit scared out of me by it. The bottom of the wall still unsettles me to this day with it's freaky vibes.

Dead hands doesn't make it any better either because he dies with his jaw unhinged like some corpse snake. I'm like 90% sure he could swallow me whole if he wanted too.

I went ahead and used my time today to finish up some misc stuff before moving onto the main dungeon. Namely i got Epona and started on the Biggoron sword quest. I got all the way too the broken biggoron's sword before stopping. The race to get the mushroom all the way to the Potion shop was tense though because Epona wouldn't make a jump i thought she could. I ended up cutting it close though with like 20 seconds left.

I didn't entirely neglect the other dungeon though. I stopped Link while in Goron city to get the Fire tunic so i can do the dungeon when i finally get the Biggoron's Sword. Then it's off to the last 2 i need (Spirit and Shadow).

cross-posted from: https://piefed.ca/post/36744

This an an interview with Ross Scott and Steve from the GNCA - GamersNexus Consumer Advocacy side channel.

⚠️⚠️ Sign here: https://eci.ec.europa.eu/045/public/#/screen/home ⚠️⚠️

"We got together with Ross Scott of Accursed Farms to discuss the Stop Killing Games initiative that he is presently spearheading. The Stop Killing Games initiative aims to preserve games in a reasonably playable state even after the game's publishers and/or developers abandon it, helping ensure consumers keep some level of what they have paid for rather than having all access revoked and the game destroyed."

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Stop Killing Games
03:26 - The Basics
05:55 - Games Make It Easier to Dismiss
07:17 - Where's Stop Killing Games Now
13:58 - Technical Alternatives to Stopping Service
19:47 - How Would a Law Work
23:50 - Momentum
27:18 - UK Petition
31:45 - Misconceptions
35:51 - Benefits for People Outside the EU
39:36 - Next Steps

Today's game is Sea of Thieves. For the first time ever me and some friends managed to get a full crew together and sailed my ship. We even managed to get our resident chef and arsonist to join us. He adds an extra challenge because the only thing he really does is stand at the stove and let food cook. He never really cycles it off so we have to make sure to regularly take food off the stove for him. He does help out though, like in the screenshot above where he fell asleep at the map. He was talking in his sleep about Gophers. I ended up laying down next to him and joining him for a little nap. He ended up sleeping through an entire battle with a megaladon.

The fight was over the ocean during the middle of the day, and i don't know if it's my fancy new gaming rig or the water got an update, but god is this gorgeous. The light was playing with the waves and it looked so good i almost forgot we were being attacked by a huge ass shark and down a man.

We did a sea fort, and while my friends were looting it, one of them tried bringing the boat up and got it stuck, and i went to go get it unstuck. I ended up getting it free quickly, and i got this lovely view of the sunset.

We ended off our night with this wonderful parking job done by my first mate, who was distracted after our chef threw a fire bomb at him and then stopped the anchor from descending. It all turned out okay though, because my ship was undamaged. Just stuck in a tight squeeze. It's future me's problem though.