BenM64
Benedict Roberts   Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Level
42
Nova Prospekt
500 XP
 
 
I mainly prefer PC games. Nintendo games are fun too.
I find unique features and creative designs more interesting than raw power alone, hence my fascination with wacky and unorthodox hardware (e.g. the Surface Book; the Dreamcast; the Wii U), rather than locked-down-PCs-in-a-box (e.g. the Xbox One; the PS4).

I'm also the kind of person who prefers to make the most of existing possessions before acquiring more, hence why I have sizeable play-times in my modest Steam Library (rather than thousands of untouched games). Quality over quantity an' all that. Gets me my money's worth, and then some more.
I have a similar mindset over exploring my devices/OSes: analyse advanced features and menus, and see what I can dig up and use. Switchable keyboard languages, anyone?
"Exploratory drive" sums it up very well.

I like funny juxtapositions. Mixing family-friendly IP with horror settings/environments; lengthy action-adventures on Japanese flip-phones; business-oriented laptops outperforming consoles. That sort of thing.

I try to put some thought into every post I make and every sentence I type - more than I used to on Miiverse, at least - although balancing wittiness with what to type or leave out while keeping my vocabulary varied enough can get a bit exhausting sometimes. Even writing a single Tweet could potentially burn me out for quite a bit.

As a safety precaution and to keep things manageable, I only register real-life friends on my friend list, but am otherwise open to being followed, just like on Twitter.

I'd like to make my own games someday - the kind that can fit on floppy disks and run equally well between Windows 95 and Windows 10 - and have my own website to host them on. With none of this corporate-first "Web3" rubbish.

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Badges  30
Games  40
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Screenshots  34
Videos  5
Reviews  7
Friends  48
62
Charlotte The Shark
In-Game
PAYDAY 2
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wilem
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Rarest Achievement Showcase
+1,595
1,601
Achievements
18
Perfect Games
81%
Avg. Game Completion Rate
Favorite Game
Miasmata
80
Hours played
27
Achievements
Achievement Progress   27 of 27
+22
Video 1 Screenshot 1 Review 1
Hardware specifications
Main PC - where all the fun happens
Motherboard: Gigabyte H81M-S2H
CPU: Intel Core i7-4790, 8 cores, 3.6 GHz (usually downclocked to 1.8 GHz for heating and power consumption concerns)
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 750, EVGA-branded
RAM: 8 GB; can fit another 8 GB if desired
SSD: 256 GB, for Windows and drivers
HDD: 2 TB, for everything else, including Steam
External HDD: Dell PDA-1000F USB HDD, 1 TB, for multimedia and archives
DVD-RW Drive: TSSTcorp, Super Writemaster
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit; for me, Windows is like a schoolgirl, the kind with whom you get along so well from having known each other since childhood. (For Linux, I'd have to start from scratch. I'd rather not use macOS, not after the Classic Environment was axed.)
Keyboard: Dell RT7D20, UK layout, PS/2 connection; I've had it since I was 5 or 6, and it still works flawlessly! ^o^
Mouse: Dell-branded M-S69; it matches my keyboard, even down to using the PS/2 port. I like it!
Mousemat: The underside of my Surface Go's Type Cover
Monitor: Dell 1702FP, DVI, 1280 × 1024 (looks much more standard-looking than 16:9 ever was)
Power consumption: *raspberry noise* 600W maximum… (O_O") Any power-efficient components I could use?

Overall, it does the job pretty well, although I would've preferred something smaller. (A Dell Optiplex in micro form, or something.)

Surface Go - for when I'm out and about
Model 1824
CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y, 4 cores, 1.6 GHz, 64-bit (really? A 64-bit Pentium of all things? Wouldn't a 32-bit Pentium have made it tonnes cheaper, throwing in Virtual 8086 Mode and NTVDM as an added bonus?)
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 615 (LOL)
RAM: 8 GB
SSD: 128 GB; I try to keep this clean to avoid memory wear and write amplification, offloading programs to the microSD card whenever possible
microSD card: Samsung, 128 GB
(…Um, shouldn't there be a disk drive here? What's a computer without an optical drive?)
Operating System: Windows 10 Home, 64-bit (again, why? If she were 32-bit, she'd have access to NTVDM and we could play Commander Keen once again, without needing some third-party emulator)
Display: 1800 × 1200, 3:2, the perfect balance between not pillarboxing 4:3-hardcoded games too badly, and not letterboxing rubbish-16:9-hardcoded games too badly
Type Cover: a really good mousemat

If Microsoft had made a physically-smaller Surface Book or Laptop, I probably would've got that instead. Although the Surface Go surprisingly ran more of my old games than I thought it would - even Bugdom!

Dell Latitude D620 - originally for college work, now for fun and compatibility
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo, 2 cores, 1.6 GHz, 32-bit
GPU: Intel 945GM Graphics (since they're already inferior to dedicated GPUs, shouldn't they be able to turn off texture filtering and give us cuter, blockier textures? It would give integrated solutions their own charm)
RAM: 2 GB
HDD: 250 GB
DVD-RW Drive: TSSTcorp TS-L632D
Operating System: Windows XP Professional; she's perfect for playing old games with, even Hype - The Time Quest (somehow!)
BIOS: A10 (updating it was fun, but not really rewarding anymore)
Display: 1280 × 800, 16:10, marginally better than 16:9
Battery: worn out; needs constant AC power
Clock Battery: also worn out; I'd need to disassemble the whole laptop to replace it

Hey, Valve, you know you knocked out support for Windows XP/Vista not too long ago? OK, this may not affect me much since my main desktop runs Windows 7, but c'mon, what if someone either prefers Windows XP/Vista, or is unable to upgrade for whatever reason (not enough money, being stuck with flimsy/incompatible hardware, or living in, oh I dunno, Alabama)?
Wouldn't it be fairer on them to provide either a last-known-working Steam client, or a standalone "legacy client"? Maybe give it the adorable military-green skin from 2003 while you're at it? I've always wanted to explore the really old Steam versions anyway. Even the beta 2002 version.

Dell Axim X51 - an underrated Pocket PC that can still be useful
CPU: Intel XScale (ARM-based) PXA270, 520 MHz
RAM: 64 MB
ROM: 128 MB (ver. A12)
SD card: 256 MB (the maximum, 2 GB, would've been overkill considering how feather-light Windows Mobile programs are)
CompactFlash: none, though I could insert a 4 GB card if I wanted
Operating System: Windows Mobile 5 - perfect for exploring IonFx's back catalogue [www.ionfx.com]
Display: 320 × 240 (kawaii!)
Favourite game: GeoRally 2005; cute, blocky textures, solid racing gameplay, surprisingly impressive frame-rate (about 40 FPS, sometimes reaching 60)… What could possibly top that? (A 3D Metroidvania like Into Outland, that's what.)
Backwards-compatibility: Yes - all the way back to Pocket PC 2000. (Why Microsoft didn't make Windows Phone 7 backwards-compatible with Windows Mobile 6.5 and earlier is beyond me, especially considering they both run on the same kernel, Windows CE.)

If you ask me, Windows Mobile could've been the best "fairy companion/counterpart" to desktop Windows if only the iPhone hadn't ripped up the entire industry and sent Microsoft into "panic mode" with Windows Phone 7.
What're the maximum hardware specifications Windows Mobile can handle? Would she have been made i-αppli-compatible in Japan? Would IonFx have finished Into Outland? Would physical keyboards have still been the norm? Because of the iPhone, we might never know.
Windows Mobile didn't die. She was murdered. By the iPhone. For that, Apple can go and shove a Pro Stand up their—

BlackBerry KEYone - with a physical keyboard, the closest thing to a perfect Android device in this day and age
Model: BBB100-2
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (ARM-based), 8 cores, 2.02 GHz, 64-bit (…seriously. Why go 64-bit on a phone of all things?)
GPU: Qualcomm Adreno 506, 650 MHz
RAM: 3 GB
Internal storage: 32 GB, for Android herself, applications and their save data
microSD card: SanDisk, 32 GB, for multimedia (images, music, MIDIs, etc.); carried over from my BlackBerry Bold 9900
Operating System: Android Oreo, with BlackBerry's security software and keyboard firmware alongside. (Although I personally liked the cleanness of the Samsung Galaxy S5 mini's UI.)
Display: 1620 × 1080, 3:2; admittedly it's amusing to see applications failing to scale to the different aspect ratio
Favourite game: Super Mario Run; the first truly-enjoyable experience I ever had on Android; no microtransactions, just a one-off fee for the entire game! (Honourable mentions: kyogajin's charming visual novels [play.google.com])
Backwards-compatibility: Oh, yes! All the way back to Bonsai Blast (Android Cupcake)! However, she stops short of being natively Java ME-compatible (so you'll need a third-party J2ME Loader to play Bounce Tales or Rayman Bowling).
Physical keyboard: Yes! There aren't enough Android devices out there with 'em. All that's left now is for Super Mario Run to acknowledge it (maybe have Mario jump with the Space bar?).
Floppy drive compatibility: With the right adaptor, yes, further expanding the storage by another 1.44 MB - enough for another 70 cute MIDI songs!

Out of all the Android phones I've used, this one suits me the best! There are still a few shortcomings (no directional pad, no Start Call/End Call buttons), but the advantages more than make up for them!
Review Showcase
Portal 2
143 Hours played
A jam-packed continuation of when Valve tried something different.

What's good:

- Expands upon the unconventional gameplay of Portal with a greater variety of puzzle elements, starting with redirectable laser beams.
- The multi-player campaign goes all-out on the concept, taking as full advantage of two players as it can.
- Hilarious voice acting, particularly from Wheatley (Stephen Merchant), a goofy robot whom you meet early on, and Cave Johnson (J. K. Simmons), a nutty scientist pivotal to the backstory.
- Can make your own test chambers and play other peoples', in doing so exploring another story, this time about parallel universes, all of which integrates nicely and cleverly with the Steam Workshop.
- Very well-built from a technical standpoint; a surprising variety of off-the-shelf laptops from the early 2010s can handle Portal 2, managing 60 frames-per-second sometimes (or often, depending on your graphical preferences). Meanwhile, on gaming desktops from 2015 onwards, especially those with discrete graphics processors, you'd be laughing.
- Robust controller support, via Steam Input. Not only does it change the keyboard icons to the controller's equivalents (e.g. changing the Space Bar to the A button), it natively supports a few controller-specific features, including the DualShock 4's light bar and the Steam Controller's haptic actuators. Valve went a few extra miles with that, it seems.

What's not-so-good (or could've been better):

- Can't modularise the installation (e.g. installing the single-player campaign while leaving out the multi-player campaign), which might be concerning for players running low on storage space. Meanwhile, Microsoft Train Simulator's installer allows for unticking specific routes from being installed, proving that modular installation is doable.
- Not all of the supported languages have a corresponding voice track. I, for one, would've been interested to hear how Wheatley would sound in Japanese.
- The bonus interactive teaser for Super 8 ends by trying to open what looks like a defunct webpage (which presumably would've been about the film) in Steam's in-game browser.
- It doesn't look like the Sixense MotionPack DLC, nor the corresponding Razer Hydra, can be purchased anymore. You'd think Valve would at least attempt to preserve the former, whether with Steam Input's Joy-Con support or with VR controllers (including the ones for their own Valve Index), but thus far…nothing.
- Even though Portal 2 supports rendering with Vulkan instead of DirectX 9, it cannot be activated from the video options menu; the -vulkan parameter must be entered into the game's launch options instead. Easily fixable, I'm sure.

Overall, if you're into puzzle-platforming games, I recommend this one. There's plenty of variety and humour, and it's very well-built from a technical standpoint. You can tell that Valve put a lot of effort into the whole package overall, and I assume most players wouldn't particularly mind the drawbacks I mentioned.
However, I strongly recommend playing the original Portal beforehand; the single-player campaign will likely make a lot more sense as a result.
Recent Activity
9 hours past 2 weeks
34 hrs on record
last played on 1 Feb
Toki Tori 2+
Achievement Progress   38 of 38
+33
Screenshot 1
14.2 hrs on record
last played on 1 Feb
Toki Tori
Achievement Progress   38 of 38
+33
82 hrs on record
last played on 1 Feb
Garry's Mod
Achievement Progress   18 of 29
+13
Screenshots 2
Comments
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BenM64 10 Jul, 2024 @ 3:41pm 
@Sazzouu Sorry about that. I didn't see any mention of Booster Packs in your original post, so I wasn't sure what your rules regarding them are. ( -‸-)
Sazzouu 10 Jul, 2024 @ 12:48pm 
Unfortunately Booster Packs are not exactly worth 3 normal cards becaue each card can potentially be a foil card
Nyanimaxic 11 Jun, 2023 @ 4:08pm 
the
marketing 2 16 Apr, 2023 @ 4:03pm 
+rep cool pyro