I wasn’t sure if I’d like theSteam Deck. Handheld gaming means a smaller screen and annoying controls.My hands are big,okay? The Nintendo Switch feels like playing with a toy iPhone. Luckily, I like the Deck—it’s a huge brick that’s way bigger than it needs to be, which is perfect. It got me back into PC gaming, meaning that my library of 600 games and counting isn’t going to waste. I also get to do all this from the comfort of my sofa instead of the desk I work at eight hours a day. But my love for the Deck didn’t truly click until I turned it into a PS2.
I went on Amazon on a whim and grabbed a £30 dock, hooked the Deck up to my TV, and… legally installed some legal PS2 games via very legal means with a—legal—BIOS. Pinky promise. What that means is that I can play a ‘PS2’ with a modern controller on my TV without worrying about image stretching or having awkwardly thick black lines on all sides. It was a fancy emulator with half of the fuss.
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I’ve tried hooking up an actual PS2 to my TV, gaming monitor, and even an old CRT that my landlord left lying around. I got a HDMI adapter but the image was fuzzy and it never fully fit the screen, and when I plugged it into the old CRT TV, there was a faint screeching noise that gave me an earache. Retro gaming is a pain in the arse.
Not to mention the games I wanted to play—likeSilent Hill 2and Kuon—would set me back nearly £500. At a certain point, emulation isn’t just ethical, it’s the only way to experience gaming history. I’m not rich and I don’t like earaches. Sue me.
What’s even better about turning my Deck into a PS2 is that it’s incredibly fast. Loading is practically non-existent which makes games like Kuon, which are all about exploration and backtracking, much less tedious. I can also map everything to a wireless Xbox Series controller which cuts out the traipsing wires that my cats will inevitably swat at or get caught on. I had a scare the other week whenJak and Daxter(my two cats) accidentally yanked the PS2 off the shelf while chasing each other. Luckily, it isn’t broken. Not that I use it.
I’m not exaggerating when I say retro gaming isn’t accessible. CEX buys PS2s for £19 but sells them for £75—scalping is inevitable. And hooking up a PS2 with modern hardware requires extra gadgets that’ll set you back even more. Once it’s all fitted, you then have the issue of fumbling around with archaic memory cards and old controllers. The cheapest are third-party but they’re usually flimsy plastic tat. And since you’ll be blowing old games up on your newer TV or monitor, it’ll inevitably look worse than it did 20 years ago. Enjoying gaming history shouldn’t be this tedious.
It’s not like you can pick up games for cheap in a sale or at retail price to see if you like them, either. I wanted to try Kuon on a whim because I’m a big fan of FromSoftware’s newer games, but copies go for around £400 on eBay. If I didn’t like it, I’d be skint for the month and incredibly bitter. Now I can just turn my Deck on and get stuck in, with the emulator automatically sorting out any resolution and upscaling issues.
It’s as easy as it was when I was a kid, doesn’t leave me with an empty wallet, and has opened up the door to a vast library that was otherwise inaccessible. The Steam Deck is the bestretro consoleof today.
