I guess bespoke hardware for the well off just seems like the logical extension of where we are right now, what with the huge income and opportunities disparity in games.
There is nothing surprising about a very well off company being able to piss 4 years up the wall for something of neither use nor ornament to anyone. Depressingly, I expect it.
It's the same sort of pervasive cultural money spunk that has largely gestated in retro, if anything I'm surprised it took this long to find an avenue into indie. Though there's plenty of previous wrt inaccessible artefacts being fetishized. Rohrer's tosh, games only available to a select few, limited time etc...
It's a world apart from DIY controllers and that, obviously. Intent and access, approach all count and I don't want to lump all that together.
But! Really. It was only a matter of time before someone fused that with an exclusive folly, available for more of your cashmoneys than a 3DS will set you back. Just happened to be Panic.
I'm still trying to parse the seriousness the announcement of an executive toy was met with.
Judging by The Discourse, the press treatment (special shout out to Edge for going all in, in the most Edge style possible) and all that - you would think someone had announced a PlayStation 19. Not a toy for well off people.
It is, as they say, twisting my melon.
Still continuing "Rob is very confused and pissed off about videogames volume 9879878", Kotaku piece on the yellow thing. Why aren't games weirder? Positing this pretty ordinary device as weird (but it's got a crank on it - Ed) is awkward enough but complaining that you have to turn to Indies to find the strange and experimental seems a bit like having to go to water for a swim.
I don't go to Michael Bay for a quirky story about a child who runs a video shop with his pet duck that eats pies shaped like moomins or something, I dunno. It's late, I can't do quirky at 2am. Work with me here.