vividspecter

Triple buffering. Needs to be implemented by the game, not by the OS. Provides maximum frame rate and no tearing with minimal latency.

Vulkan mailbox mode is pretty much this and doesn't require game support (can be forced on with environment variables if it's not already being used). And since almost everything is Vulkan on Linux these days, one way or another, that covers most games (might be compatibility issues in rare cases).

Plasma wayland has an automatic mode which should at least turn off VRR during desktop usage, as long as the application window isn't fullscreen. A hacky way that can help when VRR is active is to increase the minimum frequency and kick into LFC more readily, by creating a custom EDID (you can also do a sysfs edit historically but I think that's AMD only).

That's only really viable if you have a high refresh rate monitor with a large range. I've found that 120hz may not be enough (since you may end up with gaps where VRR doesn't work if the range is too narrow), which is of course the most common OLED TV refresh rate. In my experience a minimum of >=54hz minimises the flicker, but that may vary with the display.

There's also an issue with cursors where moving the mouse can make the refresh jump to the maximum. It only affects desktop usage and some games (RTS and the like, not usually FPS camera usage). There are fixes coming for this with Plasma I believe, but I'm not sure about Gnome. Forcing a software cursor may help, as others have indicated.

Some users are reporting gyro working for some of the controllers. It's early days anyway (I tested it and it's all broken for me on the Vader 4 Pro).

I’ve been thinking recently about whether Oz would have been better as a PA senator, hindsight is a bitch.

He's probably doing more damage as head of Medicare and Medicaid then he would have as a senator. Maybe both would have happened, but there was more opportunity for him to fall out of Trump's graces if he had been in government for a few years.

Well, I did say "maybe with a real d-pad", it's just the thumbsticks that aren't necessary.

I actually did play with the Steam Controller for years using the trackpad as d-pad. It was more of a comfort thing that made it less than ideal which was due to the shape/texture of the original SC, but I could live without it personally if it's done right.

I've even played shmups with it, with the right settings, but I get there is a learning curve and its easier to use a physical d-pad.

I run it even on a Steam Deck since there is a bit more flexibility to customise and it fixed some audio bugs I had with SteamOS (might have been fixed by now).

I have the Vader 4 and there are some reports of gyro working too. It's no replacement for my steam controller(s) due to the lack of touchpads, but it's probably the highest quality conventional controller I've owned in terms of build quality, so good to see support.

I understand the trackpads somewhat since they take up space, but the lack of back buttons is inexcusable.

Personally though, I'd buy a trackpad only deck (maybe with a real d-pad) but I know I'm in the minority on that one.

Needs to provide FSR 4 to compete with Switch 2.

It can't unless FSR4 is backported to RDNA2/3. There's some work on Linux to do that, but there is a significant performance hit at the moment.

Smart is fine if and only if:

• Not the only way to interact with the device
• Supports open, local-only protocols like Zigbee or Matter

Not a "complete the bundle" type bundle, but a decent price if you own neither game.

I was talking about Nacon (the new/old WRC publisher) not EA or Codemasters, but agreed.