So, I've been reading through the Ultimate Console Database, an older (circa 2000, content peters off around 2004) website dedicated to cataloging every console ever made. This is harder than it sounds, as there are as many Far East pirate Famicoms as there are gangers in the Barrens. So, Shadowrun being on my mind, I began to wonder what cheapo electronics would look like in 2075.

Now, I doubt Moore's Law is operating at the two year interval it is operating at now in the Sixth World. Even so, cheap NES-On-A-Chip systems were around even in 2000, 15 years after the NES's release. Even assuming that Moore's Law is operating on a third of that, you could get the equivalent of a Crash 1.0 era gaming desktop on a chip for about the price of a Stuffer Shack meal for two. This has some big setting ramifications, actually.

The first thing is that everyone in the Barrens can afford a computer. Sure, a Meta Link is only 100¥, but a cheapo laptop would be less than a tenth of that before factoring in a screen and keyboard. It might not be a computer with Matrix capabilities, but it's a computer. There's probably fixers who specialize in dealing this stuff. Suddenly entertainment is a lot easier, as you could play pirated versions of 45 year old software that would presumably still hold up in 2075. So having a Squatter lifestyle sucks less than you think. A modern day equivalent of this would be Gog.com, which offers retro PC games for cheap, and patched for modern systems.

Secondly, that means there's probably an in-universe Raspberry Pi equivalent, most likely as some form of workstation. This would likely just function as a low end, nonportable commlink, but it's more likely to be used as a build your own drone type deal. I don't have Rigger 5, but I doubt that it takes this into account.

As for other editions, all this really changes is what era the bootleg systems emulate. In 1e, it's likely an Xbox 360 equivalent. In 2e, more likely a PS4. Et cetera.

Thoughts?

First point: I totally agree.

Even if the march of miniaturisation stops dead in 2025 because of physics, and quantum computing is mostly a dead end, manufacturing is only likely to get cheaper, easier and more common because of the work of production engineers.

So yes. Raspberry pi commlink equivalents, and also the all-too-frequently overlooked tortoises. A functional terminal could be as simple as a picoprojecter that displays on a convenient wall, a commlink built into the picoprojector's case, and a connection for your keyboard/mouse/joystick/lickplate. Add a battery, and you have a terminal you can stuff into your pocket and carry away, and probably get it for under or around NY50.

To go even cheaper, leave out the picoprojector in favour of some kind of display connection, leave out the battery, leave out any wireless networking, and you could have the core of computing available for under NY30.

I really like the idea, especially the Pi part. In universe I can totally see a small group of gold hearted techies getting together to make a super cheap and affordable computing device for the SINless. but at the same time I also see them as being major targets especially by the manufacturers of low end links who really hate the idea that they're gonna lose their money to a bunch of non-corporate nobody's.

Hm. That makes for an interesting run concept. Get hired by techies to defend their factory from corp saboteurs. Or, alternatively, be the corp saboteurs.

Update: Saw the following paragraph in Bloody Business, which changes my analysis:

The singularity is a myth. There remains a divide between
the speed of technological advancements and the corporate need to produce and release new technology every
year. The result is new models that are not significantly
different than the previous ones. The simple fact of the
matter is that the pace of technology allows for significant advancements every two years, while the need for
financial growth and return demands a twelve-month
release cycle for commlinks. Conventional wisdom says
that the way companies get people to buy their tech is
to offer new bells and whistles that compel them to buy
new commlinks. On the other hand, companies work on
a two-year contract schedule that takes advantage of the
tech cycle but makes it hard for companies to sell new
commlinks after the first year.

The means that Moore's Law is still at full strength in 2077, which means a cheapass Raspberry Pi equivalent in 2075 is running off circa 2060 tech. This makes using retro tech even more viable. Now I'm positive there's markets for this stuff.

For Shadowrun 5th Edition, you might want to take a look at Run & Gun page 197, which has the Counterfeit gear rules.

Note that Counterfeit isn't the same as Knock off. The rules are explicitly talking about low quality gear inside high quality cases, not knock-offs that are pretty close in functionality.

Hmm. I could try that. Main thing is, Hong Kong pirates rarely fool anyone other than ignorant parents, just look at this:

http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/famiclo...ystation_II.htm

^That thing's meant to look like a PS1. It really doesn't, at least not enough to fool someone who's seen one before.

Like, I could understand using full price, this-is-a-scam dealings on older wageslaves, but it would never work on Shadowrunners. Shadowrunners tend to research their tech, so they'll bloody well know what the box looks like.

No, I was thinking more along the lines of pirate game consoles emulating the Playstation XVI or whatever was popular in 2060. That and Plug n Play "official" versions with fewer games but less sketchyness, and Raspberry Pi type doodads for budget computation. While it's possible for pirate-style companies offloading good looking counterfeits into the consumer market, their bodies would wind up with concrete shoes in the Pacific as soon as NeoNET/Renraku/Mangadyne/[insert AA+ commlink corp here] gets wind of their activities. With pirates of outdated, older hardware, the corps are a lot less likely to care, seeing as it isn't really dipping into their profits. After all, it's not like Mr. Barrens Dweller can afford a 100¥ commlink. He needs to spend that on food. But he might be able to spare 20¥ for a cheap Raspberry Pi type thing.

Cheaply-built parts could also be modeled using glitches. Maybe you get lucky and your cheap purchase works fine. Maybe it burns out on the first use.

Use the gremlins quality or upgrade the severity of glitches (instead of a jam, a gun is damaged irreparably in the middle of a firefight, etc.) for things built with cheaper parts. Remove functionality for stripped-down versions (won't/only work with smartlink, no data port, needs to be manually re-configured, etc.) or consumer grade materials that aren't for the military/shadowrunner uses like the gear in the books.

Unfortunatly, for better or worse, every SR5 book published so far somewhere states this is explicitly not the case.