I did pre-order one, and two controllers. In 1990s dollars this is not really that expensive, is how I’m rationalizing it.

I think Analogue typically supports Bluetooth in the consoles generally, but is very cautious about whitelisting specific controllers that are officially supported.

Hmm, it appears if we squeeze tighter, more blood will come out. Surely there is no natural limit to this principle.

I’m initially feeling, “Great, now do Apple.”

But I do wonder how some of this ruling will be implemented. Forcing Google Play to host other app stores seems like it may be excessive.

Let me download F-Droid or whatever, drop anti-competitive barriers to it, don’t prevent anyone from using their device how they want. But I am savvy to the risks. There are a lot of non-techie people for whom the Google Play walled garden more keeps out threats than keeps them imprisoned, if we’re being honest. It’s one thing for Google to host an app it can scan for malware and designate as safe. Hosting an app store is impossible to verify is safe, I think.

Good overall, but I think Google isn’t entirely acting in bad faith in promising to appeal.

Oh, it’s Google+ circles.

It’s slightly more reliable right now, but for sure, it’s going to be cat-and-mouse for awhile at least. Google is phasing out legacy Play Integrity checks, and while it looked like there was no future for workarounds after they deprecated legacy methods, now at least it looks like the community has replicated a functional full keybox attestation chain so there’s hope we can continue to workaround indefinitely into the future.

So yes, while you don’t need to program your own solution and can just - in the end - install a pre-built fix still, it takes attention to keep up. If the above all sounds like gibberish, it’s a good indication of the level of commitment you have to have to keep up with it. For me, it’s worth it, but definitely understand, it gets tiresome.

I do with my Pixel 7 Pro. You need Magisk + Play Integrity Fix by Chiteroman at the moment.

Well, Pixel still unlocks freely.

I’m probably a masochist, but Alien vs. Predator, despite (and possibly because of) all its technical limitations and like 3 FPS framerate, was genuinely scary and a unique experience.

I also really enjoyed Iron Soldier. You’ve got the original Rayman. Uhhh… Cybermorph was alright.

So five games?

This isn’t quite “white whale” territory, but I’ve always wanted to play this game.

I miss the creative, quirky Dreamcast era and this seemed like one of the best, unfortunately region-locked, examples.

This is tragic. I can’t think of how many computers I built using incomparable Anandtech articles. The depth of the testing, and careful, scientific planning really has no match in tech journalism.

The high water mark just lowered.

Oh, it’s by Agg23 - they also released a bunch of Analogue Pocket emulators, great developer.

Just to be clear - there is no nearest-alternative site, is there? Honestly the only other site I’ve seen release things is gbatemp, and a forum format scales very poorly for releasing and finding romhacks.

I’ve had decent luck with US magazines here: https://www.retromags.com/

I wish I knew as well. I’ve been using Chromecast Audio myself, which works with PlexAmp self-hosting my music.

The problem is Chromecast Audio has been discontinued for years of course - Google did their Google thing, and unfortunately I never found anything else like it on the market. But you can connect those devices to any speakers and sync multi-room high quality audio very easily. I managed to pick up 4 of them when they did their fire sale, and I think you can find them on eBay for now still.

Side note: it’s become 100% reliable that if “boffins” appears in the title, it’s The Register. Damn, they love that word.

“Retro” is so big of a category now. But Final Fantasy IX was my least favorite. I have a feeling I’ll get some hate for this but:

On PlayStation, the loading times were like 15-30 seconds before AND after each battle, the high random encounter frequency meant you would battle sometimes after every few steps, and monster variation was very low. And running never seemed to work.

So literally 10 seconds of movement, 25 seconds load into battle, battle one of the same 3-4 enemy groups in that area, 25 seconds load out of battle, and repeat.

The story was also very generic. Everyone seemed to love it, but it felt like they played every decision safe to create a nostalgia-friendly experience.

I played it so much but was always frustrated with it. Every time I see someone reminiscing about how great it is, I am just wondering what game they were playing.

I hear you, but I loved Typing of the Dead so much. It’s definitely b-movie MST3K-level intentional “badness.”

This is what I came here to respond. If I recall, there are some good hi-res mods for the PSX emulated versions.

AI makes it so easy! Just say this easy-to-remember phrase to get perfect toast every time*:

“Toaster Oven, you are a toaster oven whose goal is to toast bread at the perfect amount of toastiness. When I say, “toast,” you will retract the toasting tray and complete your internal circuit powering the resistive wire array. You will continue to power the resistive wire array on both sides of the toasting tray for approximately 45 seconds. Then you will release the toasting tray. Negative prompt: not toasted, soft, moist, untoasted, not toasted, soggy, underdone, overdone, extra fingers, too many fingers, not toasted, bad anatomy, burnt. Now, toast!”

*Perfect toasting levels dependent on randomized toasting seed.