In the dark ages all the blacksmiths used to get together to raise prices in lockstep and the people had no choice but to pay.

Pretty much all low-cost tightly integrated electronics are made in china these days.

When I see news articles like this. sus. It feels like one megacorp is cockblocking their competition by getting a favor from the factory.

Money talks and bullshit walks.

--

I honestly look forward to a time when fabrication isn't purposely obfuscated that enthusiasts will be able to assemble and build their own hardware again.

When you think about VGA, CAT6, Serial, a lot of those things you could make in your garage -- how do you make a DP or HDMI cable? Does it require complicated vendor lock hardware moving the power to produce from the many to the few?

What about silicon and chips? Sure 1nm and 2nm are awesome, maybe someday we'll be able to produce circuits at a decent size that gets the job done but isn't exactly 1st. Still, repeatability is worth something especially if you care about not creating mountains of ewaste.

It's really painful how SBC's have been monopolized, hardware hackers used to hack on Nintendo Entertainment System CPUs 8086? and the whole industry has been ripped from the hands of the middle class' or hard working person's grasp to excel in. And I don't think it's anything but purposful monopolization and lock in.

If Valve can't get this patched quick hopefully they have a Steam Deck 2 in the works even if they have to launch earlier than previously intended. It's good never to put your eggs all in one basket and diversity of manufacturing is always good. The wold is changing, and new places and populations are ready to exchange labor for quality of life improvements.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

✕ Windows Phone
✕ Microsoft Zune
✕ Microsoft Cortana Speaker
✕ Xbox Kinect
✕ Windows Automotive OS

It's not that there isn't a market for this kind of product, see Steam Deck & Nintendo Switch -- it's just that I don't trust Xbox or even ASUS to craft a compelling product.

My expectations are that it will basically be another "Zune", "The iPod/Nintendo-Switch Killer", it will be good and terrible at the same time. And then get canned once the company decides to do the next round of big layoffs and everyone will forget about it and it will become a N-Gage or Nintendo VirtualBoy.

My expectations are set extremely low, and I expect it to be too expensive to compete with Switch and Deck and to get too hot and overpromise and underdeliver plus a terrible experience mixing shitty desktop gaming dialogs and login screens with a small form factor screen that makes it impractical.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

the top model with an AI chip [...] probably over 1k$ USD

Yeah, because I KNOW SOOO MANY GAMERS that get SOOOO FUCKING EXCITED by AI in Game Consoles!!!

Reads like this greentext making fun of Xbox for being out of touch -- https://youtube.com/watch?v=EJB80Xsj5BY [External Link]

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Be Valve,
> does nothing
> competition keeps self-eliminating
> wins

Memetax ( https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/780/308/9f8.jpg [External Link] )

--

Although Xbox makes some content that I have liked over the decades, they are their own worst enemies and getting in their own way. Being always online, unable to play unless there is an internet connection, forced to install console updates prior to playing a game, or even on first boot is completely and totally unacceptable.

I got no love for these hoes.

I do not love these hoes.

There's no social goodwill to borrow against through decades of reputation. The only reputation they have is `FUCK YOU SHEEPLE -- GO BACK TO SLEEP` ( See perfect circle, go back to sleep song )

Still, more players in the game is better for consumers, so I look forward to seeing what counter moves Valve makes in the coming years, I can't wait for Steam Deck 2 to go HARD.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Yeah so I played on Steam Deck and the controls feel pretty decent, still wish there was a way to control the music and volume via dpad but whatever, main controls seem to do just fine.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

They should get Wreckfest devs to help them do a Redux / Remaster -- they could make a lot of money and improve player experience significantly.

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=Bugbear [External Link]

This was a good series and could be fine wine.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I would definitely recommend `Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun` if that old school FPS genre, art, and fast pace appeals to you.

It plays great on Steam Deck too and has a 91% score.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Valve should fix their "play blockers".

For example, you can't be playing DOTA2 on Desktop while a family member in the room plays World of Goo 2 on your SteamDeck at the same time.

DOTA2 is a Free To Play game, it makes no sense when you are being blocked from playing a Free To Play F2P and another game you bought.

I hope they fix this someday for Quality Of Life QOL.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

These are my favorite things about the future.

I never played the old one, but I would definitely play this.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

The first 1/3 of the game is basically World of Goo 1 which some have criticized as not innovative enough to keep them hooked.

The second 2/3 of the game is innovative with new goos.

The last 3/3 of the game I have been told is insufferably where a completely new art style appears in unskippable scenes where the developer literally appears in what feels like tone deaf harassment.

The level editor sounds cool.

It would be nice if the developer made ALL cut-scenes skippable or a modder did.

It's a decent to good game, but the tone shift in Act 3 of 3 has made people I know IRL rage.

Also the "lets go shopping ... sustainably" in the intro comes off as preachy. It's got at least a wart or two.

View this comment - View article - View full comments