Nuclear Monster

  • As part of that free Play at Home marketing campaign around keeping people at home during the pandemic, Sony is now giving away Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition for the PlayStation 4 until May 14th at this link. The other eight games from the deal are only available until the morning of the 22nd. No PlayStation Plus subscription is required to add any of these games to an account.

  • Last month Sony announced that they were going to shut down the PlayStation Stores for purchasing games on the PlayStation 3, Vita, and PlayStation Portable. A statement from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Jim Ryan has backtracked on this closure, but only for the PS3 and Vita:

    Recently, we notified players that PlayStation Store for PS3 and PS Vita devices was planned to end this summer. 

    Upon further reflection, however, it’s clear that we made the wrong decision here. So today I’m happy to say that we will be keeping the PlayStation Store operational for PS3 and PS Vita devices. PSP commerce functionality will retire on July 2, 2021 as planned.

    There are about 80 million PSPs out there that will still be able to download games, but not purchase new games. It’s absolutely ridiculous to trust any of the companies who are selling games digitally to ensure they’ll be available to purchase or download in the future. Even Steam today had blips with Rockstar games going in and out of availability. Right now you can’t buy Midnight Club 2 on Steam, for example. On that same store, dozens of older games that get new re-releases have their original editions removed from purchase. Sometimes the publisher or developer is at least smart enough to leave the original store page up and have the original edition available for purchase in a bundle with the newer version, they get more money and you get at least one version of a game you’ll never play but you can’t make the mistake of buying the old version if you’d prefer the newer one. It isn’t always terrible, you probably don’t want to be able to buy the wrong version of a game, but if the newer releases are broken or missing features, soundtracks are the most likely to get trimmed due to music licensing, well then you’re just out of luck.

    On the Xbox platform you can’t buy older versions of the Forza Horizon game digitally, presumably due to car and music licensing both expiring, and there are the same problems with newer editions forcing out older ones, but at least there’s backwards compatibility, right? All of the backwards compatibility and availability is up to the publishers of those games and Microsoft. The original Xbox and 360 emulation probably could work as a general purpose emulator, but Microsoft has left it up to publishers and developers who may not even exist anymore to decide if you can run those games on the Xbox One and Series S and X consoles. 

    So, I don’t see this reprieve for the PlayStation 3 and Vita as meaningful. The axe will fall on their stores even if it isn’t this year, just as it will for the PlayStation Portable. Do what you will with that information.

  • After the M0110 Macintosh Keyboard, Apple released the M0110A Macintosh Plus Keyboard with a number pad in 1985. It’s a little bit less beautiful to me, but the modern versions of it are more usable and Thekey.company has a version in Polycarbonate (fancy plastic) with extra-special metal plates, a metal weight, and a small USB Hub, and it is called M0LLY. 

    Sadly the price for the M0LLY group buy is a whopping $500 which puts it out of my territory, but if you’re interested you’ve got until April 23rd and it is expected to ship in July.

  • This is the M0ii0 + KaWaii PCB mechanical keyboard by Yohe, it looks like it is about $266 USD in beige, blue gray, or dark blue, but it is only currently available through the booth.pm webstore in Japan during this group buy. The keyboard layout looks like it would be a real challenge to get used to. If you’re up to the challenge, check it out at this link and there is an optional parts kit here that appears to just be an extra PCB and plate so you can have an extra if something goes wrong with the original. The group buy is open until April 25th.

    The layout of the M0ii0 + KaWaii is based off of the original Apple M0110 from 1984 which had a few more keys. I absolutely love that layout and shrinking it down to make it extra small just makes it cooler, even if it is more challenging.

  • Tim Hunkin is back at it again, this time he’s teaching us about the wonderful world of glue with a little history and some real-world demonstrations both in his workshop and at his arcades. It is those demonstrations and Hunkin’s presentation that really make these videos work, and turn what might be a completely boring subject, like glue, into something fun.

    One of the most interesting things about glue is how it is used today in phones, laptops, and some monitors. Usually glue is used to hold glass on to the body of the device instead of something with a visible mounting system. I used to think knowing about the glue trick these companies use devalued the devices because glue seems like a cheap answer to that problem, but it must be the most practical solution or there would be a replacement after all these years. I’m sure the people who fix these devices don’t appreciate having to heat up and remove the bond, just to have to re-do it again and hope you get it right without pinching any of the tiny connecting cables.

    As always, I recommend checking out Hunkin’s website for more information about The Secret Life of Components series and consider pitching a few buckaroos Hunkin’s way using the links there if you’ve enjoyed the show. The Secret Life of Components has already covered Chain, LEDs, Hinges, Switches, Springs, and Connectors. Next week: Bearings!