👾 Happy 20th Xbox and more - This Geek in Review for 2021-11-19
By goz
Big news this week that doesn’t to have had as big an impact as it should have is the 20th anniversary of Microsoft’s Xbox. It was a big deal at the time, could Microsoft compete against Nintendo and Sony? The original Xbox was basically a PC that Microsoft crippled so people couldn’t use it as a PC, and the controller was designed for Paul Bunyon, but it was a decent game machine. The killer app was Halo: Combat Evolved from Bungie, much to the chagrin of Mac fans. The game was originally destined for the Mac, that was, before Microsoft bought Bungie.
Today, my OG Xbox is my emulation box of choice. It’s powerful enough to run the retro games I want, and the S controller is very decent.
Internet Travels
Geek
- ‘I Could Never Abandon Them’: Neopets Users Play On - The New York Times
- The Office: A Day at Dunder Mifflin Elementary - This is a hard cover picture book. (affiliate link)
- PlayPhrase
- Marvel reveals Disney Plus slate including Agatha: House of Harkness and Spider-Man: Freshman Year - The Verge
- Marvel embraces the Sad Wolverine meme to announce X-Men ‘97, a new animated Disney Plus show - The Verge
- Disney unveils first look at Obi-Wan Kenobi, featuring showdown with Vader | Ars Technica
- Spirited Away 20 Years Later: What Makes It So Timeless?
Retro
- Original Apple I sells for $400K
- 10 Image File Formats That Didn’t Make It
- The Gameboy Sewing Machine
- Banned for life: Dunellen arcade famous for having extreme exile list
- This Arcade Machine is hidden in plain sight! And This is how I Built It! - YouTube
- OnePlus’ Nord 2 Pac-Man Edition pays tribute to the arcade classic - The Verge
- The remastered GTA Trilogy is back on PC - The Verge
Videogames
- Valve delays Steam Deck launch two months to February 2022 | Ars Technica
- We suggest you don’t buy the $60 Grand Theft Auto Definitive Trilogy | Ars Technica
- Playdate delays to 2022 amid scramble to revise entire handheld console | Ars Technica
- You probably can’t afford this hideous Gucci Xbox - The Verge
Technology
- Loud typers are on trial in the Theranos courtroom - The Verge
- Porsche ‘digital twin’ can predict when your car will need service | Engadget
- You shall not pinch to zoom: Rittenhouse trial judge disallows basic iPad feature | Ars Technica
- Living in the metaverse for 24 hours
Science
- Star System With Right-Angled Planets Surprises Astronomers - The New York Times
- Company Wants to Launch Satellites With Huge Centrifugal Slingshot
- Russia may have just shot down its own satellite, creating a huge debris cloud | Ars Technica
Business
- Twitch Star Amouranth Got $110,000 For Buying A Gas Station
- Unity purchases Weta Digital’s visual-effects tool suite for $1.6 billion | Ars Technica
Education
Pop Culture
- Is the era of the movie star over? - BBC Culture
- TikTok tics are a symptom of a much bigger problem - The Verge