@craiggrannell@mastodon.social
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craiggrannell

@craiggrannell@mastodon.social

#Writer for hire. Mostly #tech, #Apple, #games, #retrogaming, design. Smashes out words for #Wired, #Stuff, TapSmart and others. Writes #DailyRetroGame here on Mastodon. He/him. GF/DF. Likes #Lego and Mini #Schnauzers. Email: hello at craiggrannell dot com // https://linktr.ee/craiggrannell

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craiggrannell, to random
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Interesting when going through the details of the M4 iPad Pro specs to see Apple’s dropped a rear camera (UW) and also a mic (down from 5 to 4). I’d not noticed the latter on release day.

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

My wishlist:

  1. A switch in Settings to turn off the Home indicator.

That’s it. That’s the list.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@CTD OK. Maybe two items on my list.

craiggrannell, to random
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Ducks, just chillin’.

craiggrannell, to random
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Two things more reporting should do regarding emulators:

  1. Make it clear they are not always straightforward to use. Many people seem to assume Delta will be Spotify for old Nintendo games when it’s more like VLC. RetroArch is… let’s say not an app with the best UX.

  2. Explain that, yes, these old games aren’t like new games. I just saw one person grumbling that old PlayStation games are a bit rubbish and not something they’d want to spend time with. OK… maybe emulation isn’t for you then.

craiggrannell, to random
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Just read a piece mulling over ChatGPT teaching kids maths. Pros and cons were listed. Under the cons, I was expecting something – anything – on accuracy and hallucinations. Nope. Just hand-wringing about cheating.

craiggrannell, (edited ) to Emulation
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I see with RetroArch on iOS, the “ is illegal” rubbish has clawed its way back into the daylight. Emulators are legal. Yes, many files people load into them may not be legit but that doesn’t make the tech itself illegal any more than it makes e-readers, music players and video players illegal.

Maybe people should concentrate more on encouraging publishers to provide legal routes to play (and buy) old games than spreading rubbish about emulators.

craiggrannell,
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@chrisphin I very much agree on the last of those. It’s something that gets raised every now and again, but the usual suspects with deep pockets push back.

What irritates me is how many articles on the subject say ROMs are illegal and leave it at that. I’m not blind to most emulation use being legally grey at best and often using files that breach IP laws. But so few outlets even bother to mention that some games have been released as freeware, and elsewhere there are eg legal NES ROMs for sale

craiggrannell,
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@CTD @chrisphin There is nothing stopping rights holders from selling you the right to use old games. They don’t because it’s not a good business model. Emulation is niche. Repackaging in gated fashion is more lucrative. But imagine if 99% of music released since the late 1970s was only available on those copies issued during the years of its original release. That’s gaming today. Something needs to change, but I don’t think it ever will.

craiggrannell,
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@dinth They could do this, but 99.9% of companies won’t, because it’s not in their interest. Much better to gatekeep everything you own and occasionally let out the odd title or compilation as you see fit, and resell the same few titles again and again.

lapcatsoftware, to random
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Good news, everyone!

I just received a phone call from an Apple representative. They confirmed that there was indeed a software bug in the bundle pricing calculation, which was fixed yesterday. They also said that affected developers, such as myself, would be compensated for our lost revenue.

That’s all I know for now. I was told that I would also be receiving a follow-up email later.

The conversation was pleasant, and the Apple representative was very nice about it.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@lapcatsoftware So you’re saying they’re going to… … stop the madness?

(Also: good news!)

craiggrannell, to random
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Me: Well, I could progress a track this evening.

Brain: BUT NEW THINGS. SHINY.

Me: It’s been over ten years since I finished a new song. Come on.

Brain: BUT SHINY.

Me: …

Brain: …

Me: adds another sketch to the pile

craiggrannell, to random
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Welcome, Federico, to Club Bonkers iPad Handheld. https://www.stuff.tv/features/i-used-a-gamesir-x2s-controller-to-turn-my-12-9in-ipad-pro-into-a-handheld-console-and-its-every-bit-as-weird-as-that-sounds/

From: @viticci
https://mastodon.macstories.net/@viticci/112446006601586674

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@viticci The X2 is an interesting case. You don’t have to mod it. The thing is actually designed to be split. Although it’s naturally not in the manual and it feels a bit like you’re breaking the controller to do it. (I also wish one of these would work with my gen-1 iPad Air. Alas…)

Anyway: Team Bonkers Handhelds! Just like The Avengers! Or something. 👾

craiggrannell, to random
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

Current limitations of iOS emulation rather stark when mucking around with PPSSPP, which with an iPhone 15 Pro Max is giving me less clout than my Retroid Pocket 3+. Still: early days.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@gbevin No JIT allowed on iOS.

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@gbevin Ah, fair enough. I’m using App Store builds because I’m researching for a mag feature.

craiggrannell, to retrogaming
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So which game was first into RetroArch on my iPhone? Well, it had to be one by @llamasoft_ox, didn’t it?

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@apt @llamasoft_ox RetroArch has always been a horrible UX nightmare. On my Linux handhelds, I avoid it where possible and only use it as a backend for Emulation Station. But I’m very happy it’s on iOS nonetheless. Maybe someone smart will write a front-end for it and other emulators, like Daijisho on Android. (Assuming that’s possible. No idea.)

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@apt Not tried it on Apple TV yet. I’ll have a go and see how it works.

adambienkov, to random
@adambienkov@mastodon.green avatar

Rishi Sunak is accusing his opponents of 'emboldening' Vladimir Putin.

Since entering Government Sunak's party has

  • Taken millions from Russia-linked donors
  • Ennobled the son of a former KGB agent
  • Covered up details of Russian interference in Britain

https://bylinetimes.com/2024/05/15/rishi-sunak-conservative-party-russia-vladimir-putin/

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@adambienkov And backed Brexit.

viticci, to random
@viticci@macstories.net avatar

anyway, here's a small teaser of what I'm working on for my iPad Pro coverage. OLED all the things 😍

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@viticci This is the way. https://www.stuff.tv/features/i-used-a-gamesir-x2s-controller-to-turn-my-12-9in-ipad-pro-into-a-handheld-console-and-its-every-bit-as-weird-as-that-sounds/

viticci, to random
@viticci@macstories.net avatar

what a time to be alive

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ppsspp-psp-emulator/id6496972903

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@michael8684 @gsora @viticci Now try OutRun 2. It’s… not amazing. Performance is worse than on my Retroid Pocket 3+ – a £150 Android device.

I’m happy to see it and it’s a great achievement to get it working as well as it is. But it shows the shortcomings still forced by Apple’s rules.

mattgemmell, to random
@mattgemmell@mastodon.scot avatar

Well I’m impressed.

video/mp4

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@mattgemmell This stuff is getting really good. Quite exciting also when you’ve old demos that are mixed down and would quite like to extract bits of them. Hmmm…

craiggrannell,
@craiggrannell@mastodon.social avatar

@mattgemmell Have you tried mixing it down again and comparing with the original?

I need to spend more time with Logic. I’ve experimented a bit with the vocal tweaking and got stupidly excited about how I could fix my vocals and the result sounded natural, rather than horrible autotune. But I haven’t recorded any more since.

I am King Procrastinator when it comes to vocals, mixing and mastering.

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