Wavelengths with Brendon Bigley – Details, episodes & analysis

The Nintendo Switch 2 announcement is being received with a lot of middling reactions — even the people who are excited about it seem kind of bored. I'm here to tell you that Mouse Mode is the real deal, dear listeners.

--- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bb.wavelengths.online Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Blog: https://wavelengths.online

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The long-awated Miyoo Flip is finally out in the wild, and after years of it being my most-anticipated handheld, I'm walking away from this experience feeling like it needs some more time in the oven. The usual software suspects pop up here and there, but a few key and strange hardware decisions also hold this back from being a device I can confidently recommend. --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/bb.wavelengths.online Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Blog: https://wavelengths.online

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0:00 - The Short Version

1:05 - The Long Version

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Apparently there are some leaked renders of the Nintendo Switch 2 floating around online today, and I have a few gut-reactions to the specs and feature's we've seen. Leak: https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/1fjp352/photos_of_switch_2_factory_prototypes_have_leaked/ More thoughts: https://wavelengths.online/posts/the-switch-2-may-have-leaked-already ---

Chapters:

0:00 - Grains of Salt hours activated

1:35 - Why two USB-C ports?

3:24 - 12GB of RAM / PS4 Comparison

6:17 - A microphone! lmao!

7:39 - BIG boy!! ⏆

Sony announced the PS5 Pro earlier this week, and it had me asking a lot of questions about how it fits into the overall PlayStation strategy. Mark Cerny used his "big three" to talk about the device, so I implemented my own "big three" to talk about why I think the Pro might not be the thing Sony should be focusing on releasing right now. I also forgot to mention it doesn't have a disc drive!! --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Threads: https://www.threads.net/@brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Blog: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters: 0:00 - Speedrunning the PS5 Pro Announcement 2:32 - Compulsion: Who is this thing for? 9:07 - Context: Why this is a weird thing to release right now 20:45 - Legacy: The real issue is the games 24:03 - Wrapping up --- ⏆

The Nintendo Switch 2 is rumored to be getting announced as soon as this month, which means this is my final shot at throwing a bunch of predictions and wishes at the wall before we learn more form Nintendo themselves. This is a longer one because as much as I love the Switch, there is SO much I would love to see changed in the next iteration.

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Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Threads: https://www.threads.net/@brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Blog: https://wavelengths.online

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Chapters: 0:00 - Nintendo Switch 2 Prediction Time 1:39 - What will the name be? 12:35 - Will the Switch 2 be backwards compatible? 15:34 - Performance Improvements 22:25 - Bring themes back! Make it fun! 27:23 - Please fix the eShop 33:37 - Ergonomics and so much about the Joy-Cons 40:25 - Thank you SO much for listening! --- ⏆

Xbox was pretty publicly working on a third member of the Xbox Series family for a few years called "Keystone" which would have been a streaming-only set top box for games played through Game Pass and xCloud. The device never materialized, and I wanted to look at why they were building it in the first place, why I was so personally interested in one, and why it never saw the light of day despite being accidentally shown publicly by Phil Spencer. And who knows, maybe it'll show up one day anyway!

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Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Threads: https://www.threads.net/@brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon

--- Chapters: 0:00 - What was Project Keystone? 1:58 - An aside about the PlayStation TV 3:07 - Game streaming is good now?? 7:26 - How Keystone fit in the Xbox lineup 9:08 - Why Keystone never released 10:52 - The Point: Making the medium cheaper 13:23 - Subscribe if you haven't! --- ⏆

Nintendo has announced that Animal Crossing Pocket Camp will be shut down in November and replaced with an offline, paid version with no in-app purchases. Doesn't that sound like what it should have been all along?

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Chapters:

0:00 - The Shutdown

0:35 - Animal Crossing Sicko Activated

3:18 - Why Pocket Camp Didn't Work (For Me!!)

5:41 - The New Shiny Pocket Camp

9:21 - The Two Open Questions

Almost immediately after writing and posting my review of the Ayn Odin 2, I knew I wanted to also create some kind of extended conversation about how much I love the thing. I’d heard John Voorhees of MacStories rave about it on MacStories Unwind towards the end of 2023, and as a big fan of his work I knew he’d be the right person to chat with.

We obviously talk a whole bunch about the Odin 2, but we also dig into some alternatives, what it’s like to use the iPhone as a gaming handheld, the benefits of Android, trying to get games running on the Apple Vision Pro, and a bunch more.

You can check it out here, and subscribe to get future episodes!

Links Discussed (And Some Not Discussed):

• ⁠Brendon's Ayn Odin 2 Review⁠

• ⁠Taildrop by Tailscale⁠

• ⁠Retro Game Corps' Odin Starter Guide⁠

• ⁠GameSir G8 Controller⁠

• ⁠Onyx Boox Palma

A quick aside: I’m still not sure what I want to do with the Wavelengths feed, but you can expect occasional conversations about games and tech and news to pop up every once in a while. 

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On this week's episode of Wavelengths I talked to Chris Plante of Polygon.com and The Besties about what it would take for a company to become a major player in the video game console market in 2023 and beyond.

This episode is audio only due to some logistical issues, but we'll be back with video for the next one. Thanks for understanding! 😘 --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Threads: https://www.threads.net/brendonbigley Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters:

0:00 - Intro

1:55 - Hello to Chris Plante

3:55 - The Steam Deck

10:30 - How to Compete

14:58 - Google and Amazon

18:43 - About Apple

22:46 - Is It Impossible?

29:11 - The Answer

30:31 - Subscribe to the show! Music provided by:

- Elijah Lee

– Trapped in My Mind

- Provided by Lofi Records

- Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA

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Today on Wavelengths I am absolutely obsessed with this Assassin's Creed Mirage tie-in haptic suit from OWO that allows you to feel the sensation of taking a dagger wound, or maybe even being shot for the low low price of $550. --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome to Wavelengths 0:40 - The History of Immersion 2:13 - I like VR! 2:56 - Second Skin 6:54 - Subscribe for more!! --- Music provided by: - Elijah Lee – Trapped in My Mind - Provided by Lofi Records - Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA --- ⏆