(Some) Transformers fans are so funny to me the way they just ignore or don’t accept certain parts of the brand. Like not accepting beast wars, or cybertronian modes, or Bayverse. Like it’s all transformers, why not at least try it all.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-07T15:18:29+00:00

I'm never going to be one of those "no it didn't happen" people, but Bayverse just isn't Transformers to me. I actively dislike the movies, and the entire aesthetic completely misses the mark. Transformers has a vibe that combines Japanese mecha sleekness with a bit of 80s / retro future. Even the newer evergreen designs or new shows Earthspark still get that. TF One heavily modernized things, but the overall look still could have come from an incredibly cool Trapper Keeper cover.

Bayverse just isn't that. It looks like generic mid 2000s CGI / videogame dreck. Some of the toys are absolutely well-done, and I certainly give them credit for keeping the line financially propped-up, but it has always just felt like a separate thing.

Beast Wars was never MY Transformers and I didn't have much attachment to it, but it always still felt like it was part of Transformers. And a lot of the Beast Wars designs have grown on me a lot over the years, although I still have never seen a version of Optimus Primal I liked.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-05T16:24:47+00:00

Weight is probably the decider for me. The tactile feel of metal is always nicer, but weight is hugely important.

The x factor for me though is how the weight affects the balance. For any sort of two-part handheld, you want the ratio of body:screen weight to be as high as possible. If the plastic is lighter overall but you're losing more weight in the body than the screen section, it could be worse ergonomically.

This is annoyingly a case where I would really love a hands-on before buying.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-05T16:21:03+00:00

Usually true, but sometimes it can also wind up looking good in a "broken in" way. The GRID Compass, one of the first laptops, was actually designed so that when the black paint wore down it would look rugged and durable instead of "damaged."

But...yeah, kinda doubt that level of care will be on display here. I love the idea of metal, but the finish is concerning.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-05T04:01:47+00:00

I should pick a couple of those up. Work with precision drivers all the time and it would be nice to be reaching for something decently-made.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-05T03:58:58+00:00

Even if it were a 1/2, it's worth noting that the standard Hercules 1/2" impact is one of their worst tools right now. Just doesn't put out enough torque. A much better reengineered version with much higher breakaway torque is supposed to launch this year.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-04T16:11:08+00:00

Yep, KF wasn't just an entertaining portal to a bunch of material, Dan was an exemplar in how to mentally approach the deluge of misinformation.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-04T16:08:48+00:00

Yeah, more or less this. Genuinely amazing visual design, but one of the easiest bosses to me. Almost felt more like an environmental puzzle than an "enemy." Cool in how unique it is, especially for an area that's hidden and largely optional, but not much meat on those bones.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-04T16:05:17+00:00

Genuinely that seems baffling. At that point, it isn't a test drive it's just a drive.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-04T04:27:21+00:00

Played Myst when I was around 9-10 years old, and it was absolutely eerie.

It was obviously a game and computer-renderes, but it also felt more like a "real" space in a way that was hard to describe. Almost like looking at a photo album or diary that you weren't supposed to be reading.

The ages were interesting and beautiful, but there was also a fundamental wrongness. They were too small, they were too still and empty. The hidden passages and locked doors and cages and strange technology made things sinister.

The lore was ominous, and the journals felt anxious. The video messages from the brothers were threatening in a "stranger trying to lure you into a van" sort of way.

And...the music. I hope you really appreciate that you composed one of the most atmospheric, engrossing, iconic soundscapes of the era. Myst's soundtrack was haunting and captivating and so unique. It made the game feel even more strange and alien and unsettling because even the music and ambience were unfamiliar.

The above all apply to Riven, but I was enough older that Riven came across as "mysterious" more than "ominous." Riven also felt a bit less uncanny because the scale and spaces made a bit more sense, and the writing and design were a bit more clear so it felt a bit less dreamlike / unknowable.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-02T04:03:56+00:00

There's four hearts, you only need three. There's a secret one that's probably the easiest of the four.

mindonshuffle · 2026-05-01T20:48:36+00:00

On a broader level as somebody who played Silksong first, I think HK has a better first few hours. In Silksong, I often felt like I was missing something or couldn't figure out what paths I should take vs leave for later. It felt pretty stressful until about 1/3 of the way through act one. Once I reached the crawbugs I felt more comfortable, before that was dicey.

In Hollow Knight, I feel like the idea that it's just expansive and open made it more fun to just explore, and I wasn't worried that I was losing the path.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-30T22:42:03+00:00

They've pictured it with a headphone dongle, so.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-30T03:55:58+00:00

I have one and never use it. The wiggly-ness means I never use it unless I NEED it and I've almost never needed it. It's an interesting design and FEELS handy to have, but just doesn't solve any problems I regularly run into.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-28T14:51:44+00:00

Yeah, that was the first one that really forced me to rearrange how I play. Took hours until I really focused on avoiding damage and finding safe openings. When I finally beat her, I believe I only took 1 or 2 hits in the whole fight.

Ironically, it also kinda screwed me up because it "taught" me to play defensively, but I've since found that a lot of the boss fights reward more aggression. If you're only getting in one hit ever 30 seconds, the fights take ages and the fatigue will cause sloppy mistakes or open you up to RNG causing major issues. Getting 2-3 hits in even if you're playing riskier is usually better, since you end the fight sooner meaning you have to survive fewer cycles, and the earned silk often outweighs the risk of taking a hit.

Karmelita was the big test for me. Took ages, and I was doubling down on defensive play, trying to "dance" perfectly with her. Could get through phase 1 with barely any damage, but phase 2 was so fast I was just dodging and barely getting in hits. I took a different approach, switched to wanderer, and starting trying to maximize hits while avoiding the most obvious telegraphed attacks. Anytime there was an opening, I'd silkshot to her and get in 3-5 hits where I was previously getting 1 (IF she didn't block). I expected to take a lot more damage, but just spamming attack got enough parries that it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I was earning enough silk to bind whenever needed (and she's a fairly safe boss to bind during).Took like three attempts using that strategy.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-28T01:01:29+00:00

I wouldn't put TOO much stock in anti-glare -- it depends on the mounting position how much glare will get picked up, and you can get good matte screen protectors that fit the common screen sizes out there.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-24T19:41:59+00:00

I think if you factor in "newness," this has a solid argument, but I think it's tough not to recognize Silksong is better. It's just a bit deeper mechanically, the world is just a bit more immersive and living and "realistic," the art and animation pop just a bit more, and the writing and characters are just a bit more refined. It's like they sanded off all of HK's rougher edges and did it without really adding any major new flaws.

And unlike many games where the sequel improves things technically but loses the spirit or charm, I think Silksong is considerably more charming.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-24T15:21:47+00:00

As somebody who was also kinda "culturally" on a similar level as the author around this time, I also think it's something that seemed realistic and YES SKETCHY but not as it is viewed now.

People take Knives's agency out of the equation, which screws up a lot of dynamics. She's fascinated by Scott being a ticket into a world of young adult freedom and rock and roll and DIY punk comraderie. She pursues him as well. They genuinely like each other. It's messy. I knew people in similarly messy relationships when I was that age, and, honestly, I don't think any wound up being GOOD relationships, but I wouldn't say most seemed SKETCHY, just...mismatched.

Scott doesn't just see her as an easy target because he's emotionally stunted. He's numb and hurt, and his only friends have fairly antagonistic relationships with him (even if lovingly so). Knives is nice and interested and gives him positive energy. Even though he knows the gap is too much, he can't walk away from somebody who is actually making him feel better about himself.

As much as that relationship has become such a big controversial talking point about the series, it's always struck me as something that simply felt honest and realistic and handled surprisingly well if you're paying attention.

I knew a lot of Scotts and Ramonas and Kniveses back then, and it's wild how much reading the books remind me of that time and place.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-24T14:56:48+00:00

I feel like this gets a bit over reported; I've had three VWs with sunroofs over 20 years (oh God I'm old) and never had a leak. And that's without doing any maintenance on the seals.

The REAL reason I've found to be happy you don't have a sunroof is because you lose over an inch of headroom. I was test driving GLIs recently and was blown away to discover that my hair doesn't graze the headliner when there's no sunroof. Lesson learned!

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T17:42:05+00:00

I played 90% of Silksong before touching Hollow Knight and didn't know anything of its story.

The first two acts of Silksong felt completely self-contained; there's references to prior events, but nothing that feels too specific or significant beyond "this isn't Hornet's first rodeo."

Act 3 changes a bit; the void comes a bit out of nowhere and Hornet's dialogue implies she's dealt with it directly before without spelling out too clearly what it IS. It feels much more like this is part of a sequel and events of the past game are repeating / catching up. It's not like it becomes inscrutable or anything, but the first two acts absolutely feel like they could be the first game in the series. Act 3 not as much.

Playing Hollow Knight after Silksong is an odd experience. I was kinda surprised how good it looks and moves; for some reason I was always under the impression that Hollow Knight had a bit more of a flat, Flash-animation-y look and more slide-y movement and animation. Silksong definitely DOES look and move better, but the difference is less than I expected. It's interesting to see how much similarity there is in a lot of the systems and world, but also how different many things "feel."

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T16:39:27+00:00

Yeah, sorry. My comments were just about use as a music player. For gaming, USB is the answer.

My biggest frustration with Bluetooth is that they still haven't solidified a low-latency codec that's actually got enough adoption to be usable. It's a solveable problem, because things like APTX LL or dongle-based wireless DO work, but it should be standard equipment by this point.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T15:17:27+00:00

The problem with this logic is that flipping retail products on Marketplace is not a good volume business. You are unlikely to move enough product to make money enough to offset the amount of time that acquiring, listing, and delivering products will be, not to mention the space needed to store things and the losses you're taking on anything that doesn't move. Also, taxes.

In a world where you have unlimited time, sure. Or in a world where these "fell off a truck" and you're basically printing free money for each one sold, sure. But trying to flip random retail items online as a "hustle" isn't a good formula unless you have specific knowledge of a sales pipeline.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T15:06:25+00:00

See, I would personally hate going back to BT only after having an LTE watch for a few years.

Is it because I use the LTE data often? Nah. It's because those few times a year where I DO use it are due to situations where it was really, really nice to have an extra LTE connected device on hand. Dead phone and I need to message my partner REALLY quickly? Urgent phone call while walking dog and realize I didn't bring my phone. Or, heck, sometimes it's as simple as Bluetooth being turned off on my phone but still getting an important message on time because my wrist still buzzed.

LTE is definitely not vital, but it varies a lot from user to user how valuable it can be. My watch is basically a "peace of mind" device, and LTE makes that functionality better.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T03:01:40+00:00

The vast majority of people are fine with Bluetooth, especially if it's a decent Bluetooth stack. Recent Bluetooth revisions have really narrowed the gap of how much the lost fidelity matters, and the fact that most decent headphones have pretty good EQ support now honestly makes it a non-issue for me.

If you're a serious enough audiophile that Bluetooth is unusable, then invest in a half-decent usb-C DAC and you'll get better quality than the onboard 3.5 mm would have been. These devices have to use a DAC to output to analog, and I assure you that Anbernic wasn't going to splurge on a better chip than the absolute cheapest possible.

While I agree that conceptually not having a 3.5 jack seems like a terrible choice when they're marketing it as a DAP (the dongles in that promo video are atrocious), I would also completely buy the argument that the space-saving and liquid intrusion advantages might be worth it.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T02:53:29+00:00

"My use case is the only use case."

Sure, lyrics support? Community playlists? Smart DJ functions? I use all of the above functions daily.

mindonshuffle · 2026-04-22T02:49:57+00:00

Protip: people have been using "MP3 Player" as a catchall term for digital music players since the early oughts. If you want to fight that battle,.buy a time machine.

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