Second channel - everything that doesn't really fit on ctrl-alt-rees.
Atari is making waves by trademarking the 800XL, signaling a potential hardware revival, while the US Library of Congress officially recognizes the Doom soundtrack as a national treasure. From $81,000 supercomputers to 81-year-old developers releasing sequels 40 years later, the world of vintage tech is hitting a fever pitch.
This week, the hardware world is looking back to move forward, from a $55k Kickstarter for arcade cabinets that hide inside living room cupboards to the technical limits of the Sega Saturn's digital resurrection. I'm breaking down how a new FPGA console is putting Sony's official hardware to shame and why the creator of Football Manager is returning to the ZX Spectrum. Plus, a new mod for Doom adds ray-traced lighting so intense it might actually make you miss the pixels.
Plaion's upcoming Neo Geo AES Plus promises to bring high-end arcade hardware back to your living room, but can it escape the shadow of controversial ownership? Meanwhile, the man behind the infamous SuperSega failure has returned with a line of luxury wooden PC cases, leaving the community to wonder if this is a genuine pivot or another hardware headache. Plus, we explore the technical wizardry required to run Doom inside a font file and why your Tesla still knows how to talk to a floppy disk.
The hardware world is hitting a fever pitch as Linux gaming finally breaks the 5% market share barrier, proving that open-source performance is no longer a niche dream. However, a massive surge in memory prices—driven by AI data centers—is forcing the Raspberry Pi Foundation to hike prices and introduce strange new models just to stay afloat. From a ZX Spectrum landing on the moon to the birth of a 'perfect' hybrid PlayStation, the DIY spirit is thriving even as the global supply chain turns against us.
Atari's most powerful failure, the Falcon030, is being brought back from the dead by a master PCB designer using CT scans and reverse engineering. Meanwhile, the legendary 3dfx Voodoo graphics card has been reborn in FPGA, promising pixel-perfect retro gaming without the risk of failing 30-year-old silicon.