Wavelengths with Brendon Bigley

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! --- 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? --- 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.  ⏆

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 --- ⏆

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 --- ⏆

This week on Wavelengths I dig into the mystique surrounding what I believe to be the most exciting new game studio out there: Gardens. Afterwards we chat a bit about Blizzard's games and old Call of Duty titles taking on new life after the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, and some news surrounding some incoming Metroid Prime and Zelda ports. --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Articles: Gardens Interview: https://80.lv/articles/gardens-ceo-on-the-studio-s-upcoming-game-tech-they-use/ Blizzard Games on Steam: https://www.polygon.com/23799285/blizzard-pc-games-steam-overwatch-2-release-date Legacy COD Games: https://twitter.com/CODMW2Informer/status/1681333238789296131 Metroid Prime 2: https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/153h2iz/jeff_grubb_metroid_prime_2_is_coming_soonish_and/ Replaceable Batteries: https://overkill.wtf/eu-replaceable-battery-legislation-steam-deck-switch-handhelds/ --- Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome to Wavelengths 0:20 - Gardens 5:45 - Blizzard Games Coming to Steam 7:57 - Legacy Call of Duty Games Back Online 8:59 - Metroid and Zelda News Incoming 11:25 - Replaceable Battery Laws 12:44 - Subscribe!! --- Music provided by: - Elijah Lee – Trapped in My Mind - Provided by Lofi Records - Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA --- ⏆

This week on Wavelengths we need to talk about the legacy of Gex. Making his return via a remastered trilogy collection with Limited Run Games, are we ready for some kid to grow up and create a Gex 4? Also up today: A conversation about what's going on with the Borderlands movie and word from Square Enix on upcoming pixel remasters based on the successes of Final Fantasy. Limited Run Games Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWRytWXN4KE Borderlands Movie Woes: https://kotaku.com/borderlands-movie-hbo-last-of-us-craig-mazin-crombie-1850623951 Square Enix Remasters: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/square-enix-says-its-considering-remastering-more-old-titles-following-ff-pixel-remaster-success/ --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters: 0:00 - The Return of GEX!! 4:53 - The Borderlands Movie Still Exists 7:51 - Future Square Enix Remasters 10:00 - Subscribe!! --- Get the audio version of the show: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hmt3yHTovQmEcqzhZdl8T Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wavelengths-with-brendon-bigley/id1677660078 Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/x6p7ni3r And more: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/itswavelengths --- Music provided by: - Elijah Lee – Trapped in My Mind - Provided by Lofi Records - Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA --- ⏆

This week on Wavelengths I absolutely had to talk about the recent Pokemon Sleep information we got via a "how to" video. Generally I am more in favor of The Pokemon Company's version of trying to find a new hit than Niantic's — making apps that help tangibly with people's livelihoods will always be more enticing — but they have SUCH a bad habit of making their games way too complicated. --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters: 0:00 - Welcome back! 0:53 - Niantic vs The Pokemon Company 1:15 - The Niantic Problem 2:23 - Pikmin Bloom is Good 3:50 - The Pokemon Company Approach 7:21 - Pokemon Sleep's Complexity 12:36 - SUBSCRIBE!! --- Music provided by: - Elijah Lee – Trapped in My Mind - Provided by Lofi Records - Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA --- ⏆

Not much! This week on Wavelengths is all about what we know for sure about the Nintendo Switch 2... or Super Nintendo Switch... or New Nintendo Switch? Whatever!! We finally are getting some concrete information straight from Nintendo and publishers about its power and the possibility of backwards compatibility. --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters: 0:00 - Hello! 0:32 - Nintendo's Statement 5:00 - "PS4 Power" 8:19 - What WE Want 10:39 - Tell a friend! --- Get the audio version of the show: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hmt3yHTovQmEcqzhZdl8T Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wavelengths-with-brendon-bigley/id1677660078 Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/x6p7ni3r And more: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/itswavelengths --- Music provided by: - Elijah Lee – Trapped in My Mind - Provided by Lofi Records - Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA --- ⏆

This week on Wavelengths: The big Nintendo Direct of the summer has landed, and consensus seems to be pretty positive! At least I walked away pretty happy following my own "as long as there's one thing I'm excited about, it's a win" rule. Super Mario RPG is getting a remake, Pikmin 1/2 ports shadowdropped for reasonable prices, BB got some DQ — wins all the way down baybee. --- Feel free to follow me elsewhere! Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendonbigley Mastodon: https://idlethumbs.social/@brendon Writing: https://wavelengths.online --- Chapters: 0:00 - Hello there! 1:41 - Pikmin 4 Updates 2:17 - Pikmin 1 & 2 for Switch! 2:37 - Vampire Survivors gets Co-Op 3:40 - Detective Pikachu Returns 4:11 - Super Mario Bros Wonder 6:19 - Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1 7:09 - Star Ocean: The Second Story R 8:16 - WarioWare: Move It! 9:30 - Super Mario RPG Remake 10:54 - Batman Arkham Trilogy 11:49 - Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince 12:31 - Mythforce 13:06 - New Peach game for Switch 13:29 - Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon for Switch 13:57 - Lmk what I missed! --- Get the audio version of the show: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4Hmt3yHTovQmEcqzhZdl8T Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wavelengths-with-brendon-bigley/id1677660078 Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/x6p7ni3r And more: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/itswavelengths --- Music provided by: - Elijah Lee – Trapped in My Mind - Provided by Lofi Records - Watch: https://youtu.be/zpYgbeqMaxA --- ⏆