If you're a fan of the Atari 2600 and second generation console gaming, then you're in for a treat. A company called AtariXP is gearing up to sell brand new 2600 games that will work on the original Atari hardware.

Three games are up for pre-order: Yars' Return, Saboteur, and Aquaventure. The games they plan to release are games who's code was completed but never released or games that are rare and they believe should have more copies available in the marketplace. Each game is offered in a standard and collectable version. I had a bit of sticker shock with these games, as they start at $50. I grew up with Atari and still have my 2600. However, the cost of these games, to me, is prohibitively expensive.

Would I love to play a sequel to Yars' Revenge? Sure! But not at that price. One nice plus is the limited edition versions of games will include a digital code to play it on the Atari VCS console as well.

Sometimes an announcement out of Apple's Cupertino newsroom comes from left field. Cue a press release that went out this morning informing of a "Self Service Repair" program.

Apple today announced Self Service Repair, which will allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts and tools. Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips, Self Service Repair will be available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022. 

Apple Press Release

Apple has been, rightly, in the targets of the "Right to Repair" movement. The gist is simple: people should be allowed to buy parts, tools, and schematics to fix their things. Apple (among many others) have put forth efforts to stop people from doing this. The biggest proponent in this fight is Louis Rossman, who runs a computer repair shop in NYC.

Rossman has been lobbying for RtR laws to be enacted. This is so he (and others) can repair computers brought to him and for people to repair their own stuff. Perhaps there's been some rumblings that these laws are likely to pass, so Apple is trying to get ahead of it. Kyle Wiens, the founder of another RtR advocate iFixit had this to say:

Kyle Wiens, iFixit founder and CEO, said on Twitter that Apple's decision marks a "total shift in perspective" and that there's hope that this is a step toward making devices last longer.

Wiens' Twitter

On one hand, I applaud Apple for doing this. It's the right thing to do. As someone who's had to repair a MacBook Air, it's a pain to learn how to do it and get special tools because Apple uses proprietary screws. Now you can go directly to Apple for the stuff you need. On the other hand, Apple can pull the plug on this program at any time for any reason. Apple would have no recourse if they chose that. They could say "not enough people used it to warrant the program continuing" or any other reason.

Rossman and the Right to Repair movement should not stop their efforts. Laws should still be enacted about this and that would stop Apple and others from ending any programs they're offering.

The much-awaited Grand Theft Auto compilation for Nintendo Switch is out and talk about a disappointment. After Rockstar released the game, people have been tearing it to shreds due to an awful conversation, especially on Switch. In some ways GTA runs even worse than on PS2, a console 3 generations behind the Switch.

[It's] one of the worst user-rated Switch game [on Metacritic] ever. After its release on November 11, 2021, it became the focus of much ire, mainly due to poor optimization, bugs, glitches, graphical inferiority compared to the original PlayStation 2 titles, and more.

iMore

I was pretty pumped to check GTA out. That is until Chris Brandwick, who runs Switch Weekly, tweeted out a 30+ min breakdown video showing this poor conversion. Thanks to his keen eye, I've decided to hold off on purchasing this until a patch is released. That is if there even will be one. Grand Theft Auto may never get properly fixed. This is yet another example of games being shipped before they're truly ready. Many gamers will be reminded of the Cyberpunk 2077 debacle that basically burned its developer, CD Projekt Red.

Disney+, best known for endless Star Wars and Marvel stuff these days, is dropping an amazing docuseries on November 25th with exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of The Beatles. It's produced by Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings guy) and will release on the service for three consecutive days.

The Beatles official channel has released a small clip of the show to YouTube. It's only 85-seconds long but you can see the magic of the Fab Four in action. I've been waiting for this for nearly a year since it was originally introduced and cannot wait to view it. The footage shines. The interaction of John, Paul, George, and Ringo shine. The sound quality looks excellent. For any music or Beatles fan out there, I suspect this will be a big hit. Jackson knows how to tell a story and I think we're in excellent hands.

People have praised Tesla's buying experience for years. It's unconventional and one the company isn't even legally allowed to offer in every state. No dealerships, no haggling, no nonsense. You configure your car online and it's ready for delivery or pickup when it's ready. Unfortunately the dreaded supply chain / chip shortage has caused Tesla to be short some key parts for their cars. But, they forgot to tell their customers.

In some cases, there are only holes where the USB ports are supposed to be. That’s purportedly what’s been happening to some Tesla owners who got their cars delivered in November, and it is probably not pleasant.

Gizmodo

It's pretty shitty of a company that's expecting you to drop $40k+ on their car to not even have the decency to inform you the USB ports are missing. But, you know, there's holes where they will go. Cue groaning. I completely get a car not being ready for delivery and Tesla even saying "It's good enough, just deliver it" because at the end of the day, it's a feature on a car. Yes it's one you paid for, but it is not a deal-breaker.

Maybe Elon Musk should spend less time manipulating crypto currencies & tweeting stupid crap and focus on actual productive things related to the companies bankrolling his fortune. Not having the decency to inform you of the missing component however is. Shame on Tesla.