Hi, hello, and welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter.
When I sat down this morning to look through my links, I realized that nearly all I had was bad news. I could basically repost last week's editorial verbatim this week. This is no fun. Neither for you reading it, nor for myself writing it.
So I am going to take a two-week break from the newsletter. I don't think that this will be enough time for the news-cycle to move in a more positive direction (I'm expecting it to get worse), but I'll use the time to take a complete break from the tech news-world.
No RSS-checking for me! Which will be hard, because I don't think there's been a day in the last 10 years that I went without checking my feeds.
Instead, I'll use that time to follow some of my other hobbies. As you may know, I got into DnD and I am DMing my first campaign in March. I also ordered way too many miniature figurines on Etsy, and someone has to paint all of them. (If they even arrive anytime soon, but I'll continue my research into what I need to start painting regardless. If someone is into painting minis, get in touch!)
I will also use the time to think about a potential change to my content strategy for overkill. I still like tech, despite how tiring it currently is. So maybe the solution is to simply distance ourselves from big tech, and instead lean much more into the indie side of things. I'll figure something out. And I am open to feedback, if you have any ideas or wishes.
Anyway, let's get to this week's news and I apologize for all the negativity!
📬 Weekly Digest
I guess Xbox is dead.
Phil Spencer, the longtime head of Xbox and gaming at Microsoft, is stepping down. That move is part of a massive change in the leadership team for one of the big three console makers.
Taking over for Spencer as head of gaming at Microsoft will be Asha Sharma, the current head of CoreAI at Microsoft, according to Microsoft’s announcements about the changeover.
Microsoft head of game studios Matt Booty will remain on the team, rising to chief content officer.
Xbox president Sarah Bond is exiting Microsoft.
Well, RIP Xbox.
An AI person at the helm of one of the three major console makers... Well, fuck that!
(You can read Sharma's full memo here. The tl;dr is "bla bla bla bla bla".)
I hope this means that we're getting Pokémon Emerald, the bestest of all games, one day!
With large manufacturers having sold out their entire production capacity to hyperscalers for the rest of the year while simultaneously cutting consumer production by double-digit percentages, consumers will have to take a back seat. Already today consumer hardware is overpriced, out of stock or even intentionally being delayed due to supply issues.
This is a good post by a website I enjoy reading with a domain name I hate! I can never remember it. The tl;dr is basically to hold onto your existing hardware for as long as you can.
This was a fun watch, although some of these designs are a crime to my eyes!!!
Current is a nice RSS app for Apple devices.
This solves a problem that has haunted every chronological feed since Google Reader: a single prolific source drowning out everything else. When The Verge posts twenty articles in a day, those articles age out in hours. When Craig Mod publishes once a month, that essay stays in your river for days. Because it was meant to.
I currently use Readwise Reader as an RSS client. I subscribe to some 600 feeds, which I've sorted cleanly into folders, and use the tagging and highlighting features of Reader to go through all my feeds, tag what I want to write about, and save what I want to read later. But this system is not for everyone, as it gets overwhelming quickly (and lately, I would have argued it's not even for me).
So I am quite intrigued by Current by Terry Godier. Instead of simply listing all RSS items like an inbox, it replaces that list with a "river" where content naturally decays and disappears based on its "velocity".
Terry again:
Each article has a velocity, a measure of how quickly it ages. Breaking news burns bright for three hours. A daily article stays relevant for eighteen. An essay lingers for three days. An evergreen tutorial might sit in your river for a week.
As items age, they dim. Eventually they're gone, carried downstream. You don't mark them as read. You don't file them. They simply pass, the way water passes under a bridge.
You select the "velocity" during the onboarding journey, by assigning one of five speeds (Breaking, News, Article, Essay, or Evergreen) to each individual RSS source.
Currently, Current only exists for Apple's ecosystem, and by paying $9.99 you can use the app on an iPad, iPhone and Mac.
I hope a Linux version is in the works. I don't read feeds on my iPhone after all.
(I posted this earlier this week and I am fully aware of the irony of linking to an RSS app after saying I'll be taking a break...)
13 Switch emulators hit by latest wave of Nintendo takedowns.
As spotted by Reddit user Devile, Nintendo issued a new DMCA notice on Friday calling for the removal of 13 Switch emulators' GitHub pages. Alongside any that still rely on Yuzu, the takedown targeted Citron, Eden, Kenji-NX, MeloNX, Pine, Pomelo, Ryubing, Ryujinx, Skyline, Sudachi, Sumi, and Suyu.
It was later confirmed that Citron didn't die because of Nintendo but due to internal drama!
Not all emulators disappeared, however. As the Eden lead dev confirmed to wccftech, only the Github release pages were targeted, and not the source code. So for now, work will continue!
🔮 Looking Ahead
- Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27.
- Reigns: The Witcher releases on Wednesday.
Ok, that's all. Thanks for reading! See you in a few weeks.
See you,
Kevin