I run 16 Bit Virtual Studios. You can find more reviews from me on YouTube youtube.com/@16bitvirtual or other social media @16bitvirtual, and we sell our 3D Printed stuff on 16bitstore.com

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  • 17 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • One answer is quite simple. Not to sell loot boxes.

    I mean counter strike and team fortress 2 worked fine and were extremely fun games before they added a virtual slot machine to their games. “they’re just skins” right? If they were given out for free in game it wouldn’t impact the rest of the games experience.

    Valve can also prevent the sale of real world money for these items. Especially if it’s been flagged for Gambling.

    Or as another stated disable or moderate the usage of their own API on these gambling sites.


  • The way I see it, they are the lesser of two evils. Just because someone isn’t as bad a Microsoft, doesn’t mean that they are forgiven for their sins.

    Predatory lootboxes, and not cracking down on CSGO Gambling site are the biggest sins which Valve has committed.

    Going beyond that, no clear path forward for when the Steam DRM Client goes offline. I personally have games which I bought on legacy hardware, that no longer runs on that hardware since Steam discontinued support for it. I don’t expect Valve to support all hardware indefinitely, however I can buy the same game from GOG, and install it on my XP and Win 7 machines without issue.

    I am certain that there are other issues, and compared to MS they look like a saint. But for me I diversify my game library and get as much of my games DRM Free or on a platform which has a proven track record for supporting not just their current purchases but also legacy ones.

    Beat Sony with a stick all you want. Despite the PSP being 21 years old this year, if I can connect my PSP to the internet, I can still download my digital PSP PSM and PS1 games.





  • Thank you so much for this, didn’t know where to get the unions side of things.

    I was getting the impression management wanted to compete with the Amazon curriers but I didn’t expect this.

    The union has every right to fight this, and I hope they win. At the same time I hope that they do find a middle ground with the 7-day delivery. While I don’t want/need it, the general population does expect 7 day/week delivery like everyone else does. Even if it’s only a limited service I feel it’s something they can negotiate with. (Not that it means much based on their article)






  • Is it decent ? Yes

    Should I look elsewhere? Also yes.

    CAD is difficult to understand on a good day, and FreeCAD is a beginner unfriendly implementation of it.

    I personally love it and it’s an excellent tool if you already know what you are doing. If you don’t, it’s a mess of screens and spaces with no rhyme or reason.

    My two cents. Learn CAD first, Google Sketchup or Fusion 360 are good and beginner friendly with lots of tutorials. Then move to FreeCAD to learn the differences.

    That said if you want to just try FreeCAD, this release is the best I’ve used from them.







  • So if I download a pirate copy, I’m in the clear because I purchased a license.

    Nope since the copy of the software was obtained with someone else’s license. That said this would be hypothetically impossible to prove in court so 🤷

    Circumventing DRM is questionable since I think it’s illegal to distribute but not own. So let’s say you have a CD installer for the Sims and download a crack exe to launch it without the CD. You are in the clear but the host for the download is not.

    GOG or backing the game up yourself is the only way around this.


  • Because printing in Linux both works and is supported and not supported and hope that there are drivers and they work.

    For example, I have a brother printer and in both arch and Ubuntu/mint the printer worked out of the box. But I was missing features like double sided printing. So I had to download drivers for it.

    In arch the drivers were on the AUR, so I was printing is seconds.

    In Ubuntu/mint they weren’t in my package manager, so I had to go to brother’s website and hope they had drivers. Brother did and while it took a bit it did work too. No worse than windows.


  • Pepper Grinder (Steam/GOG/Switch/PS4/PS5/XB/ONE/S/X)

    Released in March of the is year (and in August for non switch consoles) Pepper Grinder is a traditional 2D platformer with a world map, levels, and a gimmick of using a drill to travel underground like a dolphin through water.

    Its platforming has a good rhythm to it, with a nice momentum when you go in and out of the dirt. The best way I can describe the game is that it feels like a Mario Gimmick level that’s been expanded to its own game.

    If I had any complaints about this game, is that the boss fights are a bit too tedious. Not impossible as I’ve been able to beat them. But requires a bit more precise movement than the levels which preceded it.

    Overall though, I haven’t played a 2d platformed in ages which I’ve actually wanted to go through in ages. And it is a welcomed addition to my gaming library.