When I was a kid, I remember my parents frequently taking electronics for repair. Our old VHS and Television had been repaired 7 times over and lasted years.
It really does grip me that every tech device made these days which relies on a battery is near impossible to self service. For years I built PC’s for people so not unfamiliar with components but I can’t change a battery on Samsung / iPhone or change the battery in my £300 Sony Bluetooth ear buds.
The problem is everywhere not just tech as such. Recently my kettle element gave up the ghost. No problem I thought, I can pick up an element for a few quid and change it.
Kitchen Aid however have decided to internally solder their elements so once that’s gone, throw it. £250 kettle with literally not a blemish on it, in the bin because a component that costs all of about 50p to manufacture is no longer replaceable.
I find it so egregious and wasteful…… I do look as far as possible at repairability before buying anything these days but alas, it’s a bloody uphill struggle and as other have said, with so much crap also being manufactured we’re in a pretty sad state which is only going to get worse :(
I’m a huge Metroid (Metroidvania in general fan, it’s pretty much the only genre I play these days) but for some reason Dread didn’t hit the spot for me. I got right to the very last boss fight but can’t say I enjoyed my time with it. The EMMI I found more infuriating than fun and it just felt like those sections killed my favourite part of these types of games which is wandering and exploring. I know you could go back after, but tanking it through areas to get to safety I found frustrating.
However, the movement is goddamn slick in Dread! Don’t think I have played another Metroidvania where it feels that good to traverse and move around the map. Prince of Persia comes close, but fully geared Samus in Dread is just an absolute joy :)