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Variant

@vxyz.me
49 followers 50 following 468 posts

vwf enthusiast / platform sec by day / gameboy jrpg hacker by night / just a guy playing his DSi I'm a debian guy now github.com/VariantXYZ vxyz.me WIP: Medabots GBC titles, maybe some others.

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Variant @vxyz.me · 17/08/2026
No fucking way, Nora and the Time Studio's OST is on apple music. Heard this start playing on my auto-play station and had to grab my phone to check. What a baller soundtrack.
Apple Music album view of Nora and the Time Studio OST
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Variant @vxyz.me · 08/08/2026
The hybrid switch 1/2 carts or games with switch 1 carts and sw2 free upgrades rule. Switch 2 too chonky, my lite is the perfect travel companion.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 19/07/2026
I really think software people should start thinking about naming if they actually care about adoption. Search for Codeberg and Github? First results on like any search engine. Search for Tangled? Get the Disney movie. Absolutely terrible decision for discoverability.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 12/07/2026
#RandomGameSaturday this week is definitely Etrian Odyssey 1. God this game is so brutal. Got my ass beat in the first stratum because I went in unprepared. Love it though. Difficulty that feels manageable with foresight and writing and setup that makes it feel like a good tabletop campaign.
Game case for Etrian Odyssey (1) on the Nintendo DS
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Variant @vxyz.me · 12/07/2026
Thanks to LSP support, KATE is also just a phenomenal IDE alternative too. I think there's a lotta room for improvements but it's real solid.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 10/07/2026
I want to start time stranger but I'm so close to the end of Hacker's Memory I should just power through... But also I kinda want to play some more Etrian Odyssey 1.
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Python Hub @pythonhub.dev · 08/07/2026
Python 3.14 compiled to metal – no interpreter github.com/can1357/pon
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Variant @vxyz.me · 09/07/2026
Tangential to the gaming-related layoffs, we occasionally get people interviewing at work that were hit by the "regular" Microsoft layoffs. It's wild hearing about these because it's people who got laid off and their managers didn't even know til the day of.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 03/07/2026
Handheld Mode Boost on Switch 2 is pretty slick. Pretty much just forces console mode but in handheld.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 01/07/2026
Growing old is realizing you can't keep up with higher frame rates anyway so it's ok to stick with your 10 year old PC.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 28/06/2026
Found my copy of EO untold (1) and I left It half-completed... tempted to restart from scratch.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 22/06/2026
It's funny that most of the comments are just piracy with hackable hardware, but a Switch Lite will probably run you 100$ and I've been able to find games at my local library and fairly cheap used carts at local shops.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 15/06/2026
One of my favorite parts about Windows is that 'Update and Shut Down' is the same as 'Update and Restart', so I can't actually just trust that my PC won't be on for 8 hours when I try to run an update in the morning. Microsoft does not get enough shit for their absolute dogshit quality control.
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Sami @samitron.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
after years of looking, i found one of my all time favorite pictures
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Variant @vxyz.me · 13/06/2026
Hmm, does anyone have a good 1bpp 16x8 variable-width font?
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Variant @vxyz.me · 13/06/2026
I'd been working on another GBC project and got VWF working properly and remembered I had posted this on Twitter but not here. This was like 5 minutes after I'd gotten proper text dumping/replacement working :')
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Variant @vxyz.me · 11/06/2026
My hot take is that there is no "good" or "bad" Python but just "functional" or "not functional". The language excels at quick iteration, research, and every attempt to make it something able to function as a stable/fast production solution devolves into rewriting parts in a compiled language.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 10/06/2026
Ima be real, I know a lot of the Direct was remakes and older stuff... but I don't think I even remember most of them coming out. Between work/social life/hobbies, have people just like... found time to play everything when it comes out?
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Variant @vxyz.me · 07/06/2026
I've been doing this as a hobby for a little over a decade now and it's still nice to see the space efficiency of VWF on old games. Had trouble with getting the interrupt handlers all safe, but BGB's reverse tracing functionality is a godsend.
"A year ag" in a full-width white font on a black background."A year ago" in a variable-width white font on a black background.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 01/06/2026
A (maybe unfair) review of the reMarkable Paper Pro Move: I find myself just using these Kyowa Continue notebooks I buy in 3 packs for like 5$ from Daiso way more. The digitization features are neat but I think paper and pencil was plenty for me... an expensive lesson, oh well.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 28/05/2026
I think the Switch Lite is still a solid deal. Usually can find one under 150, and I've seen em local for 110. Has a huge catalog and access to the used cartridge market which isn't bogged down by collectors fucking up the prices. The old LCD refurb Steam Decks are like 300ish too.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 27/05/2026
Years ago, in college, I randomly saw a suggestion on ebay for a really funny little art poster titled "Wigglytuff Chicago Skyline". So of course I bought it and I've had it displayed for almost a decade and it still cracks me up.
An angry Wigglytuff with a shotgun in a car with bullet holes and the Chicago skyline in the background.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 19/05/2026
I don't think I'd enjoy living in Japan (though visiting is nice), but one of the things I really miss whenever I come back is the fact that there are just so many stationery stores. I don't draw, but I do a lot of handwritten notes and I'm a sucker for reasonably priced notebooks and pencils.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 19/05/2026
I've been putting off moving my stuff to a new desk at work because I know it'd cost me a day but I finally ended up doing it and I think it's probably gonna cost 2 days.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 16/05/2026
I've gone to Japan for work like every year for the last 7ish years but I still get thrown off by the random signs I see in English.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 05/05/2026
Hmm, does anyone have a good suggestion for some solid presets for backing up blu-rays? I've got some 4K and 1080p anime blu-rays I'd like to archive. I know Handbrake exists and I've used it but I always get pretty overwhelmed at all the different codecs and options...
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Variant @vxyz.me · 03/05/2026
No matter the era, revisionism always makes a comeback.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 01/05/2026
xint.io/blog/copy-fa... is wild. I've been playing around with AI as a RE helper at work and it's been able to identify common patterns and generate helper scripts when I find something suspicious. Makes a lot of dumb designs but in Python it doesn't look much worse than my artisanal slop.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 22/04/2026
The framework 13 pro looks so gooooood. Ahhhh, I wish RAM wasn't so expensive. Like 800$ for 64 GB is nuts.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 18/04/2026
Got an interesting one for #RandomGameSaturday Faselei! A really neat lil tactical RPG. Never see it really get talked about, but it's one of the coolest games on this system IMO.
Faselei, a game for the neo geo pocket color
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Variant @vxyz.me · 06/04/2026
Not really a graphics dev by any stretch but was doing some Vulkan stuff on OSX for reasons, was thinking about something minor. Is there a reason the mac vulkan loader (interfacing to MoltenVK) can't just implicitly use VK_KHR_portability_enumeration as an extensions if it's just always required?
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Variant @vxyz.me · 30/03/2026
Pulled out my old GBA and forgot I had started a Shining Soul II save. Man I wish it was convenient to do that game's multiplayer.
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Vector Translations @vectortranslations.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
We're pleased to announce that we've been working on a full, non-AI, English-patch for #Xenosaga I+II on Nintendo DS. To celebrate the game's 20th anniversary, we'll release a beta patch covering the first 3 chapters (tomorrow, hopefully). Have a look ! : youtu.be/J-eTjvRtyHg
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Variant @vxyz.me · 28/03/2026
This #RandomGameSaturday I've got Yu Gi Oh The Sacred Cards which is definitely one of the most... interesting YGO games I'd played. Like the 7th GBA game that was a huge departure from the classic ("rule-following") game that released the year before. Pretty fun though.
The box for the GBA game Yu-Gi-Oh The Sacred Cards.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 22/03/2026
Seeing a few "old internet didn't try to sell you stuff" revisionism and it's wild to me. It was just a smaller community and the internet wasn't as big a part of daily life in 2004. Ads were still everywhere. That meme "Congratulations, you won!" Ad Is like 30 years old at this point.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 21/03/2026
Maybe a little less random, but for this #RandomGameSaturday I've got Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory... for the Vita! Went out of my way for this physical copy. I never finished this version, but I'm blasting through the Switch version. The core gameplay loop is a bit flawed, but solid.
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory for the Vita. A physical edition only available in SEA regions.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 14/03/2026
#RandomGameSaturday Breath of Fire 3 is one of my favorite games of all time, but the first one definitely had a funnier box art. (2 might be the funniest but alas I don't have it in box)
Breath of Fire SNES american box
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Variant @vxyz.me · 11/03/2026
Journaling in a quick twitter-like manner (minus the text limits) that automatically tie into a longer chain of connected blog posts would be pretty sick. This has to exist right?
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Variant @vxyz.me · 08/03/2026
Finished up Digimon Cyber Sleuth last week and working through Hacker's Memory. Loved the ending of CS, and HM's intro sequence really starts strong. I should start logging my shenanigans in a series of blog posts.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 07/03/2026
#RandomGameSaturday this time it's Atelier Iris 2, for the PS2! The Alchemy titles after Iris/MK never really grabbed me, but man I love this trilogy (even 3).
Atelier Iris 2 for the PS2
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Variant @vxyz.me · 05/03/2026
Asked a coworker how they'd solve a problem in the design they proposed for something I asked for and they posted a LLM output into the chat and I almost fell into the digital equivalent of fight or flight.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 04/03/2026
Macbook Neo looks neat. At 600$ the options for new laptops are all pretty meh, so buying an iPhone with a laptop chassis is pretty reasonable. Curious if it'll compete with the M1 for building stuff.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 02/03/2026
The general spirit of this post, etc... is easy enough to agree with but: anecdotally, a lot of people who do fan works do it a lot for themselves. Hitting an audience is nice, but is fine if you put out something worth being proud of. Glass-half-full, I'm looking forward to the inevitable re-TL.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 28/02/2026
I think we were done with the Medarot 3 technical work for like a year before the translations finished. I commissioned a few sections, had tons of volunteer effort, and boy was I out there try to find people to help. Adding all those names to the credits was something I really enjoyed doing.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 25/02/2026
The vibe coding stuff confounds me because the first instinct a developer has when they see code written by someone else is to rewrite it.
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💥PIPER!! 👽 ⟡ . ݁₊ @piperonipizzabot.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Aughhh whateverrrrrr explodes you with my mind
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Variant @vxyz.me · 22/02/2026
Oh my god, how is KDE Plasma's virtual desktop better than macOS' and Window's.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 21/02/2026
That one Suikoden game for the DS! This console had a lotta cool stuff. #RandomGameSaturday
Suikoden Tierkreis for the Nintendo DS
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Variant @vxyz.me · 18/02/2026
It's a small thing, but I really enjoy when foundational work on a project pays off. I spent time on all the compile-time groundwork for managing instructions in my little GB thing that it feels really nice to pop in one template instantiation to just support an instruction + decoding it outright.
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Variant @vxyz.me · 15/02/2026
Y'know, taking the gen ai stuff out of it: this just feels like that urge to be productive that hits close to home. Delay lunch a little bit to start a build, or work through a feature so I'm not blocking someone else. I spend more me time now, but it's hard to not chase that high.
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