Apple, I wanted you to take my money…

October 31, 2016 Jax Xie

2016 is supposed to be a year for me to upgrade my iPhone and MacBook, but sadly this is not happening. I am still keeping my 2 years old iPhone 6 and my 3 years old MacBook. Dear Apple, what happen this year? I am a Apple fan no doubt but Apple is truly uninspiring this year.

First the iPhone 7…

I am a very satisfied user of the iOS. Having both an iPhone 6 and an Android Xperia Z5 premium, I have constantly rate my iPhone as a better performer in many aspects; LTE connectivity, Wifi connectivity, emails, calendar, camera, music and many more.

Sure iPhone 6s is suppose to be a minor upgrade. Faster Touch ID, 3D Touch, better camera. None of these appeals to me when iPhone 6s comes out. And by the way, 3D Touch, it is rather hard to use unless you have a great sense of how much force to apply. I’m a person who just gently tap on the screen. Applying force on the screen just seems unnaturally for me. Not to forget it can be a bit tiring too. So no updates for me when iPhone 6s came out and I gingerly waited another year for iPhone 7 which based on Apple’s release cycle should have a major upgrade over iPhone 6.

Then it happened. iPhone 7 looks almost identical to iPhone 6! The plus version has a dual lens telescopic camera. Cool but what else. Beside faster this and better that, there is absolutely nothing I find enticing enough for me to buy an iPhone 7! I just couldn’t part with the money just to get a better camera. New Jet Black colour? It’s just the color. I could just get a jet black casing and slap it onto my iPhone 6 Plus. And no 3.5mm port? I’m sure to lose that tiny lightning to 3.5mm adapter.

Initially I was tempted to buy the new iPhone 7 Plus. I was so close to parting that $1000 plus after watching the iPhone event. Life will be better with the new iPhone, I thought. Alas, it is constantly out of stock and I just couldn’t get it even after waiting a month for it. During this time, I realized how good my iPhone 6 is and came to my senses. Maybe iPhone 8 will be better. So I’m shelving the plan for a new iPhone. After all, the new MacBook Pro is going to be announced soon, I can spend my money on that instead to get a better machine.

Then came the announcement of the new MacBook Pro…

First thing in the morning when I woke up to the news of the new MacBook Pro, I was all hyped up to find out when I could buy it. Yes finally I can get a new gadget for myself this year!

But no. Apple has again made it hard for me to part my money.

Where are my ports?

New MacBook Pro (15 inch model) comes with 4 ultra fast thunderbolt/USB-C port. And surprise! I have zero USB-C devices! I connect my current MacBook to a USB 3 portable HDD for Time Machine and an external display using HDMI. My previous MacBook has no HDMI port and I bought a thunderbolt to HDMI connect. Also, I have invested in a thunderbolt to Ethernet connector. After all, my MacBook is full of thunderbolt port. It will be a worthwhile investment.

The new MacBook Pro will have no HDMI or even the old Thunderbolt port. This means I have to first buy a USB-C to HDMI (I have already bought a Thunderbolt to HDMI) and then buy another USB-C to traditional USB hub. My Thunderbolt to Ethernet and Thunderbolt to HDMI are next to useless for this new MacBook.

The new butterfly keyboard is also what that irks me. Having tried out the keyboard before, I was always so glad that my MacBook Pro keyboard feels so good to type on. This new MacBook Pro comes with second generation of this butterfly keyboard. I don’t think it is just not going to work as well as the keyboard of the current Macbook Pro.

Wait did I mention no Magsafe? The one thing about Macbook that I boast to my friend and the connector that save my Macbook multiple times when someone trips over the power cable. In the new Macbook, it is gone. Is USB-C that important for Apple to remove Magsafe? Is that why Apple Care cost more for the new Macbook?

The price…

The giant touchpad is definitely a plus. And the Touch Bar actually looks sexy and useful. So maybe I can just buy more adapters for this new machine, it may not be so bad after all. So, I went to the online Apple Store and tried to find a comparable machine to my current one.

Close to SGD4000! If I remember correctly, I bought my current laptop of comparable spec at least 200-300 less. With Apple Care and a processor upgrade it costs SGD4700 plus! For my previous MacBook, even with Apple Care I paid at least 500 less. Back in 2013 when I bought it, it was the highest available spec and comes with SSD of 512GB. This set also comes with 512 GB SSD. I was expecting at least 1TB.

The increase in price is a big big turn off. Couple with the fact that I need to buy so many adapters, it just doesn’t make sense any more. My current MacBook will do just fine. In fact it may now worth more given the ports that are available on it. Did I mention it still have a SD card slot?

New MacBook is for early adopter

I have come to the conclusion that this new MacBook is for early adopter who really have the extra money to splurge. After going through the ‘Thunderbolt is the future’ And bought all the thunderbolt adapters, I’m not going to place my bet on ‘USB-C is the future’. I will let others have a go first.

Apple please up surprise me next year…

[This article first appear on http://www.jaxxie.me/2016/10/apple-i-wanted-you-to-take-my-money/]

Game Industry News, Game News, General

STGCC 2016 – Something for everyone

September 12, 2016 Jax Xie

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This is not a concert in Akihabara, the mecca for Otaku. It actually took place right here in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands. This year, Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention was a blast! GameTrader.SG was there to soak in the atmosphere. Check out our photos below:

Cutest Ruby Cosplay from Love Live Sunshine! You can follow Momo at WorldCosplay

Fans of Cosplayer can get their autograph poster at the event too!

Transformer, robot…erm toys in disguise!

Never meddle with a man with 2 light sabers…

Avengers Exhibition has a booth to promote the upcoming Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N, an interactive exhibition where you get to know more about the avengers. From now till 28 October, you can get an early bird discount of 15%.

Where else can you find two Deadpools dueling in Singapore?

Droids and Storm troopers galore!

It’s Mario! It’s Deadpool! It’s Deadpool Mario!

Who needs ice power when I can have Light Saber.

We are not at Madame Tussauds. Life-size Tony Stark!

Disney Princesses need their shopping fix too.

We heard it’s so dangerous they have to keep it in the glass case.

Everyone likes a bit of retro toys!

M.Bison/Vega kenna photobomb…

And with that, we end our day at STGCC 2016! See you in 2017!

Game Industry News

Made-in-Singapore Mini Retro Arcade

December 12, 2015 Jax Xie

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Yappy Arcade Console

Arcade gaming has evolved tremendously over the years. Today, golden age of arcade gaming maybe behind us with the proliferation of gaming consoles and PC games. But that does mean we have to give away that part of our memory.

OpenBuild SG, the affiliated local counterpart of OpenBuild in US, has been working on a mini arcade machines running on Raspberry PI and Emulation Station. They have been refining the model for some time churning out prototype after prototype. They are now ready to put these awesome big boy toys in your home! Called the Yappy Arcade Console, the machines allow you to play games from the Nintendo classics all the way to PlayStation One games.

We went down to their OpenBuild workshop at Ubi to have a look at the entire building process. All these machines are handmade by Yap, who is one of the founder of OpenBuild SG. From purchasing of the parts to cutting of the wood and finally to the assembly of the machine, all these are done in this workshop. You can check out Yap’s blog post for more details on how he build the console.

Left: Yap, the man behind all these mini arcade machine. Right: Our victorious editor Jax who just beat Yap at a game of Street Fighter.

This mini arcade console has a 10.1″ screen and a joystick with 10 buttons. Sufficient inputs even for your PlayStation games. The machine can be plug straight to your wall plug. It comes with a pair of 4Ω 3W Speakers and the brain of the machine is a Raspberry Pi Ver. B+ rev 2.

The console feels authentic to me. It is amazing how technology enable us to shrink down the good old arcade machine into this mini form loaded with way more games than a single classic arcade console. Of course, the craftsmanship deserves praises as well. While I am no expert in this field, I wouldn’t have guessed that the Yappy Arcade Console is built by hand in a workshop. It seems like the real deal to me. However, given that it is a mini arcade console, we advise against inviting your friends over for a game of bishi bashi.

Inside the gut of the machine

OpenBuild SG is now having a promotion selling these machines in limited quantity at SGD 399. After which, the price will increase. OpenBuild is willing to sell to fellow GameTrader.SG members at SGD 399 for another additional 50 sets. Just tell them that you are a member of GameTrader.SG and they will honour the price. The price of SGD 399 maybe on the high side for the younger gamers out there especially if you compared with a PS4 console which costs around SGD500 plus. However, given the price of the parts which take up bulk of the costs, the price maybe justifiable especially for the craftsmanship. Even if you don’t play it, it does look like a good piece of art to display at your geek corner.

If you wish to purchase one, you can drop a SMS to OpenBuild SG at +65 9113-1344. Yap is usually too busy in the workshop so a message will work best. You can also visit their workshop too at 65 Ubi Road 1, #01-87 Oxley Bizhub 1, Singapore 408729. Do check with them first before coming down.

Oh yes, there is also a two player version! You can contact them for more details. Happy to report that I beat Yap at Street Fighter. +1 for GameTrader! We will schedule a rematch soon.

The 2 player version of Yappy Arcade Console

PS: This is not an advertisement. Purely sharing this awesome machine with fellow GameTraders 🙂

GameTrader.SG – BLOG

Apple, I wanted you to take my money…

STGCC 2016 – Something for everyone

Made-in-Singapore Mini Retro Arcade

Game, Tech and Consoles