Category: Tater News

📰 New article from RetroRGB

Game Boy Camera Web App

https://retrorgb.com/game-boy-camera-web-app.html

Turn Your Phone or Webcam into a Game Boy Camera—For Free! 🎮📸

Developer kunio9209 just dropped Camera Boy—a delightfully nostalgic web app that turns any camera (phone or desktop webcam) into a full-on Game Boy Camera simulator. And yes, it works right in your browser, no downloads needed.

Just head to camera-boy.vercel.app (or copy-paste that link), allow camera access, and boom—you’re snapping pixelated, monochrome snaps with built-in LCD charm. The app even mimics the quirks of vintage hardware, letting you tweak settings like dead pixels, LCD degradation, and multiple contrast levels to really lean into that authentic 1998 glitchy vibe.

Saving is a breeze: on desktop, it prompts like any normal download; iOS users get files dumped neatly into the Files app (Safari puts them in Downloads, Brave in its own folder—minor quirk, no big deal).

It’s lightweight, free, and pure fun—a tiny time machine for digital photographers and retro gaming fans alike. Go forth and capture your life in 256 shades of grayscale! 😎

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Game Over: Playdia

https://retrohandhelds.gg/game-over-playdia/

Ah, the Bandai Playdia—a console so committed to being not a game console that it almost qualifies as performance art.

Launched in 1994 at the peak of the CD-ROM era, the Playdia was Bandai’s answer to a very specific question: What if we took every weakness of early FMV games and packaged it as a kid-friendly toy? The result? A blue lunchbox-shaped box with wireless infrared controls (read: TV remote + wishful thinking), 15 FPS FMV clips, and gameplay that ranged from “press A or B” to “walk down a pixelated hallway like you’re late for lunch.”

Its library? A nostalgic fever dream—Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, Ultraman—all reduced to branching FMV stories where your moral compass hinges on whether you hit A or B. (Spoiler: “Left” = bravery, “Right” = questionable life choices.)

It flopped spectacularly—mostly because 1994 was the year Sony, Sega, and Nintendo started delivering actual next-gen experiences. The Playdia arrived like a guest who showed up to a rave wearing pajamas and holding a Casio keyboard.

Still, today it’s beloved by collectors for its sheer absurdity and charm. It wasn’t a console—it was an experience, one where Goku’s confused face became a cultural artifact.

Would you have traded your Genesis for this glowing blue brick? 🟦

📰 New article from RetroRGB

Big Impact Of Smaller 90’s Genesis Dev’s

https://retrorgb.com/big-impact-of-smaller-90s-genesis-devs.html

Small Studios, Big Impact: How 90s Genesis Devs Punched Above Their Weight

That nostalgic glow of a Sega Genesis startup screen? Sometimes, it wasn’t Sonic lighting up your TV—it was a scrappy indie dev (before the term even existed) cranking out hidden gems. RetroRGB highlights strafefox’s recent video, which shines a spotlight on cult-classic Genesis titles like Ecco the Dolphin, Nightshade, and The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants—games born not from EA or Nintendo-sized teams, but from smaller studios willing to take creative risks.

The takeaway? Innovation often thrives in the shadows of giants. While blockbusters dominate headlines, it’s the ambitious oddballs—made on tighter budgets with looser rules—that push genres forward and surprise us. Think Earthworm Jim, Gunstar Heroes, or Phantasy Star IV: all born from teams that prioritized vision over scale.

And really, isn’t that true across media? Indie films, underground music scenes, niche podcasts—these are the voices that challenge norms and keep culture vibrant. Big names get the spotlight, but it’s the underdogs who often define the era after the dust settles.

So here’s to the unsung devs: proof that passion + creativity = unforgettable impact. 🕹️✨

(Thanks, strafefox—and support Bob on Patreon if you love retro deep cuts!)

📰 New article from TorrentFreak

Cloudflare Reports Surge in Geo-Blocked Pirate Site Domains

https://torrentfreak.com/cloudflare-reports-surge-in-geo-blocked-pirate-site-domains/

Cloudflare’s Geo-Block Boom: nearly 3,000 pirate sites blocked in 6 months

Cloudflare—behind nearly 20% of the web—is finally bending to pressure over pirate sites. In just six months (H2 2025), it geo-blocked 2,791 domains, a massive jump from just 308 the previous year. Why the surge? Court orders—and new laws—are forcing the CDN giant to act.

📍 Where it’s happening:

• 🇫🇷 France & 🇧🇪 Belgium: Cloudflare complies when named in court orders. Belgium adds illegal gambling sites to the list.
• 🇰🇷 South Korea: A new law mandates CDN-level blocking—Cloudflare restricts access only for users in Korea (not globally).
• 🇬🇧 UK: Voluntary blocking under an old High Court ruling (Cloudflare isn’t officially party to it).

DNS vs. CDN: Cloudflare says geo-blocking via its CDN services sometimes reduces the need to block via 1.1.1.1 DNS—though it insists it hasn’t used its public DNS resolver to block content. Still, Italy isn’t buying it: the country fined Cloudflare €14M for refusing to block pirate sites through 1.1.1.1 under its “Piracy Shield” law.

🤖 Automation takes over: Of the 67,941 takedowns Cloudflare acted on in H2 2025, over 64,000 were handled automatically—part of a new system rolled out last year. Also axed: 59,843 R2 storage accounts.

Bottom line: Cloudflare isn’t going full censor—but it’s getting much pickier about who gets its services.

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

Retro Handhelds Weekly: RG Vita Pricing, Retroid Shakeups, Wii RetroAchievements, and Much More

https://retrohandhelds.gg/retro-handhelds-weekly-edition-91/

Here’s a punchy, newsletter-style summary of the Retro Handhelds Weekly — perfect for sharing with fellow retro gaming enthusiasts:

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🎮 Retro Handhelds Weekly: A Week of Shocks, Prices, and New Hardware Dreams

This week in retro handheld land was packed. Retroid threw fans a curveball: the Pocket G2 is temporarily discontinued, and the Pocket Classic just got $20 pricier ($149 now). Ouch — but maybe worth it for that classic form factor?

Big news from Anbernic: the RG Vita ($99) and RG Vita Pro ($139) finally have pricing and a pre-order date — March 23 at 6 AM EDT, with a 72-hour early-bird discount before prices tick up. And get this: there’s talk of an Anbernic handheld with a rotating screen that flips vertically to reveal controls. Yes, really.

Meanwhile, RetroAchievements finally added Wii support, launching a four-month-long “waggle grind” celebration (March 2026 → July 2026 — yes, future-dated). RetroAssembly v6 brings PlayStation support + save imports, and somehow — somehow — Animal Crossing for GameCube now runs natively on PC, with a PortMaster port incoming.

Nintendo’s rumored Switch 2 with removable battery in Europe? Blame EU regulation (and foresight). Also: new emus, custom OSes, and enough discount codes to last through AliExpress’s 16th-anniversary sale.

☕ Grab a coffee, check the newsletter sign-up link, and stay tuned — this community moves fast.

Read more at Retro Handhelds

Affiliate links may earn us a small commission.

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Let me know if you’d like this turned into a tweet-sized teaser or formatted for social media!

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

RetroAchievements Finally Adds Wii Support, With Four Months of Waggle Grinding

https://retrohandhelds.gg/retroachievements-finally-adds-wii-support-with-four-months-of-waggle-grinding/

Waggle On, Cheevosheads: RetroAchievements Just Went Full Wii Mode! 🎮✨

RetroAchievements has finally rolled out full support for the Nintendo Wii, and to celebrate, they’ve launched a four-month “waggle grind” event—running from March 19 to July 19, 2026—that’s equal parts nostalgic and absurdly competitive.

If you’ve been hiding your Wiimote in a drawer since 2008, dust it off: you can now earn achievement badges (a.k.a. cheevos) in Wii games via Dolphin emulator (v2603+), with support for ISO/RVZ disc images. WiiWare? Still a work in progress—but hey, baby steps.

The Waggle Event Breakdown:

• 🥇 Beat a game? 1 point
• 🏆 Master it (all achievements unlocked)? +1 more = 2 total
• 🔥 Bountied games? Double or triple points (up to 6 pts for a mastered bounty title!)
• 📅 All Wii games released during the event window count—even late additions!

And yes, Hardcore mode only—no softcores allowed in this high-score, high-motion zone. With 20 years of Wii history to celebrate and a return of the beloved Bounty System, this is essentially the cheevo community’s version of Wii Sports: fun, chaotic, and weirdly addictive.

Ready to waggle your way to Grandmaster? 🪄

📰 New article from RetroRGB

Transparent SNES / SFC Controller Shells Back In Stock

https://retrorgb.com/transparent-snes-sfc-controller-shells-back-in-stock.html

Transparent SNES Controllers Are Back—And They’re Glowing with Potential 🎮✨

Retro Game Restore’s stunning transparent SNES/SFC controller shells are back in stock—and yes, all three colors (Smoke, Clear, and Purple) are available for ~$30 each. Designed to perfectly match RGR’s iconic transparent console shells, they’re a dream for retro modders and collectors.

But here’s the fun part: these are shells only. You’ll need to source the internals from a donor controller—or go full DIY. And thank goodness, because that opens the floodgates to some seriously cool upgrades:

• Premium rubber membranes from J&T Studios (d-pad & button swaps = game changer for feel and longevity)
• Braided cables that actually look good while keeping things tangle-free (no more frayed spaghetti cords!)
• Open-source PCB recreations—yes, you can 3D print or order custom circuit boards if you’re feeling techy

RGR even hints they might sell individual buttons or D-pads soon—if demand is strong enough. So if you’ve been eyeing a showpiece SNES controller that’s equal parts nostalgia and modern flair, now’s the time to jump in.

Got a project going? Tag us—we’d love to see your build. 🖤🤍💜

📰 New article from RetroRGB

How Data Is Stored On A LaserDisc

https://retrorgb.com/how-data-is-stored-on-a-laserdisc.html

When a Microscope Turned into a LaserDisc Time Machine 🕹️🔍

What started as a demo of a fancy new microscope took a delightfully unexpected turn—when the lens caught sight of actual readable text etched onto a LaserDisc. That’s right: analog video storage, visible under high magnification.

LaserDiscs store data as physical pits and lands (think grooves in vinyl, but for video), encoded in an analog format—no digital compression, no error correction. So when the disc suffers from “disc rot” (oxidation, delamination, etc.), there’s no backup plan: the data just fades away, like ink evaporating off paper.

The video nails why LD fans get weirdly emotional about preservation—it’s not just nostalgia, but a tangible link to how media once lived physically on the disc itself. And yes, if you’ve ever marveled at how a CD reflects rainbow light or wondered why your old VHS looks fuzzy, this is your jam.

Bonus: The “happy accident” style makes it extra fun—proof that some of the best tech deep dives begin with, “Wait… how is that even possible?”

👉 Watch the full video here

💡 Bonus link: Support Tech Tangents on Patreon

📰 New article from Retro Handhelds

The Best Ways To Play: Game Boy Advance

https://retrohandhelds.gg/the-best-ways-to-play-game-boy-advance/

The Best Ways to Play Game Boy Advance in 2026 (Spoiler: It’s Not Just Emulation)

Remember Pokémon Ruby, Zelda: The Minish Cap, or Metroid Fusion? If you missed the Game Boy Advance’s golden era, you’re not alone—and modern hardware has made it easier (and more fun) than ever to catch up.

The article from Retro Handhelds breaks down six top ways to revisit the GBA library today, each with its own vibe and value:

• The Purist Pick: A modded GBA SP (especially IPS-screened) for that crisp, nostalgic feel—durable, iconic, and surprisingly modern when upgraded.
• The Luxury Flex: Ayaneo’s Pocket Micro Classic ($249) is a beautiful, obsessive homage—but more art piece than practical tool.
• The Smart Compromise: Anbernic’s RG406H ($130–$192) offers perfect 4× integer scaling and comfort, despite the 4:3 screen’s black bars.
• The Budget Hero: Miyoo A30 under $50? A tiny, functional homage to the GBA Micro—ideal for nostalgic pocket play.
• The Clamshell Champion: RG34XXSP nails the original feel with analog sticks and a native 3:2 ratio—plus, it folds!
• The Nostalgia Bomb: RG34XX (non-SP) mirrors the original GBA’s shape so perfectly it feels like a time machine.

Bottom Line: Whether you’re chasing authenticity, affordability, or aesthetic obsession—there’s a GBA reenactment for you. The real question isn’t which, but how much you’re willing to pay for a little more Game Boy joy.

👉 Bonus: The article includes live Amazon/AliExpress links and even a Discord invite for like-minded retro fanatics.

📰 New article from RetroRGB

UGREEN NAS – Basic & JBOD Setup

https://retrorgb.com/ugreen-nas-basic-jbod-setup.html

RetroRGB’s UGREEN NAS Guide: No Matching Drives? No Problem.

Hard drives are pricey—but that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck if you’ve got a few mismatched ones gathering dust. In his latest video, Bob from RetroRGB breaks down how to use any drives in any UGREEN NAS—yes, even older or differently sized ones—with two clever setups: Basic (treat each drive as its own volume) and JBOD (join them into one big pool, no RAID redundancy needed).

Why’s this cool? Because it turns your NAS into a flexible storage hub without forcing you to buy matching drives or risk data loss via RAID missteps. Perfect for beginners, hobbyists, or anyone just wanting to repurpose old drives quietly and affordably.

Bonus: Bob keeps it real—disclaimers included. JBOD/Basic means no fault tolerance, so yes, one drive failure could mean losing that chunk of data. But for backups, archives, or media libraries where redundancy isn’t life-or-death? It’s a smart, low-cost workaround.

And hey—he’s planning a follow-up on turning an old PC into a DIY NAS. Stay tuned. 🛠️

👉 Check out the full guide here

Support Bob on Patreon if this helps you save cash (and drive bays).