Multiple vendors with multiple new models per year, different quality and price levels. Some come with Linux based systems others with android or even Windows. So you can choose between a selection of models for roughly 50-100USD, 150-300 or from a section that is even more expensive than a steamdeck but also provide more on some or all fronts for they bigger price tag.
There are some devices that are basically the same concept, just in new generation, but there are also many that are more unique. The space seems to require it, button layouts or screen ratio / resolution play a mayor role how well the emulation experience is, but there are so many different consoles over the years that they can't just do one thing fits all, especially if they want to keep it a handheld or sometimes pocketable. There was just a windows device released with clamshell dual screen design like the DS, but thicker to run basically everything on a modern AMD Windows setup.
The portal wasn't an unknown device in that bubble, bc some people use there emulation handhelds for streaming, as in in-home streaming or like the nvidia shield, cloud gaming streaming, often Xbox game pass these days.
There is a whole section of controllers that make a smartphone a portal/switch/steamdeck like device, by holding it in the middle and connect via usb c, lightning or Bluetooth. There is a good set of emulators for phone, snapdragon is quite good in emulating switch for example, but there is a also next to streaming, android native games that support controllers or apps that produce virtual touch inputs to map the controller.
There is also a scene that makes handhelds like the DSi, psp, vita, etc emulators who work quite well if you want to put in the effort to set it up.
I recommend retro game corps on yt for a start, he doesn't do quick bait or mind numbing flash cuts.
Last time I checked user numbers were both steadily in decline, and small in absolute terms (top 10 IRC networks combined have ~500k users - compare to eg discord with 150 million users. There are individual discord servers with larger user numbers than the entire world of IRC)
> survived takeover attempts
Didn’t the takeover succeed, and then all the users migrated to a different server? I guess if you’re saying “IRC as an abstract concept survived the takeover of an individual network” then sure that happened.
> got a shiny new protocol spec with modern features
Perhaps I’m reading this chart wrong, but checking the IRCv3 feature support page, features that I would consider “modern by 80’s standards, table stakes by 90’s standards” (eg account registration, chat history) are still in the “draft” stage and not supported by libera.chat. Features from the 2000’s (eg mobile notifications) aren’t even being drafted?
If interoperable protocols really drove progress, Discord wouldn’t have attracted more users in 6 months than IRC did in 30 years :P
The ClockworkPi R-01 attempts to be compatible with the Pi 3 CM. It mostly succeeds but not 100% as the Pi 3 CM interface has some things that the D1 simply doesn't have, and the D1 has some things that the Pi 3 CM interface doesn't accomodate.
Sipeed now has at two RISC-V "compute modules" that follow the concept but don't attempt to be Pi compatible:
- LicheeRV module, Allwinner D1, same as the R-01, but with two side by side M.2 connectors as the interface. They sell a LicheeRV Dock for it.
- Lichee Module 4A, THead TH1520 SoC. Currently only available as part of Lichee Pi 4A, but they plan to sell the module separately, as well has a motherboard holding a cluster of 7 modules, a tablet, a laptop, maybe a phone. Uses a SODIMM connector.
In addition, Sipeed have a number of other lower powered RISC-V "module" products using K210, BL808, BL702. Most with circuit boards with castellated edges as the connector, some with some kind of edge connector. And some ARM ones too.
There are also some x to fedi proxies.
No need to pay for something that makes you feel bad, as far as I read your comment.
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