While Capcom actually has a firmer grounding the world of RPGs than we give it credit for – Breath of Fire, anyone? – the company’s name doesn’t instantly spring to mind when discussing the genre; that’s what made the release of Dragon’s Dogma in 2012 such an unusual event. Following hot on the heels of FromSoftware’s critically-acclaimed (and thematically-similar) Dark Souls, Capcom’s action role-player had the hallmark of a hastily-assembled clone, released solely to capitalise on the gaming public’s newfound interest in the fantasy genre, but in actual fact, it had been in development since 2008 and shares some similarities with studio stablemate Monster Hunter. Still, the comparisons with Dark Souls – and other action RPGs – did Dragon’s Dogma absolutely no harm whatsoever, and it quickly sold over a million copies globally; no mean feat for an entirely new IP.

Fast forward to the present day, and Nintendo players are finally getting to find out what all the fuss is about. Despite meeting with critical and commercial success at the time of release – and getting an updated release in the form of Dark Arisen – Dragon’s Dogma has never been blessed with a proper sequel, outside of the Japan-only spin-off Dragon’s Dogma Online. Capcom has instead been content to simply reheat the Dark Arisen update, which was first released in 2013 and has since seen its way onto the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. That’s the version we’re getting today on Switch, six years after the original game hit the PS3 and Xbox 360.

So yes, this is another ‘remaster’ release of an old title that Sony and Microsoft fans have played (and perhaps even replayed) years ago – but before you judge it too harshly, it’s worth noting that Dragon’s Dogma has rightfully earned its reputation as one of the finest action RPGs of recent memory, and even a straight port – which this effectively is, as the additional content is meagre at best – is cause for celebration, especially as we can now explore the rolling expanses of Gransys on the move.

You assume the role of the titular Arisen, a customisable human avatar who is plucked from obscurity following an early encounter with an apparently malevolent dragon. Accompanying you on your quest are up to three ‘Pawns’; versatile (and, with the exception of your first Pawn, whom you create from scratch) totally interchangeable warriors who lack the free will to make them truly human. While you don’t have the ability to directly control these AI companions, you can issue them basic instructions during battle, such as coming to your aid or simply urging them to fight.

The level of Pawn you can ‘hire’ is tied to your current level, so you’ll want to visit the many Riftstones dotted around the landscape to swap them out for stronger characters from time to time – or keep an eye out for wandering Pawns as you walk the roads of Gransys. You can also exchange Rift Crystals to hire Pawns that are above your current level, which is a sound tactic when you need a powerful helper for an especially tricky quest. The really cool thing about Pawns is that they are created by other players, just as you create your ‘main’ Pawn, giving the game a sense of community even though there are no traditional multiplayer options present. You can even share Pawns using your Nintendo Account without the need for a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, which is a nice touch.

The Pawn system – and the combat mechanics which tie in with it – set Dragon’s Dogma apart from other games of this type. We dare say that since its initial launch in 2012 many people will have gazed at screenshots of the game and dismissed it as another boring fantasy RPG, but that couldn’t be less true. While it has all the staples of your traditional role-playing epic – consumable items, a crafting system, experience points, upgradeable equipment (which, like other items in your inventory, adds to your overall weight, slowing you down the more you carry) and loads and loads of NPCs to chat with, many of whom sound like they’ve wandered in from a local amateur stage production of well-known Shakespearean works – Dragon’s Dogma’s combat system is a joy to behold.

Whereas titles like Skyrim boast enjoyable yet clunky combat, Dragon’s Dogma puts Capcom’s experience in the realm of action titles to good use; director Hideaki Itsuno worked on the Devil May Cry series, and it shows. At its most basic level, you have a weak and strong attack, and these can be used to create simple combos. The game does a decent job of making sure you’re locked onto the nearest enemy, and battles tend to be pretty swift affairs, making this feel more like a hack-and-slash brawler than a slow-paced RPG. However, the combat engine has surprising depth thanks to the fact that you have different abilities mapped to the L and R buttons. Hold one of these down, and the Y, X and A buttons become assigned to certain skills, such as dashing attacks, grapples and other special moves. All of these skills are linked to your current ‘Vocation’, which is Dragon’s Dogma parlance for character type, and using them consumes stamina, which takes a short time to recharge (running also eats away at your stamina gauge, and draining it down to zero leaves you breathless and exposed).

You start the game with the ‘Basic Vocations’, such as Fighter, Strider and Mage, and as you gain experience through combat you boost not only your base level (which of course means your stats increase) but also your Vocation level. Growing your Vocation level opens up more skills, which can be unlocked using Discipline Points earned in battle by speaking to certain NPCs (usually at inns or points where you can sleep and recover). Visiting the same NPCs allows you to switch out your skills and even your Vocation, and a massive part of the game’s appeal is changing to a different character type and exploring fresh battle strategies. Even when you’ve arrived at your preferred Vocation there’s ample room for experimentation and customisation as you chop-and-change your assigned moves and abilities to find the perfect balance for your own personal playstyle.

After a while, you unlock Hybrid and Advanced Vocations, such as Magik Archer, Mystik Knight, Assassin, and Sorcerer, and these not only allow you to carry over other skills you’ve unlocked elsewhere (for example, any skill tied to the use of a sword will be available from the off when you switch to another sword-based Vocation) but you also get the chance to gain more powerful skills exclusive to that Vocation, as well as access to exclusive weapons and gear. Vocations like the Assassin allow you to mix ranged bow attacks with robust blade skills, while assuming the Mystik Knight Vocation means you can support your Pawns with spells without sacrificing your melee potential. Because so many of the Vocations have abilities that apply to other character types, slowly but surely expanding your skill base – which also includes ‘Core’ skills which are activated immediately, and ‘Augments’ which bestow special talents – becomes an incredibly addictive pastime. It also means that every single enemy encounter in the game is worthwhile, as it not only gives you the chance to boost your Vocation level but also gain Discipline Points which can be used to unlock more skills, starting a whole new cycle of experimentation as you swap out existing skills for freshly-obtained ones.

Of course, even the most satisfying of combat engines will lose its appeal if you don’t have a wide and varied selection of foes to dispatch, and Dragon’ Dogma certainly does not disappoint in this regard. Sure, there are certain weaker enemies you’ll encounter regularly (the lizard-like Saurians and a host of goblins spring to mind) but occasional encounters with larger opponents – such as the Griffin, Troll, Chimera and Cyclops – give off more than a slight whiff of Monster Hunter, another of Capcom’s famous franchises. Using the ZR trigger (which also allows you to grab smaller enemies and restrain them while your Pawns finish them off) you can grapple bigger foes and climb onto them, delivering as many devastating, targeted blows as your rapidly-depleting stamina will allow.

Facing off against Dragon’s Dogma’s bigger monsters is a real thrill, especially as your Pawns begin to grow in experience and learn the correct tactics to take down certain beasts. The Cyclops, for example, is covered in tough armour which must be picked away to reveal its tender flesh, but its true weak spot is its single eye. The Crimera, on the other hand, has the head of a lion, goat and snake, each of which has its own energy bar. Silence the goat, and the monster’s ability to use magic is removed, making the confrontation easier. While these epic battles aren’t quite as nuanced as those in Monster Hunter, they’re still surprisingly deep and very enjoyable.

The thoroughly rewarding feedback loop afforded by the Vocation system would be enough to encourage hours of play, but its appeal is buttressed by the fact that the world you inhabit is so vast and rich in detail. Gransys is massive; it takes a considerable amount of time to walk from one end to the other, and while fast travel items are available, more often than not you’ll find yourself moving on foot so you can comb the forests, beaches and caves for valuable items and get into as many brawls as possible to earn more experience points. A day-and-night system is also in place, and travelling in the dark is made more difficult by the fact that your most trusted source of illumination – an oil-based lamp – needs to be constantly restocked.

Progress in Dragon’s Dogma is underpinned by an evolving story which sees you journeying to Gran Soren – Gransys’ capital city – to meet with Edmun Dragonsbane, the current ruler of the kingdom and a former Arisen himself, before striking out into the wilds in different directions from this main base. As is often the case with these games, you’ll find that things aren’t strictly as they seem, but along the way, there are a staggering number of side-quests and missions to undertake, all of which offer items, money and experience points as reward. Some even have ramifications on other quests later in the game; a character you aid early in the game may prove pivotal at a later juncture, for example.

On your initial playthrough, you will almost certainly invest tens of hours into Dragon’s Dogma; even if you decide to rush through as quickly as possible (a speedrun mode is included, in case you were wondering), you’ll still be expending many, many hours. A complete run – where you try to finish as many quests as possible – could see your time in Gransys creep over 100-hour mark, and once you’re done, there’s the NG+ mode to consider. Longevity is not an issue with Dragon’s Dogma, and let’s not forget the inclusion of Bitterblack Isle, a super-tough dungeon exclusive to the Dark Arisen update which will test even the most dedicated of players.

What could be an issue is the fact that the game does become slightly repetitive over time; while Gransys is undeniably massive, you’ll end up seeing some parts of it more often than others, purely by virtue of the fact that there are only a handful of major settlements to speak of and missions tend to be focused around these bustling bastions of humanity. Other parts of the kingdom remain criminally underused, perhaps only seen during a single quest before being forgotten. It’s a minor issue admittedly, but one that does tend to stick out after you’ve spent a large amount of time in Gransys.

Another problem is the fact that even in 2012, Dragon’s Dogma looked a little rough around the edges. While the landscape is incredible and you’ll never grow tired of the amazing sunsets and vistas which go on for miles in the distance, this visual beauty is balanced out by the fact that some environmental details pop-in awkwardly as you get close to them, and many of the game’s motor-mouthed NPCs look primitive and goofy. Like Dark Souls, Dragon’s Dogma nails the grim fantasy aesthetic the majority of the time, and we suspect the two call upon some of the same influences (Kentaro Miura’s ultra-violent medieval fantasy Berserk being one obvious example), and, like FromSoftware’s seminal series, actually ends up being a more convincing western fantasy than many games created by western developers; still, in places it does look and feel like it could do with a little more polish. And did we mention that the constant, incessant chatter of your Pawns during battle can become utterly maddening? There’s only so many times that we need to be told that “Wolves hunt in packs!” and “Fire works well!” before it sinks in.

Like the PS4 and Xbox One update of Dark Arisen, this is a largely untouched update. The visuals haven’t been polished up, so you’re getting pretty much the same experience as was available back at the time of the original launch. The Switch version runs well enough, with only a slight drop in performance when there’s a lot of on-screen activity – and this is only really noticeable when playing in handheld mode. You could argue that getting the likes of DOOM and Wolfenstein II running on Switch is a far more commendable achievement, but cramming a world as large as Gransys into a portable system feels – to this writer, at least – just as impressive; while it’s not as huge as Hyrule is in Breath of the Wild, it’s arguably richer and detailed.

The Nintendo Game Boy turns 30 this Sunday, and to celebrate this amazing occasion we’ll be running a series of related features this week, right up to the big day.

The Game Boy may be 30 years old this week, but that doesn’t mean the system is dead and gone from a retail perspective; over the past few years we’ve seen an explosion of interest in Gunpei Yokoi’s masterpiece, with people buying up old units and modding them to make them even better than before. Out of this community, we’ve also seen a number of retailers emerge, with one of the most notable – in the UK, at least – being Gameboy Shack.

Operated by Richard Tewkesbury from his base in the UK’s heartland, Gameboy Shack is a business which focuses mainly on reconnecting players with the handheld games of their youth. If you’ve attended one of the many big shows in the UK over the past few years, then there’s a good chance you’ve spotted Richard manning his stand, which is always packed with Game Boy consoles, games and other associated merchandise.

Seeing as he’s just down the road from Nintendo Life HQ, we thought it was only right that we pay him a visit to celebrate the Game Boy’s 30th – and to buy a load of games from him, of course. Below is a transcript of the waffle we had. Enjoy.

What was your first exposure to the Game Boy?

Probably back when it first came out, around 1989. We used to go to Leicester on the bus, me and my friend, every Saturday. We’d go to Dixons [defunct UK high street electronics retailer], and basically play the Nintendo display stand, as well as the Atari Lynx, pretty much until the guy in Dixons kicked us out. Back then, we didn’t have any money, so it was the only way we could play the Game Boy. I must have been about 12 or so years old. My parents wouldn’t buy me a Game Boy, so I had to wash pots and hustle to make that money to buy one. I got really good at washing pots.

What do you think made the Game Boy the market leader, despite the fact that there were more technically advanced machines, like the Lynx?

There were more games out there, which played a big part. It was the most popular system by far when we were at school. Battery power came into as well I think. I was whipping through batteries left, right and centre, so you probably needed £5 or £10 worth of batteries a week – if you’re rocking out an Atari Lynx, you’d need even more! There was only one kid at school who had a Lynx, and only a couple that had the Sega Game Gear. Everyone mainly had Game Boy; so there was the obvious desire to be part of that club so you could share games.

How did you become involved in modding and selling Game Boys?

I started selling at conventions, and I was already doing video games across the board, and my friend Gavin and I basically traded together. The smallest thing I could get in the car was Game Boy, and it pretty much grew from there. It was purely logistics. “I can get 100 games in the car and it only takes up 12 inches of space”, that kind of thing. I only had a car at the time, so we couldn’t get a lot in, full stop. We basically had to get two stores into one vehicle! It’s just grown and grown and grown. There are lots of other video game traders at events, but I’m the only one that does the full range of Game Boys, I suppose.

How have you seen that market grow?

There is a lot of interest in it. There’s a lot of interest from sellers as well, so now the market is getting saturated, I’m afraid to say – which makes it harder for everyone. When I first started out, there were only a couple of games sellers and that was it. And now, you can go to a show and there’s 15 or 20… and now every time we go, there’s another one, and another one, and another one. It’s just part and parcel. The market is growing, there’s room in there for everyone. Personally, I’ve put a lot of effort into making what I do as good as I can possibly do it, and basically giving it that ‘wow factor’. Every console that I sell is refurbished. It’s all taken apart, cleaned up, put back together again. I get them fully working and I usually refresh them; everything’s refreshed when it goes out, so I try and aim for a very good standard of product.

Do you think the market has reached its biggest point? Is there a danger it could shrink?

Sometimes you go to an event, and it all depends on what the event is. There’ll be good ones, and there’ll be very bad ones, and there are new customers at all of them. A lot of people are just those spontaneous people; they want a Game Boy with Tetris, Super Mario, and so on – what they remember from their childhood. Just a quick hit. They’ve got no interest in collecting whatsoever. They just want two to three games, and off they go, and that’s cool. I think there’s plenty of room left in the market yet, when you combine that sector with the serious collectors.

I think there’s plenty of room left in the market yet, when you combine that sector with the serious collectors

How many events do you tend to do a year, and how do you go about picking which ones to attend?

We’ve now gained experience of which shows work best for us. Sometimes it’s down to the preference of what you want to do, and other times its when it happens during the year, and other times it’s simply because I’ve got no money. I basically don’t do any shows between December and March, so that’s the dry spell where you’ve got basically last the winter – and by that point, when you start back, you just take anything that’s going. This weekend there’s an event I don’t want to do, but I’ve got to do it so I can then get extra money to physically get me to the event the weekend after that. Because I have to put so much money into buying stock and getting everything else ready for the event, it’s really a big balancing act; it’s quite horrible at certain points of the year. The two big shows that I do are at the worst point of the year, and if they don’t pay off, then I’m completely screwed really!

Which are the next events that you’ve got coming up?

We’ll be doing Insomnia next weekend. Then we’re doing MCN London. I’ll also be doing my own show – Comic-Con Leicester. I’ll be doing Hyper Japan, London and Film Comic-Con. They’re some of the bigger ones. You try and stick to the larger ones, because there’s more footfall there and you know what’s going on, although I did a random one for a friend in a shopping centre in Hull recently, and that really worked because it was instant footfall – there were people there all day long. But you have good shows, and you have bad shows, and no show is ever guaranteed. Personally, I never take anything for granted. Don’t go in thinking you’re going to make £5000 in a weekend, because you’re not.

Is the mentality just to break even and then see what you can do from there?

Always try and be in the green and cover all your costs. I want to go to an event and enjoy myself – that’s always the main thing. I don’t want to sit there bored out of my mind. I want to be active, interact with some nice people and sell some good stuff. I want people to enjoy what they’re buying, go away with something they’re going to enjoy, and make some money on the side. I have to put hours and hours and hours into getting things ready. That’s the problem. Especially when it’s weekend to weekend, where I’ve only got a couple of days in-between to basically reload again. Over the summer, when there are a lot of shows, that’s when it can get really stressful, and I end up doing 15 to 18 hours a day just to try and get ready for the next show. And then at night time, in-between shows, in the hotel room I’m building Game Boys to sell the next morning. That’s when it really gets bad!

How easy is it to source the stuff that you sell?

I could spend money all day long. I look back at some of the videos when I first started, and I’ve got some pictures of my first stall that I did, and I was selling Game Boys at £10 – now I sell them at £45, and that’s only a few years down the road. That’s where the market’s changed; everything is so expensive now and it keeps on creeping up. Sometimes, I buy multiple copies of game if the price is right, so I can sit on it and find that in a year or two down the line, it’s gone up in value. I spend way too much money on stock, that’s my problem. I always try and keep everything fully-loaded. I can’t stand if the shop is not rammed to the nines; everything needs to be topped up. All the consoles, all the shelves need to full all the time, and if they’re not, I just can’t stand it. If people are like, “Oh, you’ve not got that game”, I’ll go home and I’ll find it, then I’ll get it, and it will be on the shelf next time around.

Do you use network of collectors to source things?

I have pickers that basically pick for me. I use a lot of Facebook and gaming pages. Sometimes, there’s the occasional deal that comes up on eBay. People just come to me with stuff that they want to sell. And then sometimes I just need to get off my arse and go through storage units and actually sort through the stuff I’ve actually got and sell that rather than buy new stuff. It constantly keeps coming in. But it’s a borderline addiction, that’s the problem. My accountant is like, “Stop spending money!”

Which part of it do you love the most?

I do like talking to people. As I said, it all depends on the events. Certain events, the people can be toxic, I will be honest, and at the end of a long day, you just need to have an hour in a quiet room. But connecting with enthusiastic players is a bit part of the appeal.

Sometimes I hate selling – I’ve literally been at the point of handing over the game and I’m thinking “I really don’t want to sell this”, because I really don’t want to let it go

Do you still collect for yourself?

No, my collection now is 90 percent is the stock that I have. I kind of use that as my collection. I have some personal things, don’t get me wrong; I have a Game Boy bubble bath collection, so that’s niche and that’s my thing. I’ve got 26 different bubble bath bottles! But I use my stall as my collection. Sometimes I hate selling – I’ve literally been at the point of handing over the game and I’m thinking “I really don’t want to sell this” because I really don’t want to let it go. And that’s partly because I know I’ll never get another one. It’s wicked when you do find that thing that you never find again, and you do find it. There have been lots of times where I’ve let something go and I was like, “I should never have sold that”. Sometimes, you’ve got to think, “You’ve got bills to pay, you’ve got this that and the other, you’ve got a life, you just need to let it go. You’ve got plenty of other stuff. Ten minutes later you won’t even notice it’s gone”.

You offer a tactile, tangible shopping experience that you don’t really get any more; do you get a buzz out of that?

I like Game Boy collectors that go in and they know what they want, and they get in there. And they come out with a stack of random games and it’s not just Zelda, Pokémon and Tetris. I have said that one day that’s all my stall is going to be. I’ll have nothing on the table apart from a stack of Tetris carts, a stack of Mario carts, a stack of Zelda carts and a stack of Pokémon carts, and that’s it! Some weekends that’s all I’ve done, and that sometimes can be a bit disheartening. I like selling other games, and there are so many good titles on the Game Boy that people just need to get over the hurdle that there are these five games that you essentially need when in fact there are hundreds of other amazing games, too.

What would you say is the most expensive game you’ve ever sold?

About £100. Things like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on the Game Boy Advance, for instance. I sold that recently, but I’ve got another one in now. That’s the mission. I’ve got to find another miracle game, and I managed to get one. Sometimes, it’s the finding it where there’s a little bit of meat on the bone for you as well because I can go and buy everything if I didn’t care about losing money. It’s finding it at a price point because every year the shows keep getting more expensive and all your costs keep rising and you need to put your prices up. I don’t like putting my prices up. Sometimes I’m not the cheapest person in the world, but again, everything I sell is really good quality. Boxes aren’t smashed up, it’s all good gear and the Game Boy consoles are in perfect condition. You can go and buy a rotter on eBay, take a chance on it, and it’s £10 cheaper, but at least I put the time and effort into it you can be sure you get a nice solid console.

Moving to online, what’s your current online presence, and what’s the ratio between what you do on events and what you do online?

This is my problem. Because I’m only a one-man-band, I’m really stretched with time. And now, with having a baby as well, and everything else that’s going on, my time is just gone. Having to run the Instagram account as well, the problem is, I put something cool out on Instagram, for instance, and then everyone’s instantly, “Oh, can I buy that, can I buy this, can I buy that?” And the problem is I can’t sell it because I have to have that stock to do the event. If I could sell it all on Instagram, and that would be that, but it’s having that balance, because I need the events to pull in the big money. If I go with a rubbish-looking stall because I’ve sold everything online already, then I’ll just blend in with everyone else. The time I’ve got when I’m proactive on my website is between December and February when I’m off. Did you see I did a Game Boy Mystery Box I did at Christmas? I’m going to do another one of those shortly. I could sell those all day long, but it takes me a while to get the extra goodies together to actually do them. Online is awesome when I’ve got the time to do it, but realistically for me, there’s a greater turnover at the shows than there is online.

You’re kind of going in the opposite direction to everybody else, essentially?

Yeah. I’d love to open a proper shop, full stop. If I hadn’t got a baby then I’d be owning a shop right now! I had some money put aside to open a shop this year, and then the baby happened, and then I had to buy bathrooms and house stuff instead! That’s life. I’d love to have a shop, but it scares the hell out of me, that’s the only thing – whether it’d actually work. I’ve got friends that have got shops; Lee at Sore Thumb Retro in York said it’s the best thing he’s ever done. Ever.

I fit Pokémon save batteries, but my big confession is that I’ve never actually played a Pokémon game

You say you don’t have much time now; do you actually have time to play any of the games you sell?

I probably play 20 lines of Tetris when I’m testing things out, or I’ll have a go on the first level of Super Mario Land. I fit Pokémon save batteries, but my big confession is that I’ve never actually played a Pokémon game. I’ve played the first level where you have to basically put your name in and get to the first room – let’s say I’ve played that 2,000 times, basically to test when I’ve put a new battery in. I’m the master of that bit of the game! The other day I went out of the first room, I was like, “What’s actually outside the first room? Oh, some other things.” Then I stopped!

If anyone reading this is interested in getting into the Game Boy, what’s the advice you’d give them on where to begin?

I would start at the beginning. I’d buy an original Game Boy. I think that’s a good stepping stone. I’d go stock, too, not modded – to literally ‘discover’ it. Then build it up. Work your way through each generation, and then at points get a modded one. Don’t start off with a modded console if you’re new to the Game Boy, because sometimes it ruins the experience. People sometimes come back to me, and they’re like, “I can’t even see it” and I’m like, “Well, that’s how it was designed.” Also, start off with the early games, but look into all the other great titles out there. There are plenty of other wicked games out there that people just don’t touch, and they should do. Do a little bit of research, watch some videos online, and you’ll realise there are plenty of amazing Game Boy games out there.

Linux operating systems are great for making unique customizations and tweaks to make your computer work better for you. For example, the i3 window manager encourages users to think about the different components and pieces that make up the modern Linux desktop.

Fedora has two new packages of interest for music tweakers: mpris-scrobbler and playerctl. mpris-scrobbler tracks your music listening history on a music-tracking service like Last.fm and/or ListenBrainz. playerctl is a command-line music player controller.

mpris-scrobbler records your music listening trends

mpris-scrobbler is a CLI application to submit play history of your music to a service like Last.fm, Libre.fm, or ListenBrainz. It listens on the MPRIS D-Bus interface to detect what’s playing. It connects with several different music clients like spotify-client, vlc, audacious, bmp, cmus, and others.

Install and configure mpris-scrobbler

mpris-scrobbler is available for Fedora 28 or later, as well as the EPEL 7 repositories. Run the following command in a terminal to install it:

sudo dnf install mpris-scrobbler

Once it is installed, use systemctl to start and enable the service. The following command starts mpris-scrobbler and always starts it after a system reboot:

systemctl --user enable --now mpris-scrobbler.service

Submit plays to ListenBrainz

This article explains how to link mpris-scrobbler with a ListenBrainz account. To use Last.fm or Libre.fm, see the upstream documentation.

To submit plays to a ListenBrainz server, you need a ListenBrainz API token. If you have an account, get the token from your profile settings page. When you have a token, run this command to authenticate with your ListenBrainz API token:

$ mpris-scrobbler-signon token listenbrainz
Token for listenbrainz.org:

Finally, test it by playing a song in your preferred music client on Fedora. The songs you play appear on your ListenBrainz profile.

playerctl controls your music playback

playerctl is a CLI tool to control any music player implementing the MPRIS D-Bus interface. You can easily bind it to keyboard shortcuts or media hotkeys. Here’s how to install it, use it in the command line, and create key bindings for the i3 window manager.

Install and use playerctl

playerctl is available for Fedora 28 or later. Run the following command in a terminal to install it:

sudo dnf install playerctl

Now that it’s installed, you can use it right away. Open your preferred music player on Fedora. Next, try the following commands to control playback from a terminal.

To play or pause the currently playing track:

playerctl play-pause

If you want to skip to the next track:

playerctl next

For a list of all running players:

playerctl -l

To play or pause what’s currently playing, only on the spotify-client app:

playerctl -p spotify play-pause

Create playerctl key bindings in i3wm

Do you use a window manager like the i3 window manager? Try using playerctl for key bindings. You can bind different commands to different key shortcuts, like the play/pause buttons on your keyboard. Look at the following i3wm config excerpt to see how:

# Media player controls
bindsym XF86AudioPlay exec "playerctl play-pause"
bindsym XF86AudioNext exec "playerctl next"
bindsym XF86AudioPrev exec "playerctl previous"

Try it out with your favorite music players

Need to know more about customizing the music listening experience on Fedora? The Fedora Magazine has you covered. Check out these five cool music players on Fedora:

Bring order to your music library chaos by sorting and organizing it with MusicBrainz Picard:

Photo by Frank Septillion on Unsplash.

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Last week, I had the opportunity to serve on the frontlines with Team Rubicon to support their Midwest flood operations. Team Rubicon, a disaster relief organization comprised mostly of veterans and first-responders, is one nonprofit that Microsoft’s Tech for Social Impact team partners with to support communities in need around the world. My experience reinforced my conviction in the social business model we’re building here at Microsoft to serve nonprofits. This model is not principally about top line revenue or profit optimization, it’s about building a scalable and sustainable way to move nonprofit missions forward through the power of technology – reinvesting any incremental profits back into philanthropy and the community at large. Here’s why I believe in this model:

The site of our work was Pacific Junction, a small community south east of Omaha, Nebraska, just across the Iowa border. Pacific Junction is one of the communities that fell victim to record-setting flooding that recently devastated the Midwest. Flood water surged throughout the town, reaching the roofs of many single-story homes and bringing damaging water currents and mud that destroyed and defaced the homesteads throughout the town. Many residents have been unable to reach their homes for weeks, allowing mold to set in, making homes utterly uninhabitable. While some had flood insurance, many did not. For many, their homes represented a lifetime of hard work and savings now lost in a blink of the eye. With a mission to rebuild communities and lives, Team Rubicon has already deployed over 312 volunteers in Operation Heartlander to provide flood response and recovery support.

We spent the first day in the field focused on assessing damage. On its face, damage assessment is a fairly mechanical process. First, assess the house for visual damage and potential dangers for the first responder team, and then enter the observations into a system to activate “strike teams” for help. However, I quickly learned that the assessment involves far more than creating a work order to activate strike teams: in many cases, it’s the point of first contact with residents who are in one of the hardest and most vulnerable moments of their life. In fact, one of the homeowners we helped was unable to contain their emotion when they learned that Team Rubicon would support them. The assessment process is about showing empathy and taking the time to hear the resident’s story and concerns. It’s about showing respect, as you, essentially a stranger, sludge through a person’s house and life which has been turned upside down. It’s about the deep human connection that is at the heart of Team Rubicon’s work, and so many of our humanitarian partners around the world.

On the second day, I had the opportunity to go out to the field with two strike teams of Team Rubicon volunteers. We went to a house that had its 1,200 square foot basement destroyed by water, mud, silt and debris. The situation looked overwhelming and desperate.

We started by bringing in sleds to haul mud, shovels to scrape, saws to break down debris, hammers and crow bars to peel off molding drywall and ceiling material. We then began clearing large debris – what Team Rubicon lovingly calls “mucking” – shoveling sled-load after sled-load of mud, and hauling it out of the house. Once clear, we began removing drywall and ceiling material to clear the house of mold. At each stage of work, the homeowner worked side-by-side with us, deeply thankful to have the support. After a solid eight hours, the mud was clear, mold removed, and the house was set to dry so that the rebuilding could begin.

I flew home thinking about the experience, and I felt the immense responsibility we have in the technology industry to deliver affordable solutions that work well and work every time.

Technology for many nonprofits is what undergirds and supports the work that happens in places like Pacific Junction. Behind the scenes and often invisible to the work on the ground, it’s the technology that my team is responsible for providing which helps organizations like Team Rubicon. Team Rubicon depends on technology to mobilize volunteers, plan missions, and route strike teams. Any glitches mean that the Team Rubicon volunteers are not able to fully support communities.

I feel energized about my experience with Team Rubicon and more committed than ever to build solutions that truly live up to the demanding environments that so many nonprofits operate in. At Microsoft, we are committed to learning how to better serve this sector each day and evolving our social business model to help move nonprofit missions forward.

I want to thank the Team Rubicon team and all of the first responder organizations working in the Midwest. Microsoft is proud to “step into the arena” with you and be a small part of your mission.

Ancient Egypt has always been a popular setting for games. It is hardly surprising, as with its distinctive art and lavish customs the Land of the Pharaohs is a rich source for game designers seeking inspiration. However, a quick look at the app store reveals that the most popular Egyptian-themed games devote themselves to matching tiles, playing slots or dressing-up princesses. Thankfully, Egypt: Old Kingdom takes a more scholarly approach. As an incarnation of the god Horus, your task is to work alongside the pharaohs in order to overcome the mighty Seth.

Seth is a bit of a pain and as the god of chaos, he is eager to unleash a catalogue of disasters upon the land. We begin our journey in Memphis, but this is Egypt, not Tennessee, so the job is to build pyramids rather than Graceland. However, it isn’t wise to attempt to run before we can walk like an Egyptian. The Old Kingdom was around for hundreds of years and before we can even think of building mysterious pyramidical buildings we will need to first establish our tribe.

Initially, Egypt: Old Kingdom seems rather complex and intimidating; it feels like a crash course in ancient Egyptology. However, settle into the game’s steady flow, and it soon becomes clear that the game isn’t actually that daunting at all. The tutorial introduces you to the bare basics and then leaves you to discover the rest as you play, but that’s OK because the range of available options never becomes too intimidating. It turns out to be a Civilization-style game that does away with a lot of the micromanagement aspects and instead focuses on the deployment of your workers.

At the beginning of the game, the map is shrouded in fog and you will want to send out workers to explore new areas. When a worker is sent to a new region their choice of actions will be limited by geographical constraints. Hills are great for constructing barracks, new homes and numerous other types of buildings. Fertile floodplains will yield a choice of extra crops. Some areas will already have resources that you can gather or packs of wild beasts that you can either hunt or worship.

Success depends on efficiently acquiring and managing supplies of the game’s six resources. Food enables you to feed and increase the size of your population; spend ten food and you will be able to place a new worker. The chief sources of food are cultivated fields and fish from regions near the Nile. Production points are mainly used for constructing new buildings; workshops will help you increase your production. Luxuries are usually acquired through trade; they keep your population happy and help pacify angry neighbours. The game’s abstract approach extends to military strength, which just like any other resource is represented by a single number. An effective way of improving your army is by building barracks. Culture points can be used to make new discoveries, with advancements following the usual technology tree approach. For instance, once you have established the local cults advancement, your people can then discover tomb building, which is a great way of improving favour with the gods. Favour points allow you to worship the various gods, each of whom will provide you with a time-limited bonus.

After a few turns, your people will stumble across other tribes. Now you will have the option to forge new friendships or make new enemies. Peaceful options include setting up a simple trade agreement and maybe greasing a few palms. Once relationships get really good you will be able to assimilate the people into your society. Aggressive options include subjugating a tribe in battle or launching a raid but remember that enemies have long memories and they can unite against you. Combat is very simple, just challenge a tribe and wait for five turns, then the army levels are compared. There are no differing units or tactics, but you can call upon the favours of some gods to enhance your combat abilities.

It is odd that the version of the game available depends on your device. On Android, you can download the game for free. This lite version gives you the opportunity to dip your toe into the Nile by playing through the first 50 turns. If you want to see more then you will need to pay to open up the rest of the game. On iOS the lite version seems to have been replaced by a full version that requires a one-off payment.

In the full game, the number of options available is very impressive. Games can be set up that follow the course of history, or you can create your own history in the appropriately named sandbox mode. You can add more micromanagement elements, reduce the influence of the gods in various ways and make things even tougher by limiting your options to save progress. Conspiracy theorists may like to try a game in which the human race is enslaved by aliens, whilst B-movie buffs can create a game in which evil mummies are invading the world. The later options sound like fun additions, but they do cheapen the authenticity of the game. Otherwise, you have to admire the amount of background research that the developers have incorporated. The end result is a richly thematic game that is also educational in an entertaining way. There are even optional quizzes that test your new-found knowledge of all things Egyptian.

Egypt: Old Kingdom has simple but still very thematic graphics. The easily identifiable icons ensure that the screen remains uncluttered whilst the neat animations show at a glance what each of your workers is up to. The full game lasts 300 turns, this seems like a lot, but as there isn’t that much micromanagement to worry about, you can often burn through turns at a rapid rate. Events drive the narrative forward; some of these will be small random incidents like an attack from a pack of hyenas. Others are based on specific historical happenings and the fallout of not dealing with these can be very harsh. Some may feel that the way that these scripted events push you in a certain direction make progress feel too linear. Others may find that the random events are too frustrating; an unexpected famine can really set your plans back. Sometimes these events can be mitigated, for instance, if you have the resources, you may be able to build damns before a flood hits and so avoid the loss of key buildings. Of course, you can always use the options to play a more open-ended game at the expense of historical flavour.

If you have even a passing interest in Egyptology then Egypt: Old Kingdom comes highly recommended. The streamlined civilisation building works well, although Civ veterans may find the range of control too limiting. The main choice appears to be between focusing on using military strength or diplomacy to bring the other tribes under Horus’s wing. With only six resources to worry about, it is easy to quickly assess how much you are producing and spending without the need for complicated menus. Furthermore, since the options in each region are limited by geographical constraints, the range of choices never becomes overwhelming. In fact, the exhaustive historical setting can make the game seem deeper and more complex than it actually is.

GDevelop, the open source 2d game engine I dubbed “the Ultimate Beginner Engine” just had another release, bringing it to version 5.0 beta 66.  This release brings several new features including new tweening capabilities, the ability to save your project to multiple projects to be more version control friendly and a new experimental video object.

Full details of the release from the release notes:

New features

• New behavior: Tween, to animate objects position/angle/properties (thanks @Wend1go!)
  
  • See “Pairs” starter game for an example of using tweens to animate objects.
  • Tweens are run using Shifty.js tween engine (thanks @jeremyckahn).
• Add support for saving a project as multiple files, ideal for team work and using version control systems (like git, mercurial, svn, etc…)
  
  • In the game properties, choose “Multiples files” and save the project.
  • Layouts, external events, external layouts and functions will be saved into different json files.
  • Make sure to make a backup of your game!.
  • Be sure not to erase any of the multiple files, or GDevelop will be unable to open again your project.
• New option: Extract Events to a Function, to automatically create a function from selected event(s).
  
  • Select an event, right click and choose Extract Events to a Function in the menu. Parameters will be automatically filled with objects, behaviors and groups.
  • Read more about it on the wiki.
• Experimental new object: Video (thanks @Bouh!)

Improvements

• Add variable and object thumbnail icons in the event sheet (thanks @blurymind!)
• Add tooltips in the scene editor, when hovering an instance (thanks @blurymind!)
• Autosave is now made for the project when a preview is launched (thanks @blurymind!)
  
  • If the editor crash, or the autosave is more recent than the file, GDevelop will ask if you want to open the autosave.
  • Autosave is created next to the original file, with a “.autosave” extension.
• Update rendering engine to Pixi.js v4.8.6
• Add checkboxes to filters by conditions/actions in the Events Search (thanks @Bouh!)
• Show object name in menu when pasting and show hint if pasting as global (thanks @blurymind!)
• Add setting to set the maximum framerate (FPS) of the game. Default is ~60fps.
• Show resource name when hovering thumbnail (thanks @blurymind!)
• Improve events function performance
• Add support for groups inside events functions.
• Updated translations.

Bug fixes

• Disable some menu items (disable event/adding subevent) if not applicable (thanks @blurymind!)
• Fix crash when choosing a folder for a new game
• Fix color picker in the scene properties (thanks @KinkGD!)
• Update link to Discord channel (thanks @Bouh!)
• Avoid crashes due to clipboard handling
• Fix crash when using the resource editor in the web-app

You can learn more and download GDevelop here.  It is an open source MIT licensed (core library, IDE is GPLv3) project hosted here on GitHub.

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