Kawa's recent activity
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
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Comment on What are your gaming idiosyncracies? in ~games
Kawa LinkPerhaps it's less in line with the rest of the replies in the thread (a handful of which are things I sometimes do) but my 1 big "always/never" idiosyncracy is that I've always hated vibration and...Perhaps it's less in line with the rest of the replies in the thread (a handful of which are things I sometimes do) but my 1 big "always/never" idiosyncracy is that I've always hated vibration and have always turned it off / elected to not use it, ever since it was introduced. I never had an N64 rumble pak of my own and recall removing them from my friend's controller at his house, and always turning it off on dualshocks and the like. I have always hated the whole idea from day 1.
I don't really mind the adaptive triggers on the dualsense too much though, but it is probably an uncommon setup to have vibration off with adaptive triggers on since they're both features in the same general immersive haptic category. Admittedly, I also sometimes turn the adaptive triggers off too, depends on the game and where/how its using the feature.
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Comment on What's your favorite personal gaming memory? in ~games
Kawa (edited )LinkLots of people mentioning MMOs in this thread, and I've got a few MMO related memories to share: Fond memories of being in my early teens and my mom going away to cottage for a long weekend in the...Lots of people mentioning MMOs in this thread, and I've got a few MMO related memories to share:
Fond memories of being in my early teens and my mom going away to cottage for a long weekend in the summer while school was out, calling my friend over, he brought his dad's laptop and we set up in the living room for 3 days playing RuneScape. This of course would've been in the RS2 days, and I played the game on and off until Evolution of Combat pushed me away from the game. In recent years I've dabbled with OSRS but never been too committed.
Guild Wars 1 was kind of my first time being an "endgamer" in an MMO or MMO-like game (there's some categorization debate for GW1 I don't want to get into) which held my first exposure to an early form of today's instance-based raiding, GW1's Elite Missions. Did em all, Fissure of Woe, Underworld, The Deep, Urgoz's Warren, Domain of Anguish, all the EotN dungeons including Slavers' Exile. Really fun stuff. I remember when the game was popular, huge mega guilds made up of like 10 population capped guilds all linked in an alliance with a shared chat that would be popping any hour of the day. I remember this was kinda before livestreaming, but there was stuff like Winamp Shoutcast radio stations dedicated to the game: I recall "Blade Radio" taking requests, holding events in the game, giving away in-game items and real life stuff like GPUs. Something about this game had a really strong sense of community. I ended up in GW1 which released at a similar time to WoW because I couldn't pay WoW's subscription in my youth but GW1 expansions were easy pickups with birthday/christmas money, and while it does sometimes suck to not be able to share in the overall gamer cultural phenomenon of having nostalgic vanilla WoW memories, because that's something you can connect with so many more people over, I don't regret being in the GW1 camp for even one second instead, and it makes finding fellow GW1ers that much more special.
In the case of Guild Wars 2, my relationship with this game since launch and even until today turned out very fraught, and my fondest memories of its earliest days aren't dungeons or world bosses but instead breaking out of bounds. Back then, the game didn't have mounts, so a lot of this stuff is unremarkable today with the gryphon and skyscale, but back then it used to be that if you could find a way out of bounds, you could also often find a way to clip downwards into, usually, a pool of water below the terrain. Then you could swim to your desired XY coordinates, and upon relogging your Z would be reset to something in-bounds at the same XY, so you could use this to get on top of very high structures and stuff that otherwise had no way to get there. Most memorable to me were getting on top of the glass dome over the garden in the center of Divinity's Reach and getting on top of structures on the old version of Lion's Arch.
Lastly, of course, I am very dedicated FFXIV player today, been around since Heavensward and over the last decade I've had many special memories, whether that's clearing my first Ultimate raid (I've done all 6 now and am prepping for the incoming release of the 7th soon, but clearing one for the first time is truly special), or the experiences with many groups over the course of many Savage raid tiers, or the MSQ's huge moments. One of the most completely captivating and hyped times in the game's recent history though was late in Shadowbringers, right before Endwalker came out, and then the month or so after, up until a couple weeks after Asphodelos Savage was out. The atmosphere in the community was electric, the hype nearly dangerous, but my god it was so much fun to be around at that time!
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Comment on How many Hosers are there on Tildes? in ~talk
Kawa Link ParentThat's my hometown, but I don't live there any more. I'm 34 - if you're in my age range, I wonder if we know/knew each other. That said, with how Sault Ste. Marie can be, I wonder if I would even...That's my hometown, but I don't live there any more. I'm 34 - if you're in my age range, I wonder if we know/knew each other. That said, with how Sault Ste. Marie can be, I wonder if I would even want to know. My social ties to the Sault are kept minimal on purpose.
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Comment on CGA-2026-02 đšī¸đ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Racing Lagoon in ~games
Kawa Link ParentPlease feel welcome to, thank you kfwyre.Please feel welcome to, thank you kfwyre.
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Comment on CGA-2026-02 đšī¸đ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Racing Lagoon in ~games
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Comment on CGA-2026-02 đšī¸đ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Racing Lagoon in ~games
Kawa LinkI'm just going to be so brutally honest, and its not very high quality tildesposter of me, but I do not have the kind of time or willingness lately to scratch my head about what to put in an...I'm just going to be so brutally honest, and its not very high quality tildesposter of me, but I do not have the kind of time or willingness lately to scratch my head about what to put in an introduction or description at the top of the main post for a game I myself have the most 3-word bullet point description of, without it being a regurgitated, probably-wrong rehash of summaries I could find on the very same mobygames and wikipedia pages I linked.
You may have noticed I didn't even participate in the prior couple CGAs and I'm not even going to be able to make the time to play this game, despite being the one who nominated it, let alone be an engaging host in this thread. I'm sorry to spoil anyone's fun or the quality of CGA, I only just remembered I'm supposed to come post this. I hope you all enjoy the game.
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Comment on CGA-2026-02 đšī¸đ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Racing Lagoon in ~games
Kawa (edited )LinkCGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the cartridge for Racing Lagoon. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing! If you...CGA Announcement: We have officially inserted the cartridge for Racing Lagoon. Use this topic to get set up for the month, help other people get set up for the month, and start playing!
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CGA-2026-02 đšī¸đ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ Racing Lagoon
Racing Lagoon Versions: The only official release was the release of PlayStation 1 disc version in Japan. Platforms: PlayStation Genre(s): Racing/Driving, Role-playing Links: Mobygames, Wikipedia...
Racing Lagoon
Versions: The only official release was the release of PlayStation 1 disc version in Japan.
Platforms: PlayStation
Genre(s): Racing/Driving, Role-playing
Stores:
- Regrettably, there is no modern digital distribution for this game, so as much as I hate to say it, we're all on our own acquiring it. It should be noted that a fan translation exists, for which the patch is available here (it's a patreon link, but it's not paywalled), but as usual for translations released in patch format, you will still need to acquire your own copy of the game to patch.
Game Setup
The main purpose of this topic is to get people up and running with the game. As such, it's recommended that you:
- Share which version of the game you're playing
- Share what hardware you're playing it on
- Share if there are any tools/mods that you recommend
- Share anything you think is important for people to know before they start the game
- Ask questions if you need help
Another purpose of this topic is to revisit the game and its time period:
- Do you have any memories or associations with this game itself?
- What about its system or era?
- What aspects of retro gaming were common at the time?
- What other games from the same time period are you familiar with?
- What are you expecting from this game in particular?
Finally, this topic is the beginning discussion for people starting to play it:
- Post updates sharing your thoughts as you play.
- Ask for help if you get stuck.
- Offer help to others.
It is recommended that you reply to your own posts if you are making consecutive updates so that they are in the same thread.
Important
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Any links to the game should be legal distributions of the game only. Please do NOT link to any unauthorized copies.
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Put any spoilers in a dropdown block. Copy/paste the block below if needed.
<details> <summary>Spoilers</summary> Spoiler text goes here. </details>
FAQ
What is CGA?
Colossal Game Adventure (CGA) is Tildes' retro video game club.
Each month we will play a different retro game/games, discuss our thoughts, and bask in the glorious digital experiences of yesteryear!
Colossal Game Adventure is a reference to Colossal Cave Adventure. It's one of the most influential games of all time, one of the first text-based interactive games, and one of the first games to be shared online.
What do we want to do with this group? Play influential games; interact with each other through text; and share the love for retro games online!
It also abbreviates to CGA (because we love chunky pixel art), and its name communicates the Colossal amount of fun and excitement that we have with retro video Games in our shared Adventure of playing them together.
Do I have to sign up?
No. Participation is open to all.
There is a Notification List that will get pinged each time a new topic goes up. If you would like to join that list, please PM u/kfwyre.
Are there restrictions on what/how to play?
Each month will have a focus game or games that will guide our discussions. Beyond that, there are no restrictions. The philosophy of CGA is to play in a way that works for you!
This means:
- Choose whichever version of the game you want.
- You can use cheats, save states, mods, etc.
- You can watch a streamer or longplay instead of playing it.
If you have already played a game and want a different experience:
- Try a randomizer or challenge run.
- Play a different version of it.
- Play a related game (sequel, spiritual successor, something inspired by it, etc.)
There is no wrong way to participate in CGA, and every different way someone participates will make for more interesting discussions.
What is the schedule?
Each month the Insert Cartidge topic will be posted on the 1st, while the Remove Cartridge topic will be posted on the 20th.
Nomination and voting topics will happen in March and September (every 6 months).
Schedules are also posted then.
All CGA topics are available using the
colossal game adventuretag.What do Insert and Remove Cartridge mean?
Inserting and removing cartridges are our retro metaphor for starting and stopping a given game or games.
The Insert Cartridge topic happens at the beginning of the month and is primarily about getting the game up and running.
The Remove Cartridge topic happens toward the end of the month and is primarily about people reflecting on the game now that they've played it.
There are no hard restrictions on what has to go in either topic, and each can be used to discuss the game, post updates, ask questions, etc.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2025 in ~games
Kawa (edited )LinkThis giveaway item was claimed and is no longer available, thank you! Original post: Sorry I don't really have the resources at this time to contribute a big list of games or anything super...- Exemplary
This giveaway item was claimed and is no longer available, thank you!
Original post:
Sorry I don't really have the resources at this time to contribute a big list of games or anything super special, and I'm not really the humble bundle buying type of person to have lots of keys incidentally lying around, but upon seeing this thread I realized I do have a little something I might try to give away.
I've had Don't Starve Together in my "Steam Inventory" as a gift item for a very long time - almost a decade.
From what I understand, this game always includes a gift copy when purchased, and an ex-partner of mine talked me into playing the game with her like a decade ago. She had already purchased her own copy and given the gift version to her brother, so in order to participate, I had to purchase my own, and that act earned me a gift copy that I have never gifted since then.
This is a multiplayer-only game (Don't Starve and Don't Starve Together are separate singleplayer and multiplayer versions of the same game, basically) and I'm gifting you one copy of it which means you should understand that if you have someone in mind to play this with, and you accept this, when they purchase the game, they'll be left with an unused gift copy as well, unless you're planning to play with an odd number of players and receiving this gift sorts that organizing out. Maybe you already have a group that played/would play again and need to hook up a potential new player with a copy of the game, could be good for that too.
There is no need to prove to me that you have a plan for how to benefit from receiving it or that you have an odd numbered group to play with or any intention to play it at all to receive this gift from me, I am just making clear how receiving this game can be kind of awkward unless you have an odd numbered playgroup.
Important: this is not a Steam key but a Steam inventory item, so in order for me to gift it to you, I believe we would have to add each other as Steam friends first, then I can use my "send gift" button to give you the game. Steam does say the item is tradable, so let's say if you already own the game and want to give it to a future participant in your gaming circle Don't Starve Together group who isn't literally you, we can try the trade functionality and see if that works, and then you would activate it as a gift upon them.
Lastly, I actually kinda hated this game so please don't ask me to play it with you after, the answer will be no! Sorry!
I will literally give it to the first person who asks for it, no requirements or anything.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: Holiday 2025 in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI'm interested in VVVVVV. It'd been a game I knew was out there and existed but I never paid it any attention for years and years until I heard this song in some context outside the game and now I...I'm interested in VVVVVV. It'd been a game I knew was out there and existed but I never paid it any attention for years and years until I heard this song in some context outside the game and now I find myself interested.
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Comment on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 becomes first indie game to win Game of the Year at The Game Awards in ~games
Kawa (edited )Link ParentFrom what has been stated publicly by past TGA jury participants such as in a recent Alanah Pearce video, there's no discourse between TGA jurors about what "should" or "shouldn't" win. The jury...If a game is going to win GOTY, it shouldnt win other awards unless it is an overwhelming best of the category.
Once they determine the GOTY winner they should get a handicap on all other categories to let other games shine that deserve some recognition
From what has been stated publicly by past TGA jury participants such as in a recent Alanah Pearce video, there's no discourse between TGA jurors about what "should" or "shouldn't" win. The jury is made up of a semi random selection of games journalists and industry professionals who are contacted remotely by TGA, and are not required to converse with each other, justify their nominations or votes, or even demonstrate that they played the games they're nominating or voting for at all. They're basically mailing in ballots, and TGA just tallies them up, mixes them with the fan votes with the 90%/10% weighting, and shows us the results.
Frankly, at the end of the day, this is just "some guy's opinion" except in an aggregate form of many "some guys." In a way, by participating the journalists and industry professionals on the TGA jury are kinda inadvertently using it as a reward apparatus by which they incetivize the industry to push in certain directions, and I think this is most seen in the types of games that rarely or never get nominated for GotY.
The games industry's desperation for validation tends to manifest as a little-brother-syndrome to the film industry, and this is super apparent with the presence of film trailers and famous people showing up at TGA, as well as how certain types of games (looking at first-party playstation single player stuff) always feel like shoe-ins to GotY and certain categories.
Some genres feel practically walled out from even being in the GotY category even though there's technically no barrier to nomination other than that the jury believes mostly big cinematic games deserve it.
For random example, if enough games journalists and industry professionals believed block puzzlers were capable of being GotY maybe Lumines Arise could've been nominated. As far as we know, there's no authority at TGA saying "no" to that, just the jury is not nominating it enough, and same goes for anywhere else that games didn't get nominated or win. They're kind of silent, collective disregard snubs, not authoritative someone-in-charge said "no" snubs.
So the idea that they like, authoritatively/curatorially/editorially (idk which one I'm looking for) determine a GOTY through discourse with authoritative TGA organizers and then subsequently can curate the other categories to disallow a sweep just isn't how it's known to work currently. (Unless we think past participants and TGA are both being dishonest about the process.)
If you're advocating that they should change their system away from all this to a group who actually debate and have discourse with each other (I believe this happens with
golden joystickBAFTA, for example), then yeah that's a completely fair take, but it's a bigger change than it is if you think they're already like that and you just want basic sweep prevention added on top.The awards part of the show honestly shouldn't really hold any serious meaning to anybody except maybe some winners and nominees for whom saying they worked on a TGA winner might be a career boon. Again, just the opinion of a bunch of "some guys" - I don't think there's truly any good reason for the consumer/audience to care who wins what. For the average gamer, I think this show is best viewed as a trailer showcase.
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Comment on CGA-2025-12 đ´ââ ī¸đī¸đ INSERT CARTRIDGE đĸ The Secret of Monkey Island in ~games
Kawa LinkThis video went up 2 days ago (timestamped to the relevant part) and it's a GDC talk by Frank Cifaldi of VGHF who has done some very interesting GDC talks in the past, one of which I have linked...This video went up 2 days ago (timestamped to the relevant part) and it's a GDC talk by Frank Cifaldi of VGHF who has done some very interesting GDC talks in the past, one of which I have linked on this website before and arguably each one of his talks there has been a sequel to the prior, starting with this one.
Anyway, I bring this up because in the most recent one, that I linked first, starting at 28:09 a story is shared about The Secret of Monkey Island and finding it's source material that I thought folks would appreciate. Of course, if you're into stuff to do with game preservation, emulation, and all that, all 3 of these talks may be interesting albeit lengthy.
That's all from me for now.
FWIW, played Secret of Monkey Island multiple times in my life, it may have been among the first few games I've ever played and more or less taught me reading before I entered kindergarten, but for as much as I love it, I just don't really feel like actually playing it again right now, so while I think I might comment in this thread and the remove cartridge thread, I'm sitting this one out in terms of gameplay.
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Comment on Windows: Linux GPU gaming benchmarks on Bazzite in ~games
Kawa Link ParentIt has indeed intermittently worked, so it may still be possible for it to stop working again, and afaik Hoyoverse has never commented on the matter.It has indeed intermittently worked, so it may still be possible for it to stop working again, and afaik Hoyoverse has never commented on the matter.
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Comment on Windows: Linux GPU gaming benchmarks on Bazzite in ~games
Kawa Link ParentHoyoverse games (genshin, honkai, zenless, etc) all use kernel level anti cheat that doesn't run on Linux and have pretty massive playerbases, so people who play those probably won't make the jump...Hoyoverse games (genshin, honkai, zenless, etc) all use kernel level anti cheat that doesn't run on Linux and have pretty massive playerbases, so people who play those probably won't make the jump any time soon either.
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Kawa Link ParentMy deck is also a launch unit and so I must've had it equally as long so I don't think the problem is necessarily one of time but rather what types of games I'm putting on it. I've pretty much...My deck is also a launch unit and so I must've had it equally as long so I don't think the problem is necessarily one of time but rather what types of games I'm putting on it.
I've pretty much only got full controller support games on it, that aren't stretching the limits of the traditional set of controller buttons to the point that I'd reach for the PC binds for extra functions.
Like you are talking about playing very classical PC games: an MMO, an FPS, I'm guessing the transport game is like a mouse-centric sim game. The installed library on mine isn't even close to titles like that. I doubt a single title I have installed on it has FPS campaign style quick save or quick load for instance, and a lot of them are the kind of games that don't expect mixing input methods, where if I bound one of the keyboard binds, I'd get the HUD controls displays flashing keyboard controls when I press one until I press a controller input again - not the end of the world or anything but should illustrate the point.
There's like JRPGs, Puzzle Games, Platformers, stuff like that on my Deck. All stuff that also have console versions. I don't think I have a specifically PC-centric game installed on my deck at all.
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI really appreciate finding people such as you who are on the same page as me about this. I see a lot of whining and criticism of Playstation controllers for their left analog stick position, but...Xbox controllers placement of the D-Pad makes D-Pad-Based games a lot less comfortable than the native deck controls.
I really appreciate finding people such as you who are on the same page as me about this. I see a lot of whining and criticism of Playstation controllers for their left analog stick position, but for me there's absolutely zero difference or preference in PS or Xbox position for left analog stick while using the analog stick.
However, the effect this has on using the D-Pad is tremendous, and while I love the 8bitdo Ultimate that I currently use daily as my PC controller, I have sometimes pulled out my Nintendo Switch Online SNES controller (it's just a SNES controller that I can connect to my PC basically) for some emulated/retro/indie games because of the D-Pad position. Not that I completely want to retire the NSO SNES controller, the novelty of it is still fun enough that I'll probably keep using it occasionally for emulation, much like how I have one of these and a real N64 controller specifically for emulating N64 games (or playing recompilation stuff!) because I dislike mapping N64 to modern controllers, but I could definitely see myself retiring the 8bitdo Ultimate and using the Steam Controller for both modern 3D AAA type stuff as well as more D-Pad focused games.
I've still only rarely used the touchpads on my Steam Deck actually in an in-game context instead of mousing around desktop mode. I played Va-11 Hall-A on Deck and used them for that, and that's pretty much it. I'm still open to the idea and seeing how I can harness them to my advantage.
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Kawa (edited )Link ParentAn 8bitdo Ultimate (1, not 2) is my current main controller for my PC since May 2024 without any discomfort or complications. I find it a little surprising and confusing trying to consider what...An 8bitdo Ultimate (1, not 2) is my current main controller for my PC since May 2024 without any discomfort or complications.
I find it a little surprising and confusing trying to consider what you're describing regarding the angle of the handles.
May I ask, how do you hold a SNES controller? Do you fit the ends of the controller all the way into your palms, or do you hold it pretty much entirely with the "pads" of your fingertips and thumbs? I would feel pretty comfortable taking a guess that nobody fully palm grips SNES controllers because there's an absence of handles, so everybody who has ever used one should be familiar with the idea of using the controller entirely in their fingertips.
(Sorry I can only show one hand in the photo, other hand was handling the camera of course.)
So basically, I do something pretty close to that albeit slightly different for all modern controllers as well (more contact with the surface of lower joins of my pinky and ring fingers cause they curl around handles when they're present)
Basically the weight of the controller is not "gripped" by my palms but just supported by the fingers on the underside, and usually my hands rest in my lap. Held more horizontally than in the above photo, the base of my thumb isn't making any contact with the front surface of the controller, just the "thumbprint" area. It could explain why I haven't taken to back buttons yet because those backside fingers aren't technically "free" to use them if they don't land exactly where my fingers want to rest. (spoiler: they never do)
Anyway, I couldn't imagine fully gripping any controllers all the way into my palms, even the ones with more angled handles like my DualSense controllers that I have. Maybe it's because my hands are generally on the larger side? If anything though I think all this just supports the notions that there's grip variety and should be more controller shape variety as well because our hands aren't all the same.
I think I'm gonna give the new Steam controller a go, when I can.
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Kawa Link ParentI'm not concerned about that. If I am correctly imagining what you're describing, there'd be sort of an inward twist of the wrists (clockwise for left wrist, ccw for right) to even try to do that,...I'm not concerned about that. If I am correctly imagining what you're describing, there'd be sort of an inward twist of the wrists (clockwise for left wrist, ccw for right) to even try to do that, which just doesn't match how I hold controllers.
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Kawa Link ParentDigital Foundry vid says valve told them the physical port is a 2.1 and that if all that can get solved they could potentially "activate" that on the software side at a later date, just not by launch.Digital Foundry vid says valve told them the physical port is a 2.1 and that if all that can get solved they could potentially "activate" that on the software side at a later date, just not by launch.
That sounds like a battery drain optimization which would be a pretty different reason but sounds valid.