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Barebones

Razer launches its first barebones mechanical keyboard

by admin June 10, 2025

On Tuesday, Razer launched its first keyboard for the DIY set. As its name implies, the BlackWidow V4 75% Barebones is the popular mechanical keyboard, only without keys and keycaps. It could be a solid option if you like Razer’s design and Chroma RGB but want to bring your own keys.

Otherwise, the Barebones BlackWidow is identical to the fully assembled variant. It still supports 3-pin or 5-pin mechanical switches and custom keycaps. It offers a polling rate of up to 8,000Hz with Razer’s HyperPolling tech.

Razer

Other details include factory-lubricated stabilizers for smoother keystrokes and dual-layer dampening foam. It even has pre-applied tape to soften higher frequencies. For a full rundown of the keyboard’s feature set, Engadget’s Igor Bonifacic reviewed it for IGN in 2023.

At $140, the black barebones version is $60 cheaper than the pre-assembled version. The white variant is slightly less thrifty at $150. (Unfortunately, you can’t get a barebones one in phantom green.) You can order the BlackWidow V4 75% Barebones today on Razer’s website.

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June 10, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Slate Truck FAQ: answering all your questions about the barebones electric pickup

by admin June 1, 2025

Alright, we get it. Y’all are excited about Slate. We thought the little Slate Truck was cool, but based on the number of clicks and comments on our Slate Auto articles so far, you’d like to know more. Many of you wrote in with questions and more than a few people raised some doubts.

So, we wanted to address as many of those as we could. Here’s your one-stop shop for Slate answers based on your questions — plus a few of our own.

What are the Slate’s full specs, and how does it compare to a Ford Maverick or F-150?

The Slate is clearly a vehicle built for everyday utility, and while it’ll make for a handy machine for hauling a lot of things, big towing and heavy cargo were clearly not a top priority. Here are the key specs, compared against the four-wheel drive hybrid Ford Maverick with the 2.5-liter engine and a Ford F-150 4×2 with a 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6.

Slate TruckFord MaverickFord F-150Horsepower (hp)201191325Curb weight (lbs)3,6023,6744,171Max payload (lbs)1,4331,5001,775Max towing (lbs)1,0002,0008,400Bed length (ft)54.55.5, 6.5, or 8Bed width (max / min, in)50 / 54.942.6 / 53.350.6 / 66.9Seats255
It’s worth noting that these Ford numbers vary widely based on configuration. For example, you can get a “4K Tow Package” on the Maverick that boosts towing to 4,000 lbs, and the F-150 has hundreds of variations depending on need. Max towing on an F-150 is 13,500 lbs. The numbers above represent the figures quoted by Ford for a base, option-free vehicle.
And one final note: towing substantially reduces the efficiency of the tow vehicle, due to the weight of the trailer and its additional aerodynamic drag. For an electric vehicle like the Slate, that will surely result in reduced range, perhaps by as much as half depending on the trailer.

Where will the vehicle be manufactured?

Slate has confirmed manufacturing will take place in a former catalog printing facility in Warsaw, Indiana, which closed in 2023. Slate hopes to renovate the facility and eventually employ 2,000 workers, with an annual production volume of 150,000 vehicles. And the company is seeking tax abatements on the factory site from the county government to begin construction. Full details on that here.

That domestic production should mean that vehicles produced by Slate are eligible for the full $7,500 federal rebate — if the credit still exists late next year when the Truck enters production.

Does the Slate Truck have a cellular connection?

No, the Slate Truck does not have built-in cellular connectivity. LTE is an increasingly common feature in new cars, enabling auto manufacturers to do all sorts of stuff, including good things like software updates and some perhaps not so good things like selling your driving data.

For the former, o-the-air updates will still be possible via the Slate smartphone app. Updates will be downloaded to the phone and then pushed to the Slate Truck via USB cable. As for the latter, that leads us to our next question.

Will Slate harvest and sell my driving data?

Not your driving data, no, but you can upload data about the health of your vehicle. Jeff Jablansky, Slate Auto’s head of public relations and communications, gave us this example:

“A ‘check engine’ light comes on: if the driver has their phone plugged in and has opted in to data movement, the company will send a notification to the Slate app so they can be aware of potential service needs.”

Jablansky confirmed that no data will be sold to third parties.

Can I precondition my Slate Truck?

One of the joys of owning a modern EV is easy preconditioning. Regardless of where your car is parked, you can get the interior warmed up or cooled down from just a few taps on your smartphone, all without having to worry about filling your garage with carbon monoxide.

Can you do that in the Slate Truck? Maybe. The lack of cellular connection means you won’t be able to wirelessly connect to your Truck from anywhere, but Jablansky didn’t rule it out entirely, saying, “This is something we are working on through the app.”

Will Slate make models available for designing 3D-printed accessories?

Ready to download some STL/3MF files today and start designing your ultimate cupholder? Us, too, but we’ll need to be patient for a little bit. “The Maker community is incredibly important to Slate, and we are on track toward delivering on this commitment closer to launch,” Jablansky says.

So stay tuned on that front. Jablansky says this will also include details on third-party accessory providers and licensing.

Why didn’t Slate use standard DIN slots for ease of installing audio?

The DIN slot, also known as the ISO 7736 or Deutsches Institut für Normung 75490 slot, has long been the standard for in-dash audio. Why, then, are there no DIN slots on the Slate Truck? Slate says it was to offer greater flexibility. “We wanted to allow the customer to pick and choose their accessories without forcing combinations of options together in packages. This comes to life in our audio strategy to allow customers to choose to install anything from a Bluetooth speaker to a full audio system,” Jablansky says.

So the bad news is if you want to use a standard DIN receiver, then you’ll need to DIY an enclosure for it. The good news is if you just want to mount a Bluetooth sound bar, then you won’t have to worry about filling any gaping rectangular holes in the dashboard.

Image: Slate Auto

Is a more advanced active driver assistance system in the works?

No. “Consistent with our broader approach, we focused our engineering to make a Slate a great truck to drive,” Jablansky says.

Keep those hands on the wheel, folks.

Why choose a Truck to start instead of a sedan or compact SUV?

Cost and simplicity, it turns out. Jablansky says that “a two-door form factor meant less material, less complexity, lower cost.” He adds that the lockable frunk means there’s sedan-like secure storage for your stuff, with the added benefit of a big bed out back. And, of course, you can add on the SUV kit if you need more seating or more covered storage.

Will any special tools be required for any of the DIY upgrades and add-ons?

Per Jablansky, special tools are not expected to be required.

Will this thing really sell for $20,000? What about tariffs? What if the EV incentives go away?

It’s a dynamic world and dynamic industry out there right now, but Slate isn’t backing down. “We are committed to our expected price point of $20,000 after federal incentives,” Jablansky says, which implies an MSRP of roughly $27,500. “If incentives go away, Slate will remain well-positioned in the U.S. with a strong proposition of value, safety, and customization.”

Will those attributes be enough to woo people away from a Ford Maverick, which starts at just over $28,000? We’ll have to wait and see.

Jablansky says that Slate is also committed to US manufacturing, which should fend off most of the tariff fears, and that the company is still on track to start manufacturing in 2026.

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June 1, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

A Fun But Barebones Adventure

by admin May 24, 2025

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown isn’t like most other TMNT games. Usually, in games featuring the famous turtle crimefighters, you punch and kick a ton of goons in real-time, either alone or with some buddies. That’s not the case in TMNT: Tactical Takedown, which is instead a turn-based tactics game. Thankfully, the shift to turn-based mostly works for the Turtles, even if the game is a bit barebones.

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In TMNT: Tactical Takedown, battles play out on small maps covered in grids. Each mission features one turtle fighting his way through these maps turn-by-turn, while enemies spawn throughout, also moving on their own turns across the grid. Your goal is often to clear out the baddies while reaching the end of the level.

At first, I was worried that this tactical and slower-paced turn-based gameplay wouldn’t feel TMNT-enough, that it would lack the kinetic excitement of most of the Ninja Turtle games and shows. But, developers Strange Scaffold (of Witch Stranding, El, Paso Elsewhere and Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 fame) did a great job infusing the strategic gameplay with flourishes and ideas that make it feel plenty exciting and fast-paced.

One significant way TMNT: Tactical Takedown makes the action feel exciting is ensuring that you don’t hang out in one area during missions. Instead, you are pushed forward every few turns as the levels grow ahead of you and fall behind you. For example, during one mission, I entered some subway trains and as the train started, the grid outside of the train turned red—a visual warning it was about to vanish—disappearing along with some goons. Then, once the train reached its station, and I had beaten up another dozen or so Foot Clan members, I exited before the carriage itself fell into the void, taking more baddies with it.

Having levels change every few turns means I had to keep moving forward, similar to an old-school beat ‘em up. And you can even take advantage of the levels changing by kicking back enemies into the red areas and watching them fall into nothing on your next turn. However, it’s even more fun to kick them off the edge of the maps, something I did a lot.

Another design choice I appreciated is that most of the Turtles’ moves encourage you to be aggressive, and then reward it. A lot of times in Tactical Takedown, I was taking out multiple enemies in one turn by chaining attacks in satisfying ways, although given this also means the game is designed around you defeating tons of enemies quickly, it leads to some missions quickly filling up with Foot Clan soldiers who can too often overwhelm your Turtles if you make a mistake. I wonder if, for those hoping for a more arcade-like experience, Tactical Takedown might prove too tactically challenging.

Of course, any TMNT game is going to star the Turtles themselves, and this is easily the best part of the Tactical Takedown. The Turtles are separated for the entire game, mostly, and that’s a bit strange—sure, if you do enough cool shit you can pull off a team up move—but most of the time you are playing as each turtle separately.

Screenshot: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku

But while they don’t fight side by side throughout most of the game, they do talk to each other via cutscenes, and the writing here is excellent. I won’t spoil too much, but the conflict between the brothers is the core of the tale, and it’s shocking how invested I got in the rather simple, but well-delivered story of four mutated turtle warriors dealing with grief, loss, and trying to pick up the pieces together.

Sadly, too much of TMNT: Tactical Takedown feels barebones. Levels look fine, but are very simple, rarely featuring varying locations or details. The Turtles all play differently, with various moves that reflect their personality, but so many sound effects are reused. Couple that with simplistic, stiff combat animations and levels that go on for too long, and Tactical Takedown can often feel like a game that is trying to trick you into thinking it’s more than it is.

Still, I’m happy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown was made, and that I played it. It’s a unique spin on the franchise, and the turn-based combat is frenetic and fun. I also love the way the Turtles are depicted in cutscenes. It’s a shame that there’s not much else here, but what is there is good and feels like a solid foundation for future DLC or sequels that could add more.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown launched on May 22 for PC. It is available now on Steam and runs great on Steam Deck.

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May 24, 2025 0 comments