Pulling the Plug: VPNs, Windows and the Price of Staying Put

EFF's Hayley Tsukayama says developers are reporting that VPN apps are again being removed from Apple's App Store in Russia. She calls it an attack on a basic privacy tool, one that shows websites only the VPN server's address and can let people reach information their government has banned. She cites reports that Roskomnadzor went after VPN apps in 2024, that Russia blocked FaceTime in 2025, and that Bloomberg says Apple and Microsoft were added to a state surveillance registry.

Tsukayama argues this is not only a Russian problem. She points to several US states that, while trying to enforce age-gating laws, have floated restricting or banning VPNs, and says EFF will keep opposing such proposals.

CounterpointEFF is an advocacy group, and supporters of age-verification laws would answer that VPNs let minors get around protections the law requires. Platforms such as Apple also say they must follow local law to stay in a market, though EFF would say that is exactly the pressure point.

On the Respec Ramblings podcast, Alex Donaldson and Tom debate whether the industry should pause the next console generation as predicted prices climb past $1,000. The episode covers the component crisis, rising console prices, streaming's role and Xbox's future. It also lists the seven PS5 first-party exclusives the hosts think justify the console. Tom's thesis is that the current generation has not delivered enough to justify a rush to the next one.

CounterpointHardware makers and developers pushing for new capabilities would say that waiting does not remove cost pressure on current consoles, and that a generation that stalls leaves studios building for ageing hardware.

In the second part of his replay of the series, Game File's Stephen Totilo says GTA: Vice City gave up some of GTA III's player freedom. He cites missions that stage a chainsaw, a golf cart and a crashed motorbike so the intended spectacle is clear, and he calls it a wild game on Rockstar's terms.

He says San Andreas, which he replayed afterwards, surprised him as a radical detour from Vice City. He now reads it as a set-up for the direction Rockstar seems to be taking with GTA VI, and says it changed how he sees the unofficial sex scene.

CounterpointPlayers who prize Vice City's cinematic, authored set pieces would say a directed Rockstar is the series at its best, and that scripting is not a loss of freedom.

Aftermath's Chris Person argues that Windows 11 has become miserable to use and that Microsoft's AI push and its dealings with Israel make a case for moving off it. He quotes the BDS movement, which treats Xbox as a priority boycott and Microsoft more broadly as a pressure target, and which suggests free and open software where a full break is not feasible.

Person also notes that using Windows for work is not a personal failing. He cites France's DINUM moving to a NixOS-based system as a sign that governments are looking for alternatives to US tech. His conclusion is that Linux is the way forward, and that it gets easier every day.

CounterpointMicrosoft would reject the characterisation of its Israel work, noting it restricted some cloud services to Unit 8200. Many users and employers would add that Windows compatibility for games and workplace software still makes Linux impractical for them.

Lucas DeRuyter describes helping a soon-to-be grandmother-in-law sell Pokémon cards and merchandise valued at $16,000 to $20,000, a process that ran from June to October 2025 and strained his relationship. He describes the collectors market as a speculative commodities market driven by scarcity and nostalgia, and says it resembles the Greater Fool theory. He also notes that competitive decks cost $25 to $36 and that the most valuable cards are unplayable.

He concludes the money was not worth it and offers the account as a cautionary tale, citing sweaty, misogynistic buyers and constant family pressure.

CounterpointCollectors and professional resellers would say the market is less predatory than described, and that sellers with documentation and patience can get fair prices. Aftermath's own Nicole Carpenter has defended the community side of the hobby.

Previously: Aftermath's Plunkett argued the sneaker market shows speculative reseller booms eventually fade. — Thursday October 29 edition.

This Week in Videogames' Jamie Hore says 2026 has made the UK coast a horror setting, pointing to Silent Hill: Townfall, the cosier No Ghosts at The Grand (early access December 2026) and Ritual Tides. Hore interviews James MacLeod, a former Rockstar developer and head of studio Vertpaint, about the game. It is a first-person horror game set in the late 1800s on a fictional Cornish island called Hortus, with Bude as a main inspiration.

MacLeod cites The Wicker Man, Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Lovecraft as influences, and says he wants to bend Victorian rural folklore into something sinister. Hore's case is that the region's bleak winter coastline suits the genre.

CounterpointThree games in one year is a thin basis for a trend, and the piece is a preview built around the developer's own account of the project. Coastal British horror has also long been a staple of film and literature.