Nintendo Didn't Win the Console War. It Might Win the Physical Game War
www.buffgaming.rs
As PlayStation and Xbox move toward a more digital future, Nintendo could become the last major platform where physical games still truly matter.

As PlayStation and Xbox move toward a more digital future, Nintendo could become the last major platform where physical games still truly matter.

  • BassetHound@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    0·
    22 days ago

    Yeah, but many modern games only work after a day 1 patch anyway, so what’s on the disc won’t count for much. Not to mention you still need a working console, and those stop being sold long before digital storefronts are closed.

    I don’t think DRM free is realistic either, piracy is just too big of a problem on the release of a new game. Eventually the cracks will arrive, but that window before is important for making a profit. Most consumers are as amoral as corporations. They don’t care about who makes what they are using, nor do they care about the ethics behind where they got it from.

    • godsammitdam@lemmy.zipEnglish
      0·
      22 days ago

      I disagree with the last points. If true, indie games would make next to nothing, but that hasn’t been the case. In most cases, those of us who choose to pirate, it’s often because price locks us out or we eant control of our owm single player experience. Many in the pirating community will buy a game that they believe to be worth the cost.

      Games that include free demos are often much less pirated.

      If you build something from passion and heart it gets pirated much less than something looking to solely make a profit. Pirating is a policy problem more than a theft problem.

      Perhaps chasing profit isn’t the path forward. And if DRM free didn’t work, I’d imagine GOG wouldn’t be viable as a business at all. One person could purchase a game and host it for free for anyone. People choose to instead support developers anyway when they beleive the game is worth it.

      Basically, don’t choose authoritarianism and profit. Choose passion and vision and giving back.

      • BassetHound@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        0·
        22 days ago

        The vast majority of indie games make nothing. The price locking you out isn’t really a valid argument. If the developer lives in an expensive place and needs to charge X to break even, then that’s what they need to do to have a commercially viable product.

        New games on GOG often have DRM, because it’s the only way they can compete with Steam.

        I hardly see DRM as authoritarianism. No one compels you to play a game, its a luxury. Games are products and need to turn a profit so their creators can eat and create new games.