• Uriel238 [all pronouns]@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    12·
    7 hours ago

    I’m pretty sure the current failure of AAA gaming has to do to companies getting captured by private equity, but the rise of lootboxes, of subscription-based games and NFTs softened up the AAA industry enough to make it vulnerable to private equity share grabs.

    • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
      3·
      2 hours ago

      Disclaimer: I am NOT defending video game companies.

      I think loot boxes and other fuckery are due to our unwillingness to pay more for the game itself. Shit, I remember seeing new games on the fucking Super Nintendo costing $60. That equivalent price today is almost $150. You can argue about profit margins and greed all day, but that’s an enormous difference. These companies have to make up for that somewhere. So in light of the fact we won’t pay those prices (I sure as hell wouldn’t), they had to get tricky.

    • bridgeburner@lemmy.world
      3·
      5 hours ago

      The rise of lootboxes is equally to blame on those moron players who buy them. Especially the fucking whales, who spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on them. Recurringly. Whales fucking ruin everything they touch. They are to blame why most video games turn to shit, since they show the companies that it is much more lucrative for them to just release new lootboxes with some new super rare items or whatever instead of actually releasing meaningful content. And I mean who can blame them, really? Creating lootboxes barely costs anything wrt to development costs and time, but making new meaningful content does. Fuck whales.

      • Katana314@lemmy.worldEnglish
        7·
        3 hours ago

        It’s easy to blame players, but gambling compulsion is a known psychological phenomenon that can bypass the reasoning of some particularly susceptible people. The law quite often leans towards it not being players’ fault they’re so addicted, hence no ads for casinos.

        Honestly, we kind of need the law to catch up - on sports betting too.

        • baggachipz@sh.itjust.works
          4·
          3 hours ago

          we kind of need the law to catch up - on sports betting too.

          The law was there, for a long time. Then a couple years ago it just… disappeared? It baffles me that every sports event now is nonstop ads for gambling. I guess when you have a casino bankruptor running the country, this is the idiocracy you get.

  • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
    22·
    22 hours ago

    Chinese Spyware

    Yeah, uh, think again bucko. Spyware in Microsoft is 100% home grown American, like God intended.

    That’s Sam Altman’s data, and he will pen a very weepy Op-Ed in the Washington Post if he thinks for a single second that the filthy yellow dragon of the East might be trivially bypassing his lowest bidder security setup to download a trillion petabytes of Esports fast-clicker metadata plus all your credit card info.

    • QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works
      15·
      19 hours ago

      I believe they’re talking about the FPS games invasive anticheat, not windows itself. Examples include Vanguard, EasyAnticheat, Battleye, Duenvo etc.

      Also they come from all around the globe, not specifically China. (Though technically there are ones from China, but those are made for games with a Chinese audience)

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        19 hours ago

        I believe they’re talking about the FPS games invasive anticheat, not windows itself.

        I’m sure the Blizzard/Activision game portal is also trying to suck out all my client data like a depressurizing spaceship.

        (Though technically there are ones from China, but those are made for games with a Chinese audience)

        That’s even worse! Stop stealing our games, China!

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    4·
    17 hours ago

    that you can sink tens of thousands of hours into in spite of not enjoying it

    Me trying to get the hang of a sportball game meant for people infinitely more familiar with the sport than me

    • KuroiKaze@lemmy.world
      3·
      14 hours ago

      Been playing a lot of 2k26 despite not knowing anything about modern basketball and whatnot. Surprisingly addictive improvement curve

      • yermaw@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        4 hours ago

        I had an awful lot of fun with NBA JAM on the SNES. I was about 6 and had zero knowledge of the rules, but me and my brother loved it.

        Big laughs when the commentator says “hes on fire” and “from downtown”

      • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        1·
        4 hours ago

        Same here, with the exact same game. I was able to hate it enough to give up only after wasting a ton of time and frustration 😄

            • KuroiKaze@lemmy.world
              2·
              2 hours ago

              The beginning of the game when your character is terrible is really the hardest part. Once you start hitting 80 overall and can actually shoot and pass and such it really heats up. I’m on a fifteen game winning streak with the trailblazers despite not being able to name a single member of the team just 5 weeks prior.