I think we will see what I call "The Napster Effect".

An effect where [[[ Second Order Of Consequences ]]] are dismissed.

In the early 2000's the Music Industry resisted Inevitable Change. They lost control of dictating entertainment content to the masses. They attacked the middle man.

There is a inherit [[ secondary order of effect ]] where [[ piracy actually makes a thing more popular than it would have been otherwise thereby having the secondary effect of creating more sales ]]

Napster, Limewire and others sent some artists to Platinum Status. Eminem is pretty good example of "riding the wave" to success.

Counter-examples might be Metallica and Nickleback.

So the lesson here is the same one Social Media and Social News Blogs live by -- All Press is Good Press, or Controversy is Good For Business.

In Nintendo's case, what's worse than people pirating Nintendo games? Nobody pirating Nintendo games.

Why? Because nobody will remember their name or care.

By god I wish I could end all piracy of ALL Adobe products, think about the massive influx of money it would mean for open source free alternatives and other tools like Affinity and others.

This is how second order of consequences works -- and unfortunately the majority of the worlds population can't comprehend it -- which is why we keep shooting our balls off as a species.

A -> B -> C

Most people only understand A -> B

Eg: If I steal this from the store, I get it for free ( -> Possibly jail, market instability, being attacked by citizens who legitimately pay for products and patron the store)

Eg 2: I go to the store to get the food --> the store gets the food from the distribution --> the distribution gets the food from the farmer. If the farmer can't make the food -- I can't eat the food because there isn't enough food to distribute at low prices.

Common sense isn't so common anymore.

--

I get the sense Nintendo is in financial trouble again due to them lashing out. There's only so many games left before Shigeru Miyamoto (71) drops dead.

That guy literally is Nintendo's only asset -- like if Linus Tech Tips dropped dead LTT wouldn't be the same thing.

Switch was Nintendo's only thing, like how iPhone became Apple's only thing generating the majority of their revenue. And now Switch no longer has cornered the market and like 5 others have come in, Valve, ASUS, Lenovo, AyaNeo, GDP WIN and we will probably see others too.

And then the global recession is hitting now. Nintendo is probably screwed. They still think they are a hardware company too -- and just like Disney their only income is milking old IP.

They're circling the drain and won't be missed by me. Make way for more worthy gaming companies who don't assault their fans and deny them future preservation of their fan's beloved stories.

Just like the 1990s music industry lashed out, they are in for a serious reckoning. They should have made allies, not enemies.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

FINALLY Now I can buy Hunie Pop, Shakira whats-it, and College Bachelor Sex Party Deluxe without crippling embarrassment /s



I can finally have the college experience without the crippling debt or leaving the comfort of my sofa. /s

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I've been shitting on Nintendo for almost 2 decades now after they stole > $500 of my digital purchases.

Out of spite for Nintendo, when I was asked for a Switch by someone I bought them a Steam Deck (even though it costed more).

In my case, the saying comes to mind:

When people reveal who they really are, believe them the first time.

Nintendo is Asshoe, Nintendo will always be Asshoe until they get collapsed like SEGA, may they burn and be reborn like a Phoenix -- like SEGA was and actually produce sales on Steam (Look how successful Sonic on Steam has been).

This is basic common sense -- sell where the people are.

In the words of Gabe Newell:

Piracy is a SERVICE problem

Steam, Netflix, and Spotify are all examples of piracy reduction by providing convenience.

Make sure everyone knows what Nintendo has done here. Make their face & reputation feel shame. Make them pay, the Zelda leak was entirely due to Their: __INCOMPETENCE__ and Their's Alone. And did they file the suit against the leaker? No. Instead they saw the Patreon income and projected the blame on engineers practicing a hobby that couldn't fight back.

Like a bully beating up a weak kid who just wants to be left alone to do his nerd shit.

Fuck Nintendo. May they burn.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: BlackBloodRumI've always found this "Wine causes cheating" to be a bit of an excuse. The majority of cheat software is made specifically for Windows and in-turn windows games. They make these claims, but never back it up with anything other than saying "we just know".

It really feels like a false reason. I mean, don't you find it ironic devs will turn around and say "We won't provide a Linux build because the Linux market is too small!" followed by "We are blocking Linux because there are too many people on Linux cheating!". Well, make up your mind because both sets of the OS's cheaters are a small subset of that OS's users.

It's pretty funny when you think about it yeah

View this comment - View article - View full comments

When you're reich you're reich.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: elmapulif companies like Nintendo succeed, we will lose access to more and more media over time, it might sound impossible now, but we saw that happening with many MMOS, we have some lost media in old games, and cloud is a big menace on our future (eg: cloud exclusive games)

Exactly, eg: Google Stadia Exclusives

Anyone remember The Sega Channel (back in the 1990s?) ... Gone....

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: melkemind

Quoting: ElectricPrism

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualThe major way Wine differs from Yuzu is that Wine does not circumvent technological protection measures.

I 100% agree with you it __SHOULD__ but the world we live in "money talks, bullshit walks".

Assuming this is this American legal system we are talking about, I'm not particularly confident that a jury of "average peers" or citizens have the technical intellectual framework necessary to understand the difference between Wine & Emulation.

The name wine even is a bit of a acknowledgement of this conflation -- W.ine I.s N.ot a E.mulator.

I would love to be optimistic, but considering the levels* of idiocracy and incompetence in the modern age, I can't help but consider this to be a very real and serious possibility.

I can't see the slope any other way than slippery if they succeed.

(Final thoughts, most people don't know the difference between a JPEG and a GIF, we can't even get past annunciation.)

At least for the moment, Microsoft's Xbox division is interested in selling games and game services (GamePass). They have no interest in restricting games to the Windows ecosystem. That's why their games are on Steam. If they wanted to be petty, they could just only sell their games in the Windows Store. They aren't even restricting their first-party console games to Xbox.

If Proton means more people will play their games, I think they're all for it. In fact, I don't think Microsoft even wants to be in the OS business anymore. It's not their big money maker. Restricting games just doesn't benefit them financially.

So, yes, it's a possibility as much as anything is a possibility. But is it "very real and serious?" I doubt it. Not for now, at least.

I think you did a good job making a counter argument and while I could find myself agreeing with much of what you wrote I only disagree with:

They have no interest in restricting games to the Windows ecosystem.

Before Halo 1 was owned by Microsoft Studios it was available on MacOS/OSX -- and after Microsoft bought it they pulled the plug on that.

We could probably discuss whether or not that is presently true of Microsoft. Come to think of it when they bought Minecraft I don't remember seeing a non-windows version.

Other relevant context may be the Microsoft 10 year plan leak where it was discovered Microsoft intends to get rid of all Xbox Discs by the next generation.

Historically with Windows 8 S IIRC they intended to lock all software to the Windows Store and in the future had a version of Windows that did just that again IIRC.

The saying comes to mind

"When people show you who they really are, believe them the first time."

I hope the backlash for Nintendo attacking customers is as effective as Unity trying to monetize each install and pretend that install-fraud couldn't happen.

If I've learned anything it's that public outcry and backlash seem to be the only thing that pushes the Iron Fist back.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: pleasereadthemanualThe major way Wine differs from Yuzu is that Wine does not circumvent technological protection measures.

I 100% agree with you it __SHOULD__ but the world we live in "money talks, bullshit walks".

Assuming this is this American legal system we are talking about, I'm not particularly confident that a jury of "average peers" or citizens have the technical intellectual framework necessary to understand the difference between Wine & Emulation.

The name wine even is a bit of a acknowledgement of this conflation -- W.ine I.s N.ot a E.mulator.

I would love to be optimistic, but considering the levels* of idiocracy and incompetence in the modern age, I can't help but consider this to be a very real and serious possibility.

I can't see the slope any other way than slippery if they succeed.

(Final thoughts, most people don't know the difference between a JPEG and a GIF, we can't even get past annunciation.)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Now that I think of the Nintendo v Emulator lawsuit -- how would this effect Proton ???

If successful could Microsoft launch a lawsuit and say WINE is illegal? as it "Circumvents the intended use-case" ???

Honestly Fuck Nintendo for trying to ruin the gaming industry. This is the Unity Fiasco all over again.

Edit: I hope Nintendo gets gutted like SEGA and realized the idiocracy of their ways -- namely that they sell "content", and if people are playing their games in "unwanted ways" they are fucking idiots for __ NOT FUCKING SELLING THEIR CONTENT ON STEAM __

Gabe Newell is Right Again! 'Piracy Is A Service Problem'

Nintendo is having a identity crisis and still thinks they are a "hardware company" -- welcome to the future where hand-held game devices are a dime a dozen, don't let the door hit your ass.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

(In recent history Nintendo paid Japan Influencers __NOT__ to cover PalWorld in Japan -- you know ... instead of actually make a **good** Pokemon game that has the same features. Nintendo can't even fathom that their fans are (1) not children and (2) 30 and 40 years olds. As if everywhere outside their xenobubble is exactly like Japan where adults don't have time for fun.)

Quoting: elmapulsony tried to remove movies from people who purchased then, it failed with discovery content but then they did it again with animes from funimation after they acquired it and shut down the service

Exactly, when all entertainment is a service then Music on Spotify, Movies on Netflix, can quietly remove content and dictate to the masses what is and isn't morally acceptable (we use to have a word for this for err... the last several thousands years I think it began with a ch).

And then what happens when a multi-million dollar disaster "AAAA" game (as ubisoft calls it) is unable to compete against Baldurs Gate 3, Stardew Valley, Earthbound or some other garage made game? ** Poof **

As Pink Floyd's 'Welcome to the Machine' song puts it:

 
What did you dream?
It's all right we told you what to dream

View this comment - View article - View full comments