I am sure there is some advanced spreadsheet-management behind this that makes some sense to the people making the decisions over at microsoft.

For the life of me, I don't see the benefit of those nokia-style close-em-down-acquisitions.

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Quoting: tuubi

Quoting: emphyWhatsup with that? Does the pachislot machine happen to be a place where one can gamble away real money, either directly or via in-game fantasy currency?

I read about this at some point and asked a coworker who is a fan of the series, and they told me it's just a rather pointless Japanese-style slot machine minigame where you can win items that can all be obtained elsewhere. I don't mind fun minigames, but this one sounds like a waste of time to me.

If it follows the real-world model of Japanese pachinko-parlours, one should be able to "sell" the items one has won right next door.

Which still doesn't quite answer the question of why it isn't in the drm-free version of the game.

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As I mentioned before, I am rather disenchanted with those steam deck labels due to the lack of clarity on whose door one is supposed to knock when stuff goes downhill.

Valve should, at the very least, include an extra category to indicate whether the dev will commit to supporting the deck/proton.

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Quoting: scaineI'm gonna be that guy and point out that both Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Hi-fi Rush are encumbered by Denuvo DRM. Otherwise, I'd have bought this bundle. Actually, that's a lie - I'd have bought Hi-fi Rush on release if they hadn't put that keek on it. There are still, today, about 5 or 6 titles I'd have spent my money on if it wasn't for Denuvo - Monster Hunter Rise, Strange Brigade, Deathloop, Atomic Heart, Gotham Knights and a handful of JRPG games, like Octopath or Legend of Mana.

I'd probably have bought Far: Changing Tides too. It's a £15 indie with frequent £5 sales, so no idea what it's doing with Denuvo on it. I suppose that's the problem with Denuvo - this title will clear around 1.5M in revenue, and 15 months of Denuvo will cost them 350K, so they still clear £1.15M. But they'd have to be properly deluded to think that pirates would cost them over £350K in sales. But they still put Denuvo on there...

I'm gonna be that other guy and say that, since yakuza: like a dragon is a playable dlc-shop, I was never going to buy it any ways, despite it being available drm-free on gog.

On a side note, that version has the disclaimer:

Please note that the DRM-Free version of Yakuza: Like a Dragon does not include the Pachislot machine minigame with the related items and DLC.

Whatsup with that? Does the pachislot machine happen to be a place where one can gamble away real money, either directly or via in-game fantasy currency?

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Here's a simple one: if a company doesn't want the burden of maintaining servers, don't make software that requires connecting to them to function.

Of course, that may be problematic for most modern playable monetization strategies, but I would consider that a very nice side benefit.

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Quoting: finaldest...

Luckily I hadn't yet purchased HD2 so I have now removed this from my wish list. I am now evaluating whether to continue PC gaming after being on the platform for over 30 years as I am just getting fed up with being treated like an ATM.

...

Alternatively, on pc you can avoid playable monetization strategies and exclusively buy drm free and/or take into account those dangers of getting burnt by adjusting the price, at which you purchase the games, accordingly.

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Quoting: Mountain Man

Quoting: emphy

Quoting: Mountain ManWhenever I hear people talk about "game preservation", it always sounds suspiciously like, "I want free games."

Because, of course, no one ever spent anything on the re-releases on steam/gog or the evercade cartridges.

Except we're talking about emulators, which is something else entirely. More often than not, using emulators to "preserve" games is just a thinly veiled excuse to pirate software.

Erm, so am I. Quite a few of aforementioned releases come packaged with emulators. The evercade is an emulator box.

People who pirate for free games will pirate regardless of whether emulation is used or not.

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Quoting: Mountain ManWhenever I hear people talk about "game preservation", it always sounds suspiciously like, "I want free games."

Because, of course, no one ever spent anything on the re-releases on steam/gog or the evercade cartridges.

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The age of cultural piracy, where big companies try to lock down human culture behind so-called "intellectual property" laws, is in full swing.

If you don't want future nostalgia be held hostage by such, do not play their games. They are much overhyped and overrated any ways.

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If you have a kid, don't let their future nostalgia be held hostage by these cultural pirates.

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