It only takes one, and they’re not going to admit to their mum that they tried taking it apart or installing some dodgy stuff on it. Once word gets out they can be “randomly” bricked they’ll stop selling so well.

There’s also the risk that it’ll actually get randomly triggered.

As part of a severe response to unauthorised use

They won’t give the first shit about piracy policies or anything like that, but they’ll care that MummyD123s DH bought their DD an electric brick that won’t keep them quiet any more.

The target audience still goes online. Generally Facebook and mumsnet. Wait til it happens to one of them and the stories go round like wildfire.

With that market, especially at big luxury prices like a console, you exist solely on good faith.

It’s not the laziness so much, it’s the KKK right at the start

I’m playing through it now but I’m not enjoying it as much as the first one. I’m not sure if it’s my fault for not being able to give it the time and attention it requires.

You need the next piece of equipment, so you go to where the robot says it is. “Oh no we need a different piece of equipment to get there first. I’ve marked it on your map”. Cool ok. “Looks like to get that piece of equipment we need to craft this new piece first”. OK. “Looks like we need a special material so let’s go-”

At a certain point you forget what you wanted to do in the first place and just start following the next marker.

I love the world and the wackiness of it all, but I’m not enjoying the actual gameplay loop nearly as much as I did the first one.

Legend has it the original Worms was similar. The DRM was a notepad readme that basically said “share me with your friends but buy a copy if you really like it please”

Remember the “Disney can legally kill your wife” memes?

I’ve only pirated old stuff, games from my youth that are collectible items now for silly money or a complete crapshoot on whether 30 year old tech has stood the test of time.

If I had the time to play them I would definitely see my conscience clear on pirating new stuff from them now.

As far as I understand patent law, if nobody has actually patented something someone can just say “mine lol” and scoop up royalties and block shit for spite.

That sounds to me like “ain’t gonna happen mate but I don’t want to upset you”.

Which I’m kinda happy about. All the updates to stardew have been free and I want more. More. MORE.

Repetitive and grindy

It’s working out good for me personally. Between that trend and having gamepass. I don’t have much time to game any more, so can barely get past a tutorial before real life steps in. By that point I feel like I get it though so it’s OK.

I want to see pokemon red/blue/yellow absolutely fully maximum modernised. I want to go through the world in VR. I want to throw the poke balls into battle for real stashed on my belt. I want to be able to yell commands to a living, breathing pokemon dancing around in the arena.

I’ll still want it, I’ll feel a strong sense of FOMO if I don’t, but I don’t really care any more. After seeing how much money GTAO was making I strongly suspect they’ll put a lot more focus on that. In my opinion gta online sucked a lot of ass. It was fun as a playground to hang around with friends in, but as an actual game I’d rather we’d have agreed on any other game to play. I would never load it up to play by myself.

I hope I’m wrong and the story mode slaps, but at the super-premium price it’s going to end up costing i won’t justify it.

I’ve installed Myst around 10 times and I haven’t gotten anywhere with it. I refuse to look at solutions because its a legendary puzzle game and I will not be beaten by it, but also I’m not at all sure what to do at all. I have never solved a single puzzle. I’m never even sure what’s interactive or not, or if I’m even looking at a puzzle or just seeing clues where there are none.

I should try it again soon…

Minecraft, slay the spire, civilisation, atomicrops.

Balatro could have been a contender but I lost interest suddenly and unexpectedly.

I’m watching absolutely zero spoilers for it. It’ll still be there when I can get the gear together.

I’m with you there. Except for the “might check it out”.

I definitely 100% no questions asked will be all over it. If it’s real. Which it isn’t.

Steam doesn’t need to. It’s got the steam sale and a hundred million people to share memes of “sale so good spent all my money no time to play all the games I bought in such massive sale”

I wouldn’t say games. I’d say carefully calculated reward dopamine triggers with tendrils snaking directly to the entirety of my liquid assets disguised as games.