Not paying.

This is probably the only time Nintendo has come out of the gate with superior hardware and I actually don't give a shit, why on earth would I want to buy a steam deck that is locked behind corporate control and price gouging?
I don't give a shit how fast the scrreen refreshes or how fancy some of the features, I want a computer that can play games, I don't want a toy that is purposefully broken so I can't use it for things I want to use it for, ESPECIALLY if I drop hundreds and hundreds of dollars on it.
Nope.
- I understand why you think this, but its kind of wrong. Because Nintendo has had the upper hand with hardware many times.
  SNES was arguably better than Genesis system
  N64 has much more raw power than my favorite system the PS1
  GameCube was stronger than PS2 and Dreamcast
  And yes, I'll just wait and use my steam deck until SD2, because I also just want a computer that I can play games on.
  
  SNES was arguably better than Genesis system
  The SNES and Genesis were comparable. You could argue one or the other, but it was a tighter race than the Playstation 3 curb-stomping the Wii.
  N64 has much more raw power than my favorite system the PS1
  Playstation had CD-ROM, and that's all that needs to be said about that battle.
  GameCube was stronger than PS2 and Dreamcast
  Comparing the GameCube with the PS2, it had less VRAM, less RAM, a faster CPU, roughly equiv video processor. I would say they were about equal, and that's with GameCube coming out two years later.
  The PS2 was also the strongest console to ever fight in any sort of console war, with its ridiculously large library of games. PS2 punished Sega so hard they permanent removed themselves out of the race, and Nintendo had to completely change strategies to fill a different niche and audience, which worked with the Wii. However, that came with the dumbing down of hardware that everybody is talking about. They have been pushing shitty outdated hardware ever since.
  
  I stand corrected, I guess I was comparing the gamecube to an xbox, but yeah agreed, I just bought a second steam deck OLED when I already had the LCD model because honestly I think the economy is going to crash hard and it is going to be a long road to affordably getting a gaming device in the US for the foreseeable future.
  It is a shitty situation to be in, but I didn't even hesitate because the current calculus is a no brainer. I have Blender on my Steam Deck and I am using it to create cool visualizations of Lidar data for Geology, Nintendo would respond to a statement like this with something like "yeah, that is cool but it sounds very niche, people don't need that" and my response is "Fuck you, you haven't even let people try".
  I heard of another Geologist bringing in their steam deck to present a talk off of it instead of a laptop too, these kinds of interesting unusual use cases aren't trivial and hyper individual, they represent people developing the future of handheld computers in real time, and Nintendo has completely lost the plot here. The Steam Deck really isn't a gaming device, it is a gaming device that Trojan Horses you into having an awesome handheld linux computer that can also play your favorite games.
  If Nintendo thinks they can compete with the Steam Deck by just selling a better handheld gaming console, they are so fucked.... or at the very least they are walking away from what will actually be the next big growth area in computers (that people were SURE AI and VR would be).
  Nintendo execs are likely sitting there being like "damn we are going to make so much money selling the best handheld gaming console and completely dominate the handheld gaming console market so we can charge $100 a game" while missing the MUCH LARGER profit opportunity of evolving their handheld console into a handheld computer.
  Think about it, Nintendo is in the perfect position to evolve their Switch into more and more of a computer, and it would give them a MASSIVE new horizon of growth opportunities especially since countless kids grow up playing on Switches and already know how to use them inside out... it would help Nintendo protect itself from encroachment by other big tech, and do any number of other longterm things for Nintendo's growth and profit.
  Instead the idiots want to gouge people for more money by squeezing ONLY the gaming potential out of the switch, it is pathetic and I wish legislation around the world didn't allow massive corporations to behave this foolishly in trying to close down their systems so they don't accidentally create the "wrong" kind of value or innovation.
  
  Ah yes, console released over 30 years ago.
- why on earth would I want to buy a steam deck that is locked behind corporate control
  from context I think you wanted to write nintendo
  
  Yeah, I was trying to say the switch can be thought of as a steam deck that is locked behind corporate control.

"Mouse mode"
Yeah, the Steam Deck has that. Its called dual touchpads, and unlike the Switch 2 you can easily switch from analog stick to touchpad (they also have more functionality and are actually utilized to their full potential with desktop mode).
- PCs literally had "mouse mode" gaming since the 80s. The Amiga/ATARI ST already had them, too.
  Consoles have been behind the times for decades.

I have a Steam Deck definitely felt no need to get either the Switch 1 or 2.

I dunno what y'all are talking about, the Deck chip (Van Gogh, 7nm, Zen 2 but with Rembrandt-era SoC features, RDNA2) is "newer" than the Ampere chip (circa 2020) in the Switch 2.

Nintendo games never come down in price either.
BotW is still going for what it did on day one. Even second hand copies go for nearly that.
Although it does mean you can basically rent them for as long as you want for a few dollars if you sell it again afterwards...

The display supports 1080p+120hz, games running at that res and fps will be rare I imagine. I mean, it would be amazing but Xbox also supports 4k 120 and it usually runs Up to 1440p upscaled 30fps so idk how much it will really differ from what we've already got.
- I'm skeptical about 4 hour Elden Ring session.

Soon as I heard about the price of games I was out
- We have a switch 1 and the game price has been the driving factor preventing us from investing more in the platform. The games are too expensive, go on sale too infrequently and not for low enough prices. Just not the ecosystem for my family right now
  
  Yeah, I have a Switch too but it's not been turned on in maybe two years, getting a Steam Deck basically retired it

I laughed when they showed their game chat mode as some accomplishment. They spent years just making discord...
Another funny moment was when the Civ VII dude said something like "if you already have Civ VII you will be able to play the enhanced switch 2 mode!... After purchasing the upgrade."
They're so unapologetically greedy.
- Yeah. Even bethesda just gave you the enchanced skyrim edition for free...

I'm done giving money to Nintendo. Their litigious behavior is inexcusable. Just ask the parrot on my shoulder. He's on the same side as my eye patch.

Switch l2
- I think Cisco is working to remove the points about uptime and not having lags/crashes
  
  We are currently moving away from cisco because they want 12k+ for a new switch. Juniper or HP for us i think.
  
  That's why you don't buy Cisco
- Why'd you ommit the price of the layer 2 switch? curious
  
  If we're talking home use, you can buy enterprise switches for less than $100 on the secondary market. I got a 1GB PoE 24 port managed switch for $35.
  
  I believe I found the switch but can't find the price - IXR-G24044X-24PH

All this has done is make me want a steam deck even harder.
- I have a steam deck oled and love it, but the SOC is slightly old now and was never the fastest. If you're playing slightly older games or are fine with slightly lower settings, than it's still great.
  SteamOS is great, but I think you can install it on other handhelds as well. It sounds like current competition isn't great unless you're willing to pay a bit more and the steam deck 2 isn't rumored to come out soon, so the steam deck is probably still worth purchasing tho.
  
  Honestly who cares about the power of hardware on a handheld, sadly this is something Ninendo used to understand better than anyone else.
  Focus on making the games fun and the hardware capable enough, don't get lost in the hype of trying to out hardware competitors and pull in customers that way.
  Well, they have clearly abandoned that strategy, but I think this was the worst possible situation to do this in because they are going to continue to get destabilized by the Steam Deck just being a Switch that doesn't try to obsessively control everything you can do on it. It is a waste of money to buy such a closed down device, even if it is more powerful than a Steam Deck.
- I love it.
  I saw Elden Ring worked for Steam Deck, and I either had to buy a new graphics card or get the Deck, and I chose wisely.

Steam deck is also backwards compatible with nearly all of Nintendo.
- Something tells me that the Deck will be compatible with "way more" than old games in the near future... Some times an emulator goes down, and two or more rise up.
  
  We're lucky Valve has fuck you money for when Nintendo inevitably come after them

A Steamdeck can emulate a Switch. The number of exclusive games for the Switch 2 will be so pitiful it would scarcely justify a purchase though I'm sure some people will buy it. I also think that a Steamdeck 2 can't be far off appearing.

Excited for Switch 2 emulation on Steam Deck in a few years

Current plan is to borrow a Switch 2 from a friend in a couple years, to play the games we're really excited for.
Seeing that the "explore the Switch 2” game wasn't included with the system just pissed me off. I'm not paying to play an interactive manual.
- I'd be completely flabbergasted by anybody who wastes their money on that "game."
  Satoru Iwata is rolling in his grave.
  
  Fr. It'd be a forgettable bit of marketing, a tech demo no one really cares about if they'd included it free. With the price tag it turns from that into an anti consumer insult, a slap to the face to anyone who thinks they're in this for any reason other than extracting as much money out of their consumers as they can get away with
- I wonder how much steam would charge if they did that? Oh they didn't deck job is free
  
  Even the PS5 did it for free, and that feels like a game more than a demo.
  
  And so is The Lab.

I love how the price goes up every time someone complains.
- It’s over 9000 by now.
  
  That's too high!

Yeah, Nintendo is smoking unfiltered crack, lol. Who the hell has $80-90 to throw at every game in the midst of an unnecessary economic downturn and possible worldwide meltdown?
- Oh no, just a USA meltdown. Trump isn't great for other economies, but we still have the rest of the world to trade with. The only thing he is achieving is making the usa less relevant by the day.
  
  Stocks are down all over the globe, not sure if you noticed.
  
  It will still cause other countries economies to shrink, as most economies are interlinked in the modern age; but even with the loss in GDP, removing US trade/tech/military reliance is definitely for the better imo. The USA positioning themselves alongside Russia has woke up the rest of the world to the fact that America isn't simply arrogant... It's also dangerous.
  I don't see a way back for the US in all honesty. The problem isn't the rogue state behaviour, it's the virile support for such actions seen from many of their citizens. In the coming years we'll no doubt see American military bases being shutdown across the globe, in retaliation to their animosity, and it will only continue further until the US is a pariah state.
  I suppose it's some solace that the democrats are able to somewhat slow the implosion of the US through the senate, but that won't be enough to stop them falling out of favour with the rest of the world, and thus losing a huge part of their power. And I have to wonder, is this the exact outcome Putin wanted (America surviving, but struggling... Allowing them to exist as the bad guy, Rather than complete desolation), or just a happy accident after getting Krasnov elected?.
- Not to mention, Nintendo games usually don’t go down in price over time as much.
  
  As much? I don't think ever. Breath of the Wild is still it's release price despite it's sequel, in the same world but with more content, being out and the same price. They're insane.
  
  In the Switch era, they don't at all. Nintendo Selects isn't a thing any more.
- How does one filter crack? I need to know for my pulmonary health.
  
  They sell brillo used by crackheads as filters right next to the crack pipes at gas stations in the hood.
  
  I could be wrong, but doesn't the process of cooking the cocaine into crack kind of "filter" it so to speak?
- I get your point, but I'll probably end up paying that. The exclusives are pricey but I almost always end up playing them for 50-100+ hours each, so I can't really complain 🤷‍♂️
  
  This line of thinking is why we are being price gouged to begin with.
- Worldwide? Trump is ruining the US economy only
  
  So fun fact the world's economies are interlinked and most countries have a ton of money in US banks and stocks.
  
  Remember 2008/2009 recession? This was cause by the USA economy, but affected the entire world.
  
  Oh, my sweet summer child...
  
  As others pointed out, it's not only the US economy that will be hit, but also everyone that trades with them.
  To illustrate some examples, Canadian aluminum might end up with 25% tariffs. That means anything made within the USA that uses said aluminum will get a price increase. Canadian companies might end up with a surplus, since their main customers won't be buying as much (instead of paying 100 dollars for a tonne, 'mericans will pay 125 dollars per tonne). That surplus will drive prices down if they can't find someone else to buy the aluminum.
  Since the tariffs aren't only on Canadian aluminum, but a lot of stuff from a lot of countries, some of that stuff will end up with a significant surplus and no new buyers. For smaller countries that rely on USA exports, that's going to hurt a lot.
  
  Even if you think it's not worldwide, you do realise some countries and regions rely heavily upon trading with the US. And it will cause inflation, though how much depends on what will actually happen now.
  
  ROFL you really have no idea how things work huh
  
  The world economy is dependent on countries like the USA.
  
  Lol

Nintendo isn't getting another penny from me after what they did to the switch emulation projects.
- You can still emulate everything. Newest version will work just fine for the indefinite future
  
  Much to Nintendo's dismay
- ... what they "momentarily" did to "that" em project, you mean.

I bought the first switch thinking I'd play it way more. But those prices that basically never go down, and paying way more for games than I could get them on steam.
Nah. I have a deck and it feels better in my hands, looks better, and I don't get charged out the ass for games that have been out for near a decade.
- Every game I've bought for myself on my switch I have instantly regretted not just buying it on PC and streaming to my phone with a controller
- Ive had a switch for a few years. I ended up buying a bunch of games I already had on steam, plus Pikmin, breath of the wild, and Mario Kart. I feel like I bought a huge tablet just to play Mario Kart occasionally. I have buyers remorse for sure.

Given how much better ToTK would’ve been on pc and how that is the reason they killed emulation, I’m pissed at Nintendo.
- I think expecting Nintendo do allow people to play their games without being customers is bizarre. I want emulator, I want to be able to pirate whatever I want, but I don't grt expecting Nintendo to be happy about that arrangement
  
  Because you're presupposing that copyright is right in the first place. Distribution of information has been made free - because of the internet it's the one thing so far where the Star Trek future has been made reality. But intellectual property laws are designed to create artificial scarcity so that one publisher can monopolize a creative work, to the detriment of everyone else.
  Fans of various game franchises are not just consumers, but creators in their own right. You have to remember that this delegitimized practice of "piracy" also results in the entire romhacking community.
  The bottom line is that free sharing of information benefits us all and produces a rich commons, but intellectual property plunders that commons and produces centralization of media ownership while stripping away our right to be co-creators.
  
  Piracy is the competition.
  Companies that recognize that and improve their products and services in order to compete, results in better products and services as well as an influx of happy customers. See valve and steam.
  Companies that don't improve and instead seek to stiffle competition through dmca and litigation get their products pirated and services ignored. See how nintendo games are the most pirated on any site that shows stats for such things.
  For example, Mario 3 is fucking ancient, how many times does nintendo expect me to buy it? They got my money several times over, and now in order to legally play it on a current platform, it's locked behind a subscription service. No thank you. Besides, I prefer to play platformers with a keyboard. I'd pay for nintendo games again if they let me download to my pc.
  Except, what about all the games I bought online for my wiiu and 3ds? Those storefronts are gone, so anything I didn't already have downloaded is gone. If anything happens to those consoles, the few games I do have on them are gone. (i personally never actually had a 3ds or wiiu, but lots of people did and are in this exact boat). I cannot trust nintendo to preserve my purchases, like I can with any other modern digital storefront.
  yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
  
  I think expecting people to buy your specific console to play your games is now bizarre, that because they refuse to play nice they destroyed the ability for humanity to preserve the history of gaming as a whole, and that they deserve to be punished like Ubisoft is for their sins against gaming.
  
  I think expecting Nintendo do allow people to play their games without being customers is bizarre
  If they want those customers they can sell their game on a system that can actually handle it

Whenever there's a multiplatform game I'm interested in I add it to my wishlist on the Switch, PS5 and Deck. I almost always end up buying it off Steam because it ends up being cheaper on it. So the Switch and PS5 have been reduced for exclusives only.

Nuck Findendo. They’re assholes who kick the ladder out from underneath them
- You are allowed to swear here. No need to self-censor.
  
  Yeah you can say the N word
  
  They could bust je passionate about spoonerisms
  
  assholes
  I think they know that.

$90?
Shit.
Metroid Prime 4 and The Duskbloods don't sound perfect after all
- At least a regular Switch version of Metroid Prime 4 will also be available. Other options for playing those.
- $80 for physical $70 for digital.
  
  Oh wow, I didn't realize physical manufacturing, storage, transport and sale was only $10!
  
  Other way, I think. 80 for digital, 90 for physical. In USD anyways.
  
  Oh wow! I can buy a digital game worth the same price as a physical game! What a deal! /s
  
  I'll be waiting for the Tinfoil discount.
  
  "The future is Here!!!"

Who the hell is paying 90EUR for switch games?
- The funniest part is that the best selling video game of all time (Minecraft) currently has an MSRP of less than $30, which technically gets you 2 games because Microsoft/Mojang maintain 2 completely separate codebases for Minecraft (Java edition and bedrock edition) and has to design, program, test and debug everything twice, once for each codebase
- Nintendo fanboys, they would jump off a cliff if asked.
  
  I consider myself a Nintendo fanboy. I've owned every console.
  Would not jump off a bridge.
  However, these game prices are too high. I don't think third party games will be that price but first party games will be there.
  
  I crave for the earlier days of the 3DS to happen again, please Nintendo fan base, I have a bit of faith.
- Let's not pretend every publisher isn't planning on doing this. Nintendo just happens to be the first here.
  
  I genuinely thought GTA6 was gonna beat them to the punch.
  
  All it takes is for a major corporation to pull the trigger. Since Nintendo is willing to take that step, other companies are going to be observing to see if it's worth the temporary backlash.
  
  I get the MSRP outrage, but I mean it's not an unusual cost for launch day titles, especially for physical media.
  I don't think I've ever paid full retail for any game or console I've ever owned though. And I do like to own my games by buying physical media (or at least the installer files).
- I know my work colleague is not. His Switch was cracked for I think 100+ eur which seems quite high, but since you can afterwards download pretty much any title from some pirate marketplace, that investment has been covered at least tenfold.
- Me and millions of others. If you account for inflation, there has been higher prices in the past.
  
  Because inflation applies to all products equally and there aren't ever relative adjustments /s
  
  What games currently cost that much though, is my question really, I guess. The last expensive titles I can see right now for standard editions of games is like, 70Eur equivalent for AAA type titles.
  
  I mean I own a switch, and I've never paid anything close to that for games... I've gone to maybe £45-50 for launch titles but what games cost £70?
  
  But if you account for average wages, the prices are higher now.

The fact that Nintendo is well known for not lowering their game prices this could very well price them out from competition.
Hopefully game reviewers will heighten their expectations to meet these inflated prices.
- Have you met Nintendo fanboys? They're going to defend this shit like MAGAt republicans defend their Cheeto coloured Jesus.
- Hopefully game reviewers will heighten their expectations to meet these inflated prices.
  I find it more likely Nintendo will DMCA them for daring to speak about their games
  
  On the one side, yeah they are over protective of their IPS
  On the other, This is Nintendo, not Ubisoft LMAO 🤣
  Ubisoft, who literally spends more money on lawyers to sue reviewers and anyone giving their opinion of their latest worst game than in their ACS game 🤣
- Can confirm: Super Mario run on iOS is still the same price as it was at launch in 2016.

Hell, at least I can use my steam deck as a mini PC and SSH into the thing, as well as use a mouse and full fuckin keyboard with my cheap off brand dock.

On the one hand, with rising inflation and skyrocketing development costs, I can totally understand why game prices are getting dangerously close to the triple digits. Games rn are cheaper that they ever were ~~yeet~~ yet development is not.
However, that’s still a lot of money and I really wouldn’t wanna pay that.
- The money isn't going to developers, and these are billion dollar companies. It's not about development, but unadulterated greed.
  
  Doesn’t change that $60 in 2010 are almost $90 today. Devs/publishers aren’t any more greedy than they were 15 years ago.
  
  Is that the same in Japan? I know Japan has a horrible work culture in general.
- This is greed, pure and simple. At $60, the industry was more profitable than Hollywood, and they raised the base price of games to $70 just a few years ago before immediately talking about raising prices again.
  
  Not solely. If you paid $60 for a game in 2010, that‘d be almost $88 today, simply due to inflation. It’s a wonder the prices haven’t skyrocketed any sooner.
  Not that I want that, I‘d prefer games being affordable but it was kinda inevitable considering the way the economy is going…
  Also, I‘d personally rather pay $90 once than have a cheap game with a shitload of micro transactions. Of course, developers/publishers that ask $90 for a game and still include a bunch of micro transactions can fuck right of.
- I would be a lot more willing to accept the inflation argument if salaries at these companies were going up at inflation rates too.
  In this case though we all know they are not and additionally digital releases not needing to be physically transported and the lack of printed manuals in physical games, for instance, also cuts down on what it costs to make and ship a game today.
  
  I would be a lot more willing to accept the inflation argument if salaries at these companies were going up at inflation rates too.
  Not unless you're an executive, that is...
- Oh absolutely, my heart bleeds for the selfless video game CEOs bravely sacrificing their third yacht to keep game prices only $70. Imagine the hardship of cutting executive bonuses down to just eight figures, all so we can enjoy our digital horse armor without paying $99.99.
  These modern saints really are holding the line for the little guy. If only we could all aspire to such noble self-denial.
  
  I never said the CEOs are saints. They’re just not worse than they were 15 years ago. At least for devs/publishers that don’t put micro transactions in full price games.
- yeet development is not.
  Yeah I would imagine yeeting the things you're developing could get expensive.
  Or do you mean developing new kinds of yeets? Probably still expensive.
  
  Exactly.
- But the sale numbers are probably much higher nowadays, so it would be feasible to sell games for cheaper. But why would they? People are gonna buy them anyway. Those who won't will get them on a sale later.
  
  Those who won't will get them on a sale later.
  /C/patientgamers represent!
  I'll gladly wait 3-5 years to play a $90 retail game for $10-20. There are already too many games in my library to play, I don't need to piss away $100 on a game I'll be bored with in 2 months.

I'm always 2-3 years behind on new consoles for this very reason.
- You say that like Nintendo ever puts their games on sale
  
  I do the same, but not because of sales, but because it takes 2-3 years for the high seas to swell with jolly rogers.
  
  Used physical copies are usually cheap.
- The nintendo switch, released 8 years ago now, was the first console to never have a price drop. PS5 and XBOX series did not need to be convinced to join that particular trend
  
  It had one on the secondary market. 🤟

Even the 729$ Legion Go looks like a good deal compared to the Switch 2.

don't forget mods, easy repair, easy piracy, and actually being a functional portable computer in a pinch if you have a docking station

Also missing out "paying for the internet twice"

Eh, with the prices you could upgrade from steam deck to better specs, maybe switch will have better battery

I think the last Nintendo game I payed for was animal crossing new horizons. Yea, I'll be alright with my back catalog and the occasional indie game that costs less than 20$. All I wanted was another punch-out but I played the "Big Boy Boxing" demo and it was pretty fun, so I will not be buying a switch 2 any time soon if at all.

I would just like to remind everyone that Nintendo was predatory when EA and Activision were the good(ish) guys.
Dont at me.

You all whine and say fuck this and that corporation, but you all will buy that new game for christmas or whatever, because you were conditioned into consumerism.
- 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️

Couldn't you just use Yuzu and pirate games - on the steamdeck?
- It's Switch 2 games we're talking about here...
  
  Switch 2: emulation boogaloo
  I genuinely believe a primary driving factor for the switch 2 was to hinder emulation of new releases. I don't remember any of this but I think my friend said TOTK was available on bad websites a week before the official release. But I wouldn't know.
  
  Damn. Gotta start emulating that too.
  
  So yeah after a year of a release.

The price hike is coming to Steam soon, some corporations just waiting for the US tariffs to maybe go away, then comes regional pricing to the US.
- At least games on Steam get discounted or reduced over time. Fuck Nintendo and their pricing.
- Do you have any basis for that? Is it announced? Also, do you know that games on Steam are not priced by Steam, but individual publishers?
  I don't thing tariffs include digital goods and services.
- Why would the tariffs have any impact on game prices? The import prices, so they don't apply to digital goods.

Is every console a PC nowadsys?
I mean I'm not against it per se, even it might be kind of good I guess.
- They always have used hardware closely related to existing workstation or PC hardware, but the difference is now they try so much less hard to hide it, through crossplay, lack of platform exclusives, and just less trying to innovate on how the games are played. Part of it is that game inputs have largely been standardized, part of it is that the more similar to a bog standard PC the console is, the easier it is for developers to port their existing games, and part of it might just be that platforms aren't feeling pushed to innovate as much
- No, the Switch used ARM-based smartphone hardware.
- They were always nerfed down PCs
  
  My initial response to this was "ehhh", but a quick look at the consoles I grew up with shows you're right. The only exception I saw was the PS3 thanks to it's pretty bonkers CPU.
  The Super Nintendo user a Ricoh 5A22, which was based on the W65C816S used in the Apple II.
  The Sega Genesis used a Motorola 68000, which was popular for Unix computers. It also made it into a number of PCs like the Apple Lisa, Macintosh, and Amiga
  The PS1 and PS2 both had a R3000A-compatible 32-bit RISC CPU that was used in a lot of workstations of the era, but none of those would be familiar to an x86 user.
  The PS3's processor was the stuff of hype and legends. It bore no resemblance to PCs of the time
  
  Nah, they were specialized hardware. IIRC the Xbox was the first "PC console".

Guess I'm waiting till an emulator comes out. which sadly won't be for a while since ryujinx was killed.

- Well, between their incredibly abusive behaviour towards fans making content on YouTube even though that's free advertising, the mess with the smash tournaments and them breaking agreements to side with some new band of assholes -
  their previous efforts to destroy companies by patent trolling and their current efforts to undo Palworld that have pretty much only been prevented by them teaming up with Sony -
  and their very heavy-handed protectionist approach to ROM preservation even though they keep taking away people's access to their older catalogue, I certainly wouldn't consider them ABOVE board.
  Before sony's completely ridiculous 2024 I would have firmly called them below-board, but enshittification really hit hard, jeez. (Dashes were for breathing pauses cus that was getting a little long. I was also going to mention an issue with them being a lot less transparent with whether or not they'd ethically sourced their rare earth metals vs the other big two, but I don't remember quite when that was, just that it was discussed during the switch era).
  Edit: tbc I still upvoted cus physical games ARE still important, but I forgot to mention that they don't let you downpatch digital games so speed running, or even just wanting to play TotK with the dupe glitch, is forced to sometimes be way more expensive thanks to REQUIRING physical AND having to play offline forever cus I think it tries to force patches?
- Physical games with a huge asterisk. Some switch 2 "physical" games will just be a piece of plastic you insert into your switch that tells a server somewhere you can play it and won't actually have the game itself installed. It'd be a digital only game with extra steps
- I guess certain games maybe only hard copies exist, but when you can just grab a copy off the internet and store it, I don't see the need for a hard copy.

Link the twink can suck a big, fat dink
- Dink Smallwood's wood

I don’t get all the hate for Nintendo. Sure they’re expensive but they’re an OG games company largely acting like one. None of that freemium always-online microtransaction bullshit. Look at the Mario Kart expansion pack, it doubles the number of courses you get. It literally doubles the size of the game, and it’s not even that expensive. Plus they still support physical cartridges which most companies are trying to get rid of (and user expandable storage).
- Cartridges that only have a license on them. Nintendo is planning on killing off physical media just as much as any other company.
  
  Only some 3rd party cartridges have a download key on them, and they're significantly cheaper than the ones that don't.
  Also where is the 90 price I keep seeing on here coming from? I've only seen 70-80 prices for first party titles. Bravely Default (which is a download key tho) is only 40 isn't it?
- Yes BUT they almost never sell anything on sale while keeping prices high and only release on their platform (the switch)
  If they had Sales (or lower base prices) and released on PC as well (both Xbox and Sony do this now) nobody would be complaining about price

My counter: Metroid Prime 4. I would sell everything I own. It's been almost 9 years
- you really saw that trailer and said "i gotta overpay for that". yikes.
  
  I mean, the Metroid Community is starving.
- It will also be on the Switch 1, meaning it will probably be able to run emulated on a Steam Deck.
- This basically makes having gone through the end of COVID-19 worth it