3 ms·

You’re missing the point entirely. Microsoft monopolizes all Xbox stores. Sony monopolizes all Playstation stores. Nintendo monopolizes all Switch stores.

echelon 5y ago
But I can buy the same game on all three major consoles. Plus PC. Plus Steam, GOG, Humble, Epic (where I can get it free), or even pirate it with little trouble (if I didn't have qualms with the ethics). None of these stores do my email, dating, finance, math, fitness, banking, web. They're not fitting the computer role like laptops and smartphones. Games are toys and have lots of healthy competition. Smartphones are monopolistic dictatorships. Famgopolies are secretly colluding to take over everything and tax it. To make computing encumbered, unfree, unrepairable, and shackled in surveillance. Who gives a damn about video game toys when the most important devices in our lives are turning into Big Brother meets Stalin? 90's Bill Gates wishes he was this evil. Google and Apple need to be split up.
- ZoomerCretin 5y ago
  >But I can buy the same game on all three major consoles. Plus PC. Plus Steam, GOG, Humble, Epic (where I can get it free), or even pirate it with little trouble (if I didn't have qualms with the ethics). You're still missing the point. There is no way to buy a game for Xbox without going through Microsoft's official channels and giving them their huge cut. There is no way to buy a game for Playstation without going through Sony's official channels and giving them their huge cut. There is no way to buy a game for Switch without going through Nintendo's official channels and giving them their huge cut. Being able to buy the same game on different consoles is immaterial. The stores themselves are the monopoly. >None of these stores do my email, dating, finance, math, fitness, banking, web. They're not fitting the computer role like laptops and smartphones. What difference does this make? If they did these things, would it suddenly matter that the only way to get software onto this platform was to give 30% of revenue to the console manufacturer?
  - echelon 5y ago
    You're not getting it either. Consoles are subsidized toys. And there are half a dozen choices on the market, not to mention legacy systems. Phones are life. You can't do without them. There are two choices, both locked down hard. PCs went from free and open to Google + Apple duopoly. And the rules are draconian. Maybe 1995-2005 was an era before your time (given that your username is Zoomer), but modern computing is worse than it used to be. You have no idea what you missed out on, and you're speaking about a status quo that is a definitive downgrade. Steve Jobs put us in shackles and neck braces. But they're pretty and convenient, so we accept them.
    - ZoomerCretin 5y ago
      You’re free to get a flip phone from 10+ brands, therefore Apple and Google don’t have any monopoly power over the phone market. Just get a different phone!
hnlmorg 5y ago
The argument of Sony and Microsoft not allowing 3rd party stores on their consoles is an open and shut case. There's no discussion needed there. Everyone already acknowledges that's the case. So the conversion moved on to a more interesting topic: whether Sony and Microsoft have a duopoly. The GP claimed they did and I was making the point that they don't. The confusion here is you're reading my comment thinking we're discussing a different topic. So it's not me who missed the point :)

echelon 5y ago

But I can buy the same game on all three major consoles. Plus PC. Plus Steam, GOG, Humble, Epic (where I can get it free), or even pirate it with little trouble (if I didn't have qualms with the ethics). None of these stores do my email, dating, finance, math, fitness, banking, web. They're not fitting the computer role like laptops and smartphones. Games are toys and have lots of healthy competition. Smartphones are monopolistic dictatorships. Famgopolies are secretly colluding to take over everything and tax it. To make computing encumbered, unfree, unrepairable, and shackled in surveillance. Who gives a damn about video game toys when the most important devices in our lives are turning into Big Brother meets Stalin? 90's Bill Gates wishes he was this evil. Google and Apple need to be split up.

ZoomerCretin 5y ago
>But I can buy the same game on all three major consoles. Plus PC. Plus Steam, GOG, Humble, Epic (where I can get it free), or even pirate it with little trouble (if I didn't have qualms with the ethics). You're still missing the point. There is no way to buy a game for Xbox without going through Microsoft's official channels and giving them their huge cut. There is no way to buy a game for Playstation without going through Sony's official channels and giving them their huge cut. There is no way to buy a game for Switch without going through Nintendo's official channels and giving them their huge cut. Being able to buy the same game on different consoles is immaterial. The stores themselves are the monopoly. >None of these stores do my email, dating, finance, math, fitness, banking, web. They're not fitting the computer role like laptops and smartphones. What difference does this make? If they did these things, would it suddenly matter that the only way to get software onto this platform was to give 30% of revenue to the console manufacturer?
- echelon 5y ago
  You're not getting it either. Consoles are subsidized toys. And there are half a dozen choices on the market, not to mention legacy systems. Phones are life. You can't do without them. There are two choices, both locked down hard. PCs went from free and open to Google + Apple duopoly. And the rules are draconian. Maybe 1995-2005 was an era before your time (given that your username is Zoomer), but modern computing is worse than it used to be. You have no idea what you missed out on, and you're speaking about a status quo that is a definitive downgrade. Steve Jobs put us in shackles and neck braces. But they're pretty and convenient, so we accept them.
  - ZoomerCretin 5y ago
    You’re free to get a flip phone from 10+ brands, therefore Apple and Google don’t have any monopoly power over the phone market. Just get a different phone!

hnlmorg 5y ago

The argument of Sony and Microsoft not allowing 3rd party stores on their consoles is an open and shut case. There's no discussion needed there. Everyone already acknowledges that's the case. So the conversion moved on to a more interesting topic: whether Sony and Microsoft have a duopoly. The GP claimed they did and I was making the point that they don't. The confusion here is you're reading my comment thinking we're discussing a different topic. So it's not me who missed the point :)