9 ms·

Technically pretty interesting, but I'd never buy something like this. Had enough of encrypted BIOSes that you can only downgrade using a hardware programmer, a

by jotm 5y ago

Technically pretty interesting, but I'd never buy something like this. Had enough of encrypted BIOSes that you can only downgrade using a hardware programmer, and Samsung's Kox protection (actually also eFuse) which fortunately only blocks their proprietary garbage from being used ever again. I pay to own not get owned.

tuankiet65 5y ago
Too bad Nintendo produces some of the most popular game franchises like Pokemon or Zelda, and the only way to play them is to buy their hardware. I used to resist buying a Switch, but Breath of the Wild was such an amazing game that I had to get a Switch myself. And to be honest, other consoles are locked down in the same manner. Probably the most open "console" one could get right now is an x86 PC.
- TAForObvReasons 5y ago
  Yuzu is a Switch emulator for computers https://github.com/yuzu-emu/yuzu https://github.com/yuzu-emu/yuzu Skyline is a Switch emulator for android https://github.com/skyline-emu/skyline https://github.com/skyline-emu/skyline Both still require an actual console for actually making backups of your games.
  - em500 5y ago
    I don't know about Skyline, but for Yuzu it's trivial to download prod.keys and nsp/xci of every game and play anything without paying anyone a dime.
- ansible 5y ago
  I agree. I used to worry more about DRM, at least when it came to books. These days, it is all about convenience. And the realization that I'm not going to live forever, and how many more times am I really going to read this particular book. Because that's what it is all about. There is some (not large) risk I will loose access to my Amazon account, or Google, or whatever. But for most books, if I get a couple reads out of them, that's practically all the value to be extracted for me. Because of DRM, there is some small chance that I will loose access to a book that is truly a classic, one that deserves to be read repeatedly. In that case, it is OK to just buy it again in some other format, and give the author a little more money (yes, I know not all of the book's sale price goes to the author in most cases). Some of my most favorite works I have purchased multiple times, and I don't regret it. It is the same for games. If you want an exemplary open-world experience, you get a Switch, and buy Breath of the Wild. You then experience it (over months or however long you want to play it) and then it is over. There will probably be something else that will capture your attention next year anyway. If, ten years from now, you really want to play BotW again, and you don't have a Switch, I'm sure buying a used one would work fine. Or else get the current-gen console, and buy the heavily discounted version on that.
  - dchftcs 5y ago
    I'd like to be able to add modifications to the best games / content that I return to over and over again. Now that I'm older and have money, for some of them I might be willing to pay 10 times just to be able to have it more open to modding. For a tiny minority maybe even 100+ times, if I ever get to be rich enough to retire early and still want to retro-game all day. It satisfies the desire to play an enjoyable game and the desire to tinker.
    - ansible 5y ago
      I understand the desire and the attachment to particular media properties. There are a few movies that I would rewrite if I could. All I can say is that there are good games that are very open to the mod community, and they would welcome more contributors.
  - jimmydorry 5y ago
    >There is some (not large) risk I will loose access to my Amazon account, or Google, or whatever. I think people significantly underestimate what it would take to lose access to their entire library or digital identity. The wake up call for me was having my access to Youtube revoked because I watched a livestream of Ukraine coverage. I'm assuming all of the stream viewers (helpfully enumerated in the "who's watching list") got mass reported. For Amazon, this could be as simple as someone calling up your bank and managing to convince a service representative to charge back a few items. That's a pretty much one-way trip to losing your library for good.
- foresto 5y ago
  > Probably the most open "console" one could get right now is an x86 PC. Yes, and it's called the Steam Deck. It will be interesting to see how it affects the console industry over the coming years.
- kevincox 5y ago
  I agree. I think Nintendo makes fantastic games but I don't like the idea of consoles. They'll repeatedly port their own games to newer and newer console but won't release the games for any general purpose platform. I don't want a pile of electronic waste growing under my TV to play my favourite games spread over hardware generations, I want to just have one computer that I can use as a computer and playing games.
haswell 5y ago
> I'd never buy something like this You'd never buy a Switch because of this? I hear what you're saying, and I philosophically have similar feelings, but I purchased my Switch to play games I purchased for said Switch. The Switch does exactly what I want it to do, and this technical limitation doesn't impact that. Could Nintendo do something in a future OS update that I really dislike and will make me change my tune? Possibly. But they've also built enough trust that I'll take that risk. Obviously you are free to make purchasing decisions for your own reasons, but I don't fully understand the hardline stance in this context. I'd never buy a general-purpose computing device that did this, but that's because I buy general-purpose computing devices to do whatever I want. I bought the Switch to play Breath of the Wild and arguably some of the best games I've played since I started playing games in the early 90s, and don't regret that.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
  > But they've also built enough trust that I'll take that risk. And subsequently extracted the most value they could get from that trust and goodwill: https://www.inverse.com/gaming/nintendo-eshop-closure-3ds-wii-u https://www.inverse.com/gaming/nintendo-eshop-closure-3ds-wi... Games are art: if you disagree, consider that cinema is also art, and that the crassness of Michael Bay-style Hollywood films doesn't invalidate arthouse, the same way that this year's Call of Battlefield doesn't invalidate Papers Please or Monument Valley. And if games are art, and art defines our culture, then consigning titles to the memory-hole in the name of profitability is immoral, so Nintendo's corporate stance is philistinian. Respecting copyright is important (the software industry, our livelihoods, is built on copyright - and copyleft - after-all), copyrights aren't indefinite because it would be immoral to deny society creative-works because they're being held-hostage by rightsholders for a licensing ransom. And Nintendo isn't a solo-creator, who might have personal reasons for wanting to retract and un-license their work: their adoption of the Disney Vault strategy is entirely soulless and without merit. I can't argue that Nintendo should be in any way be compelled build and maintain ports of old games for modern hardware, or even official emulators: doing-so is very expensive, but I do think that Nintendo should be legally restrained from continuing with their usual bully-tactics against people involved in game-preservation.

by jotm 5y ago

tuankiet65 5y ago

Too bad Nintendo produces some of the most popular game franchises like Pokemon or Zelda, and the only way to play them is to buy their hardware. I used to resist buying a Switch, but Breath of the Wild was such an amazing game that I had to get a Switch myself. And to be honest, other consoles are locked down in the same manner. Probably the most open "console" one could get right now is an x86 PC.

TAForObvReasons 5y ago
Yuzu is a Switch emulator for computers https://github.com/yuzu-emu/yuzu https://github.com/yuzu-emu/yuzu Skyline is a Switch emulator for android https://github.com/skyline-emu/skyline https://github.com/skyline-emu/skyline Both still require an actual console for actually making backups of your games.
- em500 5y ago
  I don't know about Skyline, but for Yuzu it's trivial to download prod.keys and nsp/xci of every game and play anything without paying anyone a dime.
ansible 5y ago
I agree. I used to worry more about DRM, at least when it came to books. These days, it is all about convenience. And the realization that I'm not going to live forever, and how many more times am I really going to read this particular book. Because that's what it is all about. There is some (not large) risk I will loose access to my Amazon account, or Google, or whatever. But for most books, if I get a couple reads out of them, that's practically all the value to be extracted for me. Because of DRM, there is some small chance that I will loose access to a book that is truly a classic, one that deserves to be read repeatedly. In that case, it is OK to just buy it again in some other format, and give the author a little more money (yes, I know not all of the book's sale price goes to the author in most cases). Some of my most favorite works I have purchased multiple times, and I don't regret it. It is the same for games. If you want an exemplary open-world experience, you get a Switch, and buy Breath of the Wild. You then experience it (over months or however long you want to play it) and then it is over. There will probably be something else that will capture your attention next year anyway. If, ten years from now, you really want to play BotW again, and you don't have a Switch, I'm sure buying a used one would work fine. Or else get the current-gen console, and buy the heavily discounted version on that.
- dchftcs 5y ago
  I'd like to be able to add modifications to the best games / content that I return to over and over again. Now that I'm older and have money, for some of them I might be willing to pay 10 times just to be able to have it more open to modding. For a tiny minority maybe even 100+ times, if I ever get to be rich enough to retire early and still want to retro-game all day. It satisfies the desire to play an enjoyable game and the desire to tinker.
  - ansible 5y ago
    I understand the desire and the attachment to particular media properties. There are a few movies that I would rewrite if I could. All I can say is that there are good games that are very open to the mod community, and they would welcome more contributors.
- jimmydorry 5y ago
  >There is some (not large) risk I will loose access to my Amazon account, or Google, or whatever. I think people significantly underestimate what it would take to lose access to their entire library or digital identity. The wake up call for me was having my access to Youtube revoked because I watched a livestream of Ukraine coverage. I'm assuming all of the stream viewers (helpfully enumerated in the "who's watching list") got mass reported. For Amazon, this could be as simple as someone calling up your bank and managing to convince a service representative to charge back a few items. That's a pretty much one-way trip to losing your library for good.
foresto 5y ago
> Probably the most open "console" one could get right now is an x86 PC. Yes, and it's called the Steam Deck. It will be interesting to see how it affects the console industry over the coming years.
kevincox 5y ago
I agree. I think Nintendo makes fantastic games but I don't like the idea of consoles. They'll repeatedly port their own games to newer and newer console but won't release the games for any general purpose platform. I don't want a pile of electronic waste growing under my TV to play my favourite games spread over hardware generations, I want to just have one computer that I can use as a computer and playing games.

haswell 5y ago

> I'd never buy something like this You'd never buy a Switch because of this? I hear what you're saying, and I philosophically have similar feelings, but I purchased my Switch to play games I purchased for said Switch. The Switch does exactly what I want it to do, and this technical limitation doesn't impact that. Could Nintendo do something in a future OS update that I really dislike and will make me change my tune? Possibly. But they've also built enough trust that I'll take that risk. Obviously you are free to make purchasing decisions for your own reasons, but I don't fully understand the hardline stance in this context. I'd never buy a general-purpose computing device that did this, but that's because I buy general-purpose computing devices to do whatever I want. I bought the Switch to play Breath of the Wild and arguably some of the best games I've played since I started playing games in the early 90s, and don't regret that.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
DaiPlusPlus 5y ago
> But they've also built enough trust that I'll take that risk. And subsequently extracted the most value they could get from that trust and goodwill: https://www.inverse.com/gaming/nintendo-eshop-closure-3ds-wii-u https://www.inverse.com/gaming/nintendo-eshop-closure-3ds-wi... Games are art: if you disagree, consider that cinema is also art, and that the crassness of Michael Bay-style Hollywood films doesn't invalidate arthouse, the same way that this year's Call of Battlefield doesn't invalidate Papers Please or Monument Valley. And if games are art, and art defines our culture, then consigning titles to the memory-hole in the name of profitability is immoral, so Nintendo's corporate stance is philistinian. Respecting copyright is important (the software industry, our livelihoods, is built on copyright - and copyleft - after-all), copyrights aren't indefinite because it would be immoral to deny society creative-works because they're being held-hostage by rightsholders for a licensing ransom. And Nintendo isn't a solo-creator, who might have personal reasons for wanting to retract and un-license their work: their adoption of the Disney Vault strategy is entirely soulless and without merit. I can't argue that Nintendo should be in any way be compelled build and maintain ports of old games for modern hardware, or even official emulators: doing-so is very expensive, but I do think that Nintendo should be legally restrained from continuing with their usual bully-tactics against people involved in game-preservation.