4 ms·

It's more like "imagine having an SD card slot on a smartphone". I can continue buying SD cards and putting them in my smartphone far after my smartphone vendo

It's more like "imagine having an SD card slot on a smartphone". I can continue buying SD cards and putting them in my smartphone far after my smartphone vendor, OS vendor, or other developers stop supporting it. On an old enough digital-only console, there may or will be no way to use software that has been purchased for it. There are currently not ways to use software that could be purchased secondhand on consoles because there is no individual market or transfer option for it. It's a scam.

PostOnce 4y ago
That's right, it wrecks future playability; it also kills any chance kids have of getting $5-10 secondhand games. Game consoles used to mean plug and play instantly and it works every time, but now it means subscriptions and mandatory updates and installation processes and different hardware levels (pro, regular; series x, series s), it's become a bad deal. So companies move to PC, and now every company has a "client" to try to walled-garden their own games (blizzard, epic, steam, ubisoft, whatever bethesda formerly had, microsoft store, etc). Games should be games; not work, not con jobs, not contractual obligations.
Dylan16807 4y ago
I like phones with SD slots but I don't think that analogy fits very well. Those consoles still support USB drives for game archival, right? And having an SD card on your phone doesn't help you move apps around. We need laws that fix the ability to resell digital-only games and programs and media. Whether or not storage is removable.
- washadjeffmad 4y ago
  Edit: Just wanted to add that I wholeheartedly agree with your take on legal protection for consumer ownership rights. The analogy isn't about backing up and exporting games you already own, it's about continuing the use of hardware you own beyond the vendor's support. Sideloading APKs allows management of software independent of a vendor app store. Do USB drives for game archival allow you to install any game, whether or not you bought it from the console store?
  - Dylan16807 4y ago
    You don't need an SD card to sideload though, which is why I don't think the comparison works very well. Both SD card and external drive mainly give you extra space but don't add other features.

PostOnce 4y ago

That's right, it wrecks future playability; it also kills any chance kids have of getting $5-10 secondhand games. Game consoles used to mean plug and play instantly and it works every time, but now it means subscriptions and mandatory updates and installation processes and different hardware levels (pro, regular; series x, series s), it's become a bad deal. So companies move to PC, and now every company has a "client" to try to walled-garden their own games (blizzard, epic, steam, ubisoft, whatever bethesda formerly had, microsoft store, etc). Games should be games; not work, not con jobs, not contractual obligations.

Dylan16807 4y ago

I like phones with SD slots but I don't think that analogy fits very well. Those consoles still support USB drives for game archival, right? And having an SD card on your phone doesn't help you move apps around. We need laws that fix the ability to resell digital-only games and programs and media. Whether or not storage is removable.

washadjeffmad 4y ago
Edit: Just wanted to add that I wholeheartedly agree with your take on legal protection for consumer ownership rights. The analogy isn't about backing up and exporting games you already own, it's about continuing the use of hardware you own beyond the vendor's support. Sideloading APKs allows management of software independent of a vendor app store. Do USB drives for game archival allow you to install any game, whether or not you bought it from the console store?
- Dylan16807 4y ago
  You don't need an SD card to sideload though, which is why I don't think the comparison works very well. Both SD card and external drive mainly give you extra space but don't add other features.