5 ms·

I think Game Pass is a big loss for consumers. * The player doesn't actually own anything. I routinely play games I purchased 5+ years ago, which is a fantast

by htag 4y ago

I think Game Pass is a big loss for consumers. * The player doesn't actually own anything. I routinely play games I purchased 5+ years ago, which is a fantastic long term entertainment investment. * The player doesn't have a direct relationship with the game studio. Microsoft injects themselves a middle man, and is essentially rent seeking. * The player has much more limited rights to run the software the way they want to. I can legally buy a switch cartridge, a switch, and run the switch game on an emulator. Nintendo hates this. My access to Game Pass games is legally limited to ways Microsoft considers appropriate.

PraetorianGourd 4y ago
That is cool for you, but I would argue you aren’t the “average consumer”. Buying physical games in antiquated for a lot of people. And I think the vast middle ground is where most consumers are. Use GamePass for a majority of games, and buy the physical copy for the ones worth replaying. There is no indication that physical copies are dead. In fact, for all the impacts of streaming on movies, you can still buy physical copies of almost every movie. This isn’t about killing “choice”, it is about giving consumers a different choice than the one you would make. But thankfully it isn’t zero-sum so you can still buy a CD custom wrapped in plastic
- deafpolygon 4y ago
  > There is no indication that physical copies are dead. Might want to talk to DVD and Netflix. Physical copies are on life support, and you won't be able to buy them anymore except through GamePass or equivalent service. This is what Microsoft wants, because they can continue to charge a subscription price for decades old games (there's a few selections on GamePass if you want decades-old games).
  - PraetorianGourd 4y ago
    Are you sure? Because last time I went to Target, they had a literal “bargain bin” of mainstream BluRay disks. i am talking dollars for a mainstream blockbuster. Maybe you should focus on convincing “the masses” that they should pay per game, because if the market is any indication, people prefer a fixed cost subscription service. It’s okay, it isn’t the first time that the interests of “the market” are in opposition to one’s values and it won’t be the last. Most people don’t have the same values as you seem to have. That doesn’t mean that either are wrong, but it does mean you might be tilting at the wrong windmill
    - deafpolygon 4y ago
      > they had a literal “bargain bin” of mainstream BluRay disks > because if the market is any indication, people prefer a fixed cost subscription service. I'm not sure what you're debating here. I'm saying physical media is dead. You're saying both they're not and they are?
- eliasdaler 4y ago
  But you can buy non-physical DRM-free games too on GOG or itch.io, for example. So it's not just physical games that stay with you forever. DRM-free digital PC games are even better because you can back them up a lot easier than disk/cartridge-based physical games.
- htag 4y ago
  > That is cool for you, but I would argue you aren’t the “average consumer”. I think the "average" PC and Steamdeck player is interested in emulation, so it's a good segment of the market but not the largest. If a game was only ever released on Game Pass (and do you really think Microsoft doesn't want a Game Pass Exclusive) then running the game outside of a Microsoft Game pass context is illegal.

by htag 4y ago

PraetorianGourd 4y ago

That is cool for you, but I would argue you aren’t the “average consumer”. Buying physical games in antiquated for a lot of people. And I think the vast middle ground is where most consumers are. Use GamePass for a majority of games, and buy the physical copy for the ones worth replaying. There is no indication that physical copies are dead. In fact, for all the impacts of streaming on movies, you can still buy physical copies of almost every movie. This isn’t about killing “choice”, it is about giving consumers a different choice than the one you would make. But thankfully it isn’t zero-sum so you can still buy a CD custom wrapped in plastic

deafpolygon 4y ago
> There is no indication that physical copies are dead. Might want to talk to DVD and Netflix. Physical copies are on life support, and you won't be able to buy them anymore except through GamePass or equivalent service. This is what Microsoft wants, because they can continue to charge a subscription price for decades old games (there's a few selections on GamePass if you want decades-old games).
- PraetorianGourd 4y ago
  Are you sure? Because last time I went to Target, they had a literal “bargain bin” of mainstream BluRay disks. i am talking dollars for a mainstream blockbuster. Maybe you should focus on convincing “the masses” that they should pay per game, because if the market is any indication, people prefer a fixed cost subscription service. It’s okay, it isn’t the first time that the interests of “the market” are in opposition to one’s values and it won’t be the last. Most people don’t have the same values as you seem to have. That doesn’t mean that either are wrong, but it does mean you might be tilting at the wrong windmill
  - deafpolygon 4y ago
    > they had a literal “bargain bin” of mainstream BluRay disks > because if the market is any indication, people prefer a fixed cost subscription service. I'm not sure what you're debating here. I'm saying physical media is dead. You're saying both they're not and they are?
eliasdaler 4y ago
But you can buy non-physical DRM-free games too on GOG or itch.io, for example. So it's not just physical games that stay with you forever. DRM-free digital PC games are even better because you can back them up a lot easier than disk/cartridge-based physical games.
htag 4y ago
> That is cool for you, but I would argue you aren’t the “average consumer”. I think the "average" PC and Steamdeck player is interested in emulation, so it's a good segment of the market but not the largest. If a game was only ever released on Game Pass (and do you really think Microsoft doesn't want a Game Pass Exclusive) then running the game outside of a Microsoft Game pass context is illegal.