3 ms·

I miss the days of when you buy something, you own it

dominicrose 1y ago
You can still buy the console that can read physical games and buy the physical games and never plug it on the internet, right? But I guess most people, like me bought a numerical version and plugged it to the internet. Then you're a few clicks away from a monthly subscription or from buying new games. They really don't have any incentive to brick your console except if you pirate the games. They don't earn money on the console by itself.
- jsheard 1y ago
  > You can still buy the console that can read physical games and buy the physical games and never plug it on the internet, right? Not always. Many games don't get physical releases, or only get an expensive limited-run physical collectors edition, and when they do get a physical release it doesn't necessarily even contain all of the game data so part of it may still have to be downloaded. The latter is apparently going to be even more common with the Switch 2 due to the high cost of its faster storage. Nintendo is now giving publishers the option of releasing "game key carts" which contain zero game data and are essentially just DRM dongles that grant permission to download and play the game.
- sseagull 1y ago
  > You can still buy the console that can read physical games and buy the physical games and never plug it on the internet, right? I'm not positive this is possible. I seem to remember times when trying to play a newer game on the Switch required a system update, even though I had the physical card. I might be misremembering, though.
  - jsheard 1y ago
    Games can require a firmware update to play, but AIUI the physical carts are supposed to have their required firmware bundled alongside the game so you can update without an internet connection.
    - wildzzz 1y ago
      They even did that on the original Xbox. The first year of consoles didn't have Xbox Live and therefore had no knowledge of the service to obtain updates, dashboard updates were delivered on games that used Xbox Live. For that first year, the only thing the Ethernet port was used for was LAN games (and WAN games with private networks). To my knowledge, dashboard updates were only delivered with games but title updates and DLC could be downloaded over the internet.
- peppers-ghost 1y ago
  It depends on the game. I know some games are too big to fit on a single switch cartridge so you need to download the rest when you insert it. The switch 2 is going to come with blank cards that have nothing on them but allow you to download the game when inserted as well.
- evilduck 1y ago
  A large number of games don’t even get physical releases anymore. Buying a console for entirely offline usage diminishes the value proposition, basically nobody will choose to do this because you’re not really buying what is being sold anymore. The other problem with incentives around bricking devices sold for a loss is that when the seller is big enough to absorb a bit of negative PR they also have no incentive to address false positives or small infractions, any time spent dealing with these users is viewed as compounding the loss. It also generates a bunch of electronic waste as a consequence.
- rtkwe 1y ago
  Doesn't work so well on most games these days; a) Nintendo is pushing a lot of publishers towards their game key carts that have no game data on them because the flash for their carts are pretty expensive b) most games are pretty crap without their Day 1 patches these days.
- lithos 1y ago
  Nope, games often need console updates to run. This affected me in 2014/15 on deployment, where some Vita games wouldn't load up (and just asked you to update the vita).

You can still buy the console that can read physical games and buy the physical games and never plug it on the internet, right? But I guess most people, like me bought a numerical version and plugged it to the internet. Then you're a few clicks away from a monthly subscription or from buying new games. They really don't have any incentive to brick your console except if you pirate the games. They don't earn money on the console by itself.

jsheard 1y ago
> You can still buy the console that can read physical games and buy the physical games and never plug it on the internet, right? Not always. Many games don't get physical releases, or only get an expensive limited-run physical collectors edition, and when they do get a physical release it doesn't necessarily even contain all of the game data so part of it may still have to be downloaded. The latter is apparently going to be even more common with the Switch 2 due to the high cost of its faster storage. Nintendo is now giving publishers the option of releasing "game key carts" which contain zero game data and are essentially just DRM dongles that grant permission to download and play the game.
sseagull 1y ago
> You can still buy the console that can read physical games and buy the physical games and never plug it on the internet, right? I'm not positive this is possible. I seem to remember times when trying to play a newer game on the Switch required a system update, even though I had the physical card. I might be misremembering, though.
- jsheard 1y ago
  Games can require a firmware update to play, but AIUI the physical carts are supposed to have their required firmware bundled alongside the game so you can update without an internet connection.
  - wildzzz 1y ago
    They even did that on the original Xbox. The first year of consoles didn't have Xbox Live and therefore had no knowledge of the service to obtain updates, dashboard updates were delivered on games that used Xbox Live. For that first year, the only thing the Ethernet port was used for was LAN games (and WAN games with private networks). To my knowledge, dashboard updates were only delivered with games but title updates and DLC could be downloaded over the internet.
peppers-ghost 1y ago
It depends on the game. I know some games are too big to fit on a single switch cartridge so you need to download the rest when you insert it. The switch 2 is going to come with blank cards that have nothing on them but allow you to download the game when inserted as well.
evilduck 1y ago
A large number of games don’t even get physical releases anymore. Buying a console for entirely offline usage diminishes the value proposition, basically nobody will choose to do this because you’re not really buying what is being sold anymore. The other problem with incentives around bricking devices sold for a loss is that when the seller is big enough to absorb a bit of negative PR they also have no incentive to address false positives or small infractions, any time spent dealing with these users is viewed as compounding the loss. It also generates a bunch of electronic waste as a consequence.
rtkwe 1y ago
Doesn't work so well on most games these days; a) Nintendo is pushing a lot of publishers towards their game key carts that have no game data on them because the flash for their carts are pretty expensive b) most games are pretty crap without their Day 1 patches these days.
lithos 1y ago
Nope, games often need console updates to run. This affected me in 2014/15 on deployment, where some Vita games wouldn't load up (and just asked you to update the vita).