I genuinely can’t tell if this is really the answer google gives or if it’s just fake because this sort of bullshit answers have become a meme. AI doesn’t seem to show up for me (is it region locked?)
Tarantism… is that a real phenomenon? I can’t imagine there’d be a word for it if it wasn’t a real thing, or people at least believed it was a real thing due to mass panic. But seriously, what the fuck?
Compared to their artificially inflated price. They’re obviously useful in industry - mainly for their thermal conductivity and their hardness - but their price as a jewel is complete bullshit. They’re not rare at all in nature, but one company controls all of them and uses advertising to drive up demand and public perception.
It’s still a continuous cost that must be maintained indefinitely after purchase, as opposed to just the upfront cost of physical media. Apples to oranges, but at the bottom line I agree that digital overhead costs less. What I disagree with is that this should necessarily mean the game should cost less to the buyer - at the end of the day you’re paying for the game, and you don’t care about the store shelf or shipping. These things don’t add value to you so the price you pay is predominantly the value of the actual game, which is identical in digital vs physical.
I’m not taking a side though, the gaming industry is the fucking worst. Steam/Valve is a scummy company that overcharges their fees simply because developers have nowhere else to turn, and this makes indie games especially untenable. They do provide a valuable service to both buyers and sellers (mostly buyers), but that’s not an excuse to be this obscenely scummy.
I have heard that at least the main ingredient being advertised must be real and the actual product. So for example, in a McDonald’s commercial the patty must be an actual edible McDonald’s patty, but the vegetables and bun can be made of whatever.
Digital ownership is still in legal limbo until either explicit laws or regulations are passed or someone sues and sets a precedent. Until then, companies can make up their own rules. And of course there’s the whole issue of every country in the world having to do this separately.
It’s not exactly the same question, but check out www.StopKillingGames.com for a campaign going on right now to get the attention of lawmakers and regulatory bodies worldwide (mostly in France and EU, where the chances are way higher) to fix the issue of purchased games being remotely killed by shut down servers. If you own The Crew you definitely need to check it out, but check it out regardless