The reason that they're so dominant is because they actually are that much better. Inertia obviously matters, but outside of GOG prohibiting DRM (which in many cases results in customers being stuck to much older builds of the game), you'd be hard pressed to find even single features/traits other platforms do better.
Steam Workshop, not just ratings but also discussion forums and places for guides and other media, proton (which they chose to collaborate and pay for development of an open source project, rather than using their massive bankroll to redo from scratch, but other platforms still can't be bothered to use for free), big picture mode, Steam input, etc. Instead of resting on inertia, or abusing their market position to make competition more difficult, they just keep improving their platform. They even let developers sell Steam keys for their games for free (with some restrictions that only seem to be applied in obvious abuse scenarios), without taking any cut.
Gamers refuse to go elsewhere in large part because other platforms are a lot worse.
There are a bunch of free channels on the internet that some TVs can just stream without a dedicated app. These channels are supported by ads like cable/whatever channels, but not locked behind a subscription. VLC is supporting whatever formats they use to allow (or make it easier; IDK) people to watch them if they want.
The other part is that they're working on web assembly to allow sites to use VLC as their embedded video player.
Discounts over time are a perfectly standard part of their pricing strategy. It's not even mildly unhealthy. Resellers don't count at all, because that's always their strategy.
The unusual part of suicide squad and skull and bones is that they're brand new games. The discounts are not huge because there's a problem with the market. They're huge because they're dogshit excuses for products and nobody is stupid enough to buy them.
A game having a significant sale 6 months or a year later is perfectly normal behavior. It tells you absolutely nothing about the industry. It's worked that way for decades. It's not the tiniest bit unusual.
The other day someone asked this and everyone recommended a $1,400 chair. I can’t afford that, I can’t even dream of affording that. I’m looking for something with good lumbar support for ideally under $400 tops. Does anyone have any ideas?...
The other benefit with Costco is that they have an extremely generous return policy.
Some obvious stuff has different rules (electronics is 90 days, stuff like tires that have clear expected lifespans have their own rules), but it is extremely liberal. And my experience is that I pretty rarely have to use it, because while not everything is a premium product for a bargain price, they tend to ensure that the suppliers for products they sell have reasonable build quality and make stuff that isn't trash designed to fail.
Emulation has already been litigated to hell and back. It's very clearly legal, including relying on users pulling a blob or two from their hardware for the whole thing to function.
The case Sony lost also relied on the end user having a blob of Sony's code. A user using their own key and a blob of Nintendo's firmware, which is the official stance of Yuzu on the correct way to do so, is exactly the same thing. There's nothing new to be litigated. Every part of Yuzu is very clearly legal.
The fact that it was used to play a game before official release straight up cannot possibly be relevant. It's a distraction. The project isn't, and isn't capable of being, responsible for anything but its own code.
By existing. (Yes, that's the only argument they made. There is no assertion that anyone associated with Yuzu "cracked" (not necessary) or actively distributed TOTK.)
It's a distraction. It's literally impossible for it to be relevant unless the yuzu project page hosted TOTK files.
That's a loot box with extra steps. You get loot box physical trash and loot box digital trash. TCGs are the original microtransactions.
Now, the extra steps are a small barrier that makes it slightly less bad, because you have to physically go to a store or at least order and wait to get them. But it's not that much less bad.
There is an abundance of precedent that emulation is not copyright infringement and is not in any way illegal. You can absolutely make money on an emulator and there is absolutely nothing they can do.
It's a far cry better than Google or Amazon making you buy the game on their service specifically.
It's still cloud gaming. So it still sucks. But at least they're not trying to force you into a shitty locked in storefront. (Though not keeping your Steam login is definitely a pain point.)
"You have to rebuy your games, that you can't play anywhere else" isn't just "not the best way". It's straight up horseshit with no possible way to be valid. It's also the biggest reason it tanked.
The only thing about stadia that was in any way redeemable was the fact that they didn't mess around and gave full refunds for any game purchase.
In 2018 a group of Valve staff tried to figure out just how efficient they were being—and found they were making more money per head than Apple, Facebook, and nearly every tech giant out there (www.pcgamer.com)
I hate the term "Boomer Shooter"
Not to say I hate the genre, I actually love me some Dusk or Turbo Overkill, but why, oh why are they called Boomer Shooters?...
VLC Media Player Plans to Add Online Media Streaming (news.itsfoss.com)
What are your arguments for or against letting it mellow if it is yellow?
And if you somehow disagree with flushing it down if it is brown, I suppose I would like to hear about that as well.
Suicide Squad’s $70 price tag slashed by 40% just a month after launch (www.pcgamesn.com)
NYTimes Files Copyright Takedown Against Hundreds of Wordle Clones (www.404media.co)
Microsoft Rebranding CBL-Mariner Linux Distribution To "Azure Linux" (www.phoronix.com)
Please don't use Discord for FOSS projects (drewdevault.com)
HDMI forum rejects AMD's open source 4K@120Hz and 5K@240Hz HDMI driver (www.tomshardware.com)
Damn now I have to boycott an entire video connector.
Italy’s ‘Piracy Shield’ Creating Real Problems As VPNs Start Turning Away Italian Users
it is so dystopian…
Former AMD GPU head accuses Nvidia of being a 'GPU cartel' in response to reports of retaliatory shipment delays (www.tomshardware.com)
Good chair that is *affordable* ?
The other day someone asked this and everyone recommended a $1,400 chair. I can’t afford that, I can’t even dream of affording that. I’m looking for something with good lumbar support for ideally under $400 tops. Does anyone have any ideas?...
Nintendo is suing the makers of the Switch emulator Yuzu, claims 'There is no lawful way to use Yuzu' (www.pcgamer.com)
Nintendo says Yuzu played a large role in encouraging piracy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Nintendo goes after Switch emulator yuzu in new lawsuit (www.gamingonlinux.com)
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket | Announcement (www.youtube.com)
Twitter: Nintendo is suing the creators of popular Switch emulator Yuzu (twitter.com)
Docket monitor: dockets.justia.com/docket/rhode-island/…/56980
Nvidia GeForce Now is putting video ads before play sessions on their free tier (sh.itjust.works)
This is just peak enshittification at this point.