This should not be on HN.
This should totally be on HN, it's about technology, economics,...
Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
191–200 of 244 posts
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#192I wonder if it breached the contract/TOS between the game company and valve. I guess lawyers at valve had to work extra to come up with a decision, because they're probably going to court over this.
The future “Arrowhead/Sony vs Valve Software” litigation is going to be wild
[deleted]
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#193I find the support for Arrowhead surprising. They went into business with Sony and allowed this. The CEO tweeting "We just want to make gaaameeees" is such a weak ass excuse. Take some responsibility for your choices.
The economics of games are complex. I don’t understand why Arrowhead should take the blame here.
why should a company take blame for business decisions that impact their business? :D
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#194If you live in a country where you can't create a PSN account, just create one for another country. You can trivially find addresses to use online. To make digital purchases, you can import gift cards from the same region as your account. I believe Play-Asia sells those. If you buy games from multiple regions, you need an account for each region so you can access their DLCs. For many years, I wouldn't connect an actu…
This is against Sony's TOS and can result in a ban. In fact, this is exactly what happened to a Chinese user who tried to do that.
Gaming web sites publish articles on how to create PSN accounts in other regions[0] because this is common practice for gamers who care about imports (hence why Play-Asia will sell you out of region PSN gift cards). I imagine China is a special case because of the totalitarian dictatorship's restrictions on gaming and the fact that Playstation does business there which means they have to keep Winnie the Pooh[1] happy. The Chinese version of the PS5 seems to be region locked[2] which is not the case for PS5s sold in other countries.
[0]: https://www.siliconera.com/how-to-make-a-japanese-ps4-and-ps...
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/07/china-bans-win...
[2]: https://www.reddit.com/r/playstation/comments/x61kb7/ps5_chi...
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would make the case the consoles aren't essential for day to day life. They simply aren't general computing devices but have a very specific purpose. They've broaded somewhat to include more media features but few people are securing jobs or submitting government applications on their consoles. It's the fact that modern living simply requires a phone is why the EU is so upset with Apple and Google putting up their…
> I would make the case the consoles aren't essential for day to day life. Doesn't matter. If I truly own the hardware, I should be able to run my own software. Toasters also aren't essential to day to day life. Toaster manufacturers aren't putting sophisticated cryptographic locks on their products to keep me from toasting my own bread.
> Toasters also aren't essential to day to day life. Toaster manufacturers aren't putting sophisticated cryptographic locks on their products to keep me from toasting my own bread.
Don't give them any ideas. Coffee brewing machines are already there (kind of).
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#196I've always found it ridiculous that Sony is allowed to sell their consoles and games in my county without allowing me to create a PSN account. They even sell the digital PS5, which REQUIRES a PSN account to get any games. And then, even if you break their TOS and create an account in another country, you're still constantly inconvenienced - you can't pay for games using your local payment method, for example, and a…
It's reasonable to ask for that and it would probably be up to a local government agency to enforce such a rule. (In fact Meta's Quest was not available in my country for a few years until Meta changed their mind and removed the need to have a Facebook account as well). To make Sony care about small countries it would be best for them to band together and act as a group on that. It must hurt them economically
If Sony doesn't have any presence in those countries, as evidenced by the fact that you can't create PSN accounts for those countries, do those countries even have jurisdiction over Sony? More practically, what leverage do they have to enforce compliance? Meta (Facebook) doesn't have any presence in China, so they can safely ignore any takedown requests from them, even if they are actually violating Chinese law.
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#197I hope one day the EU will go after Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. If iOS is a walled garden then consoles are prison.
I would make the case the consoles aren't essential for day to day life. They simply aren't general computing devices but have a very specific purpose. They've broaded somewhat to include more media features but few people are securing jobs or submitting government applications on their consoles. It's the fact that modern living simply requires a phone is why the EU is so upset with Apple and Google putting up their…
Whenever someone brings up this nebulous "General Purpose Computer" concept, I challenge them to articulate what makes a phone a general purpose computer, but not a game console. So far I haven't heard a convincing answer. They both have CPUs and typical computer architectures, and can run a wide variety of software. Surely the intention of both smartphone makers and game console makers is that their devices are not made for a "general" purpose, and that (so far) has allowed them to justify locking them down.
"Are they essential for day to day life" is a new one. I'm not sure that makes sense either, but I'll give you points for originality! It's also debatable whether phones are essential for day to day life, but we can leave that in another thread.
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you have to distinguish this sounds like a rather twisted conception of property to begin with.
Assuming it's actually sold by unauthorized third party sellers, every step in the chain seems pretty straightforward. People in [country where PSN isn't available] want PS5s. Enterprising people see an opportunity. Sony (or their authorized resellers) in those other countries sell PS5s to the importers because to them you don't need to fill out a KYC form to buy a PS5 so they're they're indistinguishable from someon…
> The end result is not ideal and the OP acknowledges this, but I'm not seeing where the "rather twisted conception of property" is coming from.
I'm just noting the continued slide from wholly owned property to buying property but only leasing the use of it. I'm sure there are many rights-owners worldwide that are thrilled with this concept.
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
It absolutely is a general purpose computer, one with it's capabilities hidden and restricted from the user.
It is a general purpose computer, except the "general purpose" part has been hidden and restricted from the user. Therefore, not a "general purpose" computer anymore.
It is a general purpose computer running a specialized operating system. Something doesn't stop being a general purpose computer when you change the OS.
Re: Helldivers 2 Removed from Purchase on Steam in over 150 Countries
#200Earlier quoted context omitted.
A game is just a game. There is nothing vital to it. It's the easiest thing in the world to boycott. And yet, players consistently fail to make the editors pay for their bad behaviors. EA is still craping on their clients. Blizzards fails forward. Loot boxes, DRM, crippling anti-cheat mechanisms, buggy games with expensive DLC and micro payments are everywhere. Sony even infected their customers with a rootkit once.…
That's not how this market works. There is no homogenous group of gamers that can act together. Each year there is a new cohort of 11 years old that knows nothing of past publisher behaviour and wants the latest EA game for their birthday. For FIFA with the lootboxes etc there is the added factor that people buying those are for a big part a distinct group to other gamers, there are many guys that only play FIFA or t…
Feels a bit absurd to try to lay the blame at the feet of 11 year olds, when adults routinely demonstrate the same behavior.
The latest example of KSP2 is imo a great example, announced in 2019 for release in 2020, delayed several times to go on to launch into a $50 'early access' early last year with far less functionality than the original game and worse bugs and architectural issues. Despite all the glaring warning signs, so many people ate up the promises. They delivered one basic feature in 6 months (reentry heating). Yet the 'trust' from otherwise smart adults remained. It seems they only finally noticed this past week, when the studio making the game was shut down. Now they expect refunds despite all the warnings Steam has against buying early access games based on future promises.