I know it gets quoted a lot, but Gabe was 100% right. It boggles my mind how people in power over these streaming services just don't get it:

One thing that we have learned is that piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue. The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates.

It's basically the Live Nation/TIcketmaster issue. They sell the tickets to the events at venues they own. Conflict of interest much?

Ah, yes. The "find out" stage of the "fuck around and find out" lesson from thinking "we can do Netflix ourselves." Nice work, assbags.

What happens if my brother gets banned for cheating while playing my game?
If a family member gets banned for cheating while playing your copy of a game, you (the game owner) will also be banned in that game. Other family members are not impacted.

Fuck that, yo.

It just switches the question to the library: "What will we borrow tonight?"

Source: experience from my Blockbuster days.

Pool alleged that the family's lawyer said she wants to “bankrupt” the school district and its leaders during the legal proceedings.

Isn't that a Republican's job?

the best 2D Mario game ever made.

That is a bold statement, given Super Mario Bros. 3 and World exist. I hope it lives up to those games.

Since text isn’t graphic.

Sounds like someone’s never seen ASCII porn before.

It’s been shown repeatedly that a large part of piracy isn’t about cost, it’s about convenience. It was easier to pay $0.99 and get what you wanted when you wanted it, than download 8 files off of Napster and hope that one of them was actually a decent bitrate and was the song the title said it was.

"We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem. If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable."

-Gabe Newell

Sauce: http://web.archive.org/web/20120307035423/http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe-Newell-Says-Piracy-Is-a-Service-Problem

Might feel more open if people didn’t need a fucking invite code to join, but ok.

The "Video Games Now" part basically describes Castlevania II.

I’ve always preferred mobile sites to apps. Not sure why. Maybe I just like to use Safari to manage all that I’m checking out.

But I stand with developers. Even Balmer knew developers are a major key to success. I’m not interested in using a site with such hostile ownership.

Fuck spez.

"...Steve Jobs came back to Apple and stripped its messy range down to a few core products..."

Feels like the Apple of today forgets this part of Steve's return.

Honestly, I'd much rather movies and shows be like music. I could subscribe to Apple Music, or Google Play, or YouTube Music, or Tidal, or Spotify, etc. That's competition. Not spreading it out all over. Too much fragmentation can be bad for consumers too. It's why I've been doing my best with buying stuff I really want instead of streaming it. Some stuff I can't buy, and I get that. But others, I'm doing my damnedest to own it so I don't need to subscribe for it.

Side note: I know it (streaming movies like music) is a pipe dream that'll never happen. But still, one can dream.

Go in a HEV suit for the lulz.

Nintendo remembers how the internet collectively lost its shit over Charles not voicing Mario in the movie. Nintendo knew better than to announce it before the game's release.

When Xcloud eventually (promises, promises, Phil) gets purchased games access, there'll be no need for the console anymore. Hell, PC gamers could (in theory, anyway) play GTA VI by buying the Xbox version and playing it on Xcloud (again, if purchased games comes to it, it's been promised for years).

The Crazy Taxi license plate was a nice touch. I saw that and knew it was going to be Crazy Taxi (which I loved). SoR, CT and JGR were games I loved playing and can't wait to play new versions of.

About that: https://old.reddit.com/r/horny/comments/14an8n5/important_announcement_embracing_change_on_our/

Is it back? Few days ago it was reported being removed: https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/7/23787101/the-elon-musk-private-jet-tracker-was-on-threads-but-not-anymore