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SoloCritical, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

Nintendo emailed me today saying something like they changed their EULA and if I didn’t do anything then it counts as accepting the new EULA unless I close my account. Haven’t had a switch in years, didn’t even like it and gave it away. Anyway I closed my Nintendo account immediately.

echodot,

It was such an underwhelming product at least from my point of view. I mostly just kept it docked but really other than Zelda games there wasn’t anything worth playing.

I still own it, but for the life of me I couldn’t tell you where it is.

catloaf, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

I don’t seem how threatening to brick a device is intended to help you sell more of them. Like I was seriously considering buying a Switch 2 even recently, but this is really the nail in the coffin. Why should I pay money for something that could stop working on their whims? Because it’s not like these measures have been 100% accurate in the past.

MelodiousFunk,

Because it’s not like these measures have been 100% accurate in the past.

This is the part that really frustrates me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of the wording here. Account ban? Sure, against TOS, etc. But affecting the device is a whole other story. Especially when prior account bans have come under dubious circumstances.

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

youre not the exploitable target audience.

like legit 100% evil intent, cant even argue against that

Yermaw,

The target audience still goes online. Generally Facebook and mumsnet. Wait til it happens to one of them and the stories go round like wildfire.

With that market, especially at big luxury prices like a console, you exist solely on good faith.

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

you dont see the whole “children of rich western parents really dont care” audience?

Yermaw,

They won’t give the first shit about piracy policies or anything like that, but they’ll care that MummyD123s DH bought their DD an electric brick that won’t keep them quiet any more.

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

why would it brick

Yermaw,

As part of a severe response to unauthorised use

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

same comment of mine here: what nintendo child will do that is my question

CileTheSane,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

Right, children are known for being well behaved and following the rules…

I remember as a child playing 2 player Tetris on the original Gameboy, which required a cable connecting the two devices. I figured out if I watched my opponent’s height indicator on my screen and saw it drop suddenly I could unplug the cable from my device and not get sent the extra lines. It was a cheat and an exploit that I stumbled upon because I was curious what would happen. That “I wonder what would happen” attitude can now apparently cause Nintendo to purposely brick the device.

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

I still dont see how pre teen children would be able to pirate a game xd

CileTheSane,
@CileTheSane@lemmy.ca avatar

You haven’t met a pre teen. You’re also ignoring the problem of false positives.

“It doesn’t matter how strict the punishment is, only criminals will be punished” only works if only criminals are punished. There’s plenty of stories of accounts being banned when no rules were broken.

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

thats a good argument at the end

the first paragraph: not so much… I think the opposite of you haha

Zahille7,

Do you not realize what thread you’re commenting in?

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

what nintendo child will do that is my question, the third time.

idk if im missing something or you all repeat the same bit in hopes of something…

Yermaw,

It only takes one, and they’re not going to admit to their mum that they tried taking it apart or installing some dodgy stuff on it. Once word gets out they can be “randomly” bricked they’ll stop selling so well.

There’s also the risk that it’ll actually get randomly triggered.

arakhis_,
@arakhis_@feddit.org avatar

idk I dont see that issue specifically, I see the issue of them choosing the vulnerable customers (families with pre-teen children) over the conscious ones (gaming etusiasts who are less likely to choose nintendo first and if so then better be a diehard cultist)

but a lil kid who cant even control mario in mario kart without the auto drive assists…? idk how this little guy would install or screw open a console xd

Faydaikin, do gaming w Some retailers have broken Doom: The Dark Ages' street date, and huge spoilers are already out there [Eurogamer]
@Faydaikin@beehaw.org avatar

Completely unrelated.

That id software is now owned by Microsoft pisses me off way more than it should. I was already iffy when they were acquired by Zenimax.

And there’s literally no one left of the original crew at this point.

I think I’m done with Doom, Wolfenstein and all that.

Rant over and sorry. It all just dawned on me when I saw the post.

theangriestbird,

it sucks that half of my favorite studios are now owned by a company that makes it’s money on literally killing people. i want to support the devs for the amazing games that they made but i don’t want my money supporting that heinous shit.

sw00Sh,
@sw00Sh@feddit.org avatar

You can decide to be unhappy (or not). The old games will not be stolen from you, and all complains aside, there are far more good games on the market than 20 years ago.

Faydaikin,
@Faydaikin@beehaw.org avatar

I know that and I’m happy that there is so much to choose from these days, simply because distribution isn’t a big issue anymore. The indie scene has never been in a better place.

It’s a nostalgia thing. Plus, I’m against the whole “exclusivity” thing. And a bunch of other reasons, but it hardly matters.

Sometimes you just need to vent your disappointment, you know?

sw00Sh, do gaming w Some retailers have broken Doom: The Dark Ages' street date, and huge spoilers are already out there [Eurogamer]
@sw00Sh@feddit.org avatar

What spoiler? You rip and tear until it’s done.

entropicdrift, do gaming w Some retailers have broken Doom: The Dark Ages' street date, and huge spoilers are already out there [Eurogamer]
!deleted5697 avatar

Oh no, not spoilers for the plot of Doom. Now nobody will want to play it /s

SnotFlickerman,
@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

From what I understand it is actually the most plot heavy Doom to date, so some people might actually care.

entropicdrift,
!deleted5697 avatar

I mean, maybe. Doom 3 was pretty plot-driven too, but yeah. I guess my point is that the series is really all about fun gameplay.

SnotFlickerman,
@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

I wholeheartedly agree… but then I think getting upset about spoilers is silly in general. If a plot point or piece of information wrecks a book/film/television show/video game for you, odds are it wasn’t a very quality one anyway.

Still, I try to respect that I’m deeply in the minority in that opinion.

entropicdrift,
!deleted5697 avatar

There are certain stories where a good amount of the first-time enjoyment is trying to guess the outcome/twist, like murder mysteries. IMO it really depends on the story structure.

BadlyDrawnRhino,
@BadlyDrawnRhino@aussie.zone avatar

Part of my enjoyment is not necessarily knowing what is coming next so that I can experience it for myself. Spoilers won’t completely ruin something for me, but it is taking something away from the experience.

Also, to everyone out there, just tag the spoilers so people can make up their own mind what they read. It takes a bare minimum of effort to do so. It’s akin to holding the door open for someone behind you, it’s not going to be the end of the world if you don’t, but it can make someone’s day a fraction better if you do.

spooky2092,

I mostly agree, but then there are pieces of media like Memento where spoiling it changes how you watch the movie. Because you’re likely going to be looking for how they put the movie together to build up to that reveal at the end.

weew,

Hey guys, I think I saw some things that have, like, fangs and horns and stuff. Do you… Do you think there might be demons? In a DOOM game?

etchinghillside,

I need to know the origins of the BFG.

Kolanaki,
@Kolanaki@pawb.social avatar

I mean, the new ones do actually have a story. With dialogue and everything. Though I have to agree with Carmack when he said “a story in a video game is as important as a story in a porno.”

DarkDarkHouse, (edited )
@DarkDarkHouse@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Glad it’s not just me that thinks there’s too much exposition in games that don’t need it e.g., Doom. The good writers understand the medium and the story unfolds through play but the bad ones make you read walls of text. If I wanted so many words I’d read a book.

entropicdrift,
!deleted5697 avatar

For real. Digital Choose Your Own Adventure type books are fun if that’s what you’re trying to buy, but Doom is about gameplay

jaschen, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

So a few years ago I wanted to play a Japanese version of a rhythm game that isn’t available to purchase in the USA and decided to try my hand at modding my switch for this one game.

After(poorly) doing it, I wasn’t able to play that game AND Nintendo bricked me. All my games on my switch that I purchased were unable to download or play anymore.

So I went and set out to mod my switch correctly.

Now if I actually wanted to give Nintendo money, they won’t allow me to. So my only option from then on is to pirate.

They basically turned a potentially paying customer to a non paying customer.

Quexotic,

So, this is a basic security principle. If the system of access is too “secure” or too inconvenient, people will create workarounds.

Need keys for all the doors every second of every day? You’ll find duct tape on all the latches.

Password is 15 characters and changes every 60 days? You’re going to find post-its under keyboards.

Spread all digital content across 8 streaming providers that cost about $180/y? Torrent time.

Nintendo wants to brick users for trying to play an out of region game they paid for? They’ll never pay again and will reverse engineering your shit out of spite.

Same thing we saw with the music industry utterly failing to embrace internet distribution. Limewire and bearshare are their fucking lunch.

When will they learn to just make access easy? People, generally, would rather pay than pirate but when you start making shit difficult, nobody wants to play your games anymore and you see massive losses.

Meet your customers where they’re at!

Zahille7,

Doesn’t Xbox let you change your console’s region in the settings?

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

i have an account on my ps4 (and ps5) that i log into and suddenly i’m in a different region. the ps5 says i only get so many region changes, but i can log into the accounts as many times as i want

Quexotic,

Never tried. I’m a ps guy now, but the point is that there shouldn’t be region codes to begin with.

Anywhere I’ve ever seen a region code to be changeable you only get to change it a certain number of times before you get stuck in a region. This is why you’ll find TBD players that have been firmware flashed to be regionless.

Katana314,

The most secure device ever made is a Rock.

You cannot have your bank account stolen from a Rock. People will never get your personal files or medical info from a Rock. People will never spy on you through the Rock.

But you also can’t do much with a Rock.

a_wild_mimic_appears,

I disagree on the premise that a rock cannot be used for much. I mean, the available actions for a rock ARE pretty limited, but it can be used in a variety of ways!

dumblederp,
@dumblederp@aussie.zone avatar

Good in a revolution.

Quexotic,

Uh, we kinda tricked rocks into thinking using lightening and learned to use rocks to make AI…

jaschen,

Basically what Gabe said.

Psythik,

Next time just use a Switch emulator. Sudachi is a good one.

You can even download Fitgirl Repacks of Switch titles that include the emulator already set up and ready to go. Literally just a one click install and you’re playing.

jaschen,

This was before emulators were a thing. It was super early days of modding.

carrion0409,

Fitgirl Repacks my beloved

thermal_shock,

Similar here. Bricked my kids switch, so we modded it. Now we have ALL the games.

JackbyDev,

How’d you mod it after you bricked it?

thermal_shock, (edited )

It won’t access the Nintendo network, can’t use store, etc. not 100% bricked. Sorry

JackbyDev,

Ah okay, thanks. I’m too scared to mess with most hardware so not always up to date on the terminology. My tinkering is exclusively desktop/laptop stuff.

thermal_shock,

It’s 100% worth the mod OR put that money toward a steam deck/Linux handheld. Im actually looking to sell this switch to put towards another steam deck. Sooo many more options and better support, not locked into Nintendo bullshit. Put whatever you want on it (like 95% of games right now, I’ve had very few issues) but did have to learn a bit. Beats the hell out of a locked down ecosystem 100000%.

Lumiluz,

Soooo, just curious but, instead of modding, why didn’t you just set your console region to Japan? That’s what I did. Just seems a lot easier.

jaschen,

I didn’t know you could do that. I’m in Taiwan and I know Steam doesn’t let you make a purchase without a local credit card. So I imagine that’s the case for Japan.

Faydaikin, do gaming w 200 Overwatch devs at Activision Blizzard vote to unionize [Eurogamer]
@Faydaikin@beehaw.org avatar

A bit late, but good for them.

Dark_Arc,
@Dark_Arc@social.packetloss.gg avatar

How is it late?

Faydaikin,
@Faydaikin@beehaw.org avatar

Might have helped a bit both before and during Koticks rampage.

umbraroze, (edited ) do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

That’s it, I’m going to skip Switch 2 and get a Steam Deck next. And I’ll stick to stuff that can run Dolphin.

(Learns that Xbox Series can also run Dolphin without modding) Well shit, I’m set for life, now just need to sort out the portable console situation

Saleh,

If corporate enshittification is the reason for you to skip on the switch, giving any more money to Microsoft doesn’t make sense either.

samus12345,

I assume they already gave them money for it years ago.

ConstantPain, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

Sony tried that in Brazil, but it didn’t go as planned. The court ordered them to unbrick it, but they had to provide a new console because they couldn’t unbrick it. And they paid damages.

lechekaflan, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy
@lechekaflan@lemmy.world avatar

That corporation is still stuck in 1985 or 1989 (otherwise stuck in the Showa Era), trying to keep absolute control of anything it made.

iknowitwheniseeit,

The 1980s were before the DMCA. In those days if you bought an expensive piece of electronics both seller and buyer expected that you owned it.

anarchyrabbit, (edited ) do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

That’s cool. I’ll install Torzu on my ROG ally and play all the fucking switch games I want to.

Dariusmiles2123, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

I’ve recently decided to complete all the games we’ve bought on our family Switch before allowing myself to get a Steam Deck alongside my Ps5.

While Nintendo has some very good games, I think I’ll never buy again from them.

Lumiluz,

Just fyi, I believe Sony has stated the same right as well.

The reason this is in legalese is because of the possibility of online cheating.

I don’t agree with it, I’m just saying the excuse reasoning console corporations give.

Anyway, it’s illegal to do that in the EU anyway.

Taleya,

Rverything is about “online cheating” it’s the think of the children!! of the gaming world

Dariusmiles2123,

It’s not fair, but I give a pass to Sony as their games are more my type and I’ve always used Sony consoles a lot.

Sony ain’t probably better than Nintendo as a conpany, that’s also why I’m extendibg my reach with Steam Deck gaming in the future.

JeeBaiChow, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

Ah. So now we’re merely ‘licensing’ physical hardware we paid for and have in our homes. right?

Adalast,

You always have with Nintendo products. They have always had very aggressive licensing practices. In the early days they were more flexing them on developers, but it does not surprise me that in the wake of everyone telling them that modding and emulators can be explicitly legal that they would turn that particularly litigious aspect of their family friendly brand on the customers.

Strider,

Afaik not in Europe. But the details are probably messy.

refurbishedrefurbisher, (edited )

Always has been unless you count modding to remove this kind of shitty DRM.

Nintendo was the company to popularize DRM in home consoles with the US release of the NES. The Famicom had no DRM even though it was identical hardware otherwise (well, that, the RF modulator, and the PCB layout).

carrion0409, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

Well I also reserve the right to not buy their underpowered shit.

taiyang, do games w Nintendo reserves the right to brick your console following "unauthorised use", in bid to prevent piracy

At this point I want Switch 2 to flop so hard they go the way of the Sega and start licensing their IPs on other platforms, giving up on consoles. A shame, too, since their tech is little kid hand friendly and the PC market doesn’t seem keen on tiny screen handhelds.

FlashMobOfOne,
@FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world avatar

It’s a nice thought, at least.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

i kind of want the steam deck to eat the switch and i really don’t have a dog in the fight

taiyang,

A steam deck lite would probably dominate, lol

TwinTitans,
@TwinTitans@lemmy.world avatar

With the price of software it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think they jumped the gun a bit hard on that one and will have to backpedal.

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