The Steam Deck brings about a conversation about what a console is. To me, it’s something that plugs into the TV and doesn’t require KBM, and in that regard it very much is.
Physical goods are no different in that when you pre-order something you really have no idea what you’re getting. You’re counting on the reputation of the company to deliver on their claims. Which is often a bad idea.
I sure as hell am glad I bought my Switch and and several games second hand
I had a Switch but I sold it after realizing that even second hand games sell for 90% of new. I’ve no idea how the economics of that situation works out…
The only reason you should buy a Switch is if you have no self respect, don’t give a shit about being in an abusive relationship with Nintendo, and don’t care about sending thousands of dollars to a company that hates you to get an artificially limited device, and absolutely MUST play Nintendo first-party games, in the intended fashion.
The Deck is such a better device in nearly every way.
If SIE Inc determines that you have violated this Agreement’s terms, SIE Inc may itself or may procure the taking of any action to protect its interests such as disabling access to or use of some or all System Software, disabling use of this PS5 system online or offline, termination of your access to PlayStation Network, denial of any warranty, repair or other services provided for your PS5 system, implementation of automatic or mandatory updates or devices intended to discontinue unauthorized use, or reliance on any other remedial efforts as reasonably necessary to prevent the use of modified or unpermitted use of System Software.
Although I’ve never heard of any reports of that, and I’d love to see it tested in a courtroom. Deliberately bricking someone else’s hardware because YOU believe for some reason that they’re not using it properly is on a whole other level than just disabling online accounts. It’s vindictive.
That’s why the first thing I do when I buy a new game is to turn off the internet and boot the game. If it doesn’t boot or work offline, I refund it. And I just don’t buy games that have Denuvo.
“Although users own the hardware, the software that’s needed to run it is subject to a license agreement,” attorney Jon Loiterman told Ars. “If you violate the license terms, Nintendo has the right to revoke your access to that software. It’s less common for software makers to revoke access to software in a way that disables hardware you bought from them, but the principle is the same.”