One might wonder about the ratio of Nintendo’s legal budget to actual piracy losses.

Having been a college student back in the days of Napster (and ignoring the complete dearth at the time in physical stores of the sorts of music I was getting into), $20 CDs with one good track were not a value proposition. So when I downloaded a track, there was zero actual financial hit to whatever label or the RIAA … it’s a sale that never would have happened. You didn’t lose money; you gained exposure.

My last console was an SNES, so I have no horse in this race. But being actively hostile to your customers generally ends poorly.

As a grown-ass adult, I’ve spent more than $2,000 on music on Beatport, mostly $1.29 at a time replacing the stuff I pirated for better-quality versions.

When you have to take away rights that used to be guaranteed by the first-sale doctrine, it’s likely a sign there’s something wrong with your business model moreso than users causing so much chaos (and profit loss) that you have no choice.

This isn’t some fly-by-night AI toaster company that’ll shut down services in a year and leave you fucked. It’s Nintendo. They’re going to survive just fine.

  • @Telorand@reddthat.com
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    4911 days ago

    So the Switch is essentially for rent. You can play it, as long as Nintendo decides you’re in its good graces.

    You don’t own something to which somebody else has the master off-switch. And with their continued abuse of their own fans and other game developers through the courts, it’s a testament to FOMO and fandom that they are still in business.

    Vote with your wallets, y’all. This kind of behavior only makes you the loser.

    • @redsand@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      810 days ago

      Which is why future emulator projects should be kept on tor and i2p. Make them blow millions paying lawyers to keeps some emails auto sending.

  • monke🐵
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    1410 days ago

    Why does Nintendo have this need to constantly remind their customers about how scummy they are?

    • Oniononon
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      9 days ago

      Kids don’t care and nintendos target audience is kids.

  • @sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1210 days ago

    I am no fan of this at all…

    …but…

    Hasn’t… basically every internet capable console been capable of hardware ID level banning itself, upon detecting being tampered with, at least to some extent?

    Like I have no interest in a Switch as a gamer, but this basically reads as a gauntlet off the hand, thrown to the ground challenge to hardware hackers.

    • @teawrecks@sopuli.xyz
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      710 days ago

      Banning is fine, we’re talking about remote bricking. If I hack my Xbox, I’m fine with not being allowed to use it to join msft’s network, but I am not fine with them identifying my hacked device over the internet and actively sending some sort of backdoor self-destruct instruction to it. To me that’s a violation of the CFAA.

  • AnimalsDream
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    1210 days ago

    Joke’s on Nintendo, they already lost me as a customer back in the 3DS days, and I do not own a Switch for them to brick. 🖕

    But if any Switch games look interesting enough to play, I’ll be happy to emulate them on my Steam Deck or PC. 🙃

  • @HappyTimeHarry@lemm.ee
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    11 days ago

    Given the switch is exploitable at the hardware level, i doubt there is anything nintendo can do beyond not allowing use of their online services.

    They said a similar thing about 3ds cfw, yet we dont see any reports of it actually happening.

    • Pete HahnloserOP
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      1111 days ago

      What I took away from the story is that they’re still going to sell cartridges, but the games won’t actually be on them … they’re essentially bulky, overengineered QR codes to be able to download the game you just bought a physical copy off. So, services gone? Congrats on your useless $80 piece of plastic.

      • Chloyster [she/her]M
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        210 days ago

        The game key cards are only an option developers can use. Afaik no Nintendo published games are using them. Most games still have the game on the cartridge

      • @korn@feddit.org
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        210 days ago

        In my opinion, that oversimplifies it. PlayStation and Xbox have disks without the “Next Gen” Version on it for years, but nobody cared. At this point there are also no games that have this license-on-a-cartridge.

        After all, you can still sell the cartridge, something you cannot do with a completely digital game.

  • Novaling
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    810 days ago

    Oh my god if I see one more “YOuR SwItCh 2 WiLl Be BrIckEd, NiNtEnDo iS aNtI cOnSuMeR!1!1!” post

    Every fucking modern console with an internet connection does this. Switch 1 does this. If you hack your console, keep it off the internet. Brain dead easy. Furthermore, are we talking account brick/ban, or full hardware brick, because obviously they’re going to brick your account for online play, because hackers. If it’s a hardware brick (without being on the internet), then that would suck (but is not surprising, obviously duh Nintendo doesn’t want to lose money).

    People will figure out how to hack Switch 2, give it a few years. Emulators of varying quality will be made, and will be of good quality eventually.

    If you don’t want Switch 2 for the price, don’t buy it. Simple as that.

    • Pete HahnloserOP
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      810 days ago

      If that first line is your takeaway, you clearly didn’t actually read my post, in which I said my last console was an SNES.

      So to presume my knowledge of modern consoles and belittle me because you’re wrong … breathtaking. I’ve no interest in a Switch. I posted this not because it has any chance of affecting me but because it seemed like news people who might want a switch could use. That’s the purpose of a news-aggregation site.

      • Novaling
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        410 days ago

        My comment is not personally directed at you, it’s just more about how everyone and their mom is talking about Nintendo’s recent decisions on piracy. Literally every tech/gaming community on Lemmy (and social media in general) is talking about it, and I’m tired of seeing it every day. I don’t mean to belittle you about your last console being the SNES, it’s just frustrating rhetoric that others have repeated because they truly seem to think Switch 2 is the only console doing this.

        I understand what you mean about how someone who pirates probably would’ve never bought the game anyway, just like people (including me) who watch playthroughs of games that they never would’ve bought, hence tbe company was never gonna make money anyway. But even if companies know that fact, they’re not gonna just ignore people who break their ToS to pirate because they don’t want to lose money.

        As you stated, you buy music of the stuff you originally pirated, and some game pirates might do that. But music has replay value compared to a lot of games. Once I finish a long RPG, there’s a very unlikely chance I’m picking it back up again, unless it’s many years later or it’s a hand-me-down to someone. If I pirated and played that type of game, I’m unlikely to buy it because why bother, other than to show support to the devs?

        Companies don’t want to lose those who pirated and potentially would’ve bought the game. The whole point of piracy is that it has to be more convenient than buying the game, and since they know homebrewing can get to a very comfortable point, they don’t want to lose people to that.

        • Pete HahnloserOP
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          210 days ago

          My taste in games is somewhat different. I don’t look for storylines; I look for games with tremendous replay value like Factorio (which has the added benefit of endlessly being able add mods and start a totally new experience). I got it early enough – coincidentally because of an Ars review – that it was still just $20.

          Some 800 hours later, that makes it 2.5 cents per hour for entertainment. And I’ll likely get the update pack when I have sufficient hardware, but I get that many popular games are more like books. I don’t tend to reread one as soon as I’m done, but in a few years, I might get a wild hair.

          • Novaling
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            19 days ago

            Oh yeah, it totally depends on the game. I do play and love the highly replayable stuff, but those games I almost never pirate, it’s usually something I already bought or would buy.I think one of the few non-online replayable games I’ve pirated was Rhythm Heaven on 3DS.

            • Pete HahnloserOP
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              29 days ago

              For quite some time, I’d watch YouTube playthroughs of about an hour and realized that in most cases, that was all I really needed. If shit starts looking grindy in an hour, you likely made a bad game.

              I’m grateful for these streamers. They save me from wasting money.

    • Oniononon
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      29 days ago

      We should make noise about it and enforce regulations that ban practises that do not allow people to own the things they own. We don’t want to end up like america.

      • Novaling
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        29 days ago

        If you hack your console and put it on the internet, don’t be surprised that you’re bricked. Do I think it’s a little extreme to brick a Switch that hasn’t even joined an online game? Yes, that does suck, but realistically any game company is not going to knowingly let you use a device that is hacked. Once again, if it’s just an account brick, then who cares, make a new one (why would you hack with your main account?). Hardware bricks are pretty shitty, but there’s no way you could fight that in court (I deserve the right to hack my console and get free games?).

        Once they stop making updates, you’ll own the switch anyway, as then they don’t give a fuck/can’t do shit about hackers. I’ve hacked my WiiU and several 3DS because there are no more new updates to ever brick them, they’re obsolete/abandoned consoles.

  • Jo Miran
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    711 days ago

    My first Nintendo console was an NES that I got for Christmas the year it was released in the US. You can say thay I have been a Nintendo fan for a bit. Nowadays I repeat the same thing over and over again.

    Nintendo? Not even pirated. I avoid it all.

    • Pete HahnloserOP
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      1110 days ago

      There’s always the option of just scrolling past if you’re sick of the coverage. I’m not on any other instances, and this hadn’t been posted on Beehaw yet. Bee Nicer.

  • @PeterisBacon@lemm.ee
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    211 days ago

    I love my emulating devices that are full of nintendo games I may or may not have paid for. I definitely paidbthe emulation company, nintendo? Nodidtho

  • Jakob Fel
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    19 days ago

    At this point, I actively encourage people to boycott this thing. Steam Deck is better anyways.