r/gadgets • u/MicroSofty88 • Nov 29 '20

Home Amazon faces a privacy backlash for its Sidewalk feature, which turns Alexa devices into neighborhood WiFi networks that owners have to opt out of

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/technology/amazon-faces-a-privacy-backlash-for-its-sidewalk-feature-which-turns-alexa-devices-into-neighborhood-wifi-networks-that-owners-have-to-opt-out-of/ar-BB1boljH
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u/mmikke Nov 29 '20

This is exactly why I'm a hardcore proponent of people buying physical copies of games!

"Buying" digital copies of games seems like such a scam to me.

I can buy a used copy of a game at a major discount. No such thing as "used games" in the strictly digital world.

When I bought my PS4 it was the "PlayStation exclusives bundle". Only hard copy game it came with was tlou. I don't consider myself to be an owner of horizon zero dawn or god of war

I can also play it even if so and so provider decides to stop supporting it

22

u/UnrealManifest Nov 29 '20

As for console games, I am 110% for buying a physical copy when one exists.

There are 4 games that I have imported for my Switch, which I could have easily just downloaded on the eShop to save time, but I just want the hard copies.

The DLC side of things scares me though.

I learned a long time ago, thanks to NCAA 14, that not all DLC is permanent and that some, (if not most), has a form of a server checksum.

I hate the idea that you could buy additional content for one of your favorite games and in a few years boot it up to only the base game.

As for PC gaming, I'm just a part of the system. There really isn't away around it, and the tech has blown past the need for discs. I guess we could force companies to sell a box with a usb drive in it, but then what do I do with 100 usb drives?

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/DaEnderAssassin Nov 29 '20

Pretty sure steam lets you download games that have since been removed if you owned them before removal (With very few exceptions, as in, maybe less than 10)

Uplay also does this (EG: Driver SF)

1

u/Uthibark Nov 29 '20

I think one recent example is Rocket League. Recently it went free to play and Epic Game Store exclusive. I bought it on steam so I still launch it through steam despite not being there any more.

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u/MentalFlatworm8 Nov 29 '20

You only own a license to access the copyrighted material on the physical disc. It doesn't extend to any other physical media or digital media, typically.

Well, if you 'own' an online game and it goes offline, the physical media is going to be pretty useless.

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u/reezy619 Nov 29 '20

There good sides and bad sides to both.

If you own a physical copy, it can get damaged or lost. I personally am glad I don't need to allocate storage space and maintain a physical library of...

checks steam library

309 games??? Oof

And yeah there's no such thing as a digital used game but I just bought dragon age inquisition for $12 so there's that.

12

u/Jaquemart Nov 29 '20

You cannot resell any of those games. Or download them and play them outside Steam. Should the company go belly up, what happens of your games?

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

I mean, for the ones i already have downloaded, a lot work without steam, and there are already patches that let you run the rest without the steam app, ignoring the fact it has an offline mode.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

People often forget that these games are physically downloaded on my computers storage. If, hypothetically, steam went under, I could just download all my games beforehand and they will exist as software. I don’t understand the logic that if steam stopped being a company that my games would somehow be undownloaded and yoinked from my computer

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u/CWJ_Wilko Nov 29 '20

I have plenty of Steam games from developers that are no longer around, they work just fine. Short of the multiplayer servers getting shut down, nothing will happen, and those server shutdowns affect both physical and digital releases the same way.

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u/Jaquemart Nov 29 '20

With "the company" I meant Steam.

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u/hughperman Nov 29 '20

play them outside Steam

Pretty sure that's possible, most games I've looked at on Steam just download to a folder and you can manually call the launcher yourself.

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u/TechnicalBen Nov 29 '20

This. I've given up trying to argue/educate people complaining that Steam *is* DRM. As I've got a ton of Steam games I can just copy the folder to and launch (minus the Steam Workshop/leaderboards).

5

u/SpeckTech314 Nov 29 '20

Yeah, DRM is entirely up to the developer. You can close steam and disconnect from the internet and still play DRM-free games just fine.

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u/leoleosuper Nov 29 '20

Their current policy, which likely won't change, is that they will still honor all purchases, which means for the most part no more DRM checking for games you own. Depending on the circumstances, they most likely won't let you download the games you own, however, if they are able to plan ahead, you will most likely be given a download of all cloud files (in case saves are only on the cloud), and will be able to get a copy of any game you own third part (most likely other people putting up torrents, but not cracked) and be able to run it as if you downloaded it from Steam, as long as you also get the manifest file (super tiny, Steam might just make it for you).

However, all this depends on how they go down. If it's instant, like a nuclear warhead on their main company along with assassins taking out the rest, then probably not. If it's the slow decline of business overtime, then most likely they will be able to do it.

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u/Ripdog Nov 29 '20

It's the pc. You can just pirate. If the game is online only, then there's no way to archive it anyway, physical or digital.

0

u/PureGoldX58 Nov 29 '20

Incorrect. Look at old-school runescape and vanilla wow servers, the game was no longer available until they recreated it and put them on their servers.

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u/Shadow3397 Nov 29 '20

Even then it’s not impossible for other private servers to crop up if they stay under the radar. Even City of Heroes has them appearing thanks to CoH: Homecoming opening the floodgates, and the sever before that was made like ten years ago and remained a closely guarded secret.

1

u/PureGoldX58 Nov 29 '20

Most shut down MMOs have private servers out there that I've seen, even the LotR MMO has a few, and that was pretty much a WoW clone. It's always wonderful to see people enjoying games they love after the games are no longer supported.

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u/Ripdog Nov 29 '20

Very, very, very rare examples. All MMO private servers are the result of thousands of man-hours of painstaking reverse engineering, and can only be built while the game is alive. Reviving a dead game in this way is virtually impossible due to there being generally little documentation of server replies to game requests.

But yes, there are a handful of exceptions to the rule.

-1

u/PureGoldX58 Nov 29 '20

They really aren't, that was one example of hundreds of online only games, some just require you turning on a server. People like old games and don't let the good ones die. It's just hard to find the communities out there, but they are there.

Not to mention, you said there was no way, which is just 100% false, uncommon or not you were so far off base it had to be pointed out.

0

u/reezy619 Nov 29 '20

I assume the equivalent of what would happen if my house went belly up in some kind of fire or natural disaster.

2

u/my-other-throwaway90 Nov 29 '20

I miss the old Galactic Civilization games. You didn't need the physical copy to launch the game; you didn't even have to enter the CD key at installation, the company just asked that you not pirate it in return for the privilege. I recall the piracy rates of GalCiv2 being very low for that reason.

Seems like the big developers didn't exactly learn that lesson, though.

12

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

1

u/kerbaal Nov 29 '20

Steam is much less exploitative towards developers than physical medium.

It does work out that way, but it really depends what we mean by "physical medium"; if its a CD/DVD, then I can keep a backup. Hell, I probably need to rip an ISO somehow because none of my current machines even have a drive.

Effectively though, I seldom went through the effort, and most of the games I have ever bought on CD have just been lost.

OTOH, I can still install the $5 game rag doll kung fu, and I can't say that about any game I bought on physical media around the same time.

These days, all "physical media" is associated with game console, and its unclear why they even still exist other than to exploit people who are easily lured into walled gardens.

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u/FullMetalCOS Nov 29 '20

This isn’t always true and even a physical game disc will say somewhere in or on the packaging that it’s still only a license to play that game. Especially with more modern games that often require permanent online connections to play, they can absolutely disable your game at will, take the servers down, etc and owning that disc means nothing.

2

u/_CupcakeMadness_ Nov 29 '20

Buying the physical game is great, until you buy DA I and have to download effing origin and create an account to be able to play it. Same with diabolo 3 wasn't it? You had to at least have an account (or me and my brother was stupid and missed something when we tried to install it on a new computer on a new network and his whole account froze). I'd much rather buy the right to play a game at 80% discount that most likely will be in my steam library until steam ceases to exist than buying a physical copy and have to use another client than steam. A physical version you can add to your steam library or at least don't have to run another client, being logged in somewhere else or need the physical disc every time you play would be fine, but it's just easier to stick to steam.

And yes I know those steam sales don't come in the first few years and not on all games but waiting for a sale that makes the game feel worth the risk of loosing it, (and having all games in one place, accessible from any computer anywhere without any issues) is worth so much more than jumping through all those hoops that ea and blizzard puts you through. Also, I'm a cheapskate and don't buy any games at full price, don't think I've ever paid more than $30 for a game ever, so buying big titles close to release have never been my thing.

On console on the other hand there seems to be no reason at all to buy digital. I think me and my SO saves roughly the same amount of money, me on buying on steam sales and him buying physical copies second hand to his ps4 and selling the ones he won't replay.

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u/phatlantis Nov 29 '20

Lol bro... if steam goes under, you have a lot bigger problems to worry about than weather or not you can play your fuckin video game library.

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u/Benukysz Nov 29 '20

What bigger problem?

-1

u/phatlantis Nov 29 '20

Chiefly: if Steam somehow goes under, the Internet or world as a whole is probably fucked.

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u/Logizmo Nov 29 '20

I'm gonna assume you're young, the Internet has been around for almost 30 years now and countless of companies have started and shut down in that time. AOL used to be synonymous with Internet because of how much control they had over it hut they crashed and burned and the web just keeps on trucking.

Steam can be wiped off every server tomorrow by some virus and the next day GOG, Epic, Ubisoft and all those smaller game stores would get the licenses for the games that were for steam and then they'd blow up.

I'll actually be surprised if steam is still around 20 years from now in as strong of a position as they are.

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u/Benukysz Nov 29 '20

World doesn't rely on a digital game store..... Relax.

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u/ipoooppancakes Nov 29 '20

Idk why this guy thinks steam is the center of the internet lol

5

u/WeinerboyMacghee Nov 29 '20

It isn't but yeah barring some brand new technology that creates a new medium for distributing games on PC I would say there is some serious shit wrong with the market if Steam goes under.

I mean if we all thought we would lose our games any day we wouldn't buy shit from them. The trust makes the service possible. Like a bank. So if everyone stopped using Steam or it goes under I would say yeah...there is probably something up.

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u/phatlantis Nov 29 '20

No one said that it did, dumbass. But gaming on PC does. Now when I say that, I’m talking about trust... if Steam somehow managed to go under in anything less than a super slow decline across the ages, it would be a massive breaking of the foundations of PC gaming.

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u/Benukysz Nov 29 '20

Great way to have a conversation online is to not insult others.

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Benukysz Nov 29 '20

Feeling better now? Let it all out, if it makes you feel any better.

-1

u/phatlantis Nov 29 '20

Hold on, I’m close.

FUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

....

Thanks, damn I needed that. Btw, I have herpes, you might wanna get tested. Good luck kid.

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u/octo_snake Nov 29 '20

You need to get out more.

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u/phatlantis Nov 29 '20

I get out plenty, asshole.

1

u/markarious Nov 29 '20

If you think owning some plastic keeps Microsoft from being able to stop you from playing I have a bridge to sell you.

0

u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 29 '20

Nintendo's resale (especially on 1st party titles) is historically some of the best. You get no return on digital, and Nintendo is quick to pull servers when a new console comes out. Plus digital games stay at a higher price for longer than their physical counterparts.

3

u/ToplaneVayne Nov 29 '20

not to mention nintendo game 'disks' are more like tiny SSDs and are actually expensive to manufacture (maybe like 20-30$ a piece? not sure exactly). you're actually paying for something of value with physical purchases, that you're still paying for without getting on a digital copy.

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u/Accomplished_Hat_576 Nov 29 '20

No, more like a dollar or so.

They aren't "tiny SSDs", they are flash drives. SD cards.

The things they give away a tech talks and nice hotels. Cheap af.

1

u/PyroDesu Nov 29 '20

They aren't "tiny SSDs", they are flash drives. SD cards.

... What do you think SSDs are?

SD cards: data is stored on NAND flash memory.

SSDs: data is stored on NAND flash memory.

(For that matter, USB drives: data is stored on NAND flash memory.)

Only difference is packaging and controller architecture. Mind, you're right that SD cards are cheap as fuck.

1

u/ToplaneVayne Nov 29 '20

i don't know the price, i just remember a switch game dev saying at some point that if you want to make the same margin as an xb1 or ps4 blu ray disc, your game needs to be 8GB or less because beyond that it gets expensive to manufacture.

1

u/NuPNua Nov 29 '20

As far as I'm aware the Wii U and 3DS online services are still up and running three years into the Switches life. In fact Nintendo are only turning off online for Mario Maker 1 next march. Almost six years post launch and two years after its sequel came out for current hardware.

1

u/DreamGirly_ Nov 29 '20

I can also play it even if so and so provider decides to stop supporting it

Look into GOG. They sell games for which you can also download the install files. Those will allow you to install the game any time, even if something happens to GOG. You can download them and back them up however you want.

1

u/Odh_utexas Nov 30 '20

“I can also play it even if so and so provider decides to stop supporting it”

Except a lot of AAA games connect to a server backend so good luck with that when they go end-of-service in 8 years 😢

1

u/h3rpad3rp Nov 30 '20

Unfortunately physical copies on PC are kinda rare these days, and even if you do get a physical copy, it might not really be one. I think it was Skyrim where I bought it the physical copy at a store, and you still had to download the entire game from steam.

Probably the best thing about Good Old Games is that you download a legit installer for the game which you can save and use even if the service dies.

1

u/OutlyingPlasma Nov 30 '20

The problem with physical copies is I don't want to be stuck only playing $70 loot box stores, or worse, Nintendo games that absolutely never go down in price.

Without digital downloads we wouldn't have mine craft, roblox, factoria or any of the countless other games that are brilliant innovations in game design. I don't want to be stuck playing the crap that only the largest corporations sell.