For those like me, considering leaving gaming over no option for DRM-Free releases on console, what other hobbies are you looking at
Preface - Game preservation is more important than anything else relating to games to me. I moved from growing up on computer gaming, to live through the 90s where compatibility was constantly killing games due to system updates, hardware updates, etc. to console, where games just worked as long as you kept checkpoint hardware (PS1/N64, PS2/Xbox/GC).
With the rise of online-check computer DRM, I never looked back at computer, despite flirting with the idea for years. On console, you could buy AAA games day 1 without DRM, and as always, as long as you kept the hardware, you could play it.
Now, with PlayStation and Xbox going all-DRM-all-the-time, and Nintendo looking to remove safeguards for preservation with Game Key Cards, I look back at PC and see…
Valve - "Nazis are a feature not a bug"
GOG - "Nazis, check out how hip with are!"
EGS - "Don't hurt Nazis feelings, they are people too!"
So like, Itch, I guess? That's not enough to sustain my lifelong passion for video games, one that began in the 80s on black and white monitors, and has continued to this day, on both the playing side and the dev side. This is really the last straw for me - If we don't value our art, what is even the point anymore?
Lately, I've been spending more time watching shows, reading a lot, and got heavily into board games. While I would not have ever called these as my replacement for games, I guess I have enough existing games to last me until the sun explodes… But getting lost in the excitement for new stuff is just going to be sad. Just another thing I love ruined by AI raising the cost of hardware.
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