This is true of all companies in a capitalist society. People love to shit on Nintendo but Sony, Microsoft, Valve, yes even your previous Gabe is not your friend.
(that’s a royal you btw, not calling out you specifically)
Comment on Nintendo Responds To Tariff Refunds Lawsuit, Tells Customers They "Got What They Bargained For"
AbsolutelyNotAVelociraptor@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Nintendo is not your friend. It has no interest in passing any of its potential savings onto you, and the only reason it’s ever interested in your bank account is when it’s thinking about how much money it can get out of it.
Some (too many) people fail to understand this extremely basic concept.
iamthetot@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
Zorque@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, but some at least have some consumer friendly policies while they’re squeezing you dry.
Not saying you should cozy up to suck them off or anything, but throwing everything in a single bucket labeled “bad” is big smooth brain moves.
p03locke@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
This is true of all companies in a capitalist society. People love to shit on Nintendo but Sony, Microsoft, Valve, yes even your previous Gabe is not your friend.
There’s a difference between publicly-traded and privately-owned companies. I’m not saying that large corporations are your friend, but it’s rather disingenuous to categorize all of them with the same black & white stance.
iamthetot@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
What difference are you thinking of? Because I agree, there are differences. Nintendo does shitty things under the guise of enriching the shareholders. Valve does shitty things to enrich only Gabe.
steelplatedmech@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
I think it is more that whether benevolent or malevolent there are more decisions that align with what PC gamers want compared to other gaming companies.
Like push for Linux and trying to make it more accessible to the average user. Compared to where Linux was when the first Steam Machine came out and how much more user friendly it became after the Steam Deck is one area. Still lot of work to do, but leaving Microsoft behind isn’t as daunting as it used to be for gamers.
With other consoles the stands outs are more the exclusives.
But, there are more clashing of ideas like paid online, requiring locked down hardware, and inability to install whatever you want on consoles. Console ecosystem has been much more confrontational just because of being a closed ecosystem for those that want a more open one.
inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, it’s honestly very sad to see people defend these gaming corporations blindly, yes, including Steam, when they’re doing anti-consumer things.
NOPper@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I’ll take the bait… What anti-consumer stuff is Valve doing?
inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Sure, here are my small list personal list of gripes, mostly minor except the first one.
Steam’s a great company and overall very pro-consumer company in my opinion, more so than most of the other companies in the PC gaming realm but I’ll criticize Steam when I see something I believe is anti-consumer regardless of my like for them because end of they day they’re still just a corporation that prioritizes profits over people and it’s just one death away from being enshitified like the rest of them.
NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
That have zero choice on the licensing at least for games they dont publish.
On the other hand they have kept installers for me long after the publisher has pulled their product.
MBech@feddit.dk 2 weeks ago
Don’t forget that the current refund system wasn’t born out of the benevolence of Valve. It all came from external pressure, mainly from Australia and somewhat EU. Steam never wanted you to be able to refund a game that doesn’t work, they were forced to. And even now they’re trying to hide the ability to refund games as much as possible.
BreakerSwitch@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Let’s not forget they’ve been emulating amazons efforts to drive prices up across the market
iamthetot@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
In addition to the other comment, the only reason their famous refund policy exists is because Australia made them do it. And I really cannot stress how shitty the loot box stance is. Gamers hate loot boxes by and large yet somehow largely give Valve a pass despite the fact they hugely popularized the concept in the gaming space.
NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Gamers apparently love loot boxes, lol.
They have zero effect on the gameplay though. Ignore them if you want to, it really makes no difference.
DrPop@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My first instance of lootboxes was when Valve introduced them in TF2. I was a dumb 20 year old living with my parents so i had disposable income. I wasted at least $200 on keys.
ParlimentOfDoom@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
Their cartel like price fixing policies raise prices across all sales platforms, regardless if they deal with steam codes or not.
Also the child gambling.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
The price parity is the big one for me. They have almost total market control, and they use this to prevent competition. We all know no other marketplace can compete on utility, because Steam has a massive head start. Their other option is to compete on price, and Valve has forced this to not be allowed. Somehow some people still defend them for this.
auzy1@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They’re doing also lots of pro consumer things
Whereas, I’d argue Nintendo is almost entirely anti consumer. They didn’t even fix their joycons and recall them