Sony doesn’t need to strike back, they’ll still have the dominant market share after this merger. It would also be much harder for them to acquire a publisher given this fact. MS was allowed to acquire Zenimax and Activision because they only have like 20% of the console market share and they’re still going to have…

This is the business equivalent of holding up a “fuck the troops no war for oil vote Kerry” sign in 2023. It’s no longer relevant dude. Microsoft is one of the better contemporary examples of a friendly employer (relative to its size and scope of business)

Aside from the usual anti-consolidation rhetoric, can you list any specific and realistic (that part is important) outcomes that will actually hurt consumers..?

A lot can change in a company over a 20 year timeline. Just like anything else in this world, comparing something to it’s 20 year past self is doing todays version a disservice. Sometimes in a positive way and sometimes in a negative way. Either way it’s an unfair comparison.

Except, as the sony fanboys love to point out, microsoft is in third place. They are literally incapable of being a monopoly. The closest thing to a monoply in console gaming is sony who is able to deny games to the competition, even those they did not make, raise prices arbitrarily and do so with absolute impunity.

One of the least consumer/union friendly companies is now owned by one of the most.

Can we stop pretending that companies are forcing a digital future on us, and admit that it’s demand driven? EVERY form of media we consume has become supplanted by digital, be it music, movies, books, or games. Games are the last, becasue they’re HUGE and require bandwidth, but it is absolutely crystal clear that…

They are still selling a disk version and the rumor I heard was that they are going to support a detachable disk drive for the new console.  This is less about getting rid of the disk to push people to Gamepass and more about gettting rid of a piece of hardware in the device to save production costs.

Kinda weird for people to go “they don’t care about game preservation” when, of the three console manufactuerers, Microsoft has probably done the most to provide gamers with access with older games from previous generations. Yes, I recognize that “stuff can be two things” and the conversation is more nuance than that…

I feel like they know that the bigger issue isn’t “consumers don’t want discs”, it’s “(a lot of) consumers don’t want physical media”. Regardless if it’s SD cards or optical discs, you still have to take one game out, put it away, physically find the game you want, put it in, and put the case away. It’s not a huge…

The thing that brings Game Pass back around for me is that I really can’t afford to pay $70 a game. I play too many a year usually, and even if I didn’t its a heck load of money in my country. So I’ve always waited for sales with maybe two exceptions in two decades. But with Game Pass its actually been really nice to…

It’s so bad and also borderline unfeasible.

“developers like Aggro Crab would not be on the hook, as the fees are charged to distributors, which in the Game Pass example would be Microsoft.”

RIP Unity. That’s how you kill a product right there.

including that charity games and bundles are excluded from fees

You do also have to concern yourself with the management hardware to handle more hard drives. Although it’s likely nowhere near enough to make up the difference, it’s still a significant infrastructure spend and additional points of failure.

“I stopped practicing medicine and became a chiropractor". 

I love the modern FPS-style Fallout games. Played the shit out of 3 and New Vegas and enjoyed 4. I would have loved 4 more but I couldn’t get into the base building craft element. I did it, but I didn’t like it. There is not really a FPS game with the same RPG character building mechanics and a combat system as…

“In Bethesda RPGs you are almost always the most powerful, [etc] ... Everyone needs your help. ... And weirdly, it seems like everyone in these games knows this and will pester you for all their problems big or small.”