UsaSatsui wrote:

Nintendo has already announced they're expecting another drop in profits in 2010. A mere $2.1 billion. And come on, we all know we're going to see the long awaited Fairchild Channel G. It's gonna rule.

Just because they say they're expecting one doesn't mean they're actually expecting one. See, you tell the shareholders you're expecting 2.1 billion. Then, when you hit 2.4 again, and exceed your "expectations", the shareholders are ecstatic.

And seriously, Atari has a nextgen system coming out: http://history.sydlexia.com/index.php?title=Atari_Moritat

I agree. If you're going to combat piracy, you need to offer competitive prices. Obviously, nohing is going to ever beat free, but $8 for a SNES game? I'm not going to pay $8 for a game that I've already played, possibly already owned, and that I could just as easily pirate with no personal consequence.

And Nintendo needs to do something about transfer of ownership. Microsoft lets you move ownership of virtual content from one console to another once per year, and I think you can actually appeal for more moves if you console breaks or something. That seems reasonable. As of right now, Nintendo doesn't let you move ownership of your DSi DLC to a DSi XL, if you decided to upgrade. This is inexcusable, especially since Nintendo lets you register your products online with them. I can understand if they want to set the limit at one of each device, so that if I have five children I can't register five regular DSI systems and then share the DLC between all five systems, but when a new system comes out, I should be able to move the old content to it.

The Steam model sucks, and wouldn't work for a handheld system, at least not until the entire fucking world is Wi-Fi ready. And what if the only reason I'm playing games at that moment is because the internet is down? Then I guess I'm fucked, huh? Fuck that.

GPFontaine wrote:

Your post shows that you clearly don't understand the model.

Then you explained it very poorly. Shame on you.

GPFontaine wrote:

You sign in before you play a game. If you have rights to it, you get access. If you don't, you either buy the game or don't play it. The access follows the user.

So does it essentially work like this?

1. You sign into Steam, thus authenticating that you have the right to play your digital games on a particular computer.
2. You are logged out of any other computer that is online and logged into your account, deauthenticating their ability to play those games.
3. Until a computer that you're authorized on gets a server signal deauthenticating your usage, that computer has access to those games.

If so, that seems entirely reasonable and intelligent.

Nintendo tracks your purchases, via Club Nintendo (formerly MyNintendo). So yes, you can redownload VC and WiiWare titles you've deleted without rebuying them. For some reason though, Nintendo has not chose to use this feature to let you import DSi DLC purchases to a new DSi XL. And that's bullshit.

GPFontaine wrote:

I feel as though ownership of media should extend to dependents and spouses. Pretty much if you claim people on your tax form, they should be able to share video games with you. It frustrates me that my wife doesn't have access to the same games list that I do. While I trust her with my account, I wouldn't trust young children that I someday hope to have. I would want to give them access, but only to certain games on a sub-account, also I wouldn't want kids to be able to buy every game that they see. I see this as a feature that is needed in order for STEAM to grow as big as consoles.

Think of it this way. You have two kids. You buy them each a DS. You buy them a single copy of Pokemon. Both them have access to the game, but only one can play it at a time. I have no problem with digital games having the same limitations as physical ones, especially when physical media is still a viable outlet.

Nintendo has turned a profit on all Wii hardware sales since launch. I don't know what their numbers are now, but Sony and MS were losing money on each console sale at launch.