Yeah indies usually have pretty decent demos! I actually haven't even looked at the switch store lately but I don't remember the bigger titles having demos?
And idk where everyone else is but the big games here (Australia) are still what I consider expensive (USD$45 minimum without a sale). Typical price is around USD$60. Even on sale they don't get much below that for the big stuff - zelda, pokemon, Mario, animal crossing, etc. Curious how comparable that is to elsewhere.
True. Just depends on device and how committed people are to doing that lol. As a casual gamer (PC barely ever anymore and Nintendo switch, then I have emulators with a bunch of Nintendo classics) I wouldn't bother. I don't even know how to do that for a Nintendo switch.
So yeah it's an option but in terms of the discussion about Gen z people not shelling out for video games, I think part of the decline has been from casual users who aren't either shelling out $ and aren't interested in enough to pirate 😅 I'm a millennial.
I assume to pirate and transfer to a Nintendo switch (I don't have 2, just the original) there's an initial set up cost?
I tend to stick to the emulator my brother got me with all our 90s(ish) childhood games lol. I don't know if those exist yet for more modern games - or at least not at the cost of the classics!
Especially video games. Honestly as a casual gamer I get it. Games are expensive and they are a gamble. I've bought games in the past and played them for half hour and realized I hate it lol. I rarely buy games now, especially if it's not a franchise I already know and like, because I can't afford the gamble. If I do I buy a physical copy so I can sell it on.
At least with streaming services you can check and know there's a few hours of shows you will definitely watch. It's still tol expensive and I'm cancelling mine but it is less of a gamble than video games.
Yep. I'm a millennial. I was always pirating as a teenager/early 20s. Then I did join streaming, just Netflix and another local one. I'm about to cancel them both again as I rebuild my own library.
I was reworking my budget the other day and accidentally opened my old one from 5 years ago, so depressing 😅 Everything has gone up so much, seeing it all laid out in a spreadsheet was confronting 😭 both streaming services have doubled in price. 2 streaming services costs $500 a year total - as you say, maybe not a big deal if you're earning 100k but as a low income earner it's worth cutting. It's only going to keep up going up! Subscription models suck for other programs and services too, it adds up so quickly 😭
Tbh, women wouldn't admit to doing this either - there's absolutely a shame around women having to make friends with an AI (because we're meant to be innately social I guess). And I don't think that other women realize that they are contributing to the issues of women feeling shame using AI by implying it's a male issue and all about sex and toxic masculinity.
Like as a woman who has used AI, how am I supposed to feel about admitting that I've done something that only asshole, horny, incels do (according to a lot of people)?
So the stigma goes all ways and none of it helps anyone. People just need to be more curious than judgemental. Someone does something you don't understand? That's okay you don't understand. Ask them why. Listen. Try to see a different perspective instead of just filling in the gaps with incel, men, sex, ugly, etc. etc.
And do people really believe that women don't talk to AI companions, in various forms, too?
I'm a woman and I spoke to one of the apps for a while because I was bloody lonely (still am 🤷♀️). Had zero to do with men or murder. I didn't have anyone, of either gender, to connect with.
It's really easy to just reduce this to a male issue, a toxic masculinity, a male violence issue. We need to go deeper than that if we actually want to understand why people, men, women, everyone, use different AI.
But threads like this, with all the judgement, aren't going to get a lot of people who admit they use/have used/have considered using AI. By just criticising/laughing, etc at people who do it, ironically, we turn more people towards the AIs.
I think you're making some interesting observations. I definitely agree that it's the easy answer to just dismiss people who use AI therapists, friends, relationships are just stupid.
You're right that it says something about the system we live in and I extend that to society in general. We have a society who criticizes people for answering "how are you" honestly, who doesn't have time for each other, who use terms like "trauma dumping" - so personally, I can see why some people are turning to machines whether it's therapy or connection. It's really bloody sad and it's not a good solution but I can see the WHY behind it - which is what I think you're also getting at.
We do need to listen to why people turn to these services and figure out what people aren't finding in human connection that they are, or think they are, in machines. I don't buy that an individuals intelligence has much to do with why people turn to AI.
Ah okay yeah, I barely use steam these days. Can't remember the last time I bought anything there, I just occasionally play very old games I already have on there haha.
Yeah i love a few Nintendo classic titles but $$$ 😭 kinda a good thing that I don't like the direction they're taking pokemon because it removes the temptation to upgrade to the switch 2. Not sure I'll bother unless I somehow get free money to throw around haha.