if that works for you thats totally fine, and legit.I’m in the minority here <snip>
subscription only happens because the consumer is willing to pay for it, can hardly blame companies for taking advantage, the only ones to blame for subscription n its cost is the consumer. no buyers = no market

Although if companies hoover up all of the hardware it prices people out of owning their own systems.subscription only happens because the consumer is willing to pay for it, can hardly blame companies for taking advantage, the only ones to blame for subscription n its cost is the consumer. no buyers = no market
So we should blame @Nexus18![]()
)Lets put it this way, I'll sooner pay for a geforce now sub than go to a "gaming" system that has inferior upscaling, frame gen, ray/path tracing iq and perf (including ray reconstruction). That's what the funny thing is people say geforce now has too much latency yet ironically, it also has less latency than most pc gaming systems as the lesser gaming systems get less fps and some even get significantly less fps which means higher latency... (of course, your internet is key but I have good internet so non issue for me)
If your internet is down, which one has higher latency then
That or hotspot to either my personal phone or work phone.Future seems pretty grim when you look at how things are falling into place, it's alright saying we'll have are own hardware now to keep going on, but realistically for how long when nothing new is being made for consumers?
Existing parts will lose support and become obsolete in time, probably even with some planned obeselesence in there for good measure. And when they do fail, sourcing a suitable replacement is going to be expensive.
This will just go the same way as any other subscription model, year on year increases, extra costs tacked on in any place they can think of and a drive to make the low tier offerings crap to force up selling. I can imagine a few areas where they could employ some serious scummy practices in the future. It will cost an extortionate amount once they get going and the market is theirs, like how TV/Broadband packages can go out of control.

been here few times before with ram and storage shortage before, there is always availability, at a price, prices eventually come back down, so not a bar on ownership, its either pay silly price or wait it out. i always wait it out, as poorAlthough if companies hoover up all of the hardware it prices people out of owning their own systems.
Some are hoarding it without using it.
In that sense, yes you can blame companies if consumers aren't left with an alternative.

At the end of the day there are alternatives to the AAA crap that studios are trying to tell you all you need to keep buying.. if gaming goes the same way as TV, i.e. subscription only.. then there will be a lot of very dissapointed and out of a job gaming people..
It's already happening with TV.. people cancelling in their droves as the value proposition is just not there.. (or just subscribing for a few months to watch what they want then cancel again!) .. if the gaming companies believe this is their future they are in for a rude awakening..
A lot of gamers who play PC games are older.. having got into gaming in the 80's and 90's.. and they also have a lot of other things that can take their time / money.. if gaming companies do go subs only.. they will find themselves on the wrong end of people choosing other things to do...
Everyone saying they love streaming gaming, how do you think that works when there is more than one gamer in the house??? do you have the interent to support 2? 3? gamers that want high FPS and full grfxs???
It will be an interesting few years.. but I feel that if it's tried as a "this is the only way to play XX game" then they will quickly find.. they are the ones who lose.. Look what's happening with console exclusives.. they have pretty much disappeared as they tried to force people into an ecosystem to play certain games.. and gamers just said.. hell no.. I just won't play.. not everyone has massive FOMO... especially when they all try their own exclusives and it costs too much.. which is what the subs model would be..
It's like people saying my 4070 can't play XX in 4k with all the bells.. and I can't afford a 5090 to do so.. ..... simples.. get a 2k monitor.. and enjoy the game again.. if it's about visuals.. then ur out of luck.. if it's about gaming.. then chill and enjoy at 1080p baby..
././... apols for the rambling post.. been out for a boozy lunch![]()
True enough, I think the only thing people don't stop buying is chocolate.been here few times before with ram and storage shortage before, there is always availability, at a price, prices eventually come back down, so not a bar on ownership, its either pay silly price or wait it out. i always wait it out, as poor![]()
The funny thing is you haven't owned most of your PC games for like 15 years at this point. People are too busy fellating a fat nerd with 15 yachts to realise that Steam has never been your friend.
I'd wager the vast majority of people are completely clueless to the fact that you don't own anything you buy digitally, actually.That's an entirely separate argument about digital ownership for games, and I don't think anyone is clueless about that.
Currently nobody is having to rent hardware to play Steam games. This isn't solely talking about digital ownership which isn't costing people a monthly subscription.
I'd wager the vast majority of people are completely clueless to the fact that you don't own anything you buy digitally, actually.
I wouldn't call it an entirely separate argument either. Subscription/cloud gaming models feel like the natural progression from digital distribution. One gets you used to not owning a physical product and the other pulls the plug entirely.