45 pointsby thewebguydan hour ago5 comments
  • glimshe15 minutes ago
    I was surprised to come back to my XBOX account after 10 years in the US and see that very old digital purchases from previous console generations were not only still available, but actually playable on the latest console through transparent emulation! They did a pretty good job with that.
  • Xeoncross26 minutes ago
    You know, all those people making new n64, playstation, and gameboy titles might be onto something. Apart from steam, I don't think I've heard anything but bad news from modern consoles.
    • echelon13 minutes ago
      Huge capital overhead. Exhausting mid-lifecycle crunch that makes or breaks the next gen. Multiple giants.

      Meanwhile Steam just casually absorbing everything. It doesn't matter that it's porous.

      And now suddenly - hardware costs you can't tip toe schedule around.

      The console business is shitty.

    • amiga-workbench14 minutes ago
      Honestly, there's never been a better time to be writing games for those platforms. The SDK's are much improved from the proprietary stuff available at the time and the hardware is very well understood. People have been pulling off some utter witchcraft on the N64.
      • echelon11 minutes ago
        Kaze and James Lambert are amazing. Kaze's new Mario game looks better than a first party Nintendo title, and James's engines pushes the console to its absolute limits.

        I've been thinking about giving it a go myself. It's such a fun and nostalgic console, and the limitations are fun constraints.

        The code archeology is really cool too. Seeing Rare's Dinosaur Planet boot up and play after being a lost title. Decompiling all the original titles. Building sequels to Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. It's such a fun scene.

        Then there's Analogue 3D and ModRetro too, which make it fun to play as physical hardware.

  • al_borlandan hour ago
    I'm not in the EU, but had 2 accounts with Sony/Playstation (I'm pretty sure both sat unused for more than 3 years). I tried to delete one and it seemed impossible. The FAQ said to call support. I called, waiting for 45 minutes, and they said they couldn't help me and hung up before I could respond.

    While I believe they would delete a user's games, I don't know if they would actually willingly give up holding on to customer data.

    My guess is this is more of a CYA incase they want to clean up accounts at some point, rather than something they actively do.

    • throwaway202735 minutes ago
      > While I believe they would delete a user's games, I don't know if they would actually willingly give up holding on to customer data.

      So basically you get worst of both worlds, great.

  • ChrisArchitect12 minutes ago
    Related:

    Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation

    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48745456

  • Mindwipe33 minutes ago
    "Sony correctly implements GDPR requirements in the EU" is a less exciting headline I guess.
    • guax27 minutes ago
      That is not how gdpr works. If you have a legitimate reason to hold the data. You can. Ensuring people have access to purchases is a very legitimate reason.
      • computomatic22 minutes ago
        Is there evidence that European courts have sided with that? “We’re holding onto all your data indefinitely just in case you log in again several years from now” seems to be the antithesis of GDPR and I can’t discern the difference between that and what you’re suggesting.

        I believe EU has dug their own hole here. And the best move would be to pass more legislation to explicitly require the retention (and transfer, ideally) of purchased digital goods.

        • cccbbbaaa13 minutes ago
          No need to wait for the courts’ opinions: controllers must keep the data for a limited amount of time (which can be something like “3 years after the last connection”) under GDPR article 5(1)e.
      • cccbbbaaa8 minutes ago
        And that data must be held for a limited amount of time under GDPR article 5(1)e. Sony’s policy is very much a consequence of this.