From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

* Steam Controller Is Making Its Way Back >>https://www.techradar.com/gaming/gaming-accessories/valves-steam-controller-launch-looks-imminent-based-on-new-public-records-and-it-might-finally-give-me-the-perfect-excuse-to-build-a-custom-steam-machine

Well, Valve's gotta be happy. The first batch of the new Steam
Controllers sold out almost instantly, and received rave reviews. Not
having held one (and in no immediate rush to do so), I can't say if
the reviews are accurate or just 'we love it because its Valve!' hype,
but either way, its got to be good news for the company. The biggest
complaint is the price; good as it is, most people seem to feel $99 is
a bit steep for a gamepad. Which I totally agree with, but that's
mostly because I have an abiding dislike of gamepads. ;-)

There's a part of me, though, that hopes that --after this initial
rush of excitement passes-- the gamepad flops and Valve tries to sell
of its excess stock for $5 USD again, like they did with the first
Steam Controller (and how I ended up with one of those). I might not
like gamepads much, but for $5 I'll happily add one to the collection!
;-)



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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* Steam Controller Is Making Its Way Back
https://www.techradar.com/gaming/gaming-accessories/valves-steam-controller-launch-looks-imminent-based-on-new-public-records-and-it-might-finally-give-me-the-perfect-excuse-to-build-a-custom-steam-machine

Well, Valve's gotta be happy. The first batch of the new Steam
Controllers sold out almost instantly, and received rave reviews. Not
having held one (and in no immediate rush to do so), I can't say if
the reviews are accurate or just 'we love it because its Valve!' hype,
but either way, its got to be good news for the company. The biggest complaint is the price; good as it is, most people seem to feel $99 is
a bit steep for a gamepad. Which I totally agree with, but that's
mostly because I have an abiding dislike of gamepads. ;-)

This isn't any gamepad. I paid $65 for each of my Playstation
controllers. This is way better and I don't mind a 50% markup. You say
most think it's too expensive, then why are they going for $300 so much
in the scalping?
--
War in the east
War in the west
War up north
War down south
War War
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

* SKG Keeps Fighting The Good Fight >https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stop-killing-games-throw-weight-behind-california-bill-that-would-force-companies-to-either-keep-games-working-independently-after-server-shutdowns-or-issue-refunds
The "Stop Killing Games" movement has come out in support of a bill in >California that would put legislate more options for gamers when their >purchased games are end-of-life'd. Keep running the servers, or give >customers an option to run them themselves, or give out refunds. Oh,
and stop selling games that you know are going to be shutdown in a
month or two.

Well, you know SKG must be having SOME effect if the ESA --the
Entertainment Software Association-- is responding to it. The ESA is
the lobbying group in the USA dedicated to promoting the industry's interests... and by industry, that means protecting the corporations,
not the gamers. So of course the ESA is upset at SKG's minor victories (including a proposal for a new law in California) and has come out
swinging. *

Their stance is that any new protections for customers would be
terrible for the industry:

"[The Bill]] could force developers to spend limited
time and resources keeping old systems running instead
of creating new games, features, and technology. In the
end, this policy doesn't reflect how games actually work
today. This bill sets strict rules that could ultimately
mean fewer new and innovative experiences for players."

And while not completely untrue, it does overstate the case and I
think the advantages for the gamer would far outweigh the
disadvantages. The proposed California law would require publishers
too "notify owners in advance of coming server shutdowns, and either
provide a version of the game that can be used without online
services, patch the existing game so servers are no longer required,
or provide a full refund." It would NOT require them to provide
extended support or keep servers running. It also wouldn't apply to
existing games, only new ones, so this requirement to provide a
'playable' version after support ends could be built into the design
from the start.

Would it cost publishers a little bit more to build this functionality
into their games? Yes. Would it be a significant increase? No... and
it would allow customers to continue to use software they paid for. So
my sympathy with the publishers --and their ESA mouthpiece-- is
remarkably low.

I still have little hope this law will come to pass or that it
wouldn't immediately be struck down afterwards... much less it
becoming a common right across all the states and nations of the world
(I'll happily eat my words if I'm proven wrong though). But the fact
that SKG has come so far is hopeful.





====
* story here https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-industry-lobby-group-that-argued-against-preservation-efforts-from-libraries-is-now-pushing-back-on-stop-killing-games-saying-it-could-prevent-new-games-features-and-technology/



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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 5/12/2026 8:22 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* SKG Keeps Fighting The Good Fight
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stop-killing-games-throw-weight-behind-california-bill-that-would-force-companies-to-either-keep-games-working-independently-after-server-shutdowns-or-issue-refunds
The "Stop Killing Games" movement has come out in support of a bill in
California that would put legislate more options for gamers when their
purchased games are end-of-life'd. Keep running the servers, or give
customers an option to run them themselves, or give out refunds. Oh,
and stop selling games that you know are going to be shutdown in a
month or two.

Well, you know SKG must be having SOME effect if the ESA --the
Entertainment Software Association-- is responding to it. The ESA is
the lobbying group in the USA dedicated to promoting the industry's interests... and by industry, that means protecting the corporations,
not the gamers. So of course the ESA is upset at SKG's minor victories (including a proposal for a new law in California) and has come out
swinging. *

Their stance is that any new protections for customers would be
terrible for the industry:

"[The Bill]] could force developers to spend limited
time and resources keeping old systems running instead
of creating new games, features, and technology. In the
end, this policy doesn't reflect how games actually work
today. This bill sets strict rules that could ultimately
mean fewer new and innovative experiences for players."

Actually, I'm going to quibble with that "this policy doesn't reflect
how games actually work today." I'd say the policy is specifically
targeting "how games actually work today" because customers don't LIKE
"how games actually work today". Also, "how games actually work today"
work that way BECAUSE the developers MADE THEM TO WORK THAT WAY.

Basically it is a predatory policy on the part of the developers and the government is doing its job by curbing that.
--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 12 May 2026 17:56:56 -0700, Dimensional Traveler
<[email protected]> said this thing:

On 5/12/2026 8:22 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* SKG Keeps Fighting The Good Fight
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/stop-killing-games-throw-weight-behind-california-bill-that-would-force-companies-to-either-keep-games-working-independently-after-server-shutdowns-or-issue-refunds
The "Stop Killing Games" movement has come out in support of a bill in
California that would put legislate more options for gamers when their
purchased games are end-of-life'd. Keep running the servers, or give
customers an option to run them themselves, or give out refunds. Oh,
and stop selling games that you know are going to be shutdown in a
month or two.

Well, you know SKG must be having SOME effect if the ESA --the
Entertainment Software Association-- is responding to it. The ESA is
the lobbying group in the USA dedicated to promoting the industry's
interests... and by industry, that means protecting the corporations,
not the gamers. So of course the ESA is upset at SKG's minor victories
(including a proposal for a new law in California) and has come out
swinging. *

Their stance is that any new protections for customers would be
terrible for the industry:

"[The Bill]] could force developers to spend limited
time and resources keeping old systems running instead
of creating new games, features, and technology. In the
end, this policy doesn't reflect how games actually work
today. This bill sets strict rules that could ultimately
mean fewer new and innovative experiences for players."

Actually, I'm going to quibble with that "this policy doesn't reflect
how games actually work today." I'd say the policy is specifically >targeting "how games actually work today" because customers don't LIKE
"how games actually work today". Also, "how games actually work today"
work that way BECAUSE the developers MADE THEM TO WORK THAT WAY.

Basically it is a predatory policy on the part of the developers and the >government is doing its job by curbing that.

The ESA is being protectionist towards the interests of their clients,
the publishers. They are trying to say that the bill doesn't reflect
the high costs it would take to add in these features because so many
games are live-service encumbered with the implication that it would
be impossible to get any of these games running without online
support. But of course its a disingenuous argument, since the bill
does not require publishers to support existing games, and offline
support could be built into future games from the start.

Like I said, it wouldn't be completely without cost; there would have
to be some changes to add the possibility of offline use. But it
wouldn't be significant.

The industry is against it because they don't want old games to
compete against new ones (unless they can keep getting money from
them).



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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Tue, 12 May 2026 11:22:46 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> said this thing:

I still have little hope this law will come to pass or that it
wouldn't immediately be struck down afterwards... much less it
becoming a common right across all the states and nations of the world
(I'll happily eat my words if I'm proven wrong though). But the fact
that SKG has come so far is hopeful.

Well, it's not quite time for me to feast, but SKG has made another
move forward: the proposed bill has passed its first test. A vote for
the State Assembly Committee passed and now the bill is heading
towards the Assembly floor for a proper debate and full vote. Had this
not happened, the whole thing would have been dropped and SKG would
have had to go back to square one. Now there's actually a chance of
this becoming law.

Again, I remain pessimistic about this ever have any real effect; just
look how 'right to repair' legislation are struggling (either to
become laws, or to repel judicial reviews). SKG's efforts are more
niche, have less support from industry, and significantly more
revisionist. I think even if it does pass in a few countries or US
states, it still won't have much effect.

But I have the catsup and mustard ready for when SKG make a fool me.




--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action


Because why post separate Usenet articles when I can dump it all into
one long thing?!?


#


* GTA6 to require a subscription? https://www.polygon.com/gta-6-online-subscription-take-two/
Well, maybe. It hasn't been announced yet but there are
hints that the game (well, its online component) may require
a subscription to access. And why not; if GTA5 is anything to
go by, the audience will happily pay any amount to keep playing.
And GTA5 Online does offer already offer a monthly subscription
service (GTA+) for console users, even though it is entirely
optional. So making it mandatory doesn't seem all that
impossible.

I mean, the game cost $1.5 billion to develop. Take Two's
gotta make that up somehow ;-)


* Subnautica 2 has a nasty EULA https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2s-eula-is-so-severe-that-even-this-news-story-breaks-it/
I mean, all games have awful EULA (End User License
Agreements; that hundred-page long text you blindly
click-through before installing any game). But the
"Subnautica 2" EULA has a few clauses that make even the
ordinary legalese seem a bit tame. Like the bit that says
that you can't do anything that would harm the reputation
of the publishers or the game (so no bad reviews?). Or
that any videos or screenshots you make of the game are
themselves subject to the EULA (so don't show them to
anybody else without getting a written agreement first!).
Also, VPNs are forbidden. And arguably streaming the game
from one device to another is also against the rules.

Of course, a lot of the EULA restrictions are boiler-plate,
and despite the fierce sounding language, many aren't
enforceable anyway. A lot of the legalese was probably just
copy-pasted into the form, and --at least with some of the
text-- has been specifically disavowed by the developer
(although even better would be for them to push out a new
license to users that doesn't include that language). Still,
it shows how greedy and pushy (and lazy!) publishers can
be if they're not closely watched


* SSDs are expensive; how about a high-end SD memory card instead? https://www.digitalfoundry.net/features/crafting-the-ultimate-pc-handheld-can-2tb-memory-cards-match-ssds-in-terms-of-gaming-performance
That's what the guys at Digital Foundry tested; how well does
a 2TB memory card match an SSD in terms of gaming performance.
And the answer actually surprised me.

Not that the memory card was better, of course; a good modern
SSD can sustain 500MB/s and even the best high-performance
SD-card isn't coming close to that. But that lack doesn't
really affect /game performance/ all that much, probably
because the reads from storage aren't that heavy during
gameplay (you'll definitely feel it more during the initial
loading, though). And it's much slower to install games too,
since writes on SD cards are even more languorous (at around
70MB/s). But in-game? Not so bad.

I don't see SD-cards becoming a real option for most gamers,
but I can see edge case uses for it. I myself am halfway
tempted to do it, if only for some less-frequently used games
that mostly just sit on the drive and take-up space. I'd need
to get myself a reasonably fast SD card reader, though; I
don't think the one I have --designed back in USB 1.1 days--
would suffice, do you? ;-)


* Doom vs Windows https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/in-the-early-1990s-doom-was-famously-installed-on-more-pcs-than-windows-itself-but-how-many-was-that-actually/
This article isn't really news; just a recap of that old
meme about how, back in the day, "Doom" was reputed to be
installed on more computers than Windows. The author digs into
the story and tries to determine if it was true and the answer
is... it probably was. But he also points out that the story
dates back to an era when most people primarily used DOS on
their PCs, so the claim isn't quite as impressive as it first
sounds. By the time Windows95 rolled around, "Doom" was quite
handily outclassed in number of installs.

But there is one bit that --although not too pertinent to the
main story-- stood out to me. Apparently this claim was based
on some research done by Microsoft about how people were
actually using their computers. And as told by Gabe Newell
(source of the "Doom is on more PCs than Windows" meme), he
says:

"Well, it turns out they were actually using them for
porn and video games, and that part of the study was
immediately ignored."

And isn't that just so typically Microsoft? Because the company
has since the start pretty much ignored that one of the major
drivers for people using PCs has been gaming. Yes, office use
was also a major force... but especially for home users, it was
the games that made the platform a success. And of course that
information just doesn't register. To this day, the fact that
gaming is an important part of the platform almost seems an
embarrassment to the company; something they need to work around
to make Windows what THEY want it to be, rather than what
people need it for. After all, if they want to play games, they
can just buy an XBox, right?

Anyway, for a while, Doom apparently was installed on more
computers than Windows. That's pretty neat.


#


That's it for this digest. Now I'm off to price SD-cards and readers
now. There's something about playing games off removable disks that
appeals to me for some reason. ;-)



--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Because why post separate Usenet articles when I can dump it all into
one long thing?!?

#

* GTA6 to require a subscription? https://www.polygon.com/gta-6-online-subscription-take-two/
Well, maybe. It hasn't been announced yet but there are
hints that the game (well, its online component) may require
a subscription to access. And why not; if GTA5 is anything to
go by, the audience will happily pay any amount to keep playing.
And GTA5 Online does offer already offer a monthly subscription
service (GTA+) for console users, even though it is entirely
optional. So making it mandatory doesn't seem all that
impossible.

I mean, the game cost $1.5 billion to develop. Take Two's
gotta make that up somehow ;-)

Not me, I'm a GTA fanatic (good way to establish street cred), but if
they require a subscription to GTA6, I'll just fall back on GTA5,
because I've barely scratched the surface. I'm more about killing these subscriptions than I am about video games for one. Subscriptions killed
Heroes of Might and Magic VI and VII. It was horrible. Subscriptions
made it so I had to buy two copies of GTA4. I hate subscriptions more
than I hate high healthcare costs.

* Subnautica 2 has a nasty EULA https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2s-eula-is-so-severe-that-even-this-news-story-breaks-it/
I mean, all games have awful EULA (End User License
Agreements; that hundred-page long text you blindly
click-through before installing any game). But the
"Subnautica 2" EULA has a few clauses that make even the
ordinary legalese seem a bit tame. Like the bit that says
that you can't do anything that would harm the reputation
of the publishers or the game (so no bad reviews?). Or
that any videos or screenshots you make of the game are
themselves subject to the EULA (so don't show them to
anybody else without getting a written agreement first!).
Also, VPNs are forbidden. And arguably streaming the game
from one device to another is also against the rules.

That's concerning. Good on you for reporting it. I recently scooped up Subnautica the first. Again, I'm behind in the series.
--
War in the east
War in the west
War up north
War down south
War War
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Sat, 23 May 2026 13:10:45 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> said this thing:

Because why post separate Usenet articles when I can dump it all into
one long thing?!?

Huh.

Apparently I necroposted, as I unintentionally re-used the same topic
as I used back in April. That just goes to show how unimaginative
and/or forgetful I am when it comes to my subject-lines.

Still, old threads need love too, so it's all good.

* SSDs are expensive; how about a high-end SD memory card instead? >https://www.digitalfoundry.net/features/crafting-the-ultimate-pc-handheld-can-2tb-memory-cards-match-ssds-in-terms-of-gaming-performance
That's what the guys at Digital Foundry tested; how well does
a 2TB memory card match an SSD in terms of gaming performance.

That's it for this digest. Now I'm off to price SD-cards and readers
now. There's something about playing games off removable disks that
appeals to me for some reason. ;-)

Using an SD-card as a replacement to an SSD was never something I was
*really* going to do, but I did follow through and checked Amazon. I
wanted to see what the prices were like. The drives themselves are
fairly inexpensive ($20-50), but man, the media! A fast 2TB SD card
was running in the $400-600 range (depending on brand and seller). In comparison, I saw 2TB NVMe SSDs going for $300-400. Slower performance
AND more expensive: I don't think SD cards are going to be challenging
the SSDs any time soon.

Still, there's a part of me that loves the idea. Having games
installed to SD cards and clicking them into the drive to play; it's
like the olden days with cartridges (or floppy disks).

Except the media is a lot smaller and easier to lose ;-)



--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On 5/23/2026 10:10 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

Because why post separate Usenet articles when I can dump it all into
one long thing?!?

#

* GTA6 to require a subscription? https://www.polygon.com/gta-6-online-subscription-take-two/
Well, maybe. It hasn't been announced yet but there are
hints that the game (well, its online component) may require
a subscription to access. And why not; if GTA5 is anything to
go by, the audience will happily pay any amount to keep playing.
And GTA5 Online does offer already offer a monthly subscription
service (GTA+) for console users, even though it is entirely
optional. So making it mandatory doesn't seem all that
impossible.

I mean, the game cost $1.5 billion to develop. Take Two's
gotta make that up somehow ;-)

* Subnautica 2 has a nasty EULA https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2s-eula-is-so-severe-that-even-this-news-story-breaks-it/
I mean, all games have awful EULA (End User License
Agreements; that hundred-page long text you blindly
click-through before installing any game). But the
"Subnautica 2" EULA has a few clauses that make even the
ordinary legalese seem a bit tame. Like the bit that says
that you can't do anything that would harm the reputation
of the publishers or the game (so no bad reviews?). Or
that any videos or screenshots you make of the game are
themselves subject to the EULA (so don't show them to
anybody else without getting a written agreement first!).
Also, VPNs are forbidden. And arguably streaming the game
from one device to another is also against the rules.

Of course, a lot of the EULA restrictions are boiler-plate,
and despite the fierce sounding language, many aren't
enforceable anyway. A lot of the legalese was probably just
copy-pasted into the form, and --at least with some of the
text-- has been specifically disavowed by the developer
(although even better would be for them to push out a new
license to users that doesn't include that language). Still,
it shows how greedy and pushy (and lazy!) publishers can
be if they're not closely watched

* SSDs are expensive; how about a high-end SD memory card instead? https://www.digitalfoundry.net/features/crafting-the-ultimate-pc-handheld-can-2tb-memory-cards-match-ssds-in-terms-of-gaming-performance
That's what the guys at Digital Foundry tested; how well does
a 2TB memory card match an SSD in terms of gaming performance.
And the answer actually surprised me.

I saw one story where they took apart a cheap SSD, and found an SD card
and reader inside it.
--
-Justisaur

ø-ø
(\_/)\
`-'\ `--.___,
¶¬'\( ,_.-'
\\
^'
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

On Wed, 27 May 2026 15:23:12 -0700, Justisaur <[email protected]>
said this thing:

On 5/23/2026 10:10 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

* SSDs are expensive; how about a high-end SD memory card instead?
https://www.digitalfoundry.net/features/crafting-the-ultimate-pc-handheld-can-2tb-memory-cards-match-ssds-in-terms-of-gaming-performance
That's what the guys at Digital Foundry tested; how well does
a 2TB memory card match an SSD in terms of gaming performance.
And the answer actually surprised me.

I saw one story where they took apart a cheap SSD, and found an SD card
and reader inside it.

Ah, a Shenzhen-Special (a.k.a., the Temu Twist)

Unfortunately, shenigains like this are becoming more common. It used
to be you could smell these from a mile away simply by observing the
maxim, 'If it looks too good to be true, it is', and avoid anything
with a really low price-tag. (e.g., a 2TB SSD for $49 USD). But
because:

a) so much shit like this is flooding the market, it's harder
to determine what the correct price is (e.g., when faced
with a storefront featuring 100 Temu-drives for $50,
and five for $500; which is the valid price?), and
b) even legitimate storefronts are getting scammed,
offering what they THINK are 'real' hardware but
unknowingly selling counterfeit goods,

it's become harder to be on guard and totally avoid this sort of
stuff. Not impossible, but basic caveat emptor skills aren't quite the
panacea they used to be.

Heh. I wonder if anybody has evered RAID'd SD cards drives together.
Probably. I wonder what the performance gain over regular SD cards
you'd get and if it would make it comparable to real SDDs. (Then
again, the USB interface would hobble it. I don't think I've ever seen
an SD-card reader that wasn't plugged in via USB).




--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

Spalls Hurgenson <[email protected]> wrote at 17:10 this Saturday (GMT):
[snip]

* Subnautica 2 has a nasty EULA https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/subnautica-2s-eula-is-so-severe-that-even-this-news-story-breaks-it/
I mean, all games have awful EULA (End User License
Agreements; that hundred-page long text you blindly
click-through before installing any game). But the
"Subnautica 2" EULA has a few clauses that make even the
ordinary legalese seem a bit tame. Like the bit that says
that you can't do anything that would harm the reputation
of the publishers or the game (so no bad reviews?). Or
that any videos or screenshots you make of the game are
themselves subject to the EULA (so don't show them to
anybody else without getting a written agreement first!).
Also, VPNs are forbidden. And arguably streaming the game
from one device to another is also against the rules.

Of course, a lot of the EULA restrictions are boiler-plate,
and despite the fierce sounding language, many aren't
enforceable anyway. A lot of the legalese was probably just
copy-pasted into the form, and --at least with some of the
text-- has been specifically disavowed by the developer
(although even better would be for them to push out a new
license to users that doesn't include that language). Still,
it shows how greedy and pushy (and lazy!) publishers can
be if they're not closely watched

[snip]


Not suprised from the publisher that tried to screw over all the devs
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom
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