Ever since Nintendo let the mask slip and got up to their old evil bullshit with the Switch 2 launch, I decided to dust off the solution my teenage self came up with: I'll just play the video games I write. Even if they're small and amateurish, they're worlds and experiences crafted personally for me. And I don't have to pay a cent for them, let alone put up with "key carts", DRM bullshit, or we-can-remotely-brick-your-console bullshit.
I'm sure I'll keep buying commercial games from companies with reasonable terms (GOG, maybe?). But writing my own is great fun. It'd be nice if someone else enjoys them, but they're mainly for my own enjoyment.
Oh, and I "vibe code" the old fashioned way: with a REPL and some chill tunes.
1) High prices for the console and games, which may be partially explained by inflation, but still, shit's steep. We're back to the early 90s days of scouring pawnshops for deals and carefully considering which few games we really want to buy. Plus, $10 for a sales demo (Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour).
2) Console must be registered online before becoming playable in handheld mode.
3) Nintendo recently released a terms of service update in which they reserve the right to disable your console if they catch you violating acceptable use. Switch 2s found using piracy carts have not yet been bricked this way, only locked out of internet play (like original Switches were), but still...
4) Some Switch 2 games will not get a physical release, only a cartridge which provides an "activation key" for a digitally downloaded game. Why even bother with this bullshit, I don't know, because it's all of the downsides of physical media and all of the downsides of digital downloads, with none of the upsides of either. On a console.
I'm sure I'll keep buying commercial games from companies with reasonable terms (GOG, maybe?). But writing my own is great fun. It'd be nice if someone else enjoys them, but they're mainly for my own enjoyment.
Oh, and I "vibe code" the old fashioned way: with a REPL and some chill tunes.