John Walker's saved articles

I feel similarly about fighting games: I actually enjoy them conceptually, and I even enjoy playing them - against the AI on lower difficulties, at least - but I’m both not very good at them just in general, and I’m also terrible at picking one. Specific. Fighter. To focus on. At the expense of all the others. Read more

It’s just time to start regulating loot box & gacha mechanics. It’s time to get some decent psychological research on the subject to help determine what elements of the loot box mechanism are harmful and victimize the susceptible. Read more

I’ve played every Diablo ever. I enjoy Diablo Immortal. Like, a lot. And I’ll never spend a dime on it.  Read more

To make the alcohol example more relevant to john’s original article - if someone has a really good beer or visited a really cool brewery, should they be accountable if they write about it positively on a food blog just because your brother might read it and want to try it? Read more

People say anything for clout these days. A bunch of streamers and YouTubers wanted to throw money at things and found a way to do so without angering the children that make up the majority of their views. The fact that people are tripping so hard over this versus, say, ALL THE ACTUAL GAMBLING THAT HAS BEEN GOING ON… Read more

Nuance? Being objective about what is subjective? Being compassionate and empathetic? None of these things have room in today’s internet! You’re either on the bandwagon or crushed beneath its wheels. I’ve seen this crap for decades now, can recognize signs that this game or that one will get bandwagoned by blathering,… Read more

Here are some of the good arguments against the above article made so far. Read more

John, you walked straight into the tornado on this one, and that takes courage.
Read more

I can see what you’re getting at, and it is a nuanced take, but the fact is the game is set up to get you hooked and then start paying money. That might come after 45 minutes, an hour, three hours- but the longer you play the more invested you will be, and the more invested you are the more likely you are to spend,… Read more

There are literal whole paragraphs about this in the post. Read more

I get your point, but there’s also the issue that lots of people go into these games never intending to spend money and then at some point they start to spend money (like me. I spent money on Dragalia Lost and KOF AS. Not a lot, but still, I caved, y’know?). Read more

It’s probably the most perfect “made for mobile” experience I’ve ever played.  I think it’s the first game where playing it primarily on a mobile device doesn’t seem hamstrung or like I’m cheating myself of the full experience like Xcom, Fortnite, etc. feel compared to playing those on my PC.  I tossed in a couple… Read more

a hokckey that that doesn’t require 5 GB and learning 10 different buttons? I’M SO THERE.  Read more

Damn, Shadows of Doubt sets the bar waaaay too high for the rest of the indies in that list lol Read more

I'm buying outcore purely because the sockpuppet told me too. Read more

Oh my goodness, it can run GoldenEye. Every retro machine claims it can, but they never do. The Odin does! Unfortunately this immediately led to my discovery that a twin-stick modern gaming device is no way to play a game specifically designed for the N64’s maddest of mad controllers. Ah well. But hey, it ran… Read more

That thing looks great.
Read more

I read that part even... Read more

So you did! My fault for skipping to the screenshots to compare.
Read more

Our culture’s completely broken idea of what copyright should be has produced a populace completely ignorant when it comes to how art is supposed to work.  It’s just idiots all the way down at this point. Read more