You want a CTA to appear in your search engine before you deem something interesting?

Lol yeah I was like “why the fuck is the first data point profit?!”

If Trump would decide Apple “has to go”, the US can stop pretending that they live in a democracy.

I thought it was like a Raven plush at first, with the ear being the beak.

What a nice void that is!

Put down your pitchforks, people. Self-confessed fabrication: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bgoldstein3_founder-career-activity-7354574299103436800-HpOn

But you can bring them back out for being such a tool, he still deserves it.

I get it and I commend you for that. The thing is, that consistency, feel and flow is what makes a game look and feel good.

Here’s some specifics:

• Cat’s Eye Chaos: camera goes way too fast, can’t really track the ball at times. Also, because the ball can go up so high, you don’t know whether you’re picking up power ups correctly which can lead to frustration. I also didn’t know that the yellow bars were flippers, but I could have gleaned that from the instructions.

• Cardboard Castle Builder: the goal is confusing and it doesn’t seem very clear on how to “win”, but I do love the idea, together with the cat checking it out before getting a score.

• Oracle Cats: this seems to be just 8ball questions and answers? I can’t really call this a game, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad.

Considering you’re doing this as a learning experience, I don’t want to be too harsh though. I just wanted to point out that while technically it’s a game, it lacks that feeling of elements working nearly together to make a fun experience.

I don’t think you’re going to get more out of GenAI though, so I can’t really give you any feedback other than try to do it without AI. But that’s probably not very fair, I can’t even program myself so that sounds hypocritical

Edit: hypocritical

You put it on the website, so imo you did nothing wrong. It’s not like you tried to hide it

The games are very inconsistent and sometimes not even enjoyable. Apparently you vibe coded all these apps? The cover art pictures gives away the use of GenAI.

Imo, focus on 4-6 games in different genres and actually make them a game instead of a soulless interactive element. Quality over quantity.

Same, but instead of Aryll I just head the Squid Hunt game guy. SPLOOOSH! KABOOM!

I can hear this picture.

OIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Nevermind, I got it when I disabled my PiHole. 🤷

Quite ironic, given the subject

One of our key functionalities was disrupted because the link was behind an icon 🙃

Good moment to evaluate whether that’s the best solution going forwards!

A jury saw secret revenue sharing deals between Google, smartphone makers, and game developers. The jury saw internal emails between Google execs that suggested Google was scared of how Epic might convince its fellow game developers to join or create rival app stores, creating unwanted competition for Google.

Fuck Epic and all that, but a silver lining that this has bubbled up because of it

Oh, ok. I guess I shouldn’t trust memes!

How, when, where?

Here are the objectives that they want to assess with some examples:

"(…) explore options on how to improve consumer protection in the online environment and increase their trust, including by assessing the need for targeted prohibitions, for example with respect to:

• preventing traders from using dark patterns and other unfair techniques that pressure, deceive and manipulate consumers online;

So we’re talking hidden / obscured cancellation mechanics, hidden costs, misleading language. Fortnite 1 / Fortnite 2

• giving consumers greater control of their online experience by addressing addictive design features that lead consumers, particularly minors, to spend excessive time and money on online goods and services;

This addressee (literal) gambling and FOMO-style design, very present in mobile gaming. Don’t have links for this one, but pretty much all the big names are mentioned in lawsuits over the past years

• addressing problematic features of digital products such as in video games, in particular as concerns their impact on minors;

This is a broad one, presumably to identify key mechanics like loot boxes in any variety and gacha style mechanics and how they impact minors. Example study

• addressing problematic personalisation practices, including situations where consumer vulnerabilities are targeted for the purposes of personalised advertising and pricing;

Targeting your weaknesses to extract more money from you is not fair. Especially if these weaknesses are any addictions or unhealthy habits. Star Citizen

• preventing harmful practices by influencers (e.g. the lack of disclosure of commercial communications, the promotion of harmful products to their followers and clarifying the responsibilities of the companies that collaborate with them);

Content Creators / Influencers are the new way to market products to consumers, especially children. Transparency with regards to sponsored content is necessary, as these creators can have a huge influence. Jenner / Celsius (pdf)

• addressing unfair practices related to the price (e.g. “drip” pricing, “starting from” prices if the trader applies dynamic pricing, percentage/value discounts that mislead the consumer as to the nature of the promotion);

Pretty straight forward I think. You can’t display a €99 pack and list it as “starting from 4,99” where that price belongs to the cheaper pack.

• addressing problems with digital contracts (e.g. difficult cancellations of subscriptions, auto-renewals or free trials converted into paid subscriptions, use of chatbots for customer service).

See the first point about dark patterns, this is just in a wider scope to emphasise it’s not just online but specifically about subscriptions and cancelling them. Cancelling should be as easy as signing up. US Gov vs Adobe

Now I don’t have time to find more links, but there’s plenty of more material out there. I only shared some examples and some of them might have been resolved or rejected by court by now.

Feedback

Giving feedback is as easy as logging in to the website and filling in the form. I was able to use my eID that uses my national government ID app that I use for everything else in my country.

You get space for 4000 characters, and are required to share some details. You can decide whether you want to keep your feedback anonymous or share it publicly. You can browse public feedback on the main page linked in the post for inspiration.

What? No! You should be happy to even get any green to begin with.

- Capitalism

This has been a thing since 2005 or so, why are we still surprised again?

That’s a problem of the US law or lack of consumer protections compared to UK/EU, not because it’s Nintendo. All the other companies have this too.

it can suspend all kinds of services on your console, up to and including bricking it completely.

No, just online services.

Xbox and PlayStation have the same terms & conditions. Why is Nintendo being singled out?

Xbox:

You will not attempt to defeat or circumvent any Xbox Console, Kinect Sensor or Authorised Accessory technical limitation, security or anti-piracy system. If You do, Your Xbox Console, Kinect Sensor or Authorised Accessory may stop working permanently at that time or after a later Xbox Software update.

PlayStation:

we reserve the right to take any action we believe necessary to remedy the violation or to protect SIE’s interests, including: (a) the automatic removal or blockage of content associated with those Accounts; (b) implementation of upgrades or devices intended to discontinue unauthorized use; © the permanent or temporary disablement of access to any PSN Content, PlayStation Devices, products, services or features; (d) notifying law enforcement or the appropriate authority; and (e) initiating legal action.

edit: added some more words from the respective ToS to make it more legible