Happy cakeday?

Out of curiosity, what do you do with all that storage? Can’t imagine I’d ever need that much personally

Right, that was a thing too

Yea that’s a valid point. Not really sure where to draw the line

Well yea, it’s another motivator for people to actively go against the Russian government in one way or another. The more discontent people are with the situation that’s been ongoing for 2+ years, the more likely something’s to happen, I’d wager

This debate had been brought up back when Atomic Heart was bound to be released. Many people argued back then that it’s fine buying the game since the dev team had completely relocated to Cyprus (very popular country for Russians to move to next to Kazakhstan and numerous European countries), thus not funding the Russian government through taxes.

However, given that the dev team still lives in Russia this time, there’s not much to debate. The figures the author mentions check out and there’s no other way to put it, really, that gamers are, in part at least, funding Russia.

Sure, the company might have opposing views to Russia, but firstly, they haven’t moved to a different country, which is at least a little concerning, and secondly, are a legal entity in Russia, so they pay them regardless of motivation.

Yea, US

I mean, it depends. PS5 Pro is an enthusiasts console that, compared to regular PS5 and Slim, won’t be selling as much. Playing the devil’s advocate, you could argue that the higher price point is then warranted since they won’t be selling as many units (99% sure they just made it more expensive because they can but whatever).

In the past, their consoles were sold at a loss, at a lower price point, which they could justify by profiting in other areas of their business, such as games and accessories. Sony could, theoretically, do this to PS6 too to ensure that not too many people are priced out of having a console and retain their status of loyal-ish customers.

Wishful thinking on my part for sure but not too unrealistic when you think about it.

If you put it that way

The value proposition is just heavily skewed towards video games. Some games cost less than a single visit to the cinema and provide heaps more entertainment. Sure, it’s different entertainment and the social aspect of going to the cinema is a factor too, but I’m not much into cinemas myself, so I know where my money goes.

It’s actually a separate company - a joint venture I think - not related to DRK. It’s octopharma + TMD (Gesellschaft für transfusionsmedizinische Dienste mbH), apparently, so probably a private company. The other place I can donate at in my city is the local Uniklinikum (it’s like a hospital that’s closely linked our university where med students can work). Both provide a monetary compensation for the donation.

Yea, the US is kinda fucked, ngl

That’s the worst thing. At this point, they shouldn’t even be allowed to even ask that

Holy shit, 120$ per week? Now I definitely feel like I’m being ripped off 🐧 I thought we were having it good with 25€ per donation plus the odd additional promotions.

It used to be like that for me too - extra money to spend on leisure time. Mostly video games, in my case. Nowadays, I can’t go that regularly, sadly, because my new apprenticeship is full-time and doesn’t leave too much time to go donate plasma. But 120 sounds amazing

I’ve been there myself too. I didn’t necessarily have to donate plasma twice a week for a couple months since I could have asked my parents for money, but I’m very reluctant when it comes to asking for money and want to do things independently, on my own as far as possible. So yea, while between jobs, I was reliant on this steady source of income to be able to afford rent. It sucks but that’s reality. And yea, I quite agree that this is an underlying systematic failure of the government and not necessarily a fault of the blood bank

raise your dongers

Load times that don’t take ages with the internal SSD of the PS5 is a huge boon too

Ok

A base PS5 maybe if you like the franchises and want a hassle-free “just gaming” experience on a console. Many of them exist on PC nowadays though. And 800€ for a console is just robbery

It’s just so sad. I remember back when the PS4 Pro came out and you could trade in your old PS4 for a little on top to get a Pro at GameStop. It was a night and day difference going from a base PS4 to a Pro - and merely for the price of the console, 3 random games off a list of curated games, two controllers, iirc, and 100€. It was straight gas for me.

Paying 300€ on top - realistically even more because you’re not gonna sell a used PS5 for 500€ nowadays - plus the money for a disc drive and a vertical stand would set you back like 900-1000€. Completely out of their minds

We use our PS5 daily to both play games and watch media. It’s invaluable in our household. Using a PC for all that just seems to unnecessarily annoying, convoluted, and uncomfy. Sure, you could use a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to use it off the sofa but the sheer simplicity of just using a controller to do anything is just awesome. Not even touching upon not needing to do maintenance to the PC, buying newer components once older ones get inevitably obsolete etc etc.

For me personally, the PS5 has been a hit since day one. And yea, its price was a little steep upfront, but it’s been very much worth the money over the past four years. I don’t get people who unapologetically bash consoles from a sense of superiority. I thought we were past this lol