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Freeman [soylentnews.org] writes:

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/09/too-much-of-a-good-thing-mourning-the-slow-death-of-the-retail-game-store/ [arstechnica.com]

When I was a kid, buying video games was an incredibly stressful process. In the late '80s, I was too young to buy magazines to find out what games deserved my hard-earned pocket-money. So, in an experience all too familiar to many millennial gamers, I used my (poor) intuition to look at the box art to decide what to bring home.

At the time, a console title cost something in the realm of $100 [arstechnica.com] in today's dollars (or over €85-95), which made each game purchase an investment requiring long consideration and thoughtful planning. At that price, every game needed to last weeks, if not months, to justify the investment. Most games achieved this with the good old “Nintendo-hard” philosophy: Brutal challenges make a relative dearth of original content last longer.

At least they weren't like Blockbuster. $50 overdue charge for you!

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