Oh sure, Google only fucks with how texting works, whether my car GPS cooperates, what the entire UI looks like…

I know this specific abuse was not Google’s fault specifically. But it’s the same god damn thing. Nobody asked me if I wanted that. They just shoved it onto the machine I paid to own and pay to use, like it’s not mine enough to deserve respect, let alone control.

It’s Metro’s fault.

I fucking hate that three separate skeezebag companies have free reign to insert software on my extremely personal wireless pocket computer.

The latest Google update will make your phone more secure if you don’t touch it…

Fuck entirely off. The last time my phone surprised me with an update, it was ads on my goddamn lock screen.

If you have to ask, they’ve already fucked you.

Dead skin mask.

Incomprehensible that this took seventeen fucking years.

Sony absolutely wants you to buy a Playstation. They’re running the same strategy they had for the PS1. It worked great then, it worked better on PS2, it floundered on PS3… and ever since then it’s been a charade. But it’s a charade that prints money. So long as they pretend games are made for their hardware, and it would obviously be ridiculous to suggest running them anywhere else, they can convince you to sink $500 into brand loyalty.

They could’ve, but they didn’t.

I’ve explained why - because people asked.

The same questions, again, will have the same answers.

The fact you’re still talking does not make that an ongoing discussion.

If you want to stream games on your phone, do.

That’s not what this device is for.

I think we’re done here.

the use case is so limited as to be baffling.

Only if you’re not listening. Some discussions are supposed to end, when their questions reach answers. People ask why anyone would buy this, and the answer is, to play their PS5 without their TV. People ask why it doesn’t do more, and the answer is, because that would cost Sony more money, requiring higher sales figures to break even.

This object is this way because limited scope means poor sales will not matter. No shit Sony wants to sell some. No shit they’d be thrilled if it sold eight billion units. But they don’t need that. It is a project with low up-front costs, low marketing costs, and low upkeep costs. If it was higher-risk then it probably would not exist.

It is a completely optional accessory for PS5 owners. They don’t want it to be anything more.

Admittedly that one is harder to excuse. But I think the idea is, you should never want to take this outside your house. That’s why it’s literally two halves of a controller slapped onto either side of a cheap tablet. Convenient portability was not a concern.

Making this a streaming device also means you might buy one without owning a PS5.

No, Sony can go fuck themselves, and consoles as a concept need to end. I’m only pointing out that poor sales will not matter in the slightest. I am speaking to people who keep asking, ‘why would I want this?’ and if you have to ask, the answer is, you wouldn’t. And so what.

It’s a niche gizmo they’re selling for a healthy profit. The break-even point has to be very low. They want some people to buy it. But they don’t care if you buy it.

They don’t need to spend money supporting it because it’s strictly local. If it was a new PSP, there’d be a whole storefront, and updates, and complex risk assessment for how much to spend for expected returns. There’d be a huge marketing push to ensure they hit some lofty goal for sales figures.

But this is a split controller glued to a shite Android tablet. It’s low-risk. It could have sold zero units and they’d shrug off a minor loss. They don’t expect it to sell a zillion units, and they don’t need it to sell a zillion units. It’s there for anyone who wants one.

Then don’t buy it.

If you want a foolproof way to do what you could jump through your ass to approximate, Sony offers a ridiculous-looking device that does one thing well. If you don’t care then they lose nothing. Not like they sunk a lot of R&D into looks.

It doesn’t exist to be anything but a remote connection to your PS5. It’s an in-home television alternative.

Everyone clowns on this thing, but it makes perfect sense for Sony: it doesn’t split the platform, it doesn’t require infrastructure, and if you don’t buy it, they don’t care. Its market is anyone who went ‘oh neat, now I can play from the office’ or ‘now I can play while sportsball is on.’ If you don’t have an immediate use-case for it - then don’t buy it. You won’t bother the people who do.