They are buying many websites around the world. Even pu.nl (Power Unlimited), which has been a well-known name in the Netherlands since 1993, is now offline after being purchased by a gambling company and will probably be re-launched with AI generated content.
Another example is PlaySense.nl, a site that has existed for decades. It was also acquired by the same company and is now filled with low-quality AI-generated content while redirecting visitors to their gambling platforms.
was always a supporter of physical game stores. Every time I said that, people pushed back and insisted they were far too expensive. My response was simple: a real shop has rent, staff, insurance and security costs. An online warehouse does not face the same reality on the high street.
In the Netherlands most players chose the cheaper webshops. That decision slowly removed the very places we claimed to love. Now the irony is unavoidable. The shops are gone and the same online retailers that once undercut them now charge full retail prices, with barely any meaningful discounts left. The competition disappeared and so did their bargains.
CeX was the last store where I still regularly bought games. Its closure hit particularly hard. Rents had become extreme and the situation was made worse by crime. Some locations experienced multiple robberies in a single day. Even more disturbing, offenders were often back on the street hours later. Staff understandably felt unsafe and some suffered serious stress and trauma. Under those conditions the company had little choice but to leave.
Because of that, I now rarely buy from Dutch or American shops out of sheer frustration. When I visit France I genuinely enjoy walking into a Micromania. I am even tempted to travel to the UK just to browse stores like CeX again, because here they no longer exist.
We may be witnessing the disappearance of a certain kind of gamer. I worry about a future where ownership fades away and everything becomes controlled by a handful of companies through subscriptions and live services. If that happens, gaming as we knew it will not evolve, it will simply end.
Very soon, major corporations will also have powerful AI systems. Just talking about certain topics — or the things you've done online over the past 10 years — will be enough for these AIs to link it directly to you as a person. Whether you were casually downloading ROMs or homebrew games, or discussing pirated content, these systems will detect it and could even take automated legal action against you. In this future, nothing — past or present — will be safe from the reach of corporate AI.
Honestly, this whole situation makes me sick. It's the textbook example of everything that's wrong with late-stage capitalism. Microsoft just posted $25.8 billion in profit not revenue, profit and their stock jumps 6% because they exceeded expectations. Meanwhile, they gut their gaming division, lay off thousands of talented people, cancel beloved projects, and shut down entire studios with decades of history.
It’s disgusting.
We’re watching creativity, passion, and entire livelihoods get thrown under the corporate bus — all for the sake of shareholder value, and AI growth projections. The fact that executives smile and celebrate record earnings while cutting jobs in the same breath? It’s dystopian. This is what happens when corporations chase endless growth on a finite planet, with no regard for the humans behind the work.
The Xbox brand didn’t “fail”, it was failed. Failed by leadership obsessed with short-term margins. Failed by a system where success is measured not by innovation or community, but by how much more money you can squeeze out of what’s left. Gaming used to be about fun, dreams, art. Now it's just another casualty in the war for quarterly gains.
The American Dream? Turns out it was just a spreadsheet with a kill switch.
I'm disappointed that the focus is on a scammy guy talking about how much his collection is worth instead of a real enthusiast. If it were up to me, I'd highlight the classic games that everyone knows and loves, evoking enthusiasm and nostalgia, instead of rambling on about inflated prices driven by fraudulent people and companies like Wata. It's sad that it's all about money now—there's no passion, no real knowledge of the history behind these games. Retro gaming should be about the passion and love for games, not the price tags.
Comments 5
Re: This Long-Running Website Has Apparently Been Nuked From Google Thanks To AI-Written Resident Evil Review
They are buying many websites around the world. Even pu.nl (Power Unlimited), which has been a well-known name in the Netherlands since 1993, is now offline after being purchased by a gambling company and will probably be re-launched with AI generated content.
Another example is PlaySense.nl, a site that has existed for decades. It was also acquired by the same company and is now filled with low-quality AI-generated content while redirecting visitors to their gambling platforms.
Re: They Buried My Beloved CeX
was always a supporter of physical game stores. Every time I said that, people pushed back and insisted they were far too expensive. My response was simple: a real shop has rent, staff, insurance and security costs. An online warehouse does not face the same reality on the high street.
In the Netherlands most players chose the cheaper webshops. That decision slowly removed the very places we claimed to love. Now the irony is unavoidable. The shops are gone and the same online retailers that once undercut them now charge full retail prices, with barely any meaningful discounts left. The competition disappeared and so did their bargains.
CeX was the last store where I still regularly bought games. Its closure hit particularly hard. Rents had become extreme and the situation was made worse by crime. Some locations experienced multiple robberies in a single day. Even more disturbing, offenders were often back on the street hours later. Staff understandably felt unsafe and some suffered serious stress and trauma. Under those conditions the company had little choice but to leave.
Because of that, I now rarely buy from Dutch or American shops out of sheer frustration. When I visit France I genuinely enjoy walking into a Micromania. I am even tempted to travel to the UK just to browse stores like CeX again, because here they no longer exist.
We may be witnessing the disappearance of a certain kind of gamer. I worry about a future where ownership fades away and everything becomes controlled by a handful of companies through subscriptions and live services. If that happens, gaming as we knew it will not evolve, it will simply end.
Re: YouTuber Raided For Reviewing Handheld Emulation Consoles Pre-Loaded With Sony And Nintendo Games
Very soon, major corporations will also have powerful AI systems. Just talking about certain topics — or the things you've done online over the past 10 years — will be enough for these AIs to link it directly to you as a person. Whether you were casually downloading ROMs or homebrew games, or discussing pirated content, these systems will detect it and could even take automated legal action against you. In this future, nothing — past or present — will be safe from the reach of corporate AI.
Re: "The Xbox Project Has Failed" - Picking Up The Pieces After Microsoft's Darkest Day In Gaming
Honestly, this whole situation makes me sick. It's the textbook example of everything that's wrong with late-stage capitalism. Microsoft just posted $25.8 billion in profit not revenue, profit and their stock jumps 6% because they exceeded expectations. Meanwhile, they gut their gaming division, lay off thousands of talented people, cancel beloved projects, and shut down entire studios with decades of history.
It’s disgusting.
We’re watching creativity, passion, and entire livelihoods get thrown under the corporate bus — all for the sake of shareholder value, and AI growth projections. The fact that executives smile and celebrate record earnings while cutting jobs in the same breath? It’s dystopian. This is what happens when corporations chase endless growth on a finite planet, with no regard for the humans behind the work.
The Xbox brand didn’t “fail”, it was failed. Failed by leadership obsessed with short-term margins. Failed by a system where success is measured not by innovation or community, but by how much more money you can squeeze out of what’s left. Gaming used to be about fun, dreams, art. Now it's just another casualty in the war for quarterly gains.
The American Dream? Turns out it was just a spreadsheet with a kill switch.
Re: Retro Gaming Takes Over The BBC's Breakfast Show
I'm disappointed that the focus is on a scammy guy talking about how much his collection is worth instead of a real enthusiast. If it were up to me, I'd highlight the classic games that everyone knows and loves, evoking enthusiasm and nostalgia, instead of rambling on about inflated prices driven by fraudulent people and companies like Wata. It's sad that it's all about money now—there's no passion, no real knowledge of the history behind these games. Retro gaming should be about the passion and love for games, not the price tags.