> Video games of yore were actual games you could buy and play with friends. You had a physical copy and never had to renew a subscription, watch ads, or pay anything extra to unlock content. Most games didn't even have a separate launcher. Just run it and play. Updates, when they existed, were small.

That describes at least 90% of the games I play today.

I should have gone with any electrical item, tbh; that would probably have flown here without any dissent. But video games that are nowadays almost always one or two orders of magnitude 'better value' while being approximately half the price they were back in the nineties are still a legitimate example, I think.

> Video games of yore were actual games you could buy and play with friends.

While this is _true_, it's hardly a good-faith interpretation. The original Mario Bros was around $40 on release. Mostly sold as a bundle with the NES itself around $100.

That's $350 in today's money. Oddly around the same as the switch 1 on release ($299) + BOTW ($60)

Compare the "value" of NES + Mario Bros with Switch 1 + Breath of the Wild.

Yes Nintendo can take one of those away from you, that's despicable, but the "product" has shrunk in no way.

The smart tv formula gets applied everywhere. Make it cheaper by making more money through annoying/spying on customers.