bridge_too_close

I'll call it a night in a few minutes. I need more iron...

A pair of official Joy-Cons is around $80 USD.

Agree on both points. It's nice to have options. I think the real fun will begin when Valve opens SteamOS up for other platforms, so it can be put on these higher-end handhelds, and even desktops.

I also like how they try to stay within a certain price range and focus on experience and efficiency, rather than push the latest hardware.

Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. I am not against Epic because of their privacy policy. I don't like Epic because of their business practices and owners, and don't want to give them anything, even if it's just a bogus email address and a few clicks or whatnot. And no, I never tried to imply other companies don't do the same thing.

Here's the bottom line, as far as I'm concerned:
I don't like Epic, and want nothing to do with them. If others want to interact with them, even if it's just for the free games, that's their decision to make.

They collect and use quite a bit more than that, it's in their privacy policy:

https://www.epicgames.com/site/en-US/privacypolicy

Sure, their primary focus is most likely generating interest and usage of their platform, but they'll also use analytical and statistical information to influence their business decisions.

If that's something you don't care about, then more power to you - enjoy your free game.

On a personal note, I made the decision as a consumer to not interact with them as much as possible. Even when I did have an account to collect free games years ago, the only thing I actually played was a Satisfactory alpha/beta event. I have more than enough games to play, so I am not concerned with collecting their free games.

But it does. You're still giving them your data, which they can use for all manner of things. If that's something you don't care about, then more power to you - enjoy your free game.

Ultimately, if you want a free game and have no issues with Epic, then hurray, you get a free game. Some of us don't like Epic and prefer to give them nothing (including our data), even if it means passing up on free games. I have no shortage of games to play, so I won't be missing a free copy of FO3 or whatever else they decide to offer up.

Early access isn't necessarily different from a beta version, it's just the name of the program used by devs to generate some revenue and get feedback during development. The game can be in alpha or beta or whatever.

Personally, I avoid games in early access on principle (with a couple exceptions) as I would rather play them once they are completed.

A lot of devs already do this. That's what Steam Early Access is for. Now, whether or not the devs actually listen to feedback is a different story...

It's next on my list to play!

Whew, what a relief!

JK, though I have been waiting since before 1.6 to play again.