Video games are expensive even “free to play” games. You need to buy an expensive game console or PC that can run the games made in the modern day. Then, some games can cost upfront now $70 or more dollars. Then you got to buy the dlc, and the micro-transactions to get anything meaningful done on the game.
Some free to play games have paywalls you’l eventually run into to either progress, or to get more of the game such as cosmetics.
Open source games on the other hand are typically free for anyone with an internet connection and a device that can run the game, can play for free with hidden fees, or dlc, Micro-transactions. and no ads. In fact the closest thing you get to cost when playing a more demanding open source game to you is the device (some cases, the Monitor) and the internet connection even if just temporarily to download the game.
In Super Tux Kart, you got a modern ish looking game, opensourced, and is free and legal for anyone to collectively download and share this opensource game. Being an opensource game.
What would you pick capitalist games, or open source games?
Some might believe there’s only a handful of open source games especially if you only play them from the Linux repositories. Some websites might have creator putting their open source games on them, some of these might even be might even be playable in your web browser with html5.
Honestly? “Capitalist” (of varying degrees of capitalistic behavior, I suppose- even within AES countries) games, usually, for my preference.
Indies are great. The DLC model, when done right (not microtransactions, but additional content over a long lifespan) is great. Even the gacha model can be utilized amazingly IMO- as several games I enjoy (Genshin, HSR, ZZZ, Reverse:1999, WuWa- all developed in China) have shown.
When and if the profit incentive goes away with games, I still think that the development of games and other certain kinds of works (assuming that other advancements do not massively simplify/reduce the work required for such works, and/or the need for labor in general still remains- something that won’t be going away for a long time probably) will benefit best from, and reach its largest scopes and most broad appeal, through a concerted effort and vision, with heavy incentives (perhaps through other means than monetary profit, if society has truly moved past it).
All AES societies, for instance, have sponsored their own works of art (in various formats- statues and monuments, paintings and posters, music, performances, showpiece architecture, film, etc). IMO there comes a point where incentives and a centralization of varying degrees is necessary so as to produce certain kinds of works, or to produce certain large scales of work. IMO this is the case for big-budget/labor intensive works of all kinds, and for works that may require consistent maintenance, updates, or upkeep costs (for instance, multiplayer servers, or software updates/patches, etc). This is not to say the capitalist system is the ideal environment for such developments- of course it is not, far from it. But beyond a certain scale, or in regards to things which require a consistent upkeep/expertise/etc- there does require a system (for instance, a socialist system) to incentivize and direct efforts in a cohesive direction- whether that be through the profit motive, or through the “sponsorship” motive, or whatever else.
If I were to compare it- well, there is no universal metric to art or enjoyment. There’s no reason why Super Tux Kart (which I’m sure is very enjoyable) should be considered inherently worse or lesser than, say, Mario Kart, Forza, or Need for Speed. And in regards to art and enjoyment, similarly, there’s no reason why a cozy Soviet cabin (which would be great in its own right as well) would be any worse or lesser than Lenin’s Mausoleum, the Moscow Metro, or St. Basil’s Cathedral. But it’s hard to see how the latter examples could have been made “open-source,” so to speak, and while I don’t doubt that “open-source” models of development (for games, or for other works incl. non-artistic/enjoyment focused ones- hell, even for things like research, production, etc) even in our current phase of human development (which has not moved past scarcity and will likely not anytime soon if ever) would certainly achieve some works of comparable immense scale- I do not think they would be anywhere near as numerous as those that have been developed through concerted, incentive-driven, organized societies (capitalist and pre-capitalist, as well as socialist alike).
I will check out the open-source games mentioned here, though. I enjoy games of varying scopes, variety is always nice. But some things I think tend to require (not always, but tend to) more than just open-source.
Given that the community has to do with the capitalism exploration of video games and its decline, I’m not necesarilly looking at the art aspect but that one is less exploitable and less degrading then another to the person playing the game.
Yes, there is more to free gaming that is open source.
if you can combine an open source game with a creative Commons license series, that’s the best case scenario.
For instance there is the creative commons licensed pepper&carrot which is just a web comic, and has spawn a bunch of small, yet open source games asked on it. (the creative commons allows for this without permision)
This combination (of open source and creative commons) can easily get you that… mainstream capitalism feel like you would on a PlayStation or Xbox in an open source environment. (mainly 3rd party licensing games.)
Ah, fair enough. I just came in due to it being part of the 'grad/locals, so I wasn’t aware of the specific focus. In that case, open-source definitely wins out.
Looking at SuperTuxKart, particularly after learning there’s mods also, my interest is greatly increased. Another game (though I never really played it much, I just really like the concept) that comes to mind is MUGEN (a freeware fighting game with a similarly large fan content community, admittedly not open-source). Apparently there’s a open-source reimplimentation called “Ikemen.”
(Edit) also looking at your descriptions of the creative commons license- the Touhou games come to mind. I’ve not played any of the bullet hell ones (intend to eventually) but the fangames are pretty great.
(Secondary edit) as for the “mainstream capitalism feel”- I don’t think that’s quite an accurate descriptor, admittedly. The better descriptor for the projects I was giving examples for (for instance, including great communist works of art, architecture, etc. as well as many things that predate capitalism) was- the products of large-scale, organized society. Open source can achieve similar works, I’m sure- but those are very few and far between, especially when the majority of people are trying to survive (something that remains an issue, albeit a less extreme one, as labor of varying degrees would still be required under socialism, at least for the foreseeable future).