I Want To Be A Console Gamer - WAN Show February 24, 2023

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: The episode centered on PSVR 2 impressions, Meta Verified skepticism, news-platform monetization, gaming and cheating concerns, and a long discussion about building PCs for others. The hosts also covered Amazon’s telehealth expansion, YouTube’s new 1080p Premium and podcast dubbing features, and a wide-ranging merch-message Q&A that touched on hiring, education, product design, and tech nostalgia.

Main Topics: PlayStation VR 2 first impressions (Priority: 5/5): The hosts discussed PSVR 2’s OLED HDR display, eye tracking, foveated rendering, single USB-C tether, improved comfort, and strong visual fidelity. They compared it favorably to Meta headsets and said it made one of them want a PlayStation for the first time since PS2. Meta Verified and paid verification skepticism (Priority: 5/5): They criticized Meta’s subscription verification plan as offering little real value beyond a badge, better visibility, and support, while still preserving ads and data collection. They framed it as normalization of paying for social-media status. Tech platform monetization and media/news access (Priority: 4/5): The show covered YouTube’s 1080p Premium, dubbing/podcast tools, and Canada’s proposal to make Google and Meta pay for news links. The hosts debated whether platforms should simply delist news rather than pay for it. Gaming, cheating, and the collapse of trust in Tarkov (Priority: 5/5): A major segment focused on Escape from Tarkov’s cheating problem and a related video investigation into ESP/wallhack-style cheating. The hosts argued that rampant cheating destroys trust and makes every engagement feel compromised. Rage-quitting a game: Fantasian critique (Priority: 4/5): Linus described quitting Fantasian after an unfair late-game boss fight with extreme RNG, multi-stage barriers, one-hit mechanics, and bad difficulty balance. He argued the issue was not difficulty itself but unfun, poorly QA’d design likely shaped by mobile/subscription economics. Building PCs for friends/family and support burnout (Priority: 4/5): The hosts argued that building PCs for people often turns into unpaid tech support forever, especially when recipients do not try basic troubleshooting themselves. They distinguished between helpful long-term family support and one-off extraction of labor. Amazon telehealth and platform consolidation (Priority: 3/5): They reacted negatively to Amazon’s acquisition of One Medical and its access to medical data, viewing it as another example of a giant company expanding into another intimate area of consumer life.

Key Arguments: PSVR 2 is a major hardware leap because OLED HDR, eye tracking, foveated rendering, and low persistence produce visuals well beyond its price tier. Meta Verified is mostly a vanity/status product; the hosts see little reason for normal users to pay for it. Large platforms should be free to stop linking to content if regulation makes links expensive; users then decide whether the platform remains useful. Cheating in multiplayer games is much more pervasive than many players assume, and in Tarkov it destroys the core trust-based gameplay loop. Difficulty is acceptable only when the player feels they can learn and improve; random one-shots and untelegraphed barriers are not fun design. Helping friends/family with tech becomes unreasonable when they expect permanent support instead of learning basic troubleshooting. A lot of modern corporate expansion, especially by Amazon, feels like consolidation of data and control rather than improved consumer value.

Data Points: PSVR 2 resolution per eye: 4.1 megapixels - Compared against the original PSVR’s roughly 1 megapixel per eye PSVR 2 price: $550 USD - Used as the comparison point for visual quality versus competing headsets YouTube 1080p Premium bitrate: 13 megabits per second - New higher-bitrate 1080p Premium quality versus standard 1080p at 8 Mbps Standard 1080p bitrate: 8 megabits per second - Baseline YouTube 1080p quality Meta Verified monthly price: $12/month - Subscription for Facebook and Instagram verification and support Meta Verified annualized cost: $144/year - Derived from the monthly subscription Twitter paid subscription share: 0.02% of active users - Used to illustrate how few users pay for Twitter Blue-like offerings Australia media licensing estimate: at least 200 million AUD annually - Referenced as the result of similar platform/news negotiations in Australia One Medical office count: 225 offices - Amazon’s acquired telehealth provider network WAN audience age group: 70% are 18–34 - YouTube analytics discussed during merch-message Q&A Next largest audience age group: 35–44 at 17% - YouTube analytics discussed during merch-message Q&A Audience 45–54: 6.4% - YouTube analytics discussed during merch-message Q&A Tarkov cheat-ban scale in Dota example: 40,000 players banned - Referenced as an example of anti-cheat action using honeypot techniques Fantasian playtime before quitting: 30+ hours - Linus had invested this much time before rage-quitting PSVR 2 launch timing: Launches next week / out this week - Conversation occurred as the headset became available

Pivotal Quotes: "It’s enough to make me want a PlayStation." — Linus: PSVR 2 discussion after trying the headset "Can we never normalize this, people?" — Linus: Reaction to Meta Verified and paid social verification "If the game gets to the point where the only way to advance is to actually cheat the game instantly stops being fun for me." — Cornozian (quoted by Linus): Merch-message discussion about using cheats to beat impossible game content

Implications: Listeners get a clear sense that hardware innovation still matters, but trust, fairness, and real value matter more. The episode highlights growing backlash to paywalls, platform consolidation, and game design that sacrifices fun or integrity.