Mario, Markets, and Microtransactions

“There is no such thing as blockchain and non-blockchain games. There are only good games and bad games.” - Milton Friedman

@CartoonsHateHer @theronrockstone @Sanilac_J Another aspect here is if revealed versus stated is closer for men or women.

@theronrockstone @econosopher @Sanilac_J Yeah. Like, a lot of straight women watch lesbian porn. Porn is all about fantasy and extremes, it doesn't necessarily translate to IRL.

A husband-hunting expert released a guide for how women can look sexier to find a rich, handsome husband--but it was light on proof. I have the proof to back up (and refute) some of her claims. Link in replies.

@CartoonsHateHer @Sanilac_J That's a really big conditional though and I don't know; it doesn't hold true. Like the whole point of a surgeon is to make it aesthetically appealing though. You also have to assume that over time technology makes that even better.

@econosopher @Sanilac_J I think it's less about the cost and more about the look. A lot of guys actually are opposed to breast implants even if the natural result is less aesthetically appealing. I think if you could naturally increase bust size via a pill, lots of women would take it.

@CartoonsHateHer @Sanilac_J What I’d contend with is the boob tech he discusses, where it's going to become far lower cost to have breast enhancement. If your theory holds true, this shouldn't be mass-selling or I guess it shouldn't affect a large percent of the population

@econosopher @Sanilac_J And that's fair, but that doesn't necessarily translate to IRL interest. Lots of straight women prefer to watch lesbian porn but don't want to date women. Fantasy tells us *something* but not everything.

@CartoonsHateHer @Sanilac_J The nature of the evidence is really important here. It contended that when we look at the imaginary, when there aren't physical constraints, what are men's interests? That's a very specific theory that deserves falsification.

@econosopher @Sanilac_J I guess, but then you can just say anything and claim it's the revealed preference. My surveys indicate who wealthy men are *actually pairing with* and there isn't really a correlation with extreme curves (or really anything other than "more likely to be slim/average")

@CartoonsHateHer @Sanilac_J I really think you should consider writing an essay, discussing it, because I found it, at least for me, to be a profound essay. Your thoughts would contribute to The Discourse.™

@CartoonsHateHer @Sanilac_J Yeah but that's part of the criticism you have to contend with: that the essay itself is an attack or discussion of revealed versus stated preferences, which surveys don't resolve. There are plenty of empirical observations that were completely valid.

@CartoonsHateHer You need to combat @Sanilac_J's evidence on the matter. Like, seriously, it's fascinating. Your husband should comment too. jsanilac.com/dispelling-bea…

Getting breast implants specifically to attract rich men is just not a sound strategy. In fact, breast size ranks low on the list *even of physical attributes* for men making over $200K, and they usually cite average/above average as the preferred size. cartoonshateher.com/p/she-told-wom…

One great irony of the gaming AI Luddite resistance is that Game Designers should be AI-prompting Gods. Specs are design's main form of communication! Designers can update their LinkedIn title to Prompt Engineer with a straight face and actually execute against the role.

@ryancbriggs @dugmartsch @NathanpmYoung Wishful thinking:

@dugmartsch @NathanpmYoung Counterpoint: if one partner gets hotter then the other one gets into them even more and it’s actually great for the relationship.

I like @Aria_Babu and hard nosed truth telling, but I am capable of empathising with a woman who reads an article about getting sexier and finds it tremendously difficult. But on the margin, I want media for women to be more honest, not less.

@ModeledBehavior @tylercowen Anything to avoid talking about actual games

This was great. Now I want @tylercowen to interview Mr Beast conversationswithtyler.com/episodes/any-a…

@JNavok @Steve_Aug @ballmatthew This is why the positive normative distinction is so important. Is the definition supposed to explain future success? Is it orthogonal? All these platforms came and went as closed systems, but are stepping stones?

@JNavok @Steve_Aug @ballmatthew PS Home, Second Life, VR Chat, IMVU, Horizon Worlds… much closer. No reason to exclude them!

Doesn't matter how many times @ballmatthew said that the Metaverse is not VR, such as this 2021 quote, the journalists never listened. Horizon Worlds is pivoting from VR into mobile. Good. It should. Is VR the Metaverse? No. As a result is the Metaverse dead if Horizon VR is gone? No, that is like saying the internet is dead because Compuserve went offline. I have long argued that Roblox is the best example of the Metaverse opportunity, and Roblox is a heavily mobile platform. But this doesn't let reporters sniff their own bullshit and declare it fragrant so they write the dumber headlines.

@ballmatthew @JNavok Lots of hand-wavy responses, i/c when @benthompson questioned it, and in the above. You should engage in a long-form, substantive criticism of it. Of all the recent interviews, only Ben even asked a last-minute throwaway question about it.

Because you (and others) are moving the goalposts, dropping key parts of the definition, because it validates the hypothesis. Or I don't know, was it a hypothesis? Still don't understand whether this was a normative or a positive analysis. Roblox has moved farther away since publication, too.

@blakeir I don't think that's fair to say that's how they started. They're toys made by engineers that are interactive, that have become captured by the artist class.

games are commercial art built with software. i’m not sure there’s another software industry as resistant to AI as gaming.

@VGC_News very sad for the town of Cary

Ubisoft is 'ending game development' at historic Tom Clancy game studio Red Storm Entertainment, resulting in 105 job losses, VGC understands. videogameschronicle.com/news/ubisoft-e…

@econosopher @OnionChowder @Chris_Economics It’s not zero cost it’s zero budget.

Extraction shooters are finally confronting their identity crisis. Is Marathon the answer, or just another branch of the same lineage? Anjos, Sides, and @econosopher break down pivotal moments for shooters: youtube.com/watch?v=pNw9SC…

Takes so hot that they were recorded late at night after a long day on the GDC floor, and a couple of whiskeys. @econosopher, @OnionChowder, and @Chris_Economics unpack what actually mattered at GDC 2026, and what didn’t. We discuss: A sharper critique of industry thinking • Too many taxonomy talks, not enough opinions • Why game talks should behave more like economics seminars AI’s role on the show floor and conference • Shift from generative art hype to code generation and workflows • Why survey data understates actual usage and masks revealed preferences • AI present but muted, Web3 effectively gone The collapse of production costs and what replaces them • Near-zero fixed costs leading to infinite content supply • Discovery, marketing, and CAC as the new binding constraints • Why incumbents may strengthen, not weaken • Ad spend and distribution advantages widening the moat 👂Listen: episodes.castos.com/68cefd238fe186… ⌚Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=J8klqh…