Trollbait, it has to be. "no brand tie ins" is genuinely hilarious to me. I'm picturing a videogame reviewer going like: "The game is an artistic and a technical milestone. The gameplay is also the smoothest we've seen so far. Unfortunately, the game does not feature a Ronald McDonald skin or even a Slurpee coupon, so we have to give it a 7/10".
By...not playing it? No boomers were playing Counterstrike back in the day, lol wtaf?
ok boomer go play your wow classic that you all love so much /s
It was pure gaming.
No advertisments, no marketing, no extra costs.
The only way to get better was to play more.
How can it not be fun?
Good ol' days, thank you VALVE.
Boomers my ass. This is Gen X gaming.
Millennials as well. I get bored with modern games. Grinding all day for a pink weapon skin. Tf, I don't care what color are my skins. Give me a good old challenge
We had mods. They're a bit like skins and new content, only free and far more creative. They are what you call microtransactions today but you didn't have to sell your right arm to get them because anyone could make them.
Ahh, the days before games companies hired the casino slot machine UX designers. An elegant game from a more civilised age.