A friend of mine and I walk through a local casino during the winter because its the only place that's warm and large enough to meaningfully walk around in. Its a great visual aide for just how bad things really are.

Looking at all those dressed up gaming rigs, with multiple curved 4k monitors, in a custom made kiosk decorated with LED matrixes and auxiliary displays. All to run a fucking RNG dressed up in Unity engine so boomers can gamble in a way that feels familiar. Despite the fact that the device in their pocket is just as capable of doing the job.

All of these in rows filling warehouse sized rooms. Most of them unused, each one dedicated to a single "game". Constantly using electricity. Constantly wearing out good hardware.

As someone who makes games as a hobby, especially with the layoffs in the industry, seeing all that makes me want to fucking hurl. The wasted talent, the wasted resource, the perversion of my beloved art form.

The real horror though, is when you look down at it from the balcony. Its then that it hits you, that the sea of wasted potential that lies before you is just but a sliver of the scraps dangling from the maw of the beast.

I want it all to just be fucking gone so bad.