Got an email from Amazon AU announcing the Prime membership price hike from $79 to $99/year. In their justification email, they explicitly cite "games with Amazon Luna" as one of the growing perks included in the subscription.

I decided to actually check out this "Luna" service, expecting a browser-based cloud streaming platform (similar to GeForce NOW or xCloud where you stream games instantly without local install).

Turns out, it's completely misleading for Australian users:

When you open Luna from an Australian IP, there is no "Play Now" cloud streaming option. Instead, clicking Luna links redirects you to a claims portal that passes out GOG or Epic keys.

To actually play something like DOOM you have to download 50GB–70GB+ installer files onto your local drive and install third-party store launchers.

Using downloadable third-party PC code giveaways "games with Amazon Luna" as a benefit included with an annual subscription price rise—when there are no actual Australian cloud streaming servers hosted for Luna—feels like pure marketing spin and a deceptive omission of hidden disk storage costs.

I will pay the increased Amazon Prime annual fee as I use it mainly for the free order shipping but this kind of deceptive marketing has no place in Australia.

Something to be proud of.

Key Points

• The 130 metre China Zorrilla has entered commercial service between Argentina and Uruguay
• The battery powered ferry can carry up to 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles
• Battery electric propulsion removes onboard exhaust emissions from the vessel’s operation

“Australia's top cop Krissy Barrett has warned teenage boys as young as 12 are being radicalised in their bedrooms, lured by a chaotic blend of violent jihadism, white supremacy and anti-government rage.

“Appearing before Senate Estimates on Tuesday, Commissioner Barrett pointed to an internal analysis of 55 youth cases — involving children aged between 12 and 17 — that reveals a chilling evolution in modern extremism.

All of the subjects were male, and every single one was radicalised all or in part online.”