If you think it’s an unregulated mess now, take a look at the home computer scene in the mid-80s. Absolute wild west, dude.

In today’s gaming envoriment large companies can make promise after promise, deliver on none of them and walk away like nothing happened. The worst thing that can happen is some people calling you bad names online. What makes you think advertisement would be more ethical at a time no one gave a shit about gaming?

The scene was too small back then for anyone to pay attention. Most microcomputer developers were selling games out of their garage via mail order.