Katilian said:
Those that cried out when Steam came along are still not using Steam. I know because I'm one of them. With Steam you no longer "own" any games you buy, you are on a long term rental. If Valve decides that I should not have access to a game any more, I can no longer play a game I paid for. Now Steam was a step in the right direction when to came to digital distribution (and has some value adding features), but until it has a system more like GoG, I'm not making the jump to any games that are tied to their platform. And once again, Steam did nothing to stop piracy, it just stops the second hand market (which is more of a threat because these people are willing to pay money for your game, unlike most pirates, yet you don't see the money) and allows for statistics tracking (which can then be sold to advertisers, think targeted advertising). If I was a console gamer (I am, but I prefer PC), I would also be concerned about moves the companies make on PC. Once they proclaim their methods reduced piracy and the market is happy to accept it (usually because they attach it to a big name title which is going to sell anyway and the masses who aren't technically inclined don't know better), consoles will start requiring 24/7 access too. No longer will you be able to head around to your friends house with that game you just bought (cause it will be tied to your console) and the rental market will also be killed. This move is not good for consumers (and as other have pointed out, they erode YOUR rights as a gamer), yet they are currently happy to bend over and take it all in the name of "stopping piracy". Which it doesn't do. Meanwhile, the pirates will continue to enjoy uninhibited gaming. |
Without Steam its becoming increasingly difficult to own PC game software. I have seen the share of the local retail store shrink from dominating the place to being a shadow in a corner in some forgotten place with just classic titles and a smattering of new releases. The used market is cheap because there simply is very little value in an old title on a platform that can easily host piracy. I do not see nearly the same industry in hawking used PC titles as there is for console titles. A single consoles used market dwarfs the PC second hand market.
Ubisoft has a duty as a publicly traded company to only invest in things which it believes will give their shareholders a greater return. So they have an obligation to run the numbers to the point where they believe that if they did X action then Y profit ought to result from it. Furthermore the game industry unlike the music and movie industries has embraced digital distribution wherever applicable. Whats good for the industry is good for the gamer. If piracy cannot be controlled then the big publishers will continue to retreat from releasing content day and date with console releases for fear that if they release at the same time people will simply pirate the games on the consoles.
Currently on a console I can go around to your house, log into my account and download content already bought. Or on the PS3 I can share content with you for free. I doubt they would want to kill the rental market. Digital digistribution makes rental much more feasable as well as episodic gaming where you can download a part if you're unsure of the quality of the whole.
Essay Pro