Business, Gamer Culture, Headlines, PC
It’s a video game. It’s a sociology experiment. It’s a publicity stunt. It’s financial suicide. It’s surrendering to the file-sharing criminal underground. It’s calling the torrent-pirate’s bluff by robbing them of their favorite justification.
As Steam’s unparalleled success blazes across the charts, online game downloading is on the mind of all companies that are not already involved. As shown by the recent activity of Electronic Arts (EA) and Microsoft, more and more PC game distribution companies are jumping onto the bandwagon of online distribution.
Business, Gamer Culture, PC, Technology
Okay EA, we gamers have been criticizing you for years about re-packaging games year after year and charging full price for what, inevitably, ends up being little more than an upgrade to a game we already own. So you finally addressed that issue and lined up some really sweet, original games for this holiday season like Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, and Left 4 Dead. So it’s funny that a lot of hardcore gamers won’t be experiencing these gems thanks to your self-imposed PR nightmare: SecuROM.
Gamer Culture, Guitar Hero, Rock Band
Video game makers have utilized royalty free music in several ways for years. Soundtracks for video games have been used free of charge since The Legend of Zelda. However, music labels see it differently if they own the copyrights. Games using the most famous songs of the ’80s and ’90s should come at a price.
It’s sort of a long-standing satisfaction when you see David beat out a Goliath with a single and decisive blow. The whole concept is somewhat of a recurrent theme throughout literature and even plays to our psyches today. That’s part of my thrill in seeing EA relax their DRM rules on Spore after a voluminous outcry by buyers and bystanders alike. It’s one of the few times where the tiny Davids win out against the Goliath corporations.
You know you’re damned to a life of nerd-dom when you’re a kid and like watching Bill Nye the Science Guy way more than Full House or Saved by the Bell. (I can still hear that theme song, which is still cool, BTW.) Being a nerd, I’m also a gamer; and, ipso facto, I’m in love with Spore… wait. I lied. I’m not. It’s because DRM is the worst thing that ever happened to the digital era.
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Last month, Major Nelson gave word of Microsoft’s much-needed, new content license transfer tool. It promises a simple, 2-part process that involves transferring your licenses on Xbox.com and then on your Xbox 360. But is it as easy as Microsoft says it is? Test drive!
Today, virtually all internet users own a few—give or take a couple hundred—stolen soundtracks, games, videos and or, all of the above. With the popular combination of high-speed internet, removable disk hard drives, and pocket-sized iPods, illegal online downloading has become a tempting source for obtaining your favorite entertainment.
