The Six Most Ominous Trends In Video Gaming

[lazarus]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-most-ominous-trends-in-video-games/

Very ominous, indeed.

Example:

The thing is, publishers ultimately want to get to the point where you're connected to their servers at every moment. This way they can continually check to make sure you have a non-pirated copy of the game and can then sell you downloadable extras and monthly subscriptions to play multiplayer. They also want you to buy all of your games via download so that you won't trade a physical copy in to GameStop (who will resell it and not give a penny to the publisher). After that, they will move to a model like OnLive, where you never get a copy of the game at all -- you simply play it off their machine, streamed over your Internet connection. For this, you pay a monthly fee, hopefully for the rest of your life.

[charlie and algernon]

1. His last point is great.

Developers need to break games up into different catagories.

They need to accept that millions of people love playing phone games that at most cost a dollar and can't afford to spend $60+ for every new game. And I'll add, ESPECIALLY since Gamestop only buys them back for $15, if you're lucky. I may get Modern Warfare 3 next year, but that'll be it. I can spend the rest of my time playing FIFA 10, Just Cause 2, and MW 2 & 3.


They need to start drastically altering their prices.
Charge no more than $15-20 for the simple, family friendly games.
Charge $30-40 for the more advanced sports games and single player games where people can either run around in a sand box world or follow a set story.
Charge $50-60 for the big multiplayer games. Hell, charge $70 for the multiplayer games and use the extra profits to make it secure from hackers. And it should JUST be multiplayer. Break up the Modern Warefare, etc games. So you can either pay $40 for the single player MW or $60 for the multiplayer version.

[Broken_Hero]

4. No joke on that

a bud of mine bought Brink for the Xbox on the day it came out, played it for a night and he hated it. He brought it in for a trade in, and got 8 dollars....

I hate buying games for full price, I hardly ever do...because plainly, 60 bucks is a lot of money put down on a game that might suck. I try to read up on them a lot, do as much research on them before putting up 60 bucks.

The last time I bought full price was GH Metallica, cause I'm a metal head, and I love the band/game.

that was...March of 08? And currently, I'm pre-ordering Arkham City, loved the first game, and from what I can tell AC looks phenomenal.

I'll have egg on my face if it sucks though...live/learn.

[Ohio Joe]

2. Good article

Years ago, when I left the Blizzard forums, it was with the knowledge that I would eventually stop gaming because of the direction the industry was heading. WoW was just getting ready to come out and I had already made the decision that I would never pay for a game and then pay a monthly fee to be able to play it... or even take a game for free but pay for it in an ongoing manner. Add in all the micro transactions and it really starts adding up. I hate it now when I get suckered into really wanting an expansion pack. I know it is only a matter of time until I tell myself I'm sick of this shit and give up this hobby.

I'm also really unhappy with this trend where companies want you to be connected to the internet all the time for validation. It stopped me from getting Starcraft II and I'm really agonizing over what to do about Diablo III. I know it's going to be a kick ass game in my favorite genre and from one of my favorite developers but.... I'm really against this new DRM method they have, there are plenty of times I want to be able to play off-line. Without that option, it is going to be a really tough choice.

[Occulus]

5. Yeah, about that second paragraph

Last weekend we had a storm; it knocked out my media services for 48 hours straight. During that entire time, I counted five different instances when I wanted to play Starcraft II (it really is a fun game) and could not. And I was Very Sad.

I also couldn't play my Steam games because Steam for some reason wouldn't start in offline mode (that's related to a whole other ball of wax), so for two solid days I played my "old" games. Galactic Civilizations II, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, Diablo II, The Movies, Black & White 2, Crysis, etc (thankfully, my library is very well-rounded). I wasn't bored, but I still couldn't play the games I am playing now, and really made me question the wisdom of buying online-only games if it means that I can't play them at all when my service is out.

[Forkboy]

3. No physical copy, no purchase.

The choice is theirs. I have other hobbies, and as much as I enjoy gaming it won't be hard to give it up, or just stick to the thousands of old games out there. I did two games through an elicense deal and it was a nightmare each time. I will never purchase another game without having an actual copy.

[Occulus]

7. If you have a good internet connection, Steam is really great, despite my post above.

By the way, Steam does let you make a backup copy, and it goes out of its way to make sure you control where the file goes and even whether it'll fit on CDs or DVDs (it asks you this, in fact). You buy a digital copy, but you can make a physical backup whenever you like. It even lets you batch multiple game backups together into a single job.

I love Steam, I really do. It should be the default release mechanism for every major developer, IMO. Other offerings in that arena completely suck (EA Online, how I hate thee), act somewhat kludgy, and feel cumbersome to use by comparison.

I buy almost all my games through Steam now. I used to buy all physical copies (I used to see things the way you do now), and I've ended up with several very very old discs that somehow never got copied being eventually unreadable. Digital copies don't do that, and in fact, I've since gone through my collection of physical discs and ripped as many of the games as I could to .iso files. I then shelve the discs I rip (or throw them away), back up the iso in two or three places (one offsite), and I'm done. Running MagicDisc lets me add virtual drives I can then mount and install and play from.

Sadly, the DRM added to discs of modern games makes them not easily copyable, and some DRM software, such as SecuRom, or as in the now-infamous Sony debacle, are actual rootkits. These games aren't impossible to rip, but it's a process usually beyond the knowledge or simply the patience of the average user. While software companies claim this is being done to stop software piracy, they are robbing legitimate users of their right to a usable backup copy, their right to the security and stability of their own system, and their right to unimpeded access to the software they have purchased.

Can you tell I absolutely hate DRM software? Give me digital copies I can authenticate online and be done with it. Steam does it right.

[Ready4Change]

6. I've been on Steam for a while now.

Love the convenience factor. Hate have to beg permission to play what I've paid already paid for. Hate, hate HATE. 10 thousand suns fiery hate.

But, when I go into a brick and mortar store, they never have what I'm interested in.

No joy.