Edge reports durango to block used games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[danawhitaker]

I always wonder how Steam and PC gaming in general doesn't have to deal with so many people being angry about the fact that you can't rent or sell PC games.


When I first got back to PC gaming (Spring 2010), it was a bit of culture shock for me. I actually went to Craigslist and bought a few used PC games. I got Civ 4 and COD4. Civ 4 worked fine, but COD4 woudln't work, because it was tied to a Steam account. At the time, I was such a newb regarding PC gaming, that I had no idea that buying used PC games was a very bad idea. I just assumed it was like anything else.

It didn't take me too long to realize that digital downloads was the way to go. I'm normally pretty anti-digital download anything, but what I ultimately realized was that it had more to do with price than anything. You start to price something low enough, and I don't care that I really don't own it. I know it's sad to say such a thing, but it's the God's honest truth. I have to be real and admit the fact that it ultimately boils down to money.

I know that we are basically only "leasing" the games for a certain period of time, and that our rights to the games are extremely limited, but at the same time, when I only paid $5 for the thing, it's pretty hard for me to really get all hot and bothered about the whole ownership issue. I look at it more like an extended rental. I recently got Crysis 2, when Origin had it on sale for 5 bucks. Yes, I know that I don't own that game. I know that I can't let a friend borrow it. I know that my rights to that game are virtually non existent.

Did I mention it was 5 bucks ?


See, that's the thing. Just think of it as a rental. It can be a pretty long, extended rental, but that's pretty much what it is. I would never pay $40 or $50 or even $30 to rent a game, so I don't even consider my games until they are in the $20 or lower range. Normally I don't even consider them unless they are under 10 bucks, and 90 percent of what I buy is $5. Certainly, I'm talking about Steam, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming and Amazon Digital Downloads. I know that when Microsoft and Sony truly enter into this restricted world, they aren't going to be pricing things anywhere as cheap. For example, that Crysis 2 game that I got for $5. I don't think Microsoft or Sony would want a game like that going for only 5 bucks. Maybe eventually, when the thing is like 4 or 5 years old, but it just isn't in their DNA to ever price AAA games so cheaply.

However, if Microsoft and Sony were to think of trying the extreme sales that Steam and Amazon do, then just maybe, just maybe, some of us that are extremely patient, won't really give a damn about it, because if you look at all the PC gamers out there, they don't seem to be bothered by this scenario. I know the argument might be that 60 percent of them are pirating all their games, so that's why they don't care. I'm not so sure if that is true or not, but I do know that there are quite a few PC gamers like me that don't pirate stuff, and we still don't really care too much about our lack of rights.

It all comes down to money...

It all comes down to money - and consoles aren't going to be as bargain bin as PC gaming is. If I pay $350+ for a device that only plays games (not a PC that I use for many different functions), I expect to be able to use that physical device on my terms, especially if those games cost at least $60. And I certainly don't want to buy a game at launch and then twiddle my thumbs until games (maybe) go to bargain bin prices. Now, if they offered a flat monthly fee for access to the entire game library for the console, that might be different (sort of like how Club Pogo works for most of its games). I probably still wouldn't buy the console, but I could see it being an appealing option and probably cheaper than buying every individual game you want. I've noticed a bit of a disturbing trend like that with recent PS3 console relases. The pack-in games are often digital only, or you get stuff with a PSN+ subscription for a year instead and then your access is revoked. I won't even argue that most of the PC gamers are pirating their stuff. I think there's something that's happened with people under the age of about 45 now (not all of them, because I'm 31, and I know plenty of people under that age too who are opposed to these ideas) that are willing to accept corporations enslaving their entertainment content behind all kinds of gates.

But I shouldn't be surprised with this mentality either. This is the same generation that has forgotten things like the VCR ever existed and that's willing to fork over $15-20 a month to their cable or satellite provider for a glorified VCR with a hard drive. See, I'm not into the rental/lease model at all. Either I "own" it, or I don't want it. And if I'm feeling like I'm getting ripped off, well, there are about 18,000 other console games out there from all generations that I can play instead. That would keep me entertained for decades.

The problem is that I suspect the model they'll push will never have those digital downloads (especially for AAA titles) at any significantly discounted cost, despite the fact that they'll claim that method is cheaper and easier than physical distribution. They argue that, but then you see the prices end up being identical for the physical copy and the digital copy. So would it really be any better cost-wise? I guess I don't have much faith in the corporations involved.