People say we are just fighting the inevitable by standing against this. Pre-owned games are going to get blocked. Many people will lose their livelihoods and jobs due to greedy companies who want to control all gamers do. We will be forced to connect to the company servers whether we like it or not. Or will this happen? Not if we stand and tell them straight they are taking it too far. Yes this is going to get very controversial so if you don't want to hear someone defend greedy Game and Gamestop look away now.
I have pushed the idea around the website that it is not gamers who sit back and act entitled and selfish. It is the companies that pursue for things because they are never satisfied with what they have. To me that is the definition of greedy and selfish. Pushing for more than what they have because it isn't enough for them to satisfy their hunger, and not their hunger for just money, their hunger for power and control. They won't stop until the middle man is cut out, we do as we are told and they have a monopoly over the entire market.
Monopolies are never good for anyone except for the company that brought it on in the first place. No it doesn't benefit the developers either, not the ones at the bottom of the food chain at least. You may think it would benefit them but it doesn't. It only benefits the man in charge. Lets cut out Microsoft and Sony for the time being and target the biggest 3 culprits. EA, Ubisoft and Activision. Obviously every company is guilty of pushing this but these are the worst offenders. "Why are they the ones at the front of pushing this down our throats?" you ask. The reasons are obvious. They have the most to gain and they have the biggest money makers out there. They are doing this for themselves. They aren't doing it to benefit other publishers. Other publishers will see what those three get and try to follow. That is why this doesn't benefit the companies like you think it will. It benefits those 3 only, and the manufacturer who has the stronghold on the market. For developers who think it will be a good thing, anyone who was developing games just after the gaming crash will tell you you are wrong. The manufacturer has your customers and therefore (to quote those who developed for Nintendo back in the day) have you by the balls. You no longer have the creative freedom you used to. Look at Bayonetta 2 as an example. Platinum want it to happen but nobody (except Nintendo) will put it out so if such a monopoly existed they would not put out your game either unless they were sure it was going to break it big. Any developers reading this should consider the loss of their creative freedom before backing such a scheme.
This is the hypocrisy in what these companies are doing. We must feel sorry for them when they lay off their employees due to their constant restructures. Yet they aren't thinking of the jobs of the local shops at risk as they continue to try and push digital distribution. How many people set up game stores to make livings? I'd wager more than the amount that got sacked from EA last year. For anyone who works in a game store to make a living you do have my sympathy. You need the money more than the companies that make the millions they make.
That is why people need to come forward and expose the lie that the journalists are paid to tell gamers on the internet. The thing is gamers don't HAVE to bend over and take what a company tells them. They just do it. Perhaps they are preying on gaming as an addiction? Either way start to think about the reality. If you are one who defends these practices ask how this benefits you. There is absolutely no gain for you. Paying whatever price a company tells you on top of your broadband and XBL/PSN fees is just bleeding you dry. You control them. It isn't the other way around. If any DVD distributor came and cried for DVD players to block used DVDs they would be blasted for even implying there is "another side" of an argument. Implying there is another side would get you judged as being arrogant in any other market. And DVD manufacturers need the money a LOT MORE than EA, Ubisoft or Activision do. Physical media continues to coexist in everything else so why can't it with games?
If the gamers on here who stand with me (and I know you exist) can convince everybody they know who enjoys gaming they will tell them to support the hobby and make these companies realize they are wrong to tell us what we can and can't have. No other market does this. Why are games different? This is the truth. Game corporations have seen there are ways they can grab your cash with and they abuse those methods and prey on your OCD. Because they have found such methods (content locked on disc) games have BECOME different. Or at least they think games have. To me, games are no different than any other product out there. And that is the reason I am having no part of a digital gaming future.
Games are a product. They aren't a service. I don't care if the legal rights say you are selling me the right to use it, every time I buy a CD/DVD I get everything with it. Absolutely everything. Why should games be different? It isn't the entitled gamers that stand against these practices. It is the gamers who have more sense. They know locking content on disc is a SCAM! Anyone who stands and takes it is volunteering to get scammed on a daily basis.
It is this push to make video games a service that is giving these companies power and I believe gamers should stand up to the beast and make it face reality. No other market can control our entertainment in ways like this market can. Nobody who puts out a DVD asks you to fork out for the bonus features or cough up £5 each for the final 2 episodes. Nobody who sells a CD with 15 songs on it make you pay £2 per song to listen to the last 5. Sure you might think "its only a couple of quid" but that is what these companies are preying on. People who see the bargain today and pay the premium tomorrow.
People will tell you a digital future, be it streaming, downloading or paying fees is just around the corner, but is it? It is only around the corner if your customers don't tell you to take a hike. I have kept these beliefs about games as a service secret for a long time, but I warn anyone who thinks they benefit from the companies getting every dime from their products to think again. Getting more money will not make them release that long lost sequel you've been craving for. It will just make them milk Fifa, Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty all the more. Developers think about wanting to get your work published. Companies won't do it because they are making too much money on these franchises to bother with your's. Publishers who think they can benefit will always envy those at the top who get the most money and will focus on that. Retailers will lose their jobs because they no longer sell the games. Aside from a few companies, this future benefits NOBODY. Therefore nobody should support it.
And for those who think companies are desperate for this money and do genuinely need it, tell me how big sellers like Fifa, Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty CAN'T be profitable. Its just making profits and wanting to make more because of the amount they miss. They want every last cent and the greed shall consume them and bite them where it hurts. That is what I believe will come from this push to digital distribution. There is only so far Companies can push customers before they tell companies where to stick it. Companies are already getting more than ANY OTHER market by asking for your money for "DLC" and they want even more. If that is not the perfect example of entitlement then tell me what is. Gamers just need to wake up and realize, WE control THEM. Not the other way around. Keep your wallet closed.
The classic puzzle game, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo, is now playable in Street Fighter 6's Game Centre, along with other new additions.
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First off I want to say I prefer disc based games but know digital also has it's place.
By going digital it allows them greater control and more importantly they know where the revenue is going. When someone buys a game digitally they can track your purchases better and in theory cut down or eliminate piracy. It also eliminates the need to ship and have guess work on stock supplies. One benefit to the consumer is the date of release is now automatic and allows the consumer the ability to buy that product the minute it's ship date occurs. Which also allows people to pre-order and have that game ready to go (mishaps will happen like we've seen with MLB The Show). We the consumer also don't have to worry about games being hard to get. I had a hard time getting Demons Souls for example when it came out because it was a surprise hit.
We all know the benefits of having disc based games.
"Retailers will lose their jobs because they no longer sell the games. Aside from a few companies, this future benefits NOBODY. Therefore nobody should support it."
So your thought process is to hold back progress? That we should also not support DLC unless it comes out on a disc? The industry will always adapt to the wishes of the consumer. Apple makes billions of dollars selling us digital content. The consumer wanted those choices. Just like how consumers will want the choices that allow independent and smaller developers to operate by allowing them to sell their content online. It's easier for them to distribute their games on services like PSN, Steam and XBox Live.
Steam is also digital only and many believe it was Valve who pretty much saved the PC gaming industry from collapse. Most people love the service they provide. It also employs many people because now those developers have MORE opportunities to sell their product.
You can't view things within a vacuum. The technology is there to give consumers a choice and to make their buying purchases easier. Perhaps one day there won't be much of a place for physical copies for games like what has happened already in PC gaming. We are already getting away from movie rental stores and even big outlets have very limited selections now for music CD's.
Ask yourself this, why are games generally cheaper on Steam when console games have the luxury of both physical and digital? It is because those retail stores don't want to have to compete with digital pricing. It is the USED market that keeps pricing down for consumers and those used game sales do not go back to the developer. So tell me again about jobs being lost if we support digital.
I am playing Devil's Advocate because as I stated in my opening statement, I still prefer disc based games and that is because it allows me more flexibility. That's it. The experience doesn't change. In fact the experience might be better digitally as it allows me to gain access to my library from anywhere in the world without the need to carry those games with me or getting lost.
Appreciate your enthusiasm but not entirely sure what your rant was about. Not supporting certain aspects of the industry that are presented to gamers like DLC or digital releases?
An online future is inevitable only if gamers do nothing about it. When it comes to business, you vote with your dollars, not with your comments; a few well-placed boycotts could shake-up the industry.
Sorry don't like digital media I always buy my games at the store or online, I still buy CDs. I agree with you 100%, its all greed plain and simple. I for one speak with my wallet, that's just what I did buying a PS4 after the whole DRM fiasco. I was going to buy a xboxone and transfer all my hard earned achievement points to the new system. I'm going to wait a long time before I do that now, wait and see if changes happen and stay.... Great write up Tehpees3.
I will always prefer physical copies of my games. I bought a few XBL/PSN games, but that was years ago. All physical or nothing sorry. One day, XBL and PSN WILL ont be here. Your money was essentially for nothing as you have no proof that you spent it. It's a scam when you sit back and think about it.