E3 is essentially over. It’s unlikely that Microsoft or Sony will make any other game changing announcements before the fall. For the past three days I’ve been reflecting on what my friends have said about Microsoft’s new DRM scheme. I’ve also been listening too gaming journalists, tech writers, bloggers and fellow forum members as well. And the more I think about it, the less concerned I become about DRM.
Do I want DRM? No, of course not. No one does. But I never realized how much I was already supporting DRM. My last couple of Xbox 360 purchases were titles that I can never trade in. I picked up Alan Wake for digital download. I can’t trade that in. I’m stuck with that forever. I can’t trade Dust: An Elysian Tale. It’s an awesome game, no doubt, but I don’t see myself playing it multiple times. Regardless, I can’t get rid of that either.
The same goes for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Mark of the Ninja, The Walking Dead, Puzzle Bobble, Peggle and several other non-transferable titles. Heck, why even limit it to just 360 games? How about Windows 8/phone titles like Angry Birds, Cut the Robe, Gravity Guy or Rayman Jungle Run? And let’s not even get started on the 20+ titles I’ve purchased between Steam/Amazon/Apple App Store.
The simple fact is that I was never going to see another dime back for any of those titles and that never stopped me from purchasing them. In fact, I told myself that I was going to purchase even more downloadable titles because there are a ton of games that I still want to pick up through digital download.
I stopped being concerned once I realized that DRM wasn’t going to change my buying habits. The majority of games I’ve purchased in the past couple of years have DRM, I just never stopped to think about it because no one was ringing an alarm. Now the alarm is being rung and it’s so loud that I had to reevaluate my shopping habits. The conclusion is that the things that have changed are more of an annoyance than a show stopper.
Maybe Microsoft will support digital trade-ins but I’m still going under the assumption that I’m stuck with my digital downloads forever, just like on my 360. I can still trade in my disc based games with the added catch that it has to be with an authorized retailer. I know the big fear is that this will kill the local mom and pop stores, though the logic gap is the assumption that local shops won’t also join Microsoft’s trade-in program. But fear mongering aside, can I still trade in my disc based games? Yes. And finally, sharing games have taken on a new twist. I can share them with “family” or I can permanently give them away. I’ve loaned games out before but rarely to people I don’t know. The ten family members I share with should easily cover any games I want to loan out. Either way, the impact on my buying habits is minimal.
Sony didn’t help out either. A lot of games that Sony showed at E3, that were originally believed to be Sony exclusives, turned out to be multi-platform titles. I’m talking huge games like MGS5, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts. Combine the entire list of multi-platform games with Microsoft’s current exclusives and the XO’s lineup is starting to look pretty nice.
Again, do I want DRM? No. Will it absolutely destroy my gaming life? It hasn’t so far. Doubtful it will in the future.
Then again, I’m also buying both consoles because choosing only one system is so 2006, lol.
Do I want DRM? No, of course not. No one does. But I never realized how much I was already supporting DRM. My last couple of Xbox 360 purchases were titles that I can never trade in. I picked up Alan Wake for digital download. I can’t trade that in. I’m stuck with that forever. I can’t trade Dust: An Elysian Tale. It’s an awesome game, no doubt, but I don’t see myself playing it multiple times. Regardless, I can’t get rid of that either.
The same goes for Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, Mark of the Ninja, The Walking Dead, Puzzle Bobble, Peggle and several other non-transferable titles. Heck, why even limit it to just 360 games? How about Windows 8/phone titles like Angry Birds, Cut the Robe, Gravity Guy or Rayman Jungle Run? And let’s not even get started on the 20+ titles I’ve purchased between Steam/Amazon/Apple App Store.
The simple fact is that I was never going to see another dime back for any of those titles and that never stopped me from purchasing them. In fact, I told myself that I was going to purchase even more downloadable titles because there are a ton of games that I still want to pick up through digital download.
I stopped being concerned once I realized that DRM wasn’t going to change my buying habits. The majority of games I’ve purchased in the past couple of years have DRM, I just never stopped to think about it because no one was ringing an alarm. Now the alarm is being rung and it’s so loud that I had to reevaluate my shopping habits. The conclusion is that the things that have changed are more of an annoyance than a show stopper.
Maybe Microsoft will support digital trade-ins but I’m still going under the assumption that I’m stuck with my digital downloads forever, just like on my 360. I can still trade in my disc based games with the added catch that it has to be with an authorized retailer. I know the big fear is that this will kill the local mom and pop stores, though the logic gap is the assumption that local shops won’t also join Microsoft’s trade-in program. But fear mongering aside, can I still trade in my disc based games? Yes. And finally, sharing games have taken on a new twist. I can share them with “family” or I can permanently give them away. I’ve loaned games out before but rarely to people I don’t know. The ten family members I share with should easily cover any games I want to loan out. Either way, the impact on my buying habits is minimal.
Sony didn’t help out either. A lot of games that Sony showed at E3, that were originally believed to be Sony exclusives, turned out to be multi-platform titles. I’m talking huge games like MGS5, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts. Combine the entire list of multi-platform games with Microsoft’s current exclusives and the XO’s lineup is starting to look pretty nice.
Again, do I want DRM? No. Will it absolutely destroy my gaming life? It hasn’t so far. Doubtful it will in the future.
Then again, I’m also buying both consoles because choosing only one system is so 2006, lol.
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