Nakedrobber.com Homepage
Naked Robber header
floating facebook button arrow left side
Share

Uneducated Opinion

Downloading games legally, it’s as fun as it sounds

By Alan - April 21, 2010


Nakedrobber – old store clerk Downloading games legally, its as fun as it sounds

One of the big trends strutting into the coke filled party that is the entertainment industry is digital distribution. For video games this presents amazing possibilities.

The idea that you can go from wanting a new game, to trying a demo and then to purchasing the full game without having to enter a mall and break numerous restraining orders certainly sounds impressive.

Kevin Smith should be rejoicing. No longer does he have to bear the shame of being asked to leave GameStop because his massive gut prevents safe access to fire escape routes.

Unfortunately, what isn’t impressive is the usual corporate greed and dull witted response to consumers’ wishes that prevents this service from actually being a reasonable option for us.

Xbox Live, PS Store, Steam and Wii (I’m sure they’ve got some dumbed-down version used by their audience of children with severe autism) all have their own digital delivery services.

The sad truth is that they all suck harder than the vacuum you ‘experimented’ with as a child. So here are just a few of the problems I’d need fixed before I’ll completely switch over to online stores:

Storage limitations mean I can’t delete my games
When you’re done with a game, you can tuck it away into a neat little spot that takes up no more room than a necklace of human teeth, trust me I know.

However, if you download a game and then delete it to make more space you have to pay to download it again… (Edited: because I was wrong, but now I’m not. Hey, I never pretended to be legit)

So I end up with a hard drive full of downloaded games and extra content that I’m afraid to delete. Every time I install a new game I end up having to make some horrible Sophie’s choice (quit crying so much, you can make more kids for free, games actually cost something).

The games are full price.
Full price for what? You don’t get a disc. You don’t get a manual. You don’t get a nifty plastic case that can be thrown at kids who stand in front of the TV. Where is this extra money going? It’s like getting a hooker without the scabby meth sores or sunken coked out eyes. Presentation is part of the package, baby.

Money means a lot to me. Old folks homes are getting wise, it’s not as easy to pry the $60 from their bony little hands as it used to be. I need some extra value for those hard stolen dollars.

I can’t resell my games.
My biggest beef with Xbox Live is that I can’t resell my downloaded content. I thought I bought it. Oh, that’s right. I didn’t BUY it. I licensed the use of one version. Hooray for corporate assclowns! Start happily fisting yourselves for creating a closed system where each purchase is restricted to one system only. You’ve found a way to make more money and fuck the consumer just a little harder. Congratulations.

While some of us may live in a throw away culture, most of us don’t. After I’m finished with that game I want trade it in and get some of my hard earned money back or lend it to a friend for them to enjoy.

Not being able to let someone else use your game after you’re finished is like strangling the hooker after you’re done. Give someone else a turn!

Conclusion
These problems just scratch the surface. Steam’s spikes in available bandwidth and third party anti-piracy software make it a frustrating experience. PSN’s limited selection and generally terrible support for the PSN store is no better. And I’m sure the Wii has some issues that confuse it’s fan base of incontinent seniors.

As the industry begins to make its switch towards digitally streaming content we need to take steps that encourage gamers to adopt these new methods. Introducing a new worse way of doing things may be a Microsoft standard but it’s only good at getting people to hate you. So industry execs, take your thumbs out of each others asses and give consumers what they actually want for once. Fix these glaring issues and you’ll win this gamer over to digital distribution.

avatar alan article Downloading games legally, its as fun as it sounds

Share this: Twitter | StumbleUpon | Facebook | Delicious | digg

You may also hate:

Does Pirating Games Affect You?
Effed in the Eight
Black Mesa, The Only HL2 Mod I Want
Is Chrono Trigger Worth the Celebration?
Game Music Cover Bands That Rock

April 21, 2010

• Tags: downloading, legally, piracy • Posted in: 
  • LordNoOne

    Gotta agree here. If they can iron out a few wrinkles then it does seem like the best option. I suppose it would also be the ‘green’ thing to do.

  • Mr. Chuckles

    Your first statement is flawed when it comes to steam – the games are downloaded free again because your profile with game rights is stored on their server

    Otherwise bang on

  • DoctorSnuggles

    It’s currently a great option for “arcade” games, like those found on XBL and PSN. In fact, digital distribution practically created this entire genre of games, and they’re getting pretty fucking good.

    I’d have no problem paying full price for a digital copy of a regular game, it’s just they’re not always available, especially for consoles. To me, that’s the biggest problem, and one that may be unsolvable if the big box retailers have anything to do with it.

    Yeah you wont be able to resell your digital copy, but I’m willing to take that hit in exchange for not having to deal with the retards at GameStop. Certainly on XBL and PSN you can re-download your games for free if you delete them from your drive, besides, drives are so huge these days, it’s not really a concern.

    But the main point you make, that they cost the same, now that’s a problem. Without the distribution fees owed to a retailer, there’s no reason the games should cost the same. But then again, this comes back to the earlier point I made about the retail giants having the publishers by the nuts. I can’t see how this will ever change.

  • DoctorSnuggles

    Oh and 2K… my childhood memories called, they want to return home.

  • http://www.nakedrobber.com Alan

    All good points. And I was totally wrong about re-downloading games on the seXbox. Chuckles, you are correct, on Steam you can download anywhere as long as you’re logged into your account.

    Doctor, you’re right Digital Distribution is a good idea for arcade games and that it’s creating a market, but it still needs improvement.

    However, there is no way game companies deserve to get paid full price for providing only a digital copy. Companies like EA can spend tens of millions of dollars alone on securing printing time at factories for discs. As well they save on shipping, packaging, insurance and a host of other costs. If these savings aren’t translated onto the consumer then it’s an absolute insult.

    However, because of economics we all know that the invisible hand will eventually take over and that some companies will shift the price downward to accommodate the market’s wishes. They’re just charging more now because they’re targeting early adopters who are willing to pay more. Proving that this delivery method is still in its infancy, and not ready to be taken seriously by the market.

    The power will eventually shift from retailers to the console giants like Nintendo, Microsoft and Xbox. There will certainly be a war at some point over all those retail dollars!

  • DoctorSnuggles

    The power is unlikely to shift because the console makers need a place to distribute their hardware. Best Buy’s got Microsoft by the balls there.

  • http://www.darktidetees.com WarJester

    I used to be 100% against digitally downloading games and insisted on a hard copy. However, every time I reformat or want to go back to a game I have not played in awhile I am always looking for the god damn CD and its a real pain in the balls because I never leave them in the right case and after hours of frantic searching to find Diablo 2, Rome Total War, Starcraft, or any number of out dated games I get nostalgic about its usually scratched and cant be read by the DVD player anyhow. NOW, if by some miracle I actually do get this game installed, I play it for 5 mins and then kick myself in the nuts for thinking that I would somehow enjoy this out dated game with terrible graphics anyhow. So in the end, I waste hours of time and end up with a sore scrotum.

    SO, as of the past year I have been buying all my games on Steam which is phenomenal because they can all be installed with a lazy click of the button. No hard copy to store, lose, or damage AND now I save tons of time and just end up with a sore scrotum when I get nostalgic.

    On the plus side though, Steam does offer old games for really low rates like Knights of the Old Republic for $8.99 (Never played it but heard it was great so I got it only to hate the outdated graphics) AND they offer random deals which really pisses my wife off cause I always fall for them and buy games I have yet to play (Assassins Creed, Batman Arkham Asylum).

    So bottom line, I am FOR digitally downloading games IF done right (ie Steam).

  • http://www.nakedrobber.com Alan

    Yeah I totally agree that when they start doing it right then this is the only method we should use!

    I feel exactly the same way about old games. You only remember the good bits of games that you haven’t played in years, so you look back and think “Oh man, that games was the best” and then after you plug it in you realize the only thing you’ve managed to accomplish is destroying a little bit of your childhood.

    It’s like finding out your uncle only pretended he was the tickle monster so he could have an excuse to touch you.

  • http://www.darktidetees.com WarJester

    LOL exactly! I was so disappointed when I found out my uncle only wanted to touch me.