Piracy: Death of PC Gaming?

Hardly, ladies and gents. Let me tell you that yes, many people who can afford and build the latest in greatest PC technology are capable of pirating any game they see fit. The issue is, is that game developers seem not to notice the proper way of going about piracy. The real truth about piracy is that companies don't lose sales over piracy because the people who download it aren't the people who would ever buy it.

So to reiterate, here are some common practices used to prevent piracy.

1. EA's path: DRM
2. Making a quality game worth buying
3. Make an online component within the game that is worthwhile to consumers.
4. Digital distribution. ie, Steam.

All of these methods are ways to prevent piracy. Obviously, EA's method directly correlates the games they produce. ie, recycled trash. Sorry for that. Blizzard was recently quoted saying, "The thing that I think helps us (with piracy), is that since our games have such a huge multiplayer component, Battle.net really is our most effective DRM."

Blizzard went on to outline saying how DRM isn't a viable solution and that taking an approach similar to Valve's Steam would be the best alternative. As a PC gamer who uses Steam, I can assure everyone that this is a wonderful solution compared to DRM. Given Spore's recently short comings in the DRM category, I think it's safe to say that as an industry we need to be far away from DRM. For it only creates issues for the legit consumers. There are many titles out there, that are DRM free and wonderful to play. Sins of the Solar Empire is a great example. Quality game, runs on a plethora of PC machines, DRM free, and the option of digital distribution. That's how it's done. Hey devs, listen up and follow the examples set by the companies doing it right.
odie

Odie 5373 feedbacks » • PermalinkPermalink

Fallout 3

Duff's Pros:

The FatBoy mini-nuke gun is just bad ass. Also, the quick-travel between discovered cities. Searching for loot is rewarding and there is plenty of it. VATS really helps deconstruct enemies in a pleasing manner. The character upgrade system seems to be a bit more understandable then its oblivion predecessor. And yes, the environment, the atmosphere, and the soundtrack are all bloody brilliant.

Duff's Cons:

Vicious Dogs. Fire ants. My game has frozen twice. VATS sometimes doesn't work, and will almost lock up my game. The hunting rifle never hits anything. I never have very much health. Sneaking sucks alot like it did in Oblivion. I always have to eat/drink items that give me 10hp in return for 5 radiation. A ton of walking. The pip boy map/quest function is barely cuttin it.

CementShoes' Pros:
-I found the VATS to work very well. When used in conjunction with your most proficient weapons/skills , it adds a depth to the game that you can capitalize on.

-The character building has a comfortable impact on the game. (I for one didn't really enjoy the parallel leveling of everything in Oblivion.)

-Absolutely loved all the loot that you pick up throughout. It really encourages exploration when you can find excellent items that aid you throughout.

CementShoes' Cons:
-The navigation and quest system leaves you wanting more direction. When I went on one quest to find a group of punks terrorizing a village I arrived at the destination on the map, but was not given a further objective.

-Negative Karma when stealing :( I don't want there to be some strange forces or god taking into account my every action, EVEN WHEN FULLY HIDDEN!

null

Fun 10845 feedbacks » • PermalinkPermalink

Exactly Fable II

There is one thing that Fable 2 got correct, and that is its release date. I doubt Fable 2 would have been completely overlooked, but I could see it getting passed by if it wasn’t released when it was. As it stands, it was released one week before Fallout 3 and two weeks before Gears 2. Personally, I wouldn’t have given it a second glance if it was released alongside either of those two games. But it wasn’t. It was released before them and therefore I played it.

So what did I think? I really don’t know, I fear I have a biased opinion. I really didn’t like the first game and this one honestly wasn’t much better, though in my current circumstance I enjoyed playing it. It is a nice change of pace. To be able jump out of a 1st person view and into a third person view. It is also nice to have a decent adventure (decent being compared to most others on the 360) to play through, opposed to all the shooters that are being pumped out.

The only thing that actually pissed me off was the co-op game play. It was absolutely lazy and pointless. (You couldn’t cross your own character to your friend’s world!? WTF) As it stands Fable 2 was a mediocre game that came out at a good time. Rent this game and wait for Fallout 3 and Gears 2, then spend your hard earned money. If you did buy this game and realized that 8-10 hrs later it was over and the side quest and mini games involving cutting wood were no fun, you might still have time to trade it in for a quick 30 in credit towards Fallout.

ed. note: Smokewagon don't like Molynuex much either


SmokeWagon 8273 feedbacks » • PermalinkPermalink

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