ltsune wrote:
That's actually the one argument I really don't get. You don't own your games on Steam either, and physical copies of PC games haven't excited in years (at least not in Denmark). Streaming isn't what will push game ownership away. We haven't had game ownership for many years already?
Game ownership on Steam is far from perfect, but it's still kind of grey zone. The games are account bound, and steam can ban your account if they please, so that obviously sucks a lot. I believe however, that at some point they had stated that if steam were to ever close down, they would try to make all the games available for backup by its users. However it's a pretty outdated statement that probably before they grew as big as they did, so it's validity today is questionable at best...
Also With digital even if you don't have full game ownership like you would with physical, at least the game is running locally. You have the game files in some form. That's not the case for streaming.
Steam Aside though, GoG offers DRM free games that you can freely copy to a medium of choice and / or share with friends if you please. Humble Bundle is a mix of DRM free and Steam keys, I believe.
The worst deals are generally all the major publishers like EA, Ubisoft, Rockstar where online checks are built straight into the games even when playing single player.
Blizzard is an odd one in that it's kind of equally shitty, but has the benefit of at least proving itself reliable by keeping the servers running for even its absolute oldest of titles.
ltsune wrote:
I don't think streaming will ever become the go-to approach, but I think it will bring a lot of casual players back into PC-gaming. All those who used to have great gaming rigs but don't have as much time / money to dedicate to gaming anymore (like myself).
It makes gaming as a whole more accessible, which I think is great. It'll also mean larger potential audiences for game developers, as hardware isn't part of the equation at that point. So it'll be easier for the game developers to make more money (and hopefully nudge some to move away from microtransactions).
Regarding competitive play and performance, those are good examples of why Google Stadia and similar streaming services won't ever be for everyone. But I don't see that as their goal either.
I'm excited about Google Stadia because it'll bring more people back into PC gaming, and it won't hurt more hardcore players as they can keep playing as they've always done.
It's a win-win, really. Doesn't hurt anyone, and those who benefit from it, benefit GREATLY (as I said; basically a free gaming rig from Google).
Sorry for the wall of texts - just my few cents. I don't think there's any reason to feel "threatened" by Google Stadia and similar streaming services
I may not be 100% comfortable with huge powerful companies like Google, but I don't think they've ever shown themselves to be exploitative assholes out steal every last of penny we own. Generally everything Google pushes, tends (or at least seems to) to have fairly genuine, well-meaning intents. So my fears aren't that the console is evil. I even admit it; the service it offers is incredibly useful to the average Joe. It's not the Stadia itself that scares me, because it's pretty fantastic tech.
I am skeptical towards the attitude that publishers will have long term. For a few years now the trend in gaming has been unethically exploitative profits. Games release with strong marketing, but barebones states. Q&A is an afterthought usually implement through massive day 1 patches that fill up the your hard drive far beyond the game's initial state. Regardless of a game's quality post-launch, it will inevitably receive some overpriced DLC's, maybe even Day1 DLC's if its extra scummy. In recent times on top of the DLC's even single player experiences are getting microtransactions... Oh and lootboxes! Lets not forget the surprise dopamine dispensers you can purchase in packs of 20+ in seemingly every other online game. (edit: and frickin paid mods
)
With streaming, I fear they'll think of yet more creative ways to exploit their customers. There's already rumors that future generations of consoles will work through streaming only, which seems like a nightmare given the shit they're already pulling.
I imagine sooner or later they'll ditch the stadia and start hosting their own servers of questionable quality and only host their own games. They'll surely swap to a subscription format sooner or later... Next you'll be paying subscriptions on a per-publisher basis. It'll bring the same problems that netflix, Amazon and the other on-demand video services have: you want to watch whatever you want, but you're stuck shoveling a cash flow to only one of them. Luckily for video there's still piracy to save the day, but when your games are all running remotely, how can you even pirate them anymore
Maybe I'm being paranoid, but I can easily see this turning for the worse later down the line...
Stadia won't be problem, but it will be the prototype...
_________________
Day[9] wrote:
"Tea is a lot like gold expansions - it helps you kill people."
- Day[9] Daily 337 -
