Unfortunately, that is not the way the execs see it see 'All games will become online services, says EA exec'. EA's new shit.
Is the server half empty or half full?
Is the server half empty or half full?
Maybe that is what it is going to be for EA , but I can't really see things like console (especially handhelds like the DS) totally moving over to a service formula. I'm not the kind of person whose it going to rent a play of Tiger Woods.
50 cents would be fine for me today. Back when I was a kid, when I learned to love gaming, 50 cents would've been way too much. I could've played it twice a week. I believe they will lose a big part of their young audience and therefore future customers through this kind of service.
50 cents would be fine for me today. Back when I was a kid, when I learned to love gaming, 50 cents would've been way too much. I could've played it twice a week. I believe they will lose a big part of their young audience and therefore future customers through this kind of service.
I suppose I'm just too much of a skeptic, but I believe any major change like going to an online service model is going to hurt the consumer. It's not because I believe it's a zero sum game - although it very well may be - it's because it will reduce the power of the consumer much in the way has been done in and by the console market.
What if the play cost 50 cents?
(Assuming you want to play Tiger Woods at all, that is.)
Perhaps I was unclear, and I'm certainly speculating rampantly here. If you reread what I said, however, you should see I'm not concerned about digital distribution at all, I'm concerned of games as a service, which is very different. Steam is a distribution model that is still very much like what we've had all along, we just receive it differently (and the DRM can be different). But you buy a generally non-revocable license to play that game as much as you want.How does the distribution model reduce the power of the consumer? I think it'd do the contrary, in fact -- digital distribution lets even bit players in; just look at Steam.
Edit: One more thing, your comment about games as a service empowering the consumer by letting us pay for what we play is a VERY compelling one. I agree with this completely and would consider this perhaps the greatest consumer benefit of games as a service. The only weak rebuttal I have to this is that we should not forget MMOs which are games as a service, and yet they still charge an up-front fee (usually) in addition to a monthly fee. There's little reason not to believe the same would happen with all other styles of games.
Absolutely agree - that is what I've said in various articles / posts ... Full draconian DRM for ~1-2 months, peel back limits, then within a year go to fully DRM-free. Reports have said that it is only the first couple of months that are the piracy-block targets anyway.