Quote:
Originally Posted by Fluribus
Thanks. GOG would be awesome. Unfortunately, my internet connection is very slow. Downloading a CD-size game would take over an hour. I'm stuck with disc-based games. Anything with Steam, or any other kind of check-in, is out.
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I don't have the fastest connection either, so I feel your pain. The good thing about GOG is, there's a ton of older games that are a lot smaller than modern games. They sell a few modern, multi-GB games, but there are also a lot under 100 MB.
Also, GOG doesn't use any kind of check-in. Once you download an installer (you can use any download manager you want), you don't have to download it again unless you want to.
Ooh, and they're having a sale right now. Must resist. Have already spent way too much on entertainment this month.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BWinmill
Misinformation is being spread in both directions. I can't help but wonder how many of those outraged gamers download their games through services that do not support resale. From what I've read, this policy exists because Microsoft wants to treat every game as downloadable. The only difference is that you're sometimes "downloading" the game from a disk instead of the Internet.
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PC gamers are concerned about DRM, there's a growing anti-DRM movement, which is part of the reason behind the upsurge in indies and DRM-free game sites. We've had a lot of experience with always-online DRM, and it usually causes huge hassles and frequently high-profile failures. Several game companies have backed off from always-online DRM due to the backlash.
Most PC DRM schemes have much, much lower prices than a console game. $3 sales vs. $30 sales. That makes a huge difference in how people value their games. PC games always have piracy as an option - some gamers pay for a copy, then download a cracked version to avoid dealing with DRM.
Also, (partially due to the price differences, partially due to modding / hackability), PC gamers don't rely on selling or trading in used games to fund purchases of new games. So no-resale actually impacts how much a console gamer can engage with the gaming hobby, it's actually a threat to game time.
TL;DR PC and console are totally different markets with different expectations and needs, and this no-resale move is something that MS should have been able to see would cause a huge backlash.
re: 'Downloading' -
That statement makes no sense. From a technological and useability standpoint, there are vast differences between downloading a game and running a game from disc. The same word *cannot* mean both things unless the definition changes, and the implication that Microsoft either can't or won't tell the difference is kind of frightening.