One thing PC gamers despise the most are various digital rights management schemes enforced by publishers. DRM can range from a simple disc verification system to a limited activation system, often hindering long-term game access for legitimate consumers. Thus, one of the first things dedicated gamers want to know before a purchase is what form [...]
Over the years, there has been very little trouble with the Steam service in regards to security. The primary problem with lost accounts is users simply being tricked into giving away their information, or having a keylogger on their system that records information. However, this is easily remedied through notifications not to hand out personal [...]
Digital distribution has seen rapid growth over the past few years, and is quickly becoming the choice of many PC gamers. The threat to retail looks to be serious, as even Gamestop, one of the larget video game retailers, has recently begun to push hard to increase its digital presence to keep up with [...]
Over the past year, I have seen a disturbing trend growing amongst the digital distribution community. An extreme form of groupthink[1] has taken hold over consumers, and few are willing to challenge popular belief. Recent discussions on the Steam forums have further brought this issue to light, and I feel it is one that should [...]
Recently during a forum discussion regarding retail vs digital distribution, a few users chimed in they would like to see retail disappear all together. They currently only use digital distribution services for the purchase of their games, and claim they would not miss retail one bit. However, I feel few have really thought this comment [...]
Recently I have received some comments on forums regarding my “Why Prices Are Not Competitive” post. It appears many disagree with me in regards to who sets the prices on the Steam digital distribution service, and claim that Steam has full control. So without further ado, here are comments from developers & publishers themselves who [...]
One thing that often confuses people in regards to digital distribution is why the prices are no different than retail. After all, there are fewer middlemen to deal with and no physical product to produce and ship. So, why are newly released games sold online the same price or more than retail?
The first thing to [...]