DRM: Something’s gotta give
Where do you draw the line on DRM? What Valve did with Half-Life 2 is a widely accepted practise today, even though at the time online activation was met with an unprecedented community backlash. Proper notification
in the system requirements box would have softened the blow for many, especially those that lugged PCs to work or school. But in hindsight this concept proved instrumental in introducing PC gamers to the juggernaut of digitial distribution that is Steam, which is the one positive thing I can take away from that whole debacle.
We’ve been weaned onto DRM in recent years and personally, I can accept limited activations as a part of my PC purchase. Does it bother me that my copy of Bioshock 2 can only be installed 15 times before I have to phone customer services for reactivation? Don’t be so soft. That barely counts, especially in the light of Ubisoft’s all-new, singing and goose-stepping, über-führer DRM, which forces Assassin’s Creed II PC customers to stay online while they’re playing (despite it being a single-player game) and will actually kick you out of the game if your connection drops for any reason. Talk about breaking the fourth wall – I wasn’t a big fan of leaving twelfth century Jerusalem for the world outside the Animus in the first place, but I’d rather be there than get punished for Internet death and hang around in limbo while I wait to reconnect.
So the pirates will become more prolific because of DRM, the publishing execs will continue to implement increasingly draconian measures because of it, everyone will blame eachother and this vicious circle is threatening to spiral out of control. Someone’s going to have to sidestep soon or big-budget PC gaming is heading for a crash.
DRM: Something’s gotta give
Where do you draw the line on DRM? What Valve did with Half-Life 2 is a widely accepted practise today, even though at the time online activation was met with an unprecedented community backlash. Proper notification
in the system requirements box would have softened the blow for many, especially those that lugged PCs to work or school. But in hindsight this concept proved instrumental in introducing PC gamers to the juggernaut of digitial distribution that is Steam, which is the one positive thing I can take away from that whole debacle.
We’ve been weaned onto DRM in recent years and personally, I can accept limited activations as a part of my PC purchase. Does it bother me that my copy of Bioshock 2 can only be installed 15 times before I have to phone customer services for reactivation? Don’t be so soft. That barely counts, especially in the light of Ubisoft’s all-new, singing and goose-stepping, über-führer DRM, which forces Assassin’s Creed II PC customers to stay online while they’re playing (despite it being a single-player game) and will actually kick you out of the game if your connection drops for any reason. Talk about breaking the fourth wall – I wasn’t a big fan of leaving twelfth century Jerusalem for the world outside the Animus in the first place, but I’d rather be there than get punished for Internet death and hang around in limbo while I wait to reconnect.
So the pirates will become more prolific because of DRM, the publishing execs will continue to implement increasingly draconian measures because of it, everyone will blame eachother and this vicious circle is threatening to spiral out of control. Someone’s going to have to sidestep soon or big-budget PC gaming is heading for a crash.
DRM: Something’s gotta give
Where do you draw the line on DRM? What Valve did with Half-Life 2 is a widely accepted practise today, even though at the time online activation was met with an unprecedented community backlash. Proper notification
in the system requirements box would have softened the blow for many, especially those that lugged PCs to work or school. But in hindsight this concept proved instrumental in introducing PC gamers to the juggernaut of digitial distribution that is Steam, which is the one positive thing I can take away from that whole debacle.
We’ve been weaned onto DRM in recent years and personally, I can accept limited activations as a part of my PC purchase. Does it bother me that my copy of Bioshock 2 can only be installed 15 times before I have to phone customer services for reactivation? Don’t be so soft. That barely counts, especially in the light of Ubisoft’s all-new, singing and goose-stepping, über-führer DRM, which forces Assassin’s Creed II PC customers to stay online while they’re playing (despite it being a single-player game) and will actually kick you out of the game if your connection drops for any reason. Talk about breaking the fourth wall – I wasn’t a big fan of leaving twelfth century Jerusalem for the world outside the Animus in the first place, but I’d rather be there than get punished for Internet death and hang around in limbo while I wait to reconnect.
So the pirates will become more prolific because of DRM, the publishing execs will continue to implement increasingly draconian measures because of it, everyone will blame eachother and this vicious circle is threatening to spiral out of control. Someone’s going to have to sidestep soon or big-budget PC gaming is heading for a crash.
Lara Croft model a winner
Tomb Raider’s protagonist Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series has won no less than six certificates in this years Guinness World Records, Gamers Edition. They include “Most official real-life stand-ins in a video game”, “Highest grossing computer game spin-off” and “Most recognisable female character in a video game”. These and more record-breaking entries can be seen in the Guiness World Records 2010 Gamer’s Edition, available from bookstores and online today.
Of course, we’ll be so bold as to assume the main reason why you clicked on this news item is to ogle the current Lara croft model/gymanst, Alison Carroll. The people at Guinness World Records appreciate this too, which is why they’ve kindly provided us with a small gallery of photos. Enjoy!
(tip: if you run your eyes quickly from left to right, it looks a bit like she’s mouthing “I love you”. In French.)
Lara Croft model a winner
Tomb Raider’s protagonist Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series has won no less than six certificates in this years Guinness World Records, Gamers Edition. They include “Most official real-life stand-ins in a video game”, “Highest grossing computer game spin-off” and “Most recognisable female character in a video game”. These and more record-breaking entries can be seen in the Guiness World Records 2010 Gamer’s Edition, available from bookstores and online today.
Of course, we’ll be so bold as to assume the main reason why you clicked on this news item is to ogle the current Lara croft model/gymanst, Alison Carroll. The people at Guinness World Records appreciate this too, which is why they’ve kindly provided us with a small gallery of photos. Enjoy!
(tip: if you run your eyes quickly from left to right, it looks a bit like she’s mouthing “I love you”. In French.)
Lara Croft model a winner
Tomb Raider’s protagonist Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series has won no less than six certificates in this years Guinness World Records, Gamers Edition. They include “Most official real-life stand-ins in a video game”, “Highest grossing computer game spin-off” and “Most recognisable female character in a video game”. These and more record-breaking entries can be seen in the Guiness World Records 2010 Gamer’s Edition, available from bookstores and online today.
Of course, we’ll be so bold as to assume the main reason why you clicked on this news item is to ogle the current Lara croft model/gymanst, Alison Carroll. The people at Guinness World Records appreciate this too, which is why they’ve kindly provided us with a small gallery of photos. Enjoy!
(tip: if you run your eyes quickly from left to right, it looks a bit like she’s mouthing “I love you”. In French.)
On second thoughts, 2009 was crap
My New Year’s day hangover was mercifully shorter than my fading fond memories of 2009, but looking back through that skid-tinted pane and with the aid of a little perspective from M2 Research, I’ve realised just how bloody awful 2009 was for many people in the games industry: 11,488 people laid-off since the late 2008 economic implosion with all major studios hit and the majority let go from the development studio level. Europe saw 13 percent of the lay-offs and the UK copped 81 percent of that, though a not insignificant portion of this total was made up of outsourced Quality Assurance staff.
Here’s a pie you wouldn’t want the biggest piece of:
Notable casualties of the recession that may have otherwise survived the year include EA Pandemic (Mercenaries series, The Saboteur), GRIN (GRAW series, Bionic Commando), 3D Realms (Duke Nukem 3D, Prey), ACES (Flight Simulator series) and one publishing heavyweight, Midway.
But the economic see-saw is slowing beginning to tip in the other direction now and 2010 sees the survivors (and those that cruised through with a little ’spring cleaning’) of the recession ramp up recruitment. Ubisoft is looking to fill a new 800-strong Ontario studio while Funcom is in the process of setting up its Montreal base despite losing nearly three quarters of its South Carolina studio. Onlive and Gaikai cloud gaming platforms are set to launch stateside this year and microtransaction-based online/MMO gaming was apparently recession-proof, growing throughout last year.
Then of course there’s Blizzard, who’s only real hiccup of 2009 was to bow to the whim of a marginally greater financial and political power in the form of China – the legal minutae of exactly which third-party Chinese World Of Warcraft provider would benefit having since been beaten out to the mutually beneficial tune of billions in Yuan.
So what do we have 2009 to thank for? It’s going to make 2010 look incredible by comparison. PC alone awaits a stellar first-quarter cast of sequels that includes Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Bioshock 2, with Command & Conquer 4, Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG, Cataclysm and StarCraft 2 arriving later this year. As a gamer I suffered several overpriced turds last year that were less a case of a studio devoid of talent than an avaricious publishing giant furnishing executive bonuses, but I still like to think of the recession as an economic Darwinian theory in practice. We might have lost a few gems but a potential wave of effluent has also been flushed away, giving room for the growth of new talent and hopefully improved quality in 2010.
On second thoughts, 2009 was crap
My New Year’s day hangover was mercifully shorter than my fading fond memories of 2009, but looking back through that skid-tinted pane and with the aid of a little perspective from M2 Research, I’ve realised just how bloody awful 2009 was for many people in the games industry: 11,488 people laid-off since the late 2008 economic implosion with all major studios hit and the majority let go from the development studio level. Europe saw 13 percent of the lay-offs and the UK copped 81 percent of that, though a not insignificant portion of this total was made up of outsourced Quality Assurance staff.
Here’s a pie you wouldn’t want the biggest piece of:
Notable casualties of the recession that may have otherwise survived the year include EA Pandemic (Mercenaries series, The Saboteur), GRIN (GRAW series, Bionic Commando), 3D Realms (Duke Nukem 3D, Prey), ACES (Flight Simulator series) and one publishing heavyweight, Midway.
But the economic see-saw is slowing beginning to tip in the other direction now and 2010 sees the survivors (and those that cruised through with a little ’spring cleaning’) of the recession ramp up recruitment. Ubisoft is looking to fill a new 800-strong Ontario studio while Funcom is in the process of setting up its Montreal base despite losing nearly three quarters of its South Carolina studio. Onlive and Gaikai cloud gaming platforms are set to launch stateside this year and microtransaction-based online/MMO gaming was apparently recession-proof, growing throughout last year.
Then of course there’s Blizzard, who’s only real hiccup of 2009 was to bow to the whim of a marginally greater financial and political power in the form of China – the legal minutae of exactly which third-party Chinese World Of Warcraft provider would benefit having since been beaten out to the mutually beneficial tune of billions in Yuan.
So what do we have 2009 to thank for? It’s going to make 2010 look incredible by comparison. PC alone awaits a stellar first-quarter cast of sequels that includes Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Bioshock 2, with Command & Conquer 4, Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG, Cataclysm and StarCraft 2 arriving later this year. As a gamer I suffered several overpriced turds last year that were less a case of a studio devoid of talent than an avaricious publishing giant furnishing executive bonuses, but I still like to think of the recession as an economic Darwinian theory in practice. We might have lost a few gems but a potential wave of effluent has also been flushed away, giving room for the growth of new talent and hopefully improved quality in 2010.
On second thoughts, 2009 was crap
My New Year’s day hangover was mercifully shorter than my fading fond memories of 2009, but looking back through that skid-tinted pane and with the aid of a little perspective from M2 Research, I’ve realised just how bloody awful 2009 was for many people in the games industry: 11,488 people laid-off since the late 2008 economic implosion with all major studios hit and the majority let go from the development studio level. Europe saw 13 percent of the lay-offs and the UK copped 81 percent of that, though a not insignificant portion of this total was made up of outsourced Quality Assurance staff.
Here’s a pie you wouldn’t want the biggest piece of:
Notable casualties of the recession that may have otherwise survived the year include EA Pandemic (Mercenaries series, The Saboteur), GRIN (GRAW series, Bionic Commando), 3D Realms (Duke Nukem 3D, Prey), ACES (Flight Simulator series) and one publishing heavyweight, Midway.
But the economic see-saw is slowing beginning to tip in the other direction now and 2010 sees the survivors (and those that cruised through with a little ’spring cleaning’) of the recession ramp up recruitment. Ubisoft is looking to fill a new 800-strong Ontario studio while Funcom is in the process of setting up its Montreal base despite losing nearly three quarters of its South Carolina studio. Onlive and Gaikai cloud gaming platforms are set to launch stateside this year and microtransaction-based online/MMO gaming was apparently recession-proof, growing throughout last year.
Then of course there’s Blizzard, who’s only real hiccup of 2009 was to bow to the whim of a marginally greater financial and political power in the form of China – the legal minutae of exactly which third-party Chinese World Of Warcraft provider would benefit having since been beaten out to the mutually beneficial tune of billions in Yuan.
So what do we have 2009 to thank for? It’s going to make 2010 look incredible by comparison. PC alone awaits a stellar first-quarter cast of sequels that includes Mass Effect 2, Assassin’s Creed 2 and Bioshock 2, with Command & Conquer 4, Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG, Cataclysm and StarCraft 2 arriving later this year. As a gamer I suffered several overpriced turds last year that were less a case of a studio devoid of talent than an avaricious publishing giant furnishing executive bonuses, but I still like to think of the recession as an economic Darwinian theory in practice. We might have lost a few gems but a potential wave of effluent has also been flushed away, giving room for the growth of new talent and hopefully improved quality in 2010.
Kelly Wand: Dying of the light
True story: at a recent screening of a finished chunk of James Cameron’s 3D magnum opus Avatar, a director friend of mine realised abruptly that sitting in the row in front of him was Cameron himself, alongside Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Briefly before the lights went down, he overheard them discussing the glorious future of 3D filmmaking. All three men were embracing the notion that soon everything was going to be shot in 3D – not just big CGI blockbusters, but every movie. Cameron poetically rhapsodised how this 3D revolution was going to be the biggest leap in cinema since the transition from black & white to colour. Spielberg remarked that it was more akin to talkies phasing out silent movies. Katzenberg then idly replied: “Actually, it’s like when exhibitors realised they could charge eight bucks for popcorn.” There are two lessons here. The first, like I told my friend upon hearing this story, is that we already have 3D movies: they’re called ‘plays’. The second is that the future will suck. Granted, as an eyeglasses-wearer (I’m scared of lasers) the prospect of donning extra pairs just to watch my beloved McConaughey overcome his fears of commitment from here on out sounds like maybe four lenses too many.
But I admit it: I’m a bitter angry Luddite, a writer living through the death of print who didn’t own a cell phone until 2007 and frankly hasn’t seen it in months, a cyber-Cro-Magnon with nothing but scorn for console shooters, handheld systems, texting, ringtones, BlackBerries, or forum posts. I loathe how, just like Vegas and movies made by aging SNL alumni, the internet has gone soft, gradually atrophying from an anarchic mosaic of porn and firefights into a milquetoast parasite of marketing banners, family friendly scams, and puerile opinionating. I feel morbid unease at the mental image of tens of billions of glazed human eyes fixed endlessly on monitor screens and theorise bleakly on how such activity is affecting our species’ physiology and psychology.
Like my myriad other reservations, these understandably tend to be met with ridicule, since the internet is admittedly the greatest thing to happen to mankind since dinosaur extinction – an indispensable research tool that has vastly improved the knowledge, literacy and livelihoods of billions of souls, myself included. In under two decades, the ’net has transformed every aspect of our lives, eradicating innumerable rituals that we’ve taken for granted for centuries – tedious stuff like arctic exploration and building pyramids – and replacing all those tragically wasted man-hours with a much more constructive human endeavour: surfing search engines. Seeing beautiful women move used to involve travel and expense. I certainly don’t miss those things. But people in their early forties have told me they literally don’t remember life before the internet. I’m not sure I do either. I find this mass amnesia troubling – especially when coupled with the creepily rising obsession with social networking.
