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| OnLive employees fire, acquisition imminent? |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-08-17 22:53:55 |
| Interesting. The Verge summarises the loads of news and rumours coming out of OnLive today - much of the staff seems to have been laid off, and an acquisition could be imminent. Who will it be? Apple? Google? Microsoft? EA? Valve? CommodoreUSA? |
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| RE[3]: A lesson to be learned |
| By Soulbender on 2012-08-18 10:22:13 |
|
> Like I said, do they have a legal obligation to do so? No. > And could they legally unlock games from the service that they themselves did not create? Yes, they can legally unlock games they didn't create that are using the Steam DRM. They're not removing the developers DRM, just making the game run without the Steam service. |
 - Score: 1 |
| RE[4]: A lesson to be learned |
| By Alfman on 2012-08-18 14:10:25 |
|
Soulbender, "Yes, they can legally unlock games they didn't create that are using the Steam DRM. They're not removing the developers DRM, just making the game run without the Steam service." I'm not sure you understood what WorknMan was getting at. If the DRM was made generically such that disabling it will disable it globally, then they might be unable to simultaneously disable the DRM for their own titles while not affecting other titles. There may be legal contracts in place not to disable DRM on other titles. It seems plausible that this could be the case. On the other hand if they go under, they may not care about their contractual obligations. And technically they'd probably be able to distribute some kind of key generator for their own titles without disabling the DRM. In any case I'm not particularly comfortable with a computing experience where all my legitimate software is locked by DRM. It does represent a very real risk and we're left having to trust corporations who may or may not follow through on their marketing promises in times of distress. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[5]: A lesson to be learned |
| By Alfman on 2012-08-18 14:28:16 |
| Here's an interesting twist. What if they don't have a DRM kill switch/bypass key ready to distribute now? Between engineers who've seen the writing on the wall and the frantic environment caused by the company going under, they may not have any developers left who are familiar with how to disable the DRM. Not sure how realistic a sudden shutdown like this would be though. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: What to say? |
| By leech on 2012-08-18 16:36:47 |
| Agreed whole heartily. You remember the days when you could actually BUY software and not License it? Oh.. .memories... |
| - Score: 4 |
| RE[5]: A lesson to be learned |
| By _txf_ on 2012-08-18 17:03:06 |
|
> If the DRM was made generically such that disabling it will disable it globally, then they might be unable to simultaneously disable the DRM for their own titles while not affecting other titles. There may be legal contracts in place not to disable DRM on other titles. I don't actually think that is the case. Some publishers (like ubisoft) add their own drm on top of the one in steam. If there were agreements like those I don't think the other publishers would bother. It also should be noted that steam also works without a connection to the net; you can't download new games/updates but you can play games that are installed on your pc (provided they don't have scummy ubisoft type drm as well). Edited 2012-08-18 17:06 UTC |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[6]: A lesson to be learned |
| By Alfman on 2012-08-18 20:22:25 |
|
_txf_, "I don't actually think that is the case. Some publishers (like ubisoft) add their own drm on top of the one in steam." I'd imagine that some titles may have to have their native DRM crippled in order to be installed flawlessly through steam, but it's just a guess. I have no information on the matter. "It also should be noted that steam also works without a connection to the net; you can't download new games/updates but you can play games that are installed on your pc (provided they don't have scummy ubisoft type drm as well)." Yes, many have stated that's it's a one time activation. However without the activation service, aren't users going to reach a dead end once their computer needs replacement? I am curious how times you can reactivate a single copy? Allow too few, and some users will be blocked from reactivating legitimately on new systems. Too many, and users may take advantage by activating the software on friend's computers. Still, as far as DRM goes, steam's is far less obnoxious than many of the others. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: A lesson to be learned |
| By bassbeast on 2012-08-19 02:21:41 |
|
Does it matter? The cracks are already out there just like with the retail games only you aren't paying anywhere near retail prices. Frankly steam should be held up as an example of what digital distribution should be about as if the publishers aren't paying for the boxes, shipping, unsold copies, etc why should they get the same as a retail box? I have over 60 games in Steam, nearly all AAA titles, wanna know the absolute most I paid for a single game? $12. I recently got the entire Deus Ex series AND the DLC for $15, FEAR 1&2 I got WITH the expansions for $10, SR3 WITH all the DLC I wanted for $14...why should I care about the DRM? I can strip that away with a quick trip to GCW if they ever go under and at least with Steam I'm not gonna have to clean out a Starforce or SecuROM infection while I'm at it. As for TFA? Might work in Asia, not gonna work here unless you are in a megacity. While the rest of the world gets big pipes our "corporate yay!" system has left huge sections of the country with duopolies or monopolies that sit on behind and just raise prices without running any more lines. I've been in the middle of major cities and not been able to get broadband because the duopoly had already cherry picked where they wanted and wasn't running anywhere else. heck you can see the DSL and cable junction boxes from my mother's front porch and I've been fighting with them for nearly 3 years now to get them to run the whole 1 block to her house, neither will do so. So I'm not surprised with OnLive going under, our broadband in the USA is too lousy in most places to support their service. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[4]: A lesson to be learned |
| By Alfman on 2012-08-19 05:04:41 |
|
bassbeast, "Does it matter? The cracks are already out there just like with the retail games" I know where you're coming from, I've shamelessly resorted to cracking legal copies of software for myself and others when the DRM was unsuitable. Never the less the idealist in me says that we shouldn't have to rely on the existence of warez to mentally justify the shortcomings of DRM. "...why should I care about the DRM?" Well, for one, it's wasted engineering that implicitly only hurts the innocent user. As you noted it doesn't stop unauthorised distribution. Engineers know this, but most CEOs have yet to learn it. Also, I find the notion of having DRM linked into all our critical software, operating systems, etc to be very troubling...it opens up potential for new exploits and abuse....not to point a finger at steam in particular (sony deserves a mention though). In the future when the works finally enter public domain, many will be DRM ridden and unusable under future emulation. Edited 2012-08-19 05:07 UTC |
| - Score: 2 |
| All I can say… |
| By Beta on 2012-08-19 13:36:52 |
|
The CEO is a bit of a shit. Back on topic, lets answer some guesses Apple Doesn’t need streaming/rental games, they are more than happy to get 30% from selling to you. And it defeats their attempt to have Apple attached to your life (TV, tablet, laptop, etc) Can’t see them needing it, but maybe. Microsoft For patent trolling Sony? Maybe. To get a feature for XboxNext? Maybe. EA Likely, Origin seems to be expanding atm and this dick move seems to be something in their area of expertise. Valve Nope. Doesn’t have the capital or the want for it. Thoughts? |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE: Really an aquisition. |
| By Beta on 2012-08-19 13:38:01 |
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> I hope it is _not_ Sony, Microsoft, EA or Apple. Sony has Gaikai, why would they buy another? |
| - Score: 3 |
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