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Reselling pc games hasn't been a thing for ages thanks to cd-keys, but I'd say around 25% of games have steamworks or GFWL integrated.
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Mar 24, 2011 17:48
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Even some console games are getting into it now. Any game where you have to make an account specifically for that game in order to play it online often will lock that account to that physical game. So if you resell the disc for the game the new owner can't play online unless they pay some money to the publisher or whoever to get a working online account.
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Mar 24, 2011 17:50
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Hungry Gerbil posted:I have a short question: How prevalent are systems like Steam and Games for Windows Live for physical, non-download versions of games that prevent you from reselling your game? I have the feeling that it's almost 100% now. That really sucks in comparison to console games. Honestly, if you even casually follow PC digital distribution sales and don't need to play everything at launch, you won't need to resell games. Once you're picking up one-year-old, $50-at-launch PC games for $10 or less, your concerns about being able to sell or trade in old games tend to evaporate.
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Mar 24, 2011 17:51
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Well, it started with CD-Keys. And after that came CD-Keys + online activation. Both of those systems still allowed you to resell the game, right? Even the lovely DRM of Spore allowed you to sell the game five times before you needed to talk with support to get more activations. I have been playing mostly indie games and stuff on the PS2 and Wii. Homefront and Bulletstorm are my first boxed games I have bought for years. So I was quite surprised that it's this bad already.
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Mar 24, 2011 17:54
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Okay I played some of The Witcher last night and I actually like the combat system although it took a few minutes to get used to it. Am I the odd man out for liking the combat system in The Witcher? But then again I only played for about two hours so like any other RPG I only just scratched the surface. Edit: When I played the Dragon Age 2 demo I wouldn't say the combat system in it is lovely, I just don't like that kind of combat/control system. Just give me isometric hack and slash and I'm happy but apparently some people aren't happy with it. spasticColon fucked around with this message at 18:02 on Mar 24, 2011 |
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Mar 24, 2011 17:59
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Davincie posted:Reselling pc games hasn't been a thing for ages thanks to cd-keys, but I'd say around 25% of games have steamworks or GFWL integrated. I thought it was legal to sell PC games if you pass on the CD-key and uninstall the game? It's legal in Germany at least. And does that 25% figure mean that 75% of boxed PC games are still not linked to a personal account upon activation? Then it's not as widespread as I thought. I specifically bought boxed versions of Bulletstorm and Homefront in the hopes of reselling them after playing through the campaigns. It's not too bad, since I like playing both of the games online, but still.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:07
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Hungry Gerbil posted:Well, it started with CD-Keys. And after that came CD-Keys + online activation. Both of those systems still allowed you to resell the game, right? Even the lovely DRM of Spore allowed you to sell the game five times before you needed to talk with support to get more activations. Crappy console games released years ago often still sell used for $30 or $40 in brick and mortar stores or $15 or more on auction sites. AAA PC games regularly sell for $10 or less on sale. Steam's midweek sale this week was Batman: Arkham Asylum for $7.50. You would never ever find it that cheap even used on console. Games like Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, and Mass Effect have also been $5.00. I would say the majority of my Steam games were bought for $5 - $10 and most of them are not obscure games. I used to sell used games frequently to buy new games when I had a PS2 and buying new stuff at an insane discount from Steam just works out to better overall savings and less time wasted. Besides saving money you also end up constantly growing your library instead of cannabalizing it. I guess if you bought primarily new games it could be money losing compared to reselling console games, but many new console games are requiring online activation tied to a particular account to access portions of the content, so the resale value is plummeting there anyway. strange feelings re Daisy fucked around with this message at 18:23 on Mar 24, 2011 |
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Mar 24, 2011 18:20
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spasticColon posted:Okay I played some of The Witcher last night and I actually like the combat system although it took a few minutes to get used to it. Am I the odd man out for liking the combat system in The Witcher? But then again I only played for about two hours so like any other RPG I only just scratched the surface. It works well when you're fighting against a few different challenging enemies. When you need to switch between swords and styles on-the-fly as well as tactically use the signs it's interesting. However when you are fighting against a whole lot of similar, very easy enemies it tends to become somewhat of a chore. This is especially true in the swamp, where the game likes to send groups of them at you every few steps. But the foundation is very solid, I agree with that.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:20
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My gaming PC was pretty beefy... in 2007, when I built it. Since then, I've upgraded the RAM once and performed a MINOR video card upgrade, and it's run like a champ ever since. Well, I just started downloading Dragon Age II, and I decided to head to "Can You Run It?" just to see, and got back this result:quote:Recommended: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz Processor / AMD Phenom II X3 Triple core 2.8 GHz or equivalent I passed minimum specs, but got this back as my only failed "Recommended". How much will this affect my gameplay?
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Mar 24, 2011 18:23
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Perestroika posted:It works well when you're fighting against a few different challenging enemies. When you need to switch between swords and styles on-the-fly as well as tactically use the signs it's interesting. However when you are fighting against a whole lot of similar, very easy enemies it tends to become somewhat of a chore. This is especially true in the swamp, where the game likes to send groups of them at you every few steps. But the foundation is very solid, I agree with that. Well did they fix this issue in "The Enhanced Edition"? Edit:^^^^My E8400 ran the Dragon Age 2 demo just fine but I'm running a GTX 460 for a video card so that might take some of the strain off the CPU. I'd say don't worry about it until games require triple or quad-core processors. The game probably would run a little smoother with more cores but if you are frugal like myself, I'd wait until a game comes out that forces you to upgrade. I'm looking at BF3 wearily because that new frostbite engine will probably require at least a triple-core or a dual-core with hyperthreading so it has more that two threads to work with. spasticColon fucked around with this message at 18:32 on Mar 24, 2011 |
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Mar 24, 2011 18:24
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I bought Batman Arkham Asylum because of the Steam sale and I now know the pain of Games for Windows Live. Why is this thing even necessary? Why do I have to input a CD key when I've bought the game online from Steam? Why do I have to put it in twice, and also have to create a GFW account to play a single player game? I tried to play the game and it said if I don't create and account I won't be able to save my game? So I made a GFW account and it kept telling me I had to update GFW. It had to do this like 3 times and I had to restart the game after every patch. It took over 20 minutes after downloading the game to be able to actually start playing the game, and I don't even want to play this lovely thing anymore. gently caress you GFW.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:33
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Hungry Gerbil posted:I thought it was legal to sell PC games if you pass on the CD-key and uninstall the game? It's legal in Germany at least. Well I'm Dutch and have never seen any store resell pc games, sure I've shared singleplayer only games with friends but that's it. And the 25% figure pretty much means only 25% of games that are sold (probably less even) require you to have an account for Steam/GFWL/some other service. However a lot more games are sold by those services restricting games that would otherwise be freely shareable to friends to a single account (around 50% if I remember correctly). Also hope you didn't buy those 2 for pc since they are very short and I know Homefront requires another key for multiplayer further complicating reselling.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:33
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TShields posted:My gaming PC was pretty beefy... in 2007, when I built it. Since then, I've upgraded the RAM once and performed a MINOR video card upgrade, and it's run like a champ ever since. Well, I just started downloading Dragon Age II, and I decided to head to "Can You Run It?" just to see, and got back this result: I can't speak to whether it will affect your gameplay but I do know that "Can You Run It?" has told me the majority of games I own can't run on my computer becuase my processor is a Core2Duo 1.7 Ghz but I've yet to have an issue with anything from Crysis to Crysis 2 and everything in between. Doesn't mean I can run it on high but on everything but I have not had a game see its gameplay impacted on the right settings.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:39
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A lot of people also have this assumption that the CPU in the XBOX 360 is superior but its a CPU that was designed in 2005 and that third core is being used by the OS even while gaming so its basically a cut down dual-core CPU from 2005 and a Core 2 Duo would run circles around it. The problem is poorly optimized console ports. Developers are too lazy/cheap to optimize the game engine on superior hardware. But apparently Batman: Arkham Asylum, Dead Rising 2, and a few others are exceptions.
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Mar 24, 2011 18:56
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Update the GFW crap outside of the game. Saves a ton of headaches and gets you into the game faster. I hate having to jump through hoops to play my game, especially since I don't own an Xbox or have a friends list with Xbox players, but whatever. Arkham Asylum was worth it.
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Mar 24, 2011 19:44
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Mu Zeta posted:I bought Batman Arkham Asylum because of the Steam sale and I now know the pain of Games for Windows Live. Why is this thing even necessary? Why do I have to input a CD key when I've bought the game online from Steam? Why do I have to put it in twice, and also have to create a GFW account to play a single player game? I tried to play the game and it said if I don't create and account I won't be able to save my game? So I made a GFW account and it kept telling me I had to update GFW. It had to do this like 3 times and I had to restart the game after every patch. It took over 20 minutes after downloading the game to be able to actually start playing the game, and I don't even want to play this lovely thing anymore. gently caress you GFW. I did the same thing as you. I found that loading Batman, downloading the initial software, and getting out of the program as quickly as possible helped. Then, I could upgrade to the newer GFWL software out of the game. You might be able to just download the GFWL software first, then load Batman next. Either way, yeah, I had the same problems as you until I just exited out. Pain in the rear end.
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Mar 24, 2011 19:49
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spasticColon posted:Okay I played some of The Witcher last night and I actually like the combat system although it took a few minutes to get used to it. Am I the odd man out for liking the combat system in The Witcher? But then again I only played for about two hours so like any other RPG I only just scratched the surface. Of course you're not the only one, I like it, and I'm sure most posters in the Witcher threads like it as well or else they wouldn't still be posting about it 4 years later. It gets more fun the more talents you put into sword fighting because you unlock new moves basically until the end of the game. The combat is really what you make of it since you can't become a master of everything, so what you choose to put talents into dictates how you fight later in the game.
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Mar 24, 2011 20:06
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Mu Zeta posted:I bought Batman Arkham Asylum because of the Steam sale and I now know the pain of Games for Windows Live. Why is this thing even necessary? Why do I have to input a CD key when I've bought the game online from Steam? Why do I have to put it in twice, and also have to create a GFW account to play a single player game? I tried to play the game and it said if I don't create and account I won't be able to save my game? So I made a GFW account and it kept telling me I had to update GFW. It had to do this like 3 times and I had to restart the game after every patch. It took over 20 minutes after downloading the game to be able to actually start playing the game, and I don't even want to play this lovely thing anymore. gently caress you GFW. The initial process is awful, but once you get it set up once, subsequent games are much easier to start playing. I started playing bulletstorm pretty much instantly because it detects your account, and auto logs you in. You still have to put in a CD key, but whatever. I've been doing that since the '90s and it doesn't bother me anymore. GFWL is really bad, but at least it's only really bad the first time, then it's just kind of annoying thereafter. Batman: Arkham Asylum is most definitely worth working through that poo poo to play, it's such an excellent game.
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Mar 24, 2011 20:44
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Yeah thankfully Batman itself runs great and looks beautiful on my iMac. Just the initial setup was so shockingly bad. Everything else I bought on Steam worked smoothly the moment it finished downloading. Microsoft and GFW killed PC gaming. There is no reason why I shouldn't be able to SAVE MY GAME without an account.
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Mar 24, 2011 20:47
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Mu Zeta posted:Yeah thankfully Batman itself runs great and looks beautiful on my iMac. Just the initial setup was so shockingly bad. Everything else I bought on Steam worked smoothly the moment it finished downloading. Nobody killed PC gaming because it isn't dead.
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Mar 24, 2011 20:51
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Amrosorma posted:Nobody killed PC gaming because it isn't dead. Not to mention that of all the PC games released in any given year, GFW is in something like 1% of them.
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Mar 24, 2011 20:58
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Amrosorma posted:Nobody killed PC gaming because it isn't dead. You're right, I should have said that Microsoft wants to kill PC gaming.
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Mar 24, 2011 21:04
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Mu Zeta posted:You're right, I should have said that Microsoft wants to kill PC gaming. "Gentlemen, let's stop making money because gaming is a zero- sum game. There is a 1:1 change of gamers from PCs to XBox."
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Mar 24, 2011 21:11
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Mu Zeta posted:You're right, I should have said that Microsoft wants to kill PC gaming. I don't think they want to. It's just that with friends like Microsoft you don't need enemies.
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Mar 24, 2011 21:18
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Mu Zeta posted:Yeah thankfully Batman itself runs great and looks beautiful on my iMac. Just the initial setup was so shockingly bad. Everything else I bought on Steam worked smoothly the moment it finished downloading. Not to defend GFWL but you dont actually have to do this, an offline profile suffices. Now the fact that you cant transfer saves, THAT is bullshit.
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Mar 24, 2011 22:27
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Davincie posted:Reselling pc games hasn't been a thing for ages thanks to cd-keys, but I'd say around 25% of games have steamworks or GFWL integrated. I'd reckon the non-resellability of PC games has as an unintended consquence directly led to the decline of PC games at retail in favour of console games. That's simply because modern high street game stores are no longer retailers - they're pawnbrokers for games. They're so skewed towards second hand games that selling a PC game once isn't as profitable as reselling the same used console games over and over again, making a fat profit each time.
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Mar 24, 2011 22:30
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I don't buy that. If anything has led to the decline of PC game sales at retail shops it is that they have become largely obsolete. Every PC gamer has internet access and that is all you need to get your hands on any PC game these days. Some console games are starting to take the same steps with one time account activations tied to the disc. Several recent XBOX games can't be traded and used for multiplayer. Even if they don't go that far they always link DLC to the account which purchased it so you can't ever give that with a game you are selling. Publishers view second hand game sales as lost sales. They are probably wrong but are not going to change their mind any time soon. So they will keep trying to crack down on it on all platforms. Space Skeleton fucked around with this message at 22:40 on Mar 24, 2011 |
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Mar 24, 2011 22:38
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I think MS genuinely wants to revitalize PC gaming, but they're so god-damned inept at virtually everything other than Windows and XBox that they're bound to fail. I mean, really, just about every major project they've worked on outside of Windows and XBox has either been a total failure and not even gotten out of the gate, or it's a long drawn out failure that goes for a year or two before sputtering to a slow death.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:01
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They're pretty loving inept at Windows, too.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:06
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Blackula69 posted:They're pretty loving inept at Windows, too. I know you're just making a cheap shot like a slashdot user in 1998, but Windows 7 is a wonderful OS and something I enjoy using more than OSX. The problem with Microsoft is that they're stuck in a path-dependent rut, where the decisions they made 20 years ago are affecting their ability to move in new directions. If they're going to change for the better, I doubt they'll be able to recreate the recent success and revitalization of Apple considering that despite flops like the Zune and Vista they're still doing really, really well.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:13
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Blackula69 posted:They're pretty loving inept at Windows, too. Don't be one of those guys. Windows is run by the vast majority of computers on this planet, has been going for decades, covers everything from gaming to spreadsheets and everything in between, and there's no OS that's even close to replacing it, despite what Linux and Mac users think. The fact that Win7 runs as well as it does and can do as much as it does means MS is pretty much the exact opposite of inept when it comes to Windows.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:13
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:I think MS genuinely wants to revitalize PC gaming, but they're so god-damned inept at virtually everything other than Windows and XBox that they're bound to fail. I mean, really, just about every major project they've worked on outside of Windows and XBox has either been a total failure and not even gotten out of the gate, or it's a long drawn out failure that goes for a year or two before sputtering to a slow death. You have no clue what you're talking about. What about the Zune? What about Bing? What about the little paperclip guy in word?!  Fake edit: I think you're right about MS having good intentions regarding PC gaming and I agree that their ineptitude will most likely mean that they won't succeed. I'm hoping that platforms like Steam and Desura will step up and do their job for them. It seems that PC gaming is on an upswing at the moment and integrated chat, communities, multiplayer, mod downloading and installation as well as our beloved sales will really help. It'd be nice if one of the big players did what MS were trying to do with GFW and standardising the use of but with features that we should expect from PC games - video options, extra options in an ini file for tweakers, remappable controls, gamepad integration, accurate system requirements etc. Real edit: Removed a superfluous L. Thanks Vertigus. Tufty fucked around with this message at 00:24 on Mar 25, 2011 |
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Mar 25, 2011 00:16
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Windows is fine. Better than all the alternatives at this point. What is a bit of a problem is how their console division treats PC gaming in general like it is some kind of rival. They pay extra money to publishers/studios to ensure they get exclusives over the PC versions of game.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:16
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Tufty posted:It'd be nice if one of the big players did what MS were trying to do with GFWL and standardising the use of but with features that we should expect from PC games - video options, extra options in an ini file for tweakers, remappable controls, gamepad integration, accurate system requirements etc. The standardized gamepad support is the best gaming-related idea they've had in years, but that comes from GFW (the branding) and not GFWL.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:21
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I'm currently trying to install SP1, and it's taken 2 hours. For no reason. I am impressed with how far windows has come, but it still has massive problems. I have never gotten a Homegroup to work, ever. My laptop can see and access my desktop, but not vice versa. I use Macs at work, and I've never had a single problem despite doing ridiculously complicated and processor-intensive poo poo. I had to abort an attempted SP1 install earlier today because a Windows service was loving itself up. I do not enjoy using Windows, and I only use it because I enjoy gaming. This doesn't need to be an OS thing, but I have many legitimate reasons for hating on Windows. Their networking remains terrible, can't we all agree on that? e: Honestly, it seems like the console people have nothing to do with anyone else at the company.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:30
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This week's Weekend Impulse Buys are up. Personally they all look crap except maybe the Full Spectrum Warrior pack. The only problem is that FSW was apparently released for free and the sale doesn't apply to the individual games, just the pack. So if you download this copy you can pay £5 for the sequel and get both for a fiver rather than buying the Impulse sale pack and getting both for £10. Get your poo poo together Stardock! Last week you tried to sell a bundle with Ego Draconis in it and it wasn't the Dragon Knight Saga version, this week you're trying t charge £5 for a free game. Edit: A demo has also been released for the space-themed RPG Starpoint Gemini which I was considering buying on a whim. Now I (and you!) can try it out first. Tufty fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Mar 25, 2011 |
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Mar 25, 2011 00:40
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Selling Divinity 2 without its expansion is criminal. It's not so much an expansion as it is the finished game.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:50
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Bloody Hedgehog posted:GFW is in something like 1% of them. The point is that it should be in 0% of them. And yet publishers are still putting that crap in their games. WHY????!!!!!
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Mar 25, 2011 00:53
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Blackula69 posted:I'm currently trying to install SP1, and it's taken 2 hours. For no reason. I am impressed with how far windows has come, but it still has massive problems. I have never gotten a Homegroup to work, ever. My laptop can see and access my desktop, but not vice versa. I use Macs at work, and I've never had a single problem despite doing ridiculously complicated and processor-intensive poo poo. I had to abort an attempted SP1 install earlier today because a Windows service was loving itself up. I do not enjoy using Windows, and I only use it because I enjoy gaming. Macs screw up just like Windows machines do. Apple just doesn't really do verbose error messages, probably since that conflicts with their image of "It just works". I do student tech support for my uni, and working with Macs is a total pain in the rear end because of that.
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Mar 25, 2011 00:55
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kiph posted:The point is that it should be in 0% of them. And yet publishers are still putting that crap in their games. WHY????!!!!! Same reason we still see Gamespy matchmaking being used. Laziness. Its easier to just throw in some third-party software for social/matchmaking functions than spending the time and money developing and implementing the stuff yourself.
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