I’d like to talk today about digital distribution, since in this fortnights podcast I had the chance to discuss it (albeit briefly). It’s ramifications are Ginormagantuan. For starters, Digital Distribution means that developers can deliver fixes and even brand new content tothe owners of their games and install it directly to the releveant place. This means no more searching for patches and updates – let the developers worry about fixing the issues with their games fr you. The possibility of brand new conent being added to exisiting games is one that is perhaps even more mouth-watering. Upon starting up SiN: Episodes: Emergence recently, I discovered a whole new game mode had been installed whilst I was away from my computer, and whilst it wasn’t very good, I was delighted by the prospect and its potential.
A problem could arise from these benfits however, since it would be easy for games to be rushed out of the door unfinished (something we already see fairly regularly – remember Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines?) with them being updated gradually to a finished state. Even more concerning is the idea that developers may hold back extra game mdes or small pieces of content from the inital release, only to later release them digitally – perhaps for a price.
Clearly, the idea (or at least the way the idea is implemented by Valve in their Steam platform) is not without its problems. For starters, many gamers find the program entirely unnecessary, and feel that they should not have it forced upon them. Even people who buy retail copies of Valve games have to install the Steam platform and many require you to be connected to the internet to play an offline game. This is so your account can be checked by Steam before it allows you t play the game as an anti-piracy measure, but even this aspect is flawed. Many people who bought Half Life 2 were stunned to discover that after buying the retail version of the game, they were not allowed to play it because Steam thought their copy was illegal.
Finally, I would like to discuss the side of digital distribution that is rarely addressed. The environmental effects. When you look at a the packaging that your average game comes in, and then consider the sheer number of these discs, boxes and manuals that are being made. With Steam, you simply click on a game and download it. After all, most of us have high speed internet now, so why waste it? We no longer need to pick up a game from a store (in fact we didn’t need to do something as primitive and downright savage since the appearance of online shopping) when we can simply click on it and wait for our games to appear on our hard drives, so why waste the paper and plastic that is used in the manufacture of games and their packaging.
That’s all I wish to say on the subject right now, but you can rest assured that as the issue continues to have more and more impact on my life – as it no doubt will with the release of Half Life 2 episodes 2 and 3 – I shall once again feel the urge to rampantly discuss the hell out of this topic.
James
