TPG Editor Rant – Occasionally, we like to get some original content up here that isn’t about the latest screenshot fest or killer game. This is one of those times.
Look, I’m a huge “next big thing” fan. I love the idea of a digital gaming nirvana, where the UMD and DS cartridge is a thing of the past. But in a world where we sent men to the freaking MOON in 1969, we somehow have not found a way to deliver download games to consumers that gives them some measure of rights.
There are obvious rights that are stripped from consumers in the new downloadable era – resale and lending. I lend friends my games all the time. Many times, they end up purchasing the games. I sell my hard copy games on Craigslist (GameStop is EVIL) when I’m done with them. I paid for them, I own them, I can do with them as I please. I could pee on the cases, should I deem it worthy.
With a digitally purchased game, however, this is not possible (not the peeing – that was just hyperbole). Somehow, we’ve taken our traditional way of treating software, with the arcane licensing that somehow only lets us USE the software contained on a disc or cartridge and not OWN the software, and applied it to downloadable games. We’re at a point where our glorious downloadable future is blocked. Since we can’t OWN the code on a disc, we obviously (in the game publishers’ eyes) can’t OWN a downloaded copy of the game. With a hard copy, we own the physical media but not the code. With a downloaded copy, we have no legal rights to the thing we paid for.
For example, if I want to purchase F1 Racing 2009 on the PSP, I will have to pay retail price, which is currently $40, for something that contains no physical packaging or media. I don’t mind paying that, Sony, but I want options, dammit! I want the SAME options I get from buying the UMD. I don’t mind a policy of “no refunds for software if opened,” because that’s how you can protect from casual piracy (real piracy you will never protect against, but that’s another story). If I buy it, I own it. I’m cool with that. But guess what? I can also go sell that UMD (or disc or cartridge, I’m just using the PSPGo as a recent whipping boy) to someone else. I can turn it in for trade credit. I can loan it to a buddy. If the freaking Barne’s and Noble Nook can allow book lending (and don’t get me started on the crap DRM in eReaders), why can’t you, Sony, Apple, Microsoft? I say you can, and I say you SHOULD. BE LESS EVIL.
Now before you get all wadded up down there, saying, “this is why the PSPGo will never fly!” Let me tell YOU – it will indeed fly, as will the DSi, the XBox 360, the PSN and the Wii download systems. Oh, and the iPhone, right? Remember that? I say this because — ready for it — IT IS ALREADY FLYING! Heck, Steam and Direct 2 Drive, not to mention GoodOldGames, have been selling downloadable PC games for a long time. No one says, “Steam will never work!” As consumers, want the convenience, and almost instant gratification, of downloading our games. All the gaming companies of any note already know this. They’ve just had the upper hand for far too long.
Let me throw a little thing at you, see if you can dig it: The Cluetrain Manifesto. Know what it is? Well, I hadn’t even heard of it till recently. In a post on THIS BLOG, I learned that the eponymous book, available here from Amazon, is about how companies need to engage in conversations — real, honest and genuine ones — with their customers. Go figure.
So, what’s our part of this conversation? We need to start demanding some things. Namely, some sort of parity in the games we buy at a store and the games we purchase, legally, from an online download system. Look, Sony, Apple and Microsoft already keep track of what games I legally own. The games are tied to my user account. I can delete and re-download games I’ve purchased into perpetuity. It’s ONE SMALL STEP forward to just allow that “ownership” to be transferred. Honestly, it’s not technically difficult. As consumers, it’s our job to start DEMANDING it, and then EXPECTING it.
So, here’s my small voice, hoping you’ll join in, saying,
Big thanks to our PSP editor, Chris Nitz, for help working out the details of this article in an IM. Rock, Chris!
I completely agree. I especially appreciate the demand and then expect, because as someone who has a hard time KNOWINGLY breaking rules and social norms (we aren't gonna mention the anime buns I wear in public btw), I don't want to feel guilty when I'm offered to borrow someone's game. It's not just about having the ability, which obviously needs to come first. It's about not feeling like a thief when you're engaging in said offer.
It's a small aspect, but it's important to, well, me.
Thanks for your rant. Keep 'em coming. You know what they say in class, if you have a question or a problem, there are likely several others that share your opinion/curiosity.
Our teenage daughter is thirteen heading on thirty. She is mad now that we censor everything she watches. There is quite little on Television today that we find appropriate for any teenager. Several months ago, we discovered that you can Free XBOX360 along with several other exhibits. This is fantastic as we can watch a show and determine whether or not it is suitable for just a child of her age. She is incredibly mature for a thirteen year old, but there are issues we nevertheless do not feel she needs to know about. It’s a fine line we continuously walk, but it’s part of our job as parents.