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Valve's Gabe Newell On DRM

Posted by Soulskill on from the he's-pretty-steamed dept.

Ars Technica is running a story about recent comments by Valve's Gabe Newell in which he bluntly stated, "As far as DRM goes, most DRM strategies are just dumb. The goal should be to create greater value for customers through service value (make it easy for me to play my games whenever and wherever I want to), not by decreasing the value of a product (maybe I'll be able to play my game and maybe I won't)." Ars then points out a response by Microsoft's Games for Windows Community Manager Ryan Miller suggesting Rockstar Games' recent decision not to have install limits for the PC version of GTA IV made the use of SecuROM acceptable. GameSetWatch has a related piece discussing the difficulty in measuring piracy and enforcing infringement laws.

1 of 241 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I like Steam by MunchMunch · · Score: 0, Troll
    See, it's comments like this that make me suspect that Steam really gets a free pass with gamers, *probably* because it's from Valve.

    Let's look:

    "I really like how Steam currently works. Only one computer can be logged into the same account at a time..."

    Translation: "I really like how I can only log one computer into it at once!"

    "I can download / install all games on any computer, it works (mostly) in Wine. I also don't have to mess around with disks."

    Translation: "It doesn't work all the time with Linux and it doesn't give me a physical copy to have as a backup. I love it!"

    "Steam seems to me to be a rather effective method of DRM."

    Translation: "I never ever have been to a torrent site, and thus have not seen how every Steam game released so far has been pirated and made available via torrent. I do, however, see how it limits me, the legitimate buyer, from using the games I buy in any way Valve does not like. Seems pretty effective to me!"

    "I can only be logged into the account from ONE computer at a time, and I can play my games. what's the problem?"

    Translation: "Again, I am so glad it limits me to one computer. Also, it lets me play "my" game as long as the server is around and trusts me that I own it. What could be better!"

    [note: Do I have a better solution? No. That doesn't mean Steam is a good one.]