I am an ARDENT Stardock fan, but please back up your claim that Gal Civ is "more successful" than Spore. I bought the game and both expansions, but there is NO WAY that game has sold more copies than Spore. (Given I think Spore's sales are in the millions and Gal Civ if I recall hasn't broken a million.)
If you bought a loaf of bread, got home and discovered it had weevils in the center of it, you'd return it to the store wouldn't you? And the store would exchange it or give you your money back. You were sold something that did not live up to your expectations.
You buy a game, and even if it doesn't work, you can't return it.
And yet it seems the industries that produce this effluence, and movies and music, have convinced the world that if you buy a piece of what should be unsellable garbage, you're screwed.
THIS is why piracy is so rife. It has nothing to do with people being cheap, scum or whatever asinine insult is thrown around. It has far more to do with people being sick to death of being ripped off.
Yep. I'm included in that statistic, despite buying the game. Downloaded the game when it first appeared, but waited until release day to actually install from my retail version, then use the crack from the pirated version.
Given what a letdown the game was, I should have installed the pirated version earlier and seen it wasn't worth the $50 and just deleted it.
That's as may be, but the fact is you take a console and start hooking a mouse and keyboard to it... That's starting to look a lot like a computer, so why not just USE a computer instead if you have to use those for a decent experience?
Playing FPS titles on the consoles is like eating soup with a fork. Sure, you can do it, but it's a tedious experience if you've ever used a spoon, and there are much more suitable tools for the job.
Let's see how many mods and addon maps the Xbox version of Left 4 Dead gets shall we?
I can honestly, hand on heart say that the last time I had ANY problem with a PC game was maybe five years ago. Neverwinter Nights, patches 1.27 to 1.29. Game wouldn't start due to some weird sound issue.
I have not had any problems since with any title I've bought. In fact that's quite enlightening to realise that. With all the whining about how great consoles are and how stuff just works, the fact is, DRM infested atrocities such as Securom and Starforce aside, PC's are like that for the vast majority.
It's not like people will start forum posts so they can say "The game just worked" is it? No, people will only post if there is a problem, creating the perception that PC gaming is some technological nightmare where in 99.9999% of cases (once again, DRM'ed titles using Securom, Starforce etc... aside) anything you buy WILL just work out of the box.
In fact the PS2 has had more issues for me in the last five years than the PC. (Disk read errors, not playing nice with dual layer disks etc...)
There will be a knock at the door. You'll open it. Two burly men with bats will say "We TOLD you not to turn it OFF!" and the next thing you'll remember will be waking up in hospital, finding out three years have passed, and your wife is now married to your nemesis from High School.
I can see a vague logic. Two heads of the same beast. I mean if Herman Goering came and kicked you in the balls, I'm fairly sure you'd tar Hitler, Goebbels etc... With the same brush.
I have no idea why I chose the Nazi's for that analogy, but there you go. I realise it's unlikely Goering would come and kick you in the balls, but ah well.
Actually, I do know a way, and I should share this and get the word out.
You go to the store. Tell them it's defective and you want to exchange it. The majority of the time, you'll just be handed a new shrink wrapped version. Then you wait until a shift change, take the wrapped version back and ask for your money back.
Doesn't work all the time, but folk I know who've tried it have been successful a lot of the time.
When I bought GTA 3 and it didn't work, I had been careful opening the box. At the top it had one of those "if this is broken you can't return this item", so I used a small knife on the OTHER end of the box and opened it, where it was just plain tape.
When the game didn't work properly and Rockstar replied to my support emails telling me in so many words they lied about the requirements, I repackaged the box, and cut a small piece of tape the same size as the original and retaped the box. Store took the game back no questions when they saw the "if this is broken..." label was intact.
It's become harder these days with the change in packaging sadly, but I always enjoyed my brief little beating of the system.
Yes, you can. You can create desktop shortcuts and use commandline stuff there, unless GTA IV is somehow different than every other game I've ever bought on Steam.
You're saying "Games for Windows", the Microsoft initiative to brand PC gaming as something akin to the consoles... Doesn't work on a version of their own operating system?
That's awesome. Nice one, Microsoft! Nice to see you're so firmly committed to this you're ensuring compatibility across the board.
Thanks for that info. That shows what a farce this "Games for Windows" nonsense is.
And you're absolutely right about Securom being behind the issues. What's hilarious is Rockstar just a couple of weeks ago claimed that the protection for GTA IV was going to be LESS harsh than the one used in Spore.
Rockstar seem to be stuck five years ago. I mean can anyone name two things GTA IV does that are innovative or clever and didn't exist in some fashion for GTA3? I mean from what I've heard they've even REMOVED some of the more interesting stuff San Andreas had. (Like skydiving.)
Given the games have followed the same formula for over five years now, and really offer nothing new beyond shinier graphics and the same repetitive missions... Who gives a crap? Clearly they'd rather riddle their cheap crappy port with DRM to render it unusable for most people.
Fuck Rockstar basically. GTA Vice City was the last decent game they made.
I think it's entirely down to lack of market. I mean I know a lot of the games I love wouldn't turn a profit on the consoles with the licensing overheads from Sony etc...
But then if you're starting to hook up a keyboard, mouse etc... To a console, it's starting to look a lot like a computer.
Gabe comes out and says this the day after GTA IV has released on Steam complete with Securom.
Dear Mr Miller: No, it is NOT acceptable, and I will no longer be buying any games that follow what you consider acceptable. So many of the issues people have with running new titles is down to the copy protection.
I really want the PC to die as a mainstream gaming platform to be honest. (And I say that as a hardcore PC gamer for the last 12 years.) Despite all the mounting evidence that shows it's ineffectual and pointless, copy protection is getting worse and worse. Kill the platform entirely, EA and the like can fuck off to the consoles and stay there in their happy little pirate free zone (yeah right), and the PC can go back to serving niche genres for a smaller customer base that are actually treated like customers and not thieves.
I doubt it. That sort of game really doesn't translate to consoles. And even on the PC they're niche, and the PC doesn't have licensing costs to get on it like the consoles do. Plus the controls. Trying to use a mouse with a gamepad is horrible.
It's a grand idea, and would be very cool, but I think that little niche will stay on computers only.
And I have PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, GBA and NDS. Only system which comes close to being good for it is the DS.
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I am an ARDENT Stardock fan, but please back up your claim that Gal Civ is "more successful" than Spore. I bought the game and both expansions, but there is NO WAY that game has sold more copies than Spore. (Given I think Spore's sales are in the millions and Gal Civ if I recall hasn't broken a million.)
If you bought a loaf of bread, got home and discovered it had weevils in the center of it, you'd return it to the store wouldn't you? And the store would exchange it or give you your money back. You were sold something that did not live up to your expectations.
You buy a game, and even if it doesn't work, you can't return it.
And yet it seems the industries that produce this effluence, and movies and music, have convinced the world that if you buy a piece of what should be unsellable garbage, you're screwed.
THIS is why piracy is so rife. It has nothing to do with people being cheap, scum or whatever asinine insult is thrown around. It has far more to do with people being sick to death of being ripped off.
Yep. I'm included in that statistic, despite buying the game. Downloaded the game when it first appeared, but waited until release day to actually install from my retail version, then use the crack from the pirated version.
Given what a letdown the game was, I should have installed the pirated version earlier and seen it wasn't worth the $50 and just deleted it.
Ah well.
That's as may be, but the fact is you take a console and start hooking a mouse and keyboard to it... That's starting to look a lot like a computer, so why not just USE a computer instead if you have to use those for a decent experience?
Wow, that's so spooky. The PC version sold EXACTLY one tenth of the PS2, and such round numbers too. WOW!
Oh yeah, also... "citation needed".
Playing FPS titles on the consoles is like eating soup with a fork. Sure, you can do it, but it's a tedious experience if you've ever used a spoon, and there are much more suitable tools for the job.
Let's see how many mods and addon maps the Xbox version of Left 4 Dead gets shall we?
I can honestly, hand on heart say that the last time I had ANY problem with a PC game was maybe five years ago. Neverwinter Nights, patches 1.27 to 1.29. Game wouldn't start due to some weird sound issue.
I have not had any problems since with any title I've bought. In fact that's quite enlightening to realise that. With all the whining about how great consoles are and how stuff just works, the fact is, DRM infested atrocities such as Securom and Starforce aside, PC's are like that for the vast majority.
It's not like people will start forum posts so they can say "The game just worked" is it? No, people will only post if there is a problem, creating the perception that PC gaming is some technological nightmare where in 99.9999% of cases (once again, DRM'ed titles using Securom, Starforce etc... aside) anything you buy WILL just work out of the box.
In fact the PS2 has had more issues for me in the last five years than the PC. (Disk read errors, not playing nice with dual layer disks etc...)
There will be a knock at the door. You'll open it. Two burly men with bats will say "We TOLD you not to turn it OFF!" and the next thing you'll remember will be waking up in hospital, finding out three years have passed, and your wife is now married to your nemesis from High School.
Or your save will be corrupt. One of the two.
I remember when the PS3 came out developers whined about hard it was to develop for.
And by saying "Is it really that important to sell mediocre crap and scrape every miserable penny", you just described Capitalism.
I can see a vague logic. Two heads of the same beast. I mean if Herman Goering came and kicked you in the balls, I'm fairly sure you'd tar Hitler, Goebbels etc... With the same brush.
I have no idea why I chose the Nazi's for that analogy, but there you go. I realise it's unlikely Goering would come and kick you in the balls, but ah well.
Actually, I do know a way, and I should share this and get the word out.
You go to the store. Tell them it's defective and you want to exchange it. The majority of the time, you'll just be handed a new shrink wrapped version. Then you wait until a shift change, take the wrapped version back and ask for your money back.
Doesn't work all the time, but folk I know who've tried it have been successful a lot of the time.
When I bought GTA 3 and it didn't work, I had been careful opening the box. At the top it had one of those "if this is broken you can't return this item", so I used a small knife on the OTHER end of the box and opened it, where it was just plain tape.
When the game didn't work properly and Rockstar replied to my support emails telling me in so many words they lied about the requirements, I repackaged the box, and cut a small piece of tape the same size as the original and retaped the box. Store took the game back no questions when they saw the "if this is broken..." label was intact.
It's become harder these days with the change in packaging sadly, but I always enjoyed my brief little beating of the system.
The sad thing is the stores obviously KNOW this, but choose to break the law and refuse until you threaten them.
Not to mention the way we're screwed. "I can't run this game due to the copy protection." "Well you can't return it because you may have copied it."
Yes, you can. You can create desktop shortcuts and use commandline stuff there, unless GTA IV is somehow different than every other game I've ever bought on Steam.
Is it just me? Or do you seem to be intrigued that when running three games, your CPU usage didn't go OVER 100%?
I'm sorry... What?
You're saying "Games for Windows", the Microsoft initiative to brand PC gaming as something akin to the consoles... Doesn't work on a version of their own operating system?
That's awesome. Nice one, Microsoft! Nice to see you're so firmly committed to this you're ensuring compatibility across the board.
Thanks for that info. That shows what a farce this "Games for Windows" nonsense is.
And you're absolutely right about Securom being behind the issues. What's hilarious is Rockstar just a couple of weeks ago claimed that the protection for GTA IV was going to be LESS harsh than the one used in Spore.
Not that advanced by the sounds of things.
Rockstar seem to be stuck five years ago. I mean can anyone name two things GTA IV does that are innovative or clever and didn't exist in some fashion for GTA3? I mean from what I've heard they've even REMOVED some of the more interesting stuff San Andreas had. (Like skydiving.)
Given the games have followed the same formula for over five years now, and really offer nothing new beyond shinier graphics and the same repetitive missions... Who gives a crap? Clearly they'd rather riddle their cheap crappy port with DRM to render it unusable for most people.
Fuck Rockstar basically. GTA Vice City was the last decent game they made.
The only problem with your comparison is a lot less people give a crap about Cubase than GTA IV. It's supply and demand, even for piracy.
I've got games here that are five years old that have never been cracked, simply because they're such niche titles the crackers don't bother.
I'm sure if Cubase 4 suddenly attracted a fan base akin to GTA it'd be cracked within weeks.
I think it's entirely down to lack of market. I mean I know a lot of the games I love wouldn't turn a profit on the consoles with the licensing overheads from Sony etc...
But then if you're starting to hook up a keyboard, mouse etc... To a console, it's starting to look a lot like a computer.
From the developers point of view, yes, it is.
Gabe comes out and says this the day after GTA IV has released on Steam complete with Securom.
Dear Mr Miller: No, it is NOT acceptable, and I will no longer be buying any games that follow what you consider acceptable. So many of the issues people have with running new titles is down to the copy protection.
I really want the PC to die as a mainstream gaming platform to be honest. (And I say that as a hardcore PC gamer for the last 12 years.) Despite all the mounting evidence that shows it's ineffectual and pointless, copy protection is getting worse and worse. Kill the platform entirely, EA and the like can fuck off to the consoles and stay there in their happy little pirate free zone (yeah right), and the PC can go back to serving niche genres for a smaller customer base that are actually treated like customers and not thieves.
Yes, and his words most have been really cutting.
No kidding. This is yet another backward ass "protection" mechanism that won't actually do anything except inconvenience legit customers.
The industry needs to figure out HOW to offer the ease of use and pleasant experience of piracy. Steam is as close as we get right now.
Seriously, are these people THAT deluded that they believe this would do anything to fight piracy?
I doubt it. That sort of game really doesn't translate to consoles. And even on the PC they're niche, and the PC doesn't have licensing costs to get on it like the consoles do. Plus the controls. Trying to use a mouse with a gamepad is horrible.
It's a grand idea, and would be very cool, but I think that little niche will stay on computers only.
And I have PS1, PS2, Dreamcast, GBA and NDS. Only system which comes close to being good for it is the DS.