They've already got more money than they have use for so they blow it on nonsense projects that cost a ton of money for little gain. I don't think they're worried much about profit maximization.
I believe they made that choice out of simplicity and a lack of foresight, not malicious intent. You have to jump through many hoops and deal with many lengthy license texts to create an account on XBox Live that can buy a game from XBLA, the Wii only needs to be connected to the internet, shows you a license text once and then lets you into the store. It's much faster (I timed it, took me more than an hour to set the 360 up) and less likely to confuse laymen.
Steam is good in my opinion because in exchange for only getting a digital copy it gives you many other advantages (most notably sales that make the games so cheap I won't cry over not being able to resell them). Many of the services, especially publisher-driven ones, get that wrong and hurt you in the name of preventing piracy without giving you anything in return.
XBLA allows downloading the games to other systems but they'll only work as long as they are connected using your account so you can bring a game with you but you can't leave it there.
With the consoles that's not an issue. Well, some PSN games have started to require online connections to run but they're the minority and the other two systems are completely safe.
TBH I think Apple would get itself into legal hot water then, I think the DMCA only applies to services that can't actively screen all their content before publishing it, Apple clearly screens apps before approving them.
So what would that mean for emulation and ROMs? Should ROMs be permitted on any platform that can't natively run the game?
Some companies do allow fan-made ports but only as long as they don't ship with the game data and you'd still need a copy of the original game to play it. That's not the case here.
The problem with negotiating a contract would be the usual "negotiating with terrorists" rule, if they form a contract with this guy others will follow and expect the same treatment.
That's what a C&D letter is. It is nice because they aren't required to give a warning or let him undo his mistakes to avoid getting sued, they could just have gone straight to the lawsuit stage as companies like Games Workshop and Marvell Comics do.
Gamedata consists of more than just the executable and he just copied the rest of the gamedata. Gameplay is an abstract concept and thus not eligible for a patent or copyright but the data is a concrete implementation.
IIRC he was planning to release it for free, basically sabotaging Sony's ability to sell the game to iPhone owners (which may overlap with PSP owners) should they decide to do so. It's pretty much piracy. The rule of thumb for ports of other people's works is that you may be able to sell the executable if it is different enough but the user has to add the original game's files himself. You can get tons of engines that are compatible with Quake 1 data but they don't include the actual game data, you have to get that yourself.
When you're doing that you can just as well remove the vehicle and make it entirely a videogame. At least that saves a ton of money and resources from not having to build the tracks and machines and whatnot.
Sega does what Nintendon't. Nintendo did say that 3D is harmful to children and the 3DS can turn the 3D off (probably lets the parental controls block it completely).
Are you sure about that? Hairdryers consume a LOT of power, take a look at the meter when you're using the dryer since you'll see it speed up massively. I doubt the 360 draws as much even in its old incarnation.
Pffft, the in-stadium behaviour is nothing, we've had football fans raid trains in the night, smashing the windows while it was stopping at a small station. We're lucky we've got gun control or this would end in gun fights.
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They've already got more money than they have use for so they blow it on nonsense projects that cost a ton of money for little gain. I don't think they're worried much about profit maximization.
With the Xbox game, the download code only works once so if I delete it from my Xbox, that is it - gone. That is a big difference to me.
The 360 lets you re-download stuff too.
I believe they made that choice out of simplicity and a lack of foresight, not malicious intent. You have to jump through many hoops and deal with many lengthy license texts to create an account on XBox Live that can buy a game from XBLA, the Wii only needs to be connected to the internet, shows you a license text once and then lets you into the store. It's much faster (I timed it, took me more than an hour to set the 360 up) and less likely to confuse laymen.
For comparison, the biggest market for used games is Gamestop where you can buy used for 5$ less than new.
Steam is good in my opinion because in exchange for only getting a digital copy it gives you many other advantages (most notably sales that make the games so cheap I won't cry over not being able to resell them). Many of the services, especially publisher-driven ones, get that wrong and hurt you in the name of preventing piracy without giving you anything in return.
XBLA allows downloading the games to other systems but they'll only work as long as they are connected using your account so you can bring a game with you but you can't leave it there.
With the consoles that's not an issue. Well, some PSN games have started to require online connections to run but they're the minority and the other two systems are completely safe.
I don't even remember CoDMW2 having music, guess that shows how memorable that was...
TBH I think Apple would get itself into legal hot water then, I think the DMCA only applies to services that can't actively screen all their content before publishing it, Apple clearly screens apps before approving them.
So what would that mean for emulation and ROMs? Should ROMs be permitted on any platform that can't natively run the game?
Some companies do allow fan-made ports but only as long as they don't ship with the game data and you'd still need a copy of the original game to play it. That's not the case here.
The problem with negotiating a contract would be the usual "negotiating with terrorists" rule, if they form a contract with this guy others will follow and expect the same treatment.
That's what a C&D letter is. It is nice because they aren't required to give a warning or let him undo his mistakes to avoid getting sued, they could just have gone straight to the lawsuit stage as companies like Games Workshop and Marvell Comics do.
Gamedata consists of more than just the executable and he just copied the rest of the gamedata. Gameplay is an abstract concept and thus not eligible for a patent or copyright but the data is a concrete implementation.
IIRC he was planning to release it for free, basically sabotaging Sony's ability to sell the game to iPhone owners (which may overlap with PSP owners) should they decide to do so. It's pretty much piracy. The rule of thumb for ports of other people's works is that you may be able to sell the executable if it is different enough but the user has to add the original game's files himself. You can get tons of engines that are compatible with Quake 1 data but they don't include the actual game data, you have to get that yourself.
I believe the tax break was only for "culturally British" games so neither Activision nor EA would benefit from it even with British studios.
.com isn't language free so why should .xxx be?
When you're doing that you can just as well remove the vehicle and make it entirely a videogame. At least that saves a ton of money and resources from not having to build the tracks and machines and whatnot.
Yes, there's a 3D slider on the 3DS and you can set it to off.
Sega does what Nintendon't. Nintendo did say that 3D is harmful to children and the 3DS can turn the 3D off (probably lets the parental controls block it completely).
If you can drink a beverage during play, it's a game, not a sport.
So the Tour de France isn't a sport?
Are you sure about that? Hairdryers consume a LOT of power, take a look at the meter when you're using the dryer since you'll see it speed up massively. I doubt the 360 draws as much even in its old incarnation.
If resolution is all that matters to you get the Dark Star One port for the 360, that apparently runs in full 1080p.
That's why I'm glad the Italians failed in the preliminaries.
Pffft, the in-stadium behaviour is nothing, we've had football fans raid trains in the night, smashing the windows while it was stopping at a small station. We're lucky we've got gun control or this would end in gun fights.
Almost one fifth of the US GDP, in fact. No bank would let a football club borrow that much money.