Re: Is The Computer Gaming Industry Finished?
I'm really surprised that you've noticed the primary fact of the 'game industry' -- money rules all -- and not recognized what have got to be the strongest forces driving this shift. The all-important profit margin is much improved by selling both hardware and software. A "PC" is a generic thing that can be bought from any of thousands of dealers all over the world. A 'gaming console' is a proprietary device that you can claim patents on and so make a bundle of extra money by keeping anyone else from selling it. A legal monopoly! Also, has it occured to anyone that piracy might be a problem in the game industry? The 'generic' PC is a vulnerability in that sense, too. As a general purpose machine it is very easy to manipulate and crack any attempts at copy protection of your software, not to mention basic game security that prevents cheating (whether single or multi-player). A proprietary console helps dramatically in all of these areas. Sure, you can hack a console and/or copy a game cartridge but it's far harder and so it's done far less often.
I think MM will have to resort to something clever to reduce piracy of SE V very much. Perhaps the 'multiplayer' mode should require an external 'third-party' server that requires a commercial license. The 'client' (the regular game) would have to have a unique registration code from MM to run on the server. Only sell the server to a few carefully vetted people and let them run the on-line multiplayer systems, and co-operate with MM in watching for faked codes (of course the 'codes' will be figured out... but if you control the multiplayer field you can still catch the crackers). That way, at least 'pirates' could only play the solo game, not the full game. The incentive to buy would be strong if you wanted a serious opponent smarter than the AI.
[ November 07, 2003, 17:14: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]
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