Curmudgeon Gamer
20 September 2007
History says you're wrong
From a Joystiq post today about buying the right to unlock something that shipped on a game's disc:
Just because you bought media with data on it doesn't guarantee you the right to access it for free. Sorry.
If a feature is already on a disc, it should be accessible. Essentially 2K Sports is charging consumers more money for something they already bought, selling them a key to a door they already own.I hate to defend the game companies on this one, but this has been going on for at least a decade or more. And people liked it. Back when id Software released Quake, they'd sell you a $10 CD that had the shareware version on it, but could be registered (over the phone, I believe) to access the full version.
Just because you bought media with data on it doesn't guarantee you the right to access it for free. Sorry.
--jvm at 12:31
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[ 9 ]
12 May 2007
Sam & Max Season 1 DVD does the right thing
The new Sam & Max episodes, currently available only on the GameTap service, will be available on DVD soon. I had wondered in my recent discussion with Simon whether they might require a network connection, and it appears they will not:
Will the episodes on the disc require online activation?Well, it's heartening to know that in some cases the consumers are demanding standalone games and the developers & publishers are responding with the a proper alternative.
No, they won't. You'll need your disc in the drive to play, but that's it. See, we do listen to you guys!
Labels: business, copyright, drm, gametap, online distribution
--jvm at 20:54
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[ 6 ]
11 May 2007
On game preservation and GameTap
Simon of GameSetWatch has posted excerpts from a recent email conversation he and I had regarding GameTap and similar services, especially with an eye toward game preservation. You can go read it yourself.
I'll only add here that I meant to get in a mention of Save the Whales, a game which was reportedly distributed online-only and was almost lost to the digital abyss. Did I mention it was an Atari 2600 game? That's right, a game distributed through a modem to an Atari 2600 over 20 years ago. Anyway, it apparently wasn't a great game, but it didn't have to be fun to be important.
Ok, I'll add one more thing. That is not a picture of me in Simon's post. Honestly.
I'll only add here that I meant to get in a mention of Save the Whales, a game which was reportedly distributed online-only and was almost lost to the digital abyss. Did I mention it was an Atari 2600 game? That's right, a game distributed through a modem to an Atari 2600 over 20 years ago. Anyway, it apparently wasn't a great game, but it didn't have to be fun to be important.
Ok, I'll add one more thing. That is not a picture of me in Simon's post. Honestly.
Labels: atari, business, copyright, emulation, gametap, history, online distribution, steam, virtual console, xbla
--jvm at 00:50
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[ 0 ]
07 May 2007
School claims ownership of student games
And I'm not surprised. What DigiPen is doing doesn't sound much different from what I've seen in a more traditional field.
For those who have gone through the higher levels of academia, there is usually someone else claiming some sort of copyright on your work. At my university, they have copyright on my PhD thesis. I have limited rights, but they own it. The same goes for papers submitted to journals: you're generally granted right to give copies away through a personal webpage, email etc. as long as you use the final copy that appeared in the journal. It's a rigged system.
So, DigiPen students, welcome to the real world.
If you're bothered by it enough, here's what I'd suggest: Create your work as an independent project on your own hardware and with your own software. Then create a derivative work, with a clear lineage that can be demonstrated if requested, and turn that derivative work in to the school. I don't know if it'd work in court (IANAL) but it's what I'd try. (This might be an idea that Ruffin's talked about on his personal blog, but I'm not sure. I'll let him speak up on that point.)
For those who have gone through the higher levels of academia, there is usually someone else claiming some sort of copyright on your work. At my university, they have copyright on my PhD thesis. I have limited rights, but they own it. The same goes for papers submitted to journals: you're generally granted right to give copies away through a personal webpage, email etc. as long as you use the final copy that appeared in the journal. It's a rigged system.
So, DigiPen students, welcome to the real world.
If you're bothered by it enough, here's what I'd suggest: Create your work as an independent project on your own hardware and with your own software. Then create a derivative work, with a clear lineage that can be demonstrated if requested, and turn that derivative work in to the school. I don't know if it'd work in court (IANAL) but it's what I'd try. (This might be an idea that Ruffin's talked about on his personal blog, but I'm not sure. I'll let him speak up on that point.)
--jvm at 21:06
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[ 8 ]
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