Bowling issues in a brave new world of gaming

I like the new PSN game, High Velocity Bowling. Intuitive and fun, with the best SIXAXIS control scheme I've yet seen. Not bad for $10, especially if I can get the wife or maybe even my son to play along.

On the other hand, it is rather...sinister.

Three things jump right out at me:

1. As soon as you start the game it has a little note saying that you must have an HDMI cable and an HDTV with an HDCP compatible HDMI port to run the game in 1080p. Basically, you have to have an encrypted connection from the PS3 to the TV. Baffling. What am I going to do...steal high resolution video of myself tossing one in the gutter? Bizarre.


2. The menu options right off the bat include various modes of play and...buy new characters. In-your-face microtransactions! None are available now, but if this works like the PSN game PAIN released last week, there will be little dudes you can add to the game for $0.99 very soon...


3. Then at the bottom of the menu screen you can see that tapping the triangle button does something special. It displays the End User License Agreement, or EULA. Because, really, you never know when you might want to check the possibly-binding legal document you virtually signed when you booted the game the first time.

Creepy.

Labels: drm, hdtv, ps3, psn, sony

--jvm at 22:44

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History says you're wrong

From a Joystiq post today about buying the right to unlock something that shipped on a game's disc:

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.

Labels: copyright, drm, joystiq, legal

--jvm at 12:31

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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?
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!

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.

Labels: business, copyright, drm, gametap, online distribution

--jvm at 20:54

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