The world of DRM has changed drastically in the past years, from many things having DRMs, to companies experimenting without it, and succeeding. Consumers realized the restrictiveness of DRM and oppose it. The new game out from EA games, Spore, is causing a frenzy. EA has limited the number of installs of the game, and many people are outraged. One online gaming site however, is helping change for the better. That site is Good Old Games.
Adam Oldakowski and Michal Kicinski were interviewed by Arstechnica, spilling the news about their new gaming site. Adam Oldakowski stated, "We believe that the whole package that GOG.com has to offer is what gamers want; ultimately it was gamers' needs and desires that determined the direction of the site. We have DRM-free classic PC games which are hard, or sometimes impossible, to find at retail or online. We offer our gamers a lot more than just a cheap, easy-to-use and hassle-free digital distribution store". This "a lot more" includes commenting and rating, reviewing, additions to your computer, like desktop wallpapers, and much more. As of now, the publishers reactions have been good, meaning that this website could be a huge phenomenon.
Kicinski has said that one of the toughest things they've done is to get publishers to accept the DRM policy, but so far the acceptance has been received well. Many see GOG as a way to bring back older, well-known brands, which makes the site more acceptable to publishers, especially since because of the DRM on the site. "It's all or nothing for GOG.com" says Kicinski, "if we manage to convince publishers to join our service, we'll succeed. If not, then we have to halt the project."
If GOG works as planned, it will hopefully have many suitors follow, making DRMs less likely, and consumers much happier.
1 comment:
It is always refreshing to see individuals combating DRM and "good old game" is a perfect example of this.
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