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[Reudh]

Aye, until I can afford a snazzy powerful computer I shall be using the PS3 for my non-DF/indie gaming.

[Thief^]

I will be getting Diablo 3 even though you can only play it online. Just think of it as Diablo : MMO. Or like closed battle.net from D2 (character stored online by the server, so you can't hack it).

I'm in two minds about ANNO 2070 because of the 3 activations limit (even in the steam version!), as it could really screw my chances of playing it later. On the other hand, there's probably a working crack about.

[Leatra]

I'm just glad there are still sensible devs.

The funny thing with PC DRM is, it's supposed to stop piracy but pirates are able to play without an internet connection and real buyers can't play the game without internet. If it's crackable why waste money and time on it? According to my friend (who never bought a game) it's not only about constant internet connection. He had a change of heart and bought CoD: MW2. Because of some problems with dedicated servers or something I could care less he ended up downloading the cracked version.

I'm curious what's going to happen with DRM consoles.

[Tharwen]

That article even has 'rumor' in the title and you're already vilifying Sony for it.

I mean, I wouldn't put it past them, but don't pass judgement on it until it's confirmed.

[Garath]

I've got a Wii for group games if I have visitors, otherwise I just stick to my PC. The games I like, by the time I have a computer that can play them, only cost like $7.50, for the game+expansion packs. Meanwhile I have DF and some old games like civilization (1) and colonization and such. And DF ofcourse.

[Thief^]

I sincerely recommend getting gog.com versions of old games, even if you already own them! They have all official patches pre-installed, and all DRM removed. No more "old game tries to install starforce copy protection but fails because it's a 16-bit driver, and so refuses to run" type of problems.

EDIT: Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic to have the old CDs, but I have a bunch I can't even install any more because they used 16-bit installers.

[Telgin]

I never even bought a PS3, so I doubt I'll buy a PS4.  Any games that I cared about came out for other consoles I already had.  Specifically, I try to get PC versions of as many games as possible, because the PC often plays the game better and I don't have to have 3 consoles.  I went without even a 360 for a long time.  Just me, my PC and my Wii.

I hate the concept of DRM, but to completely honest it doesn't really affect me.  I never pirate games, so I don't have to worry about that.  My internet connection is usually pretty good, but if I ever visit my parents with their satellite internet, I'd be screwed if the game required an internet connection and used up more than a bit of bandwidth.  It's still pretty unfair to require an internet connection to play a single player game, because I know all too well what it's like to be in an area without decent internet.

My biggest beef with it all though is the inability to buy used games.  That's a real jerk move.  I have a lot of used games I've bought over the years (mostly for very old consoles, like the SNES or SEGA Genesis), and while I never sell my games, I'd like to keep the option to buy used games.  Even if I usually wait like a year to get stuff when it's already cheap.  What if I can't find new copies any more?  I suppose things like Steam kind of eliminate that problem by having the game always available in electronic format.

I somewhat doubt that the DRM is going to be any worse in the next generation consoles though, or if it is, I doubt it will be so tightly integrated into the console itself.  I'm not sure that the bad press would really be worth the gains to the console manufacturer.  It might not really damages sales all that much, though, so maybe so.  I'm sure their marketing departments have done their homework.

[Cruxador]

LOL Sony

Seriously though, if you're still buying consoles in the year of our Lord 2012, the silly bullshit that happens to you is your own fault. Why would you want to spend your money on a weak box with hardware that's out of date at launch just to get more restrictive system architecture? Any half decent game gets ported to PC anyway, although there's a lot less of those released for consoles than PCs. Unless you like to run down identical corridors shooting identical enemies spending $60 for a few hours of game.

I'm just glad there are still sensible devs.

The funny thing with PC DRM is, it's supposed to stop piracy but pirates are able to play without an internet connection and real buyers can't play the game without internet. If it's crackable why waste money and time on it?

I think a primary motivation is to appease stockholders, but some people in the industry really have no idea how piracy works.

[Buoyancy]

Seriously though, if you're still buying consoles in the year of our Lord 2012, the silly bullshit that happens to you is your own fault. Why would you want to spend your money on a weak box with hardware that's out of date at launch just to get more restrictive system architecture?

Because the console costs less than a netbook and will play every game ever made for it in the past six years without having to deal with system configuration, while the PC costs four to ten times as much, and needs to be replaced every two years.  That's the primary reason to play games on a console.

[Findulidas]

Its like the bethesda games, they are awesome after a year when they likely have fixed all the horrible bugs in them. When the horrendous bugs have been fixed I buy the games for less than launch price at steam (holidays) or somewhere else. I bought fallout3 and new vegas for 80% off at steam in one holiday.

Two companies making games you can rely on is valve and blizzard. You know what you get when buying the game and you can play for days without encountering a bug. The few bugs encountered likely arent game breaking or frustrating in any way. Those companies take time on the games though, deadlines pushed for years.

[Urist McDwarfFortress]

I don't think I've bought a game that wasn't used... EVER!  Why would you pay $50 or more for a game when you could wait a few weeks and get it used for $20 or less?  Maybe some people get $30-worth of kicks from opening the shrink wrap? 

If Sony does implement a system like this, I just won't use their console.  They'd probably be cutting out a huge chunk of their own console sales.  It seems like they think they can make up for it by selling more copies of their games, but I don't think thats the case. 

The people who normally buy games new will buy the PS4 and all the games they wanted, but they would have done that anyway!  They might buy a few more new games than they otherwise would have, since the used game market is gone.  But all the people who normally buy used games just won't buy the PS4, so they won't get their console sales or ANY of their games sales. 

I don't see them easily making up for the multi-million user market of used game buyers that they are intentionally dumping.  The only way this would work, is if all 3 consoles and all big PC developers cooperate to implement it at once.  This would force used game buyers to either buy their games new, or just not play any games.  If they fail to do this, us used game buyers will just buy games from whoever still supports our market, and abandon the developers who have abandoned our market.  For example, if the PS4 does it, but the XBOX doesn't, we'll just buy XBOXs instead of PS4s.

[Draco18s]

Because the console costs less than a netbook high end laptop and will play every game ever made for it fewer games (1/3rd of all published) in the past six years without having to deal with system configuration, while the PC costs four to ten three times as much, and needs to be replaced every two four years, doesn't need to be shipped back to the manufacturer for repairs, and also plays three times as many games, as well as every game ever made in the last twenty years.  That's the primary reason to play games on a console PC.

Fixed that for you.

Consoles are "only" $200 because they're a loss-leader (that's why games are $60, not $50, as was the norm 7 years ago).  If you actually paid "fair value" for an XBox 360, it'd be like $900.  Also, netbooks are still cheaper than a console (bonus, they're portable).

You can also get a very good gaming desktop for about $800, or less, if you use some of your old parts (like your hard drive), which is NOT 10 times the cost of a console.  Also, they can play any game made since, oh, about 1985, if you're willing to do a little work, and a lot of places (GoG, Steam) tend to do all of that for you.

Games are also cheaper on the PC (excepting new releases, which cost the same, because Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo are jacking up the price to recoup losses on the hardware, and the PC games market is matching price in order to scrape up pure profit).

[dizzyelk]

I've never owned any console other than a gameboy advance, I just don't see that theres any advantage over a good PC. I don't play FPS games or RPGs much so theres no appeal to me. I'm a strategist/city-builder.

Both genres were better when they had PC exclusive titles, before they had to water everything down so they could play on consoles, too. I don't mind DRM that's near invisible. I just hate microtransactions and DLC. I'd much rather shell out $20 for a real expansion pack that actually adds worthwhile stuff to the game than $2 for aromor, $3 for a quest, $1 for a companion...

[runlvlzero]

Most A'mericans' have a disposable income. Sony gets our money, cause we have tooo much time on our hands and we live in a consumer economy...

Needless to say I haven't worked in 2 years, got some lotto tickets for xmas two years ago, and won enough to buy a P.S. 3 and some games, and got Skyrim for Christmas this year. I think it was well worth it, so do my family who have gotten the opportunity to use it (watch netflix, play blue ray discs) and have had me busy playing those games instead of pestering them...

Sure I could have invested that money, used it to start my own business, created a watermelon stand and gotten busted by Obama's Green-Police. But that's not what I prefer to do with my time of late =P

As far as the DRM, I probably won't go out of my way to get a PS4... and ya I should donate something to toady, maybe for my birthday I'll have him mailed a $100 check. He sure deserves it.

Does not mean I regret getting the PS3 though =P

[Maxmurder]

The anti used games issue is a matter of intellectual vs physical property. Games and software are considered intellectual property. That means when you buy a game (disk or otherwise) you are not paying for the ownership of the item, but are paying the developer for the right to acess that ip. In contrast if you buy a car you are paying the manufacturer for the physical item. What you do with that item is up to you. You can modify it, sell it, strip it down for parts, etc. You can resell the car without issue because you own it. Reselling a game is different because although you may own the disc, you do not own the information the disk contains. This is why developers consider the resale of games to be infringing on thier poperty.

The resale of cars is detremental to the motor vehical manufacuting industry just as the resale of games is detremental to the game development industry. If the sale of used cars was stopped the manufacturers profits would increase exponentally. However, manufacturers are not able to install one-time activation codes into motor vehicles because a car owner owns the car itself, not just the right to drive that make/model.

The resale of games coupled with pre orders and day one purchasing causes games to lose thier profitabilaty very quickly. This is combated by developers with dlc, micro transactions, and yearly iterations of ips. Just as vehicle manufacturers need put out new cars every year so people will continue to buy new cars, game developers put out iterations of thier ips so people will continue to buy new games. This can be seen in the COD series, FIFA, MADDEN, etc. This leads to an effect where developers cannot inovate or push creative bondrys because they need a safe, sure-fired  product that is garenteed to make a profit. This is why indy games tend to be much more innovative and risky (DF is a prime example). Usually the creators are not (or at least less) profit motivated.

This is not to say that the sale of used games sould be out right banned. This would be desastorous for the game industry as a whole. Otherwise long lived and memorable games would all but dissaper in a few years.Imaine if it were impossible to play super mario or DK country because the one-time activations had all been used and the drm servers were no longer running. The games industry would quickly stagnate and would be a shell of what it once was.

Sadly this seems (or is at least rumored to be) the trend the consoles are going down. I forsee next gen or next-next gen consoles to be completly diskless. All games are digitally downloaded and there is no oppertunity to sell trade or share them. At least we will always have Toady the one true paragon of video games!