Originally Posted by
WCP
I always wonder how Steam and PC gaming in general doesn't have to deal with so many people being angry about the fact that you can't rent or sell PC games.
When I first got back to PC gaming (Spring 2010), it was a bit of culture shock for me. I actually went to Craigslist and bought a few used PC games. I got Civ 4 and COD4. Civ 4 worked fine, but COD4 woudln't work, because it was tied to a Steam account. At the time, I was such a newb regarding PC gaming, that I had no idea that buying used PC games was a very bad idea. I just assumed it was like anything else.
It didn't take me too long to realize that digital downloads was the way to go. I'm normally pretty anti-digital download anything, but what I ultimately realized was that it had more to do with price than anything. You start to price something low enough, and I don't care that I really don't own it. I know it's sad to say such a thing, but it's the God's honest truth. I have to be real and admit the fact that it ultimately boils down to money.
I know that we are basically only "leasing" the games for a certain period of time, and that our rights to the games are extremely limited, but at the same time, when I only paid $5 for the thing, it's pretty hard for me to really get all hot and bothered about the whole ownership issue. I look at it more like an extended rental. I recently got Crysis 2, when Origin had it on sale for 5 bucks. Yes, I know that I don't own that game. I know that I can't let a friend borrow it. I know that my rights to that game are virtually non existent.
Did I mention it was 5 bucks ?
See, that's the thing. Just think of it as a rental. It can be a pretty long, extended rental, but that's pretty much what it is. I would never pay $40 or $50 or even $30 to rent a game, so I don't even consider my games until they are in the $20 or lower range. Normally I don't even consider them unless they are under 10 bucks, and 90 percent of what I buy is $5. Certainly, I'm talking about Steam, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming and Amazon Digital Downloads. I know that when Microsoft and Sony truly enter into this restricted world, they aren't going to be pricing things anywhere as cheap. For example, that Crysis 2 game that I got for $5. I don't think Microsoft or Sony would want a game like that going for only 5 bucks. Maybe eventually, when the thing is like 4 or 5 years old, but it just isn't in their DNA to ever price AAA games so cheaply.
However, if Microsoft and Sony were to think of trying the extreme sales that Steam and Amazon do, then just maybe, just maybe, some of us that are extremely patient, won't really give a damn about it, because if you look at all the PC gamers out there, they don't seem to be bothered by this scenario. I know the argument might be that 60 percent of them are pirating all their games, so that's why they don't care. I'm not so sure if that is true or not, but I do know that there are quite a few PC gamers like me that don't pirate stuff, and we still don't really care too much about our lack of rights.
It all comes down to money...