A Plan to Fix PC Gaming

[Hitman_047]

It's no doubt that for the last few years, PC gaming has really taking a turn for the worst. With the addition of the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and even the Wii we see more and more people turning away from the PC and to these boxes. And in all honesty who can really blame them? Its cheaper for a console, you don't have to worry about compatibility, and especially with these next gen systems, they are sporting what PC already have.

Now mind you I'm fully a PC supporter and that's the reason I'm writing this article. I do enjoy my console play, but lets face it, nothing truly beats the comforts of a keyboard and mouse to shoot someones head off.  We have good news, the company Stardock entertainment is fully backing the PC industry and have implemented a few new ideas that they are taking to the major gaming companies to bring back the once dominate PC gaming industry.

So let me start of by introducing Stardock. Most of you haven't heard of this glorious company, or maybe you have, and good for you. They created arguably one of the greatest real time strategy games I have played in a LONG time, Sins of a Solar Empire. They are also the company that produces those awesome moving backgrounds that we can use for Windows Vista Ultimate, called Dreamscenes.

The major issue that most PC gaming companies face is piracy. Which the President and CEO of Stardock Brad Wardell addresses this in a quote from Game Informer Magazine.

"The PC game industry operates in a very strange business model, It's not nearly as customer-centric as the application industry is. PC game publishers seem obsessed with piracy. There are ways of dealing with piracy that are already tried and true, and yet the game industry comes and says, 'Well, I think we'll assume that everyone who plays our game is a criminal and treat them as such and see how that works out.' And it's like, "Well, no that's insane, Adobe Photoshop gets pirated too, but you don't see them making you keep the CD in the drive."

So with that being said, all Stardock software is completely free of any type of copy protection. However, if you want to receive any updates or future content, you will need to register on their website with your product key in order to get them. Which draws the question, why would you care so much to register with them? You already have the game, that's good enough right? Well here is the answer. They want to reward you for supporting the company, and the idea is for PC gaming companies to still support their games after post-release with downloadable content such as maps, updated AI systems, improved play balance and much more.


On June 17th, (that's today), Stardock will launch a service that they hope will change the way that these PC gaming companies do business. Impulse is the name of the program that will host and incorporate a ton of different features that should make for a better gaming experience for PC gamers, and a better way for PC gaming companies to produce and sell their games.

A Plan to Fix PC Gaming

The idea behind this wonderful creation is that gamers who mod a game, which any PC gamer knows is an advantage and almost tradition for PC gaming, can send their mod into the framework and have a peer review of the mod and then can be directly downloaded from the Impulse service. This would allow developers to include the mod in a future update for the game for the masses to enjoy. Another problem with PC gaming is that trying to start some games with friends and others can be a hassle and is much easier with consoles than PC's.  We do have programs such as steam, and Xfire, but not all games support them and not very many people utilize these programs. 

A Plan to Fix PC Gaming

With Impluse, you will be able to tell it that you want, lets say a 4v4 match of any or all the games that you own and it will set up that game for you based on other people that are currently searching for the same thing. The big problem is going to get publishers to agree to this and utilize and support it.

All in all, Stardock is doing their best to keep PC gaming alive, and to put it atop of the gaming industry. I feel, however, that companies like EA wont get involved and ruin what is a great idea.

Here is the link for Impulse and I hope you all take advantage of this up and coming piece of software!
http://www.impulsedriven.com/

[MetalMusicMan]

Good article on an interesting new service.  This sounds like Stardock's version of Steam, but I'm not sure that it will be able to pull me away from Steam.  Valve has done a really great job with Steam over the last year or so and I'm very confident in it.  Still, I will have to download this and give it a try, especially since the interface looks much more streamlined than Steam or the others out there.

[Kumo]

Speaking of StarDock, I actually just recently downloaded this: http://www.stardock.com/products/ObjectDock/

pretty nifty

[Fuzko]

woa that looks cool, and thanks for the info, ill look into itr more when i get home from work and probably download it etc...

i hope this program works for me, i hate steam, it doesent work on any computer in my house hold, either or my 2 or my brothers SAD FACE

[magnesium]

There is good and bad with this model.
1) recognize that piracy is an issue that is killing the PC market. I have a 100% cure for this but it relies on people being online. Lots of american's aren't so that would kill sales of non-online only play games.
2) Please please please only have these automatic update / collaboration services be opt in where privacy is assured. Way too much bad shit can go down if this protecting people
3) people are ok with having trade-offs if they don't pay for a game period. Limiting them to only playing the maps that come with the game / downloading cracked expansions seem to be acceptable to people who know they shouldn't even be playing the game in the first place.
4) Mods are huge revenue for the original engine creator and needs to be supported. the engine needs to worry about it's intellectual property and protect that, but make it easy to plug into / leverage. Modular is the key, with independent copy protection / security for the engine from the mod.

[Uneven Pavement]

3) people are ok with having trade-offs if they don't pay for a game period. Limiting them to only playing the maps that come with the game / downloading cracked expansions seem to be acceptable to people who know they shouldn't even be playing the game in the first place.

This.  Especially if it is a single-player game with not much in the way of multiplayer.  I.E. rpg's that aren't mmo and fps like crysis, bioshock, and the like.

[MetalMusicMan]

While I don't disagree that this won't fix ALL piracy, I do agree that companies should spend FAR less time worrying about it.  The PC game industry is crushing itself because it's so worried about stopping piracy that it doesn't care about inconveniencing it's users. 

Piracy is going to happen, period.  The games industry just needs to realize that and stop what it can, and not worry about what it can't.  We'll all be better off that way.

[Mahony]

I wish that services like this would allow you to put in your CD key for a store bought game and then it would manage it for you.

[MetalMusicMan]

I wish that services like this would allow you to put in your CD key for a store bought game and then it would manage it for you.

Fucking A right man, that would be SO helpful.

[Fuzko]

I wish that services like this would allow you to put in your CD key for a store bought game and then it would manage it for you.

seconded

[Mahony]

I mean even if they had a $5 service fee I would totally do it.

[Hitman_047]

The only other option is to kill everyone that knows anything about software programming >.>