Did i just waste my money????

[BigWalleye]

Originally Posted by JU_88

Cant say I've ever had a problem personally,
But in this day and age we might need to start breaking our attachment to owning a game on DVD. I really don't think it will be too long before PC gaming abandons DVD distribution, optical media as a whole is in a steady decline, and retailers who specialise in it have been dropping like flies over the last decade. I reckon once they have finally established fast internet connections in all those hard to reach areas, that will be the last nail in the coffin.

And that will be the end of true indie games and the dominance of service bureaus like Steam who will dictate what games are permitted to flourish and what absurd DRM gamers must submit to if they want to play. JU-88, be careful what you wish for.

Service bureaus are nothing new. They have been around since IBM launched The Service Bureau in 1954. They entice people who want a "simple, non-technical" solution with minimal user responsibility and decision-making. "The Cloud" is just the latest incarnation. So far, every attempt to impose the service bureau model on an industry has broken down under the weight of its inherent rigidity and potential for monopolistic (or oligopolistic) exploitation of the user base. Hopefully, the computer gaming industry will not be the first to succumb.