Game Ownership

Having grown up in small-town, Nova Scotia, and becoming interested in gaming in a time where my family did not own a computer… I hold console gaming close to my heart. Game rentals, and trading games with friends was an important part of how a rural boy like me got to play games. Even when I did get a computer, I was actually put off of PC gaming for a very long time due to DRM.

The times have changed, and a combination of not having to carry physical media around with me when I move, and the convenience of not having to go to a store during business hours, means that as an adult I’m much more likely to make impulse purchases online. I like having my games easily accessible, and always up-to-date through Steam. It’s a convenience that I enjoy. While I distinctly found it weird when I first bought my retail copy of Left4Dead on a cd from Futureshop, that the EULA stated the game can’t be transferred to someone else… it was my introduction to Steam, and thereafter I ceased buying physical media if downloading was an option. Honestly the fact that I have downloaded the game in the first place makes me accept very readily that there is a reason I cannot sell my “used” game.

That said, the idea of being able to go buy a game from a retail location and then not be able to lend that game to a friend, or sell it if I don’t like it, or buy someone else’s game used if they don’t like it?  My console gaming roots scream at me that that is just wrong.

But here’s a much better write-up from IGN on that.