Something most unfortunate occurred recently with my WoW character. My account was hacked, my character stripped, everything sold, everything in the bank sold, everything in the guild bank sold, and all the money sent. Plus, there were additional level 1 characters (clearly doing the transferring).
My computer is secure but that doesn’t matter. Such a security breach which could destroy a character made me not want to play such a game or any game like that ever again.
I gave Blizzard a call and restored my data. I was then told about the authenticator. It is a device that creates a code that you type in at the login screen. It is another layer of security. Apparently, security is such an issue that Blizzard will eat the cost and ship the authenticator to you for free.
The issue of security outweighs the pros of digital services. Steam can easily be destroyed by security breaches. PSN currently is destroyed by security breaches. The issue of security has not been dealt with or have been made aware in the public’s mind about these digital services until the PSN destruction.
Since it is ridiculous to have people run around with half a dozen authenticators, this issue, alone, could end Cloud Gaming. What good is Cloud Gaming if all your progress, hard work, and other personal information can be breached by hackers? And while PSN was through the company’s end, it is easy enough to get through from the user’s end.
With retail games, someone has to physically get into your home in order to steal it. And then, you can shoot them. So this is a huge boost to physical product games.
The Industry is not happy at all about this turn of events. Already, the wagons are circling around Sony where gaming pundits are acting as absurd as Baghdad Bob. They are worried. Here’s a sample:
“It’s very disappointing. And to be clear I’m not talking about the way that Sony has handled it, but that it has happened at all – our major concern is the way that this will affect digital consumers’ future behaviour,” he added.
Here is a radical idea. Why not adapt to the consumers’ behavior? If consumers do not want digital service games, what does that matter to you? Why not give the consumer what he or she wants? After all, gaming has been retail since… forever. Why should the consumer stop when this model has been so successful?
Note the selfishness. It is not about what consumers want or consumer behavior. It is all about what developers want. It is all about them. Who are they to decide how I wish to buy my games? That is for me to decide. If they wish to get my money, they will do it my way. Not their way.
My biggest hope is that the PSN incident drives a stake in the Cloud Gaming ‘dream’. Cloud Gaming reminds me of how computer game makers thought everything would be connected to the computer in the near future including toasters and washing machines. But instead of everything connected to one computer, the future reversed it by having separate computers into everything.
Here’s a thought: why can’t I make my own digital service or cloud gaming? Why does the service side have to remain in control of the company? This way I get all the benefits of the ‘cloud’ but also I get all the control. And that is what this is all about: control. Consumer behavior is flowing to ways where the consumer, not the company, has more control. This is seen in the move to the Internet away from newspapers and the move to Netflix and away from TV ‘programming’.
And, as mandatory, every time I mention ‘Cloud Gaming’, I must link to the ‘Up, up, and Away’ video.
Above: The absurdity of Cloud Gaming
Malstrom's Articles News 