The Best of Big Download: February 15 - 21

I will do illegal and regretful things to get a Starcraft II beta key.

Ubisoft's DRM plan is ridiculous. It may sell horribly because consumers don't want to deal with it, and Ubisoft will blame piracy. This would be okay if many people didn't view this as a reason why PC gaming will die, especially when it is nowhere near death.

You can add a lot of protection, but it will not mentally stop a pirate from downloading it. It is a shame, but the only way to properly counter piracy as "lost sales" is to focus on the potential buyers and customers. Even if a pirate could be mentally stopped from pirating, it would not mean they would see any money from the stopped pirate.

A lot of people like to use an example like Ubisoft or Infinity Ward to say why PC gaming is dying, but do not want to look at how consoles are changing as well. As of right now, this is the generation of the multiplats. Last gen, you would see many exclusives for each system, but now most of them are all going multiplatform.

The reason why you do not see "big budget/exclusive" games for PC is because PC does not have an owner like Microsoft with the 360, Sony with the PS3, and Nintendo with the Wii. Microsoft and Sony are writing checks to keep games exclusive so that their systems will sell. What's not to say that Halo 3 would've been on PC or Alan Wake would've remained multiplatform without Microsoft intervening, especially coming from studios that developed for PC in the past?

Both PC and consoles are changing, but that is not a bad thing. It is a little annoying to hear how PC gaming will die, but console gaming is this infinite well of power and resources and it is the ultimate in perfection from some people. They are both changing, but not towards death.

Again, no developer owns PC as a whole. Any developer has the freedom to do whatever they want on PC. Ubisoft wants to "protect" their game, fine. They have that freedom. This does not represent the entire scope of PC gaming. PCs are just as alive as the current consoles. They are not going anywhere.

No thanks, I'm a furry.

So is Kyle short for Kylenia?