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Valve Sued By The Federation Of German Consumers Association

Valve Sued By The Federation Of German Consumers Association

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It seems that The Federation Of German Consumers Association (VZBV) have taken issue with some of the terms of Valve’s popular gaming software, Steam. They believe it unfair that consumers who buy games via the software are unable to resell or give them away after use.

VZBV warned Valve about possible legal action in September last year. The changes they seek have not been made and so they have taken their case to the District Court of Berlin. They believe that by restricting users rights to sell on second hand games, they are stunting the growth of the digital distribution market.

VZBV have had a previous run in with Valve back in 2010 which also led to court action in Germany. They attempted to make it possible for Steam users to sell their whole account on if they no longer needed or wanted it. This was overruled by the courts stating that Valve’s prohibition of user account transfers did not break any German laws.

Bioware Points Discount? – Overdue PC DLC Savings

Bioware Points Discount? – Overdue PC DLC Savings

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I’ve been quietly fuming away for the best part of 2 years over the pricing of Mass Effect 2‘s mission DLC. At 2480 of their intentionally obtuse ‘Bioware points’, you’re expected to pay about twice what the 40-hour base game costs itself these days. Which is how DLC typically works, but at least there’s usually a discount for those of us who’re never going to be fanatical enough to cough up that kind of money. Not in the case of the PC version: and that’s despite the fact that all but one of the DLC packs comes with the PS3 version, and the fact that Xbox Live has featured Mass Effect 2 DLC sales multiple times.

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A Star in the Gloom – Stardock Expands

A Star in the Gloom – Stardock Expands

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Stardock Software, perhaps most famous to the PC Gamer for publishing Sins of a Solar Empire and developing/publishing Galactic Civilisations is expanding, opening up a new games development studio. This really couldn’t come at a better time. With numerous developers jumping ship to the console crew, it’s great to see a quintessentially PC development outfit on the up, especially during the gloom of recession, providing 50 developers with a new place to go – given the number who’ve lost their jobs lately, such as the thousand or so from EA, they shouldn’t have a problem finding anyone.

The team is set to work on an “as-yet-unannounced RPG title”, which could be a breath of fresh air given the current diversity and ambition Stardock have shown with their current development and publishing history. Given Stardock’s emphasis on putting the customer first, the continued success of their publishing and development houses should hopefully demonstrate to other companies that their business model is a viable and profitable one, and one I truly hope they adopt.

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Their current line-up is also expanding, with the new Sins of a Solar Empire expansion, Entrenchment set for release on February 11th, and if you can’t wait, pre-ordering gives you access to the beta via Impulse, Stardock’s highly rated, DRM light distribution platform (think Steam minus some of the restrictions – more on this in a day or two.) They’re also releasing the excellent looking Demigod, which you can again pre-order for Beta access.

Stardock is easily rising to the ranks of the PC gaming elite. Their refreshing attitude to business has paid off, and their expansion is set to put them on a path to continued greatness. They’re fast becoming one of the most important development and publishing outfits in the industry, and I cannot wait to see what they come up with next.

Expect a review of Ironclad/Stardock’s Sins of a Solar Empire mini-expansion within the next week or so.

AWOMO in Beta

AWOMO in Beta

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A World Of My Own, or AWOMO for short, has just gone into a public beta with Rome: Total War being the first downloadable game on offer for absolutely nothing. Shocking stuff!

I have been involved in the early beta stages and I have been having a great time playing some really cool games. The premise of AWOMO is simple, it is to let you play games before you have finished downloading it. Thanks to the optimisation tests I have been involved in, you can play Rome in a little as 18 minutes on a 4MB connection, with the time required getting less depending on your connection.

Furthermore, any game you gain acess to via AWOMO is tied to just your account, there is no worrying about which PC you are using, you can simply log into your account and then bingo, you are on your way.

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