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Jim Sterling: An industry that needs Xbox One DRM is a failed industry

A

AuthenticM

Member
Mr. Sterling has another editorial on his resumé, and it's a goodie. Here's a passage:

Sterling said:
It takes a lot of naivety to trust so willingly in Microsoft, a company that's done absolutely nothing to earn our trust. It takes even more to believe that an industry so dependent on heavy-handed consumer control deserves to survive. Frankly, any industry that suffers due to the reversal of ONE console's DRM policies is an industry that deserves to suffer.

...

Above all, this glittering ideal of digital distribution as a cure-all magic potion for the industry's problems is the product of remedial fantasy. A digital market won't free publishers from their obligations to clueless investors who demand all of the money at all times. It won't stop companies focus testing the shit out of their games as more and more products appeal to audiences spread thin by such saturation. It won't stop ludicrously excessive development and marketing budgets. I'm a big believer in digital distribution, but I don't believe in sorcery, and as such I don't think digital's going to solve everything rotten in the game industry. The big budget market is too far gone for that.

...

And if that's what consoles need, if they so require magic and wishes to avoid drowning in their own mess, then what good are they? Why should they survive? My God, do these companies love the fuck out of capitalism, but it seems that when capitalism comes to collect, when the flip-side of the system's benefits come to bite them on the ass, they try their best to run away from it.

Even if the very worst of dooms befalls the so-called "AAA" console industry, I'm not worried. If this past E3 of buzz words and brown games taught me anything, it's that old companies and shriveled executives need to be cut down to make way for new blood. We need a new generation of game producers, not game consoles, and when the big trees fall, the smaller ones can finally get some sunlight. Good games will always be around, they just won't need the Old Guard to tell them what to do, to buy them up and spit them out. The death of a convoluted and broken market doesn't sound like a bad thing to me. Not if, according to some, the only way for them to survive is to directly fuck with their own audience.

What is it people like Cliff Bleszinski always say to gamers? Oh right, "it's a business" !

Yeah, it's a business alright. You know what businesses are very good at doing? Failing. And if companies fail because they needed a console that inconvenienced consumers and imposed restrictions on other markets, well ... that's business for you.

Prove you deserve to survive. It's a business ... and that means you're not fucking entitled to your existence.
Click to expand...

Sterling has been killing it for the past few months. That closing paragraph in particular... my god.

I recommend everyone to read the whole thing, which can be done here.
 
B

Beer Monkey

Member
Prove you deserve to survive. It's a business ... and that means you're not fucking entitled to your existence.
Click to expand...

God damn, hits it out of the park. Young Clifford could learn a thing or two from Jim.

Iacobellis said:
Sony got a major shakeup and look at what is happening. Microsoft and Nintendo definitely need some new people.
Click to expand...

I'd love to see mass firings in management at Microsoft and Nintendo. They could become much better, more competitive companies for it.
 
M

Meia

Member
It's sad, but he's 100% right.


If video games as a whole weren't profitable, that's one thing. But they still clearly can be, so it's just mismanagement. I'd love to know how many % just marketing has gone up in terms of costs as the gens have gone on.


Alienating fans, diluting the product, these aren't things you simply blame on DRM and sweep under the rug.
 
O

Omnistalgic

Member
Father_Brain said:
Sony is still far too dependent on AAA gaming for their long-term good, though they've made admirable strides forward with indie outreach.
Click to expand...
You think AAA gaming will die down? I don't understand that? I think just like movies there's always room for blockbusters titles, and Sony seems to greenlight everything in between as well...
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
The Sterling face turn is just amazing to watch. I remember when he was the Armond White of video game journalism. lol
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Omnistalgic said:
You think AAA gaming will die down? I don't understand that? I think just like movies there's always room for blockbusters titles, and Sony seems to greenlight everything in between as well...
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with AAA games. The problem is when you have no balance as a publisher. When everything is do or die due to high dev costs, then you're in trouble. Sony's been trying to add more balance to their lineup in recent years. That's why we see smaller budget titles like Puppeteer, rain and Sly Cooper that go along with games like The Last of Us and Gran Turismo.
 
F

Father_Brain

Banned
Omnistalgic said:
You think AAA gaming will die down? I don't understand that? I think just like movies there's always room for blockbusters titles, and Sony seems to greenlight everything in between as well...
Click to expand...

The flaw in the AAA games/Hollywood comparison is that the potential audience for a $200M blockbuster film is far, far larger than the potential audience for a $40M AAA game aimed at males ~17-35, even without factoring in the additional revenue streams available to the former. But AAA budgets keep growing anyway, even as the audience doesn't.

I don't think AAA gaming will die anytime soon, more that that sector will continue to contract, and that I'm not yet convinced that non-AAA console games will be able to pick up the slack.
 
S

Samurai_Heart

Member
To Jim:
ncEZl.gif
 
S

SlowRevolution

Member
Really good read, especially almost right after reading Cliff's blog post.

off topic but if anyone at Destructoid is reading please get rid of the terrible tablet/touch version of the site
 
A

Almighty

Member
What is it people like Cliff Bleszinski always say to gamers? Oh right, it's a business!

Yeah, it's a business alright. You know what businesses are very good at doing? Failing. And if companies fail because they needed a console that inconvenienced consumers and imposed restrictions on other markets, well ... that's business for you.

Prove you deserve to survive. It's a business ... and that means you're not fucking entitled to your existence.
Click to expand...

Damn, I think I am in love.

God I have got so sick and tired of people saying that when they are trying to screw me over. Then when the shoe is on the other foot more often then not they bitch and moan about how it isn't fair.

I don't know much about Jim Sterling, but for the past few months I am loving what he has been saying.
 
C

Crisco

Banned
Yup, giant pile of truth. Especially the part about console makers needing to earn their right to going totally digital. Steam took it's lumps, and wasn't really until 2007 that it became the go to service for PC game delivery.
 
S

Seraphis Cain

bad gameplay lol
Meccanical said:
I know, I used to hate this guy, now he actually has correct opinions.
Click to expand...

He's actually mentioned recently that he regrets a lot of the things he said in his early years in garme jurnalizm (and please Jim, if you read this and feel the need to correct me in any way, please do so).

I love the guy, personally. It was actually the fact that he's one of the only reviewers in the business who gives musou games a fair shake that got me to start following him. Have never regretted it. :D
 
I

inky

Member
Above all, this glittering ideal of digital distribution as a cure-all magic potion for the industry's problems is the product of remedial fantasy. A digital market won't free publishers from their obligations to clueless investors who demand all of the money at all times. It won't stop companies focus testing the shit out of their games as more and more products appeal to audiences spread thin by such saturation. It won't stop ludicrously excessive development and marketing budgets. I'm a big believer in digital distribution, but I don't believe in sorcery, and as such I don't think digital's going to solve everything rotten in the game industry. The big budget market is too far gone for that.
Click to expand...

I love you Jim.
 
T

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
Iacobellis said:
Sony got a major shakeup and look at what is happening. Microsoft and Nintendo definitely need some new people.
Click to expand...

Microsoft got a shake-up in the 360's life (okay, it kinda didn't but more "talent leaving"), and that's the problem: The people that made the X-box 180 and 360 what they were left leaving MS in a lurch and having no talent.

Of course, I wouldn't mind them firing Don Matrick. Everytime he speaks I want to punch him in the face. :/

As for Nintendo, yeah they've been needing new people for a while now.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Jimmy Stav said:
Why did people ever hate him?
Click to expand...
Divisive opinions I think. Just look at the Deadly Premonition review, "10/10 It's like watching two clowns eat each other" although ironically it's probably one of the reviews MOST agreed with because it really is an amazing, yet completely unpolished gem.
 
B

BruceLeeRoy

Banned
Man I am really coming around on Sterling these past couple months. I was just listening to Klepicks interview with Marc Whitten and man I know this is ridiculous but I loathe the MS PR machine right now. Its awful.

I know its not fair because every company does it but just own up to it. You made a awful console the market responded, you saw consumer interest vanishing before your very eyes and so you made a drastic decision. Don't pretend this was anything else.
 
Lactose_Intolerant

Lactose_Intolerant

Member
Steam is its own DRM. When you buy a game from Steam, it's about as protected from piracy as it can get. That didn't stop companies like Electronic Arts and Ubisoft from sticking their own DRM in on top of Steam's protection. Be it SecuROM or constant Internet connections, these publishers were so paranoid and desperate for a sense of control they crammed extra restrictions on top of existing ones.
Click to expand...
Steam games get pirated like right when they get released. I don't have a problem with other companies adding more as long as it doesn't inconvenience me.

I think it is false to say it is about as protect from piracy as it can get.
 
M

Mrbob

Member
I'm developing a man crush for Jim.

Also, is it odd I read his opinion articles like he is standing up at the podium talking to me as in a Jimquisition video.
 
C

Coconut

Banned
I did a simple google search and found out that Jim Sterling neither makes video games or is the fictional character from the show Mad Men. Either way it seems like his opinion is less about DRM and more about the need to do away with the current management of game companies. DRM hardly has anything to do with the quality of a game.
 
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