Gamers Against "da Man"

More often I find evidence that gaming is, in fact, controlled by "da Man". It is the job of "da Man" to make gamers his bitch. I hear you saying, "Yeah, whatever, I would never be someone's bitch (unless maybe I went to prison and then I would have no choice, it would be an aesthetic survival choice in this instance)". You may think that this is far fetched, but more and more often I am finding evidence of this. So much so that I think that someone should document it and start up a group of dedicated gamers called "Gamers Against da Man" or "GAdaM".

I have outlined some of the evidence I have collected here:

(1) Releasing the same game on a different platform with extra content is definite evidence of "da Man". The only reason that a company would do this is to force gamers to purchase the game with the extra content. In order to do this they may have to even purchase additional hardware (such as a console, etc) just to play the extra content. As a gamer addicted to gaming (this is another story) presenting such additional content in this way is cruel and nothing more than profiteering.

(2) Creating a monopoly in a free market economy is definite evidence of the existence of "da Man". I believe that Adam Smith (with all of his good intentions and warm and fuzzy capitalistic mumbo jumbo) did not intend for the world to be dominated by "da Man". In fact, I think he was a very anti-da-man man if you get my drift. So, when he wrote some crap several hundred years ago about how the free market economies should work he was not thinking lustful thoughts about people such as Bill Gates and others as he was doing so. With the merger of Vivendi/Activision we see two big companies become one bigger company. We see another example of reduction in choice. Consumerism is meant to be about choice and having the freedom to spend your money on whatever product (no matter how bad it is) you want. Why is it that our choices are being reduced? Oddly enough quality is no guarantee of shelf life either. Look at some of the great game developers who are no longer with us. Troika Games, Cinemaware, etc. If quality is no guarantee of success then what type of careless world do we live in?

(3) Most of you are going to say that you probably don't understand the problem with the following statement, but I live in a world where not everyone has the internet. In fact, where I work the internet is not a common item and is quite expensive if you want to have the luxury of using it. So my next piece of evidence refers to releasing a game which requires specific updates from the internet to run when you don't have an internet connection. Or, releasing something that requires an internet connection to install even when the game is single player (cough ... cough ... Steam). Forcing people who have paid for something which should run in isolation of everything else (single player) to have an internet connection is specific and damning evidence that da Man is lurking out there. Not everyone has an internet connection. Not everyone wants to open their computer up to the world of viruses and internet porn. As a consumer it should be their choice to be able to enjoy gaming while not having to participate with the online world.

Further to this point, there are some games which require specific Vista updates in order to run. Microsoft have actually released specific gaming performance updates for the OS (KB940105 is just one such example), however, game publishers don't include these updates on the installation CD. You have to be able to access the internet in order to download them. Nice one guys. It is a required part of the game requirements and it is not listed on the box and not included on the install. Well done developers.

(4) Releasing games unfinished is definite evidence of da Man. I understand the need for developers to meet their contractual arrangements with publishers in order to ship games at prearranged times, however, when games are released unfinished it is the gamers who have to fund the games completion. The gamers have to patiently wait until the game is patched to the point of completion. Sometimes this can take months. Other times it never happens.

(5) Leaving the story of a game unfinished in order to cash in on a sequel. Trilogies are the "new black" in gaming. If a game isn't a Trilogy then what is the use of publishing it? A trilogy can generate three times the potential income as a single game release. And you never know the game could be good ...

Gamers should be vigilant to the workings of da Man in the gaming industry. We should educate ourselves as consumers as to the tricks which are meant to keep us under control ... of course, we are completely powerless to do so. We are all slaves to the products we buy. Without them we cannot define who we are. "I am not my Ikea Yin-Yang coffe table," but I might be Commander Shepherd for several hours while I flake out on the couch and experience some voyeurism gaming style.