- cross-posted to:
- blogging@programming.dev
- cross-posted to:
- blogging@programming.dev
I made a new blog post giving my thoughts on PlayStation not making disks anymore, and the arguments around it.
I personally don’t think most people care about physically owning media (and some people even suggested PC should start going back to physical). It’s more about digitally owning your games.
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But most people use Steam anyway, I hear you say. That’s true, but you can still own your games on Steam. Very easily, in fact! Steam doesn’t apply a hard DRM for games on their platform, you can bypass it and play your games offline without the launcher if you know what you’re doing.
Because PC is an open platform, people have figured this out and will continue to figure out bypasses in case things go south (which they haven’t so far, thankfully). All you need is to get something called the Goldberg Emulator, replace the SteamAPI file, then add an app_id.txt file. Done. You can play any Steam game offline (assuming the publisher didn’t put their own DRM like Denuvo). I’ve done this a lot, and it is legal as long as you don’t share your game to other people.
This part bears repeating anytime someone says “Valve killed ownership”. They can break the trust that is formed with their customers at any time, but so far they have not.
While at the end of the day, valve is a company that only wants your money, steam does have DRM free games
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Very easily, in fact! Steam doesn’t apply a hard DRM for games on their platform, you can bypass it and play your games offline without the launcher if you know what you’re doing.
This isn’t a good point, how many people do you think remove the steam dependency from their games?
Steam also doesnt force DRM, it’s developers/publishers deciding to use it in the first place.
You’d only need Steam DRM for your game if you want to use any features like Steam multiplayer, workshop etc.
So while it’s easy to bypass, most games dont even need it in the first place.
This isn’t a good point, how many people do you think remove the steam dependency from their games?
Not many, because Steam hasn’t given them a reason to. That’s not the point.
The point is that if Steam ever does shut down or start revoking games, people can keep playing them without it.
If Sony ever shuts down or starts revoking games/media you can also strip the copy protection off of it and continue using it just the same.
Where are the instructions for doing this?
https://www.psx-place.com/forums/ps5-jailbreak-hacks.242/
Look through here. Spoiler the actual copy protection removal is kept secret by people who do it.
Spoiler the actual copy protection removal is kept secret by people who do it.
Indeed. My point is that the PlayStation situation is not comparable to what we can do with Steam games, where it’s all out in the open, with multiple independent implementations, at least one of which is open-source and multi-platform.
(I’m glad there are people working on PS5 hacks, though.)
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For games, perhaps, but I would have to disagree for HD & 4K video. Streaming and digital downloads rarely match the bitrate and quality you can get from a properly-authored BD or UHD disc, especially paired with the right player.
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That’s the case with DRM. I do own my games, on a big fat HDD. While optical media literally rusts and still has DRM.
So, just to be clear, with a PC you can:
- Use whatever input(s) you want, even mix and match if some parts of a game are better with a controller or KBM!
- Install mods and get assloads of free, community made additional content for loads of games.
- Run most any old game outside of the current and previous console generation with emulators.
Steam allows (but notably does not require) DRM but has Proton integration, Steam Input and Steam Family Sharing. The refund policy is also reasonable and makes me far more likely to try games I might not otherwise.
GOG is also an option for true digital ownership of games, if they’re sold there. The refund policy there is even better!
Meanwhile, Sony’s refund policy is laughably bad (no refunds once you start the download) and they’re about to force everyone to fucking deal with it. What is the point of owning one of these locked down, shitty boxes at this point?
