We are testing physical video games and hardware completely offline to inform you about issues that can make them unusable now and in the future. Along the way, we want to highlight positive examples of preservation as well. Thereby, we want to raise awareness about the importance of game preservation and consumer rights.
To expand on that point; because the site is testing physical releases, and PC game releases rarely get a physical release outside of a few specialty collector's bundles, PC gaming broadly doesn't...
To expand on that point; because the site is testing physical releases, and PC game releases rarely get a physical release outside of a few specialty collector's bundles, PC gaming broadly doesn't qualify for testing.
Testing whether a game that had been purchased online could be burned to a disk and then reinstalled later for play on a PC without an internet connection would be potentially interesting, but I think that for the majority of games the answer would be "Yes". Most PC games don't phone home before starting as far as I can tell.
Why would that be the case? Physical game releases for PC are rare, but when they existed they typically ran offline. If you extend this to modern digital releases, PC games that have already been...
Why would that be the case? Physical game releases for PC are rare, but when they existed they typically ran offline. If you extend this to modern digital releases, PC games that have already been downloaded/installed can frequently run offline -- not all can, but some definitely can.
What is an example of a modern, big name physical game release on PC? The last one I could find was Doom 2016, and its physical PC release was still steamworks, so you’d still need a steam account...
What is an example of a modern, big name physical game release on PC? The last one I could find was Doom 2016, and its physical PC release was still steamworks, so you’d still need a steam account and online connectivity to play.
I already acknowledged that physical game releases for PC are rare these days in my previous comment. That said, there are absolutely plenty of Steam games that can still be played offline once...
I already acknowledged that physical game releases for PC are rare these days in my previous comment. That said, there are absolutely plenty of Steam games that can still be played offline once you've initially downloaded/installed them (I don't know whether that is the case for Doom 2016, whether you buy it digitally or physically). For instance, I know the Steam version of Dwarf Fortress remains playable reportedly even if you uninstall Steam after installing the game. Even though physical releases are rare, there's absolutely enough nuance and differences between games purchased digitally on PC that a site like this could have utility beyond just "the answer is no".
I don’t think physical releases as a whole are all that rare, mostly due to collectors editions with physical merch. But like I said, they all still have DRM. Most are just codes. I don’t think...
I don’t think physical releases as a whole are all that rare, mostly due to collectors editions with physical merch. But like I said, they all still have DRM. Most are just codes.
I don’t think there are any non-trivial physical PC releases that don’t have some form of DRM. It’s the null intersection between “has enough money/publishing support to ship physical media” and “doesn’t care about DRM”. I did another quick sweep and didn’t find any.
There wouldn’t be any point. You can just hardcode a page which returns “no”.
I think you're ignoring a significant amount of variability by equating "the existence of any DRM" with "running offline", which in the PC space are extremely different. This site already...
I think you're ignoring a significant amount of variability by equating "the existence of any DRM" with "running offline", which in the PC space are extremely different. This site already distinguishes between whether a download is required and whether offline play is allowed, both of which are completely separate from whether a game has DRM (which this site doesn't address because DRM is more or less a non-issue on console in a way it is not on PC).
This doesn’t parse as english, so I’m assuming the question is “how often are you”. Not terribly often. Usually companies go to publishers, for that. Publishing games is part of what they do,...
This doesn’t parse as english, so I’m assuming the question is “how often are you”.
Not terribly often. Usually companies go to publishers, for that. Publishing games is part of what they do, after all.
Pretty useful site. Looks like strictly oriented on a console games.
Well, the answer to that question for PC games is just: no.
To expand on that point; because the site is testing physical releases, and PC game releases rarely get a physical release outside of a few specialty collector's bundles, PC gaming broadly doesn't qualify for testing.
Testing whether a game that had been purchased online could be burned to a disk and then reinstalled later for play on a PC without an internet connection would be potentially interesting, but I think that for the majority of games the answer would be "Yes". Most PC games don't phone home before starting as far as I can tell.
Why would that be the case? Physical game releases for PC are rare, but when they existed they typically ran offline. If you extend this to modern digital releases, PC games that have already been downloaded/installed can frequently run offline -- not all can, but some definitely can.
What is an example of a modern, big name physical game release on PC? The last one I could find was Doom 2016, and its physical PC release was still steamworks, so you’d still need a steam account and online connectivity to play.
I already acknowledged that physical game releases for PC are rare these days in my previous comment. That said, there are absolutely plenty of Steam games that can still be played offline once you've initially downloaded/installed them (I don't know whether that is the case for Doom 2016, whether you buy it digitally or physically). For instance, I know the Steam version of Dwarf Fortress remains playable reportedly even if you uninstall Steam after installing the game. Even though physical releases are rare, there's absolutely enough nuance and differences between games purchased digitally on PC that a site like this could have utility beyond just "the answer is no".
I don’t think physical releases as a whole are all that rare, mostly due to collectors editions with physical merch. But like I said, they all still have DRM. Most are just codes.
I don’t think there are any non-trivial physical PC releases that don’t have some form of DRM. It’s the null intersection between “has enough money/publishing support to ship physical media” and “doesn’t care about DRM”. I did another quick sweep and didn’t find any.
There wouldn’t be any point. You can just hardcode a page which returns “no”.
I think you're ignoring a significant amount of variability by equating "the existence of any DRM" with "running offline", which in the PC space are extremely different. This site already distinguishes between whether a download is required and whether offline play is allowed, both of which are completely separate from whether a game has DRM (which this site doesn't address because DRM is more or less a non-issue on console in a way it is not on PC).
Hm... If I go to GOG and burn any game to a DVD, will it counts as a physical release? (gog sell games without any DRM).
Nope
Why? I really curious.
You’re not authorized to distribute their work. If you add an artists song to your mixtape it doesn’t count as on the charts.
How often you authorised to distribute physical games?
This doesn’t parse as english, so I’m assuming the question is “how often are you”.
Not terribly often. Usually companies go to publishers, for that. Publishing games is part of what they do, after all.
Sorry, english is my third language, and also please be civil and try to reply to comments in a good faith.
Did I not reply in good faith?
I really depise games that make me download things after a CD was placed