For those of you that don't know, Spotify is an internet radio station/playlist maker that allows you to pick what songs you want to listen to. By becoming a premium member you get rid of the periodic adverts as well as the ability to use several thousand songs offline, through their program.
A friend was making the point to me the other night that, being a music fan, he used to but 10-20 albums a year. With Spofity, however, he pays a bit more but has access to the ENTIRE Spotify library, a trade-off he considers great as it gives him more choice all the time.
I wonder if that could be applied to a video game subscription service.
Valve already do a Steam internet cafe service, where for a yearly subscription a cafe can get access to the entire Steam library, but I don't think it's available for home users, and I don't know if it applies to non-valve games, but it at least sets a precedent.
The company makes money from its clients, using it to purchase licences for more games. Its DRM would work as Steam's does, requiring its client to be running to start the games. Targeted advertising could be delivered through the client, etc etc.
Basically, would you pay, say, £10/$15 a month to have access to EVERY PC game at your whim? Or would you prefer to have a physical copy or a personal licence by way of ownership?
A friend was making the point to me the other night that, being a music fan, he used to but 10-20 albums a year. With Spofity, however, he pays a bit more but has access to the ENTIRE Spotify library, a trade-off he considers great as it gives him more choice all the time.
I wonder if that could be applied to a video game subscription service.
Valve already do a Steam internet cafe service, where for a yearly subscription a cafe can get access to the entire Steam library, but I don't think it's available for home users, and I don't know if it applies to non-valve games, but it at least sets a precedent.
The company makes money from its clients, using it to purchase licences for more games. Its DRM would work as Steam's does, requiring its client to be running to start the games. Targeted advertising could be delivered through the client, etc etc.
Basically, would you pay, say, £10/$15 a month to have access to EVERY PC game at your whim? Or would you prefer to have a physical copy or a personal licence by way of ownership?
