Competition Needed

Senior hardware editor James Yu can't wait for the day when he can pay $15 a month for a world that's as enjoyable as and more stable than Azeroth. If you know of such a place, send an e-mail to jamesy@gamespot.com

Frankly, I wonder if Microsoft couldn't be doing more to capitalize on this opportunity, by working directly with hardware manufacturers and getting the word out that worry-free, next-generation PCs with Windows Vista installed will be available later this year. I also wonder to what extent Vista will be able to alleviate the growing copy-protection problems that PC game players constantly complain about, especially with digital rights management software that has become more and more aggressive in enforcing antipiracy measures on users' computers, even to the extent of crippling functionality. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very, very much against software piracy, but I and other users out there are becoming just as strongly opposed to DRM software that seems to punish people who play by the rules, forcing them to keep track of multiple CD-keys, and to uninstall any and all software flagged by these protection programs, before they can actually use the game they paid to play or the software they paid to use. Like I said, Vista represents a great opportunity for Microsoft to be able to take the headaches out of using your PC, and while I'm very much looking forward to the new OS, I'm hoping all the headaches are being accounted for in advance.

You can bet your sweet dollar that Microsoft is working with the system manufacturers to get Vista-ready machines ready for launch. Logo-certification programs are in full swing, and hardware product managers around the world are working on figuring out ways to make the operating-system transition as smooth (and profitable) as possible.

However, I don't think it's fair to ask Microsoft to take over digital rights management and copy protection for game software. Yes, Microsoft has a responsibility to make the general Windows PC operating environment relatively safe and easy to use. Actions such as certifying hardware device drivers and releasing security updates are a must, but adding more bureaucracy to the third-party software-development process should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

If game companies use a DRM or copy-protection system that alienates legitimate software owners, I'd like to think that the market will punish those companies and push game developers toward more user-friendly software-protection systems.

Oh, there's another reason why Microsoft shouldn't manage DRM and copy protection for games: it doesn't need to. Microsoft can make a lot more money by throwing resources at finding ways to reduce the theft of its own software and increasing Windows product-registration rates than working on appeasing a very small percentage of unhappy PC-game enthusiasts.

Let's face it, when it comes to desktop gaming, the only real competition Microsoft has is itself. Microsoft isn't fretting over how Windows Vista will stack up against Mac OS X. Everyone in Redmond is much more worried about how Vista compares against Windows XP. Even that's not a huge issue, though, because Microsoft's biggest customers, PC-system manufacturers such as Dell and HP, have to ship Windows Vista once it's released because you can't be caught shipping old software on your systems.

Microsoft's hold on PC gaming is a lot like the stranglehold Blizzard Entertainment currently has on the massively multiplayer online role-playing genre. The developer can take its time figuring out how to keep its servers stable because there's no sense of urgency. Blizzard knows that its customers will endure the abuse since World of Warcraft has no serious competition.

The best thing that could happen to World of Warcraft players would be for a competitor, be it Red 5 Studios or Sony Online Entertainment, to release a high-quality massively multiplayer RPG or massively multiplayer shooter that's good enough to be a viable threat to World of Warcraft. I'm betting on the former developer rather than the latter, but I'm hoping SOE can get its act together, too.

There needs to be true competition if we want true innovation--if we want companies to start caring about us, the consumers. We get fantastic new video cards year after year because we have Nvidia and ATI constantly outdoing each other, and you can bet Intel is cooking up new technology to take out the Athlon 64 processor. Want Microsoft to pay attention to our every insignificant need? Ask Steve Jobs to make the Mac into a real gaming platform.

Next Up: Freeplay by Alex Navarro