Explained – Adam's Blog

December 23, 2015

Steam and Digital are hurting the gaming industry long term

Whats going on? We thought you love Steam? Relax, I still do and I have over 50+ games but that’s about to change. Conspiracy theories aside, the digital age is taking the entertainment industry by storm and there is little that can be done at this point. Getting the game to download while you’re browsing the internet hassle free is something that many got used to. Fantastic sales throughout the year, what’s not to like?

The Monopoly

Monopolies are bad, that much is agreed on. They kill the competition which in turn kill the motivation to improve and innovate. Why do you think Steam is not considered with its poor customer service? Because there is no real alternative. Sure EA Origins is catching on as well as the fantastic GOG.com, but Valve is the pioneer to PC digital games distribution and judging from how things are, they will likely stay at the top for many years to come unless something tragic happens.

Steam machines are failing and the Steam OS is a joke and yet Valve is not even concerned the slightest, why? Because they are on top and can afford to screw up. Where will people go? Basically, the people have a choice to either accept any changes Valve may see fit or move to a smaller platform with the many features that they got used to are missing.

One might argue that once the new platform gathers a large crowd, the features and games will start coming in. Not true as catching up to large competitors is not as easy as the normal consumer thinks it is, just ask Microsoft’s Xbox division.

In short: No competition, no creativity.

Killing the Creativity

I’m sorry but hard, a physical material will always be Superior to soft copy. From the amazing box designs to the smell of a new item and placing it on your shelve or in a dedicated collection corner, all of these things make physical copies what they are. Sure, all your games will be gone once your house catches a fire but having your entire house burned has a way less chance than the digital company going out of business or changing the policies (see next section).

Physical media has and always will have a special feel of ownership. No matter how flexible the digital provider may be, it will never beat the feeling or owning an item you can touch.

You are NOT in control of your own games

Valve can at any time deny you access to your own games or simply take away specific game with or without a reason. Don’t believe me? Google it. Once Valve goes down so will your games. Yes, Valve unofficially promised that in the unlikely event that they go under you will have a chance to download your games. Good luck downloading over 1 TB worth of games in the short amount of time they will give you supposedly they stay true to their word in the first place.

Playing games offline is also a problem to many as Steam offline mode is as reliable as your new politician. In short, a game can be pulled off your library with or without refund for many reasons including copyright expiration or simply the refusal to renew a yearly contract. Anything can happen and you can’t do anything about it because you own nothing. On the other hand, I’m still playing Need for Speed Road Challenge years after it discontinued without any problems. Good luck finding this gem digital legally.

. . .

There is hope, GOG.com demonstrated that it is possible for DRM free games to sell well and Witcher 3 is a fine example. Downloading digital DRM free games is a considerable alternative to owning physical copies as I can print my own covers from the likes of VHBOXART. Take a look at this beautiful fan created master peace.

Digital distribution is taking over, at least in the USA. If you are like me, support GOG.com or buy PC games from Amazon UK unless the game requires Steam to activate. Steam is not the devil and Valve is not the New World Order yet so I will continue to use it for the cheap price and what not but if I get the choice between Steam and a DRM-free physical version aka the Witcher 3, you know which one I choose.

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014

The Evil Within Ending Theory

Spoiler Alert: Ending Discussion

The Evil Within’s ending is as confusing as it gets. At first all is good and simple until you realize that things are not what they seem. Lets debug it together:

Sebastian defeats Ruvik smashing his brain and wakes up from the nightmare. He then notice that everyone connected to Ruvik’s head was dead. Sebastian walks out with cops all over the place with Leslie the only survivor walking in the distance. All clear right? Wrong.

It is obvious that the game starts AFTER Sebastian was abducted -as seen by his missing photo in New Game+- and inserted into the Ruvik’s world. The supernatural things as seen through the surveillance camera is not real. Ruvik has no power in the real world.

Now before the final boss fight Ruvik finally catches Leslie and melts him presumably taking over his body in the real life. This theory explains the way Leslie walks as opposite how he used to. In short, many think that Leslie is controlled by Ruvik.

The problem with this theory is that:

Why was Sebastian still having the noise headache in the real world after waking up as when he was looked up?
How did Leslie disappear in seconds, let alone walkout unquestioned or stopped in front of all the cops?

My theory after searching the internet and reanalyzing is that you never leave the nightmare world. As Kidman said, nobody can ever leave. That explains the headache and the way Leslie disappeared. Its a Matrix inside a Matrix theory. Another thing to add is that before you wake up the hospital was very clean and tidy then looks deserted and broken down when you wake up.

This is the only theory that makes sense in my opinion unless we start arguing that Ruvik carried over his power into the real world which in my opinion will totally break the story. The future DLC will hopefully answer this and more like:

What was the purpose of Ruvik mahcine?
Why did the organization want Ruvik dead?
Why send in everyone?
What is this organization?

Speaking for myself; I did not like the story that much. I hate the “It was just a dream” thing in movies and games so I never was big on this game’s story. The thing that made this story kinda different is that the dream world is somehow connected to realty so not all was wasted.

Anyway, that was my take on the ending. Feel free to share your own theory in the comment section.

November 13, 2014November 13, 2014

The Evil Within ending explained

Before I start, obviously spoilers! Now that you have been warned lets move on to the ending.

Now like most of you, I was looking froward to The Evil Within. I managed to finally play and finished it last night after doing some upgrades that went little bad. Any way, I have manged to complete the game and to my knowledge understand the story and ending.

The whole story basically takes place in a matrix like Ruvik’ machine. Ruvik through out the whole game is trying to find a suitable mind and body for him to capture and escape into the real world.

Just before the final fight, Leslie a kid who Ruvik seeks to capture and use his body to walk among the living in the real world is finally captured and most likely killed. Upon waking up from the dream world, you notice that all the faces you encountered throughout the game are killed except Leslie.

When you finally make it outside, you see Leslie who is now Ruvik walking away hinting at part 2.

Now I know there are many plot hols and the whole matrix thing is not really explained. What is this organization and how and why did they capture Sebastian and place him inside? To kill Ruvik? Why put him there in the first place? I was never a fan of the dream world story types but this one gets a pass cause the gameplay is fun and the story is somehow original. Now all is left to do is wait for the DLC’s and hope that whatever question you have gets answered then.