All really interesting, I must say.
I think in due time, probably YEARS down the road, we won't see probably much software sold in-store. We'll all be basically buying "licenses" to buy our software directly from an online distribution service - especially as Internet connections get faster.
I see this b/c I, probably among many others, just tend to be purchasing WAY more ("licenses") to download from (especially) Steam, Impulse, GOG, Direct2Drive, etc. Just local retailers around my way ain't carrying PC games like they used to; and/or their sales ain't NOWHERE as good as the digital distributors are. Places like Gogamer (where you buy hard copies on disc from) - which I often bought religiously from in the past, I ain't bought very much from like I used to recently. I'm starting to suddenly buy more from Amazon than Gogamer, even - since they seem to be pumping out the good deals even for NEWER games.
Also w/ many more games now requiring Steam even if you buy the retail version, it's also gotten to the point - if the HD space requirement ain't ridiculous, why should I buy the disc version? Hard copies often nowadays slack on the manual-size and/or extra goodies included in the retail box - especially if it's a Valve-made game. Fallout: New Vegas - Collector's Edition might be one of the few Steam-required games I'd be interested in buying a retail box for sometime down the line b/c of all the extra stuff it packs.
Personally, my take on game licensing/owning - The Single Player component is yours. I should not have to be online to worry about this - Ubisoft, I'm looking at you here. It's called SP for a reason - so I can play this ALONE. Also, modders should be able to modify, improve, or do what the hell you want to it - nobody should care here b/c you ain't effecting other players - you only have yourself to worry about. DRM limitations and crap shouldn't even be involved w/ SP, honestly. If it's bought on disc, disc-check for SP portion should be enuff. When the game's old and cheap, no point in having DRM - b/c DRM's meant to protect the game when the price of the game is quite HIGH.
When MMO is thrown into the mix, things get kinda muddy here on if a game is yours or not - b/c that is a service and you're normally paying a fee or buying more content to keep on playing w/ lots of others online. And, yes - you're not doing LAN, you're playing on a company's servers to handle tons of players. Though, I do believe if say a MMO does go down and pull the plug - like say Tabula Rasa or Guild Wars, it would be nice if the designers/publisher did come up w/ a way to make all the assets work offline - even if they charge you some small fee for this special patch - so people can go solo with it; especially if the game's built w/ AI bots that can run around and be there in the place of basically other MP players. Or Hell, why not sell a patch to add LAN support to the plug-pulled MMO so gamers who love the game can round up some friends and keep it going?
About MP, as long as there's a built-in LAN option, hey, that part of game's also yours - b/c the designers obviously built the game that if they go out of business and don't have servers, it's up to you to get other players going to play w/ you online. You just have to worry about if you can get other players playing the game - especially if it's OLD.
