The Go trilogy comprises some of my favorite puzzle games. While not as charming as Hitman Go or as all-around exquisite as Lara Croft Go, the Deus Ex entry is still a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't replay this game now just because I like it.
I've been playing Hitman 2 (2) recently and its stinky always-online DRM requirement to access many features always gives me pause. I understand its purpose and implementation, and there is still a (neutered) offline mode, but I think it's rather unfortunate for any single-player game to include something like that, especially one that costs money. Lo and behold, a few days ago the DX IP's new owners revealed that, as of January 4th, Deus Ex Go will no longer be playable. This is a single-player game that, while usually only around 99 cents, has a purchasing fee. Though it does have online functionality involving community/seasonal missions, there is absolutely no reason for the main story content to be rendered unplayable at any point. But it seems the DRM was baked in so heavily that it cannot function offline, and unlike the other two Go games, this one was never ported to not-phones ("supposedly" there's a PC port on the Microsoft store but I've never seen it available for sale or even piracy), so it will more or less cease to exist in a little over a month.
I am reminded of the endless runner Spider-Man Unlimited, a game I poured untold hours into and even spent a little bit of money on - I don't think it was necessarily anything great, but I played the shit out of it during a difficult time in my life and it holds a special place in my heart. After a certain point, an app I needed for work caused all my phone games to run terribly, so I put it on hold, and when I tried going back to it after getting a new phone, the servers were gone; another single-player game I very much enjoyed that just cannot be played anymore at all. And then there's the one phone game I truly adore - Another Eden - but every time I think about it playing it, I wonder if I'll ever get to experience most of its content and always back off, because despite being a high quality single-player RPG, it needs the internet to work. The lack of permanence in online DRM-enforced titles goes beyond inducing FOMO or being "anti-consumer," it means some of our favorites may be rendered unplayable in the future, only to be forgotten to the point where they may as well have never existed at all, and that's heartbreaking.
A lot of people probably consider Deus Ex Go a throwaway little thing, and it's certainly not as devastating losing it as it would have been to lose one of the series' main entries, but for me it stings all the same. The terms of service for games always states that publishers are giving us permission to play their games, which they can revoke at any time - that's why you can't redownload PT or play it on the PS5, because Konami doesn't want you to, and you implicitly agreed to that by downloading it in the first place. Is that okay? Are our generation's video games trivial enough to not want to share them with future ones? There can be value in fleeting experiences, certainly, but these decisions are made solely out of viewing games as products rather than art, and that makes me very sad.
I've been playing Hitman 2 (2) recently and its stinky always-online DRM requirement to access many features always gives me pause. I understand its purpose and implementation, and there is still a (neutered) offline mode, but I think it's rather unfortunate for any single-player game to include something like that, especially one that costs money. Lo and behold, a few days ago the DX IP's new owners revealed that, as of January 4th, Deus Ex Go will no longer be playable. This is a single-player game that, while usually only around 99 cents, has a purchasing fee. Though it does have online functionality involving community/seasonal missions, there is absolutely no reason for the main story content to be rendered unplayable at any point. But it seems the DRM was baked in so heavily that it cannot function offline, and unlike the other two Go games, this one was never ported to not-phones ("supposedly" there's a PC port on the Microsoft store but I've never seen it available for sale or even piracy), so it will more or less cease to exist in a little over a month.
I am reminded of the endless runner Spider-Man Unlimited, a game I poured untold hours into and even spent a little bit of money on - I don't think it was necessarily anything great, but I played the shit out of it during a difficult time in my life and it holds a special place in my heart. After a certain point, an app I needed for work caused all my phone games to run terribly, so I put it on hold, and when I tried going back to it after getting a new phone, the servers were gone; another single-player game I very much enjoyed that just cannot be played anymore at all. And then there's the one phone game I truly adore - Another Eden - but every time I think about it playing it, I wonder if I'll ever get to experience most of its content and always back off, because despite being a high quality single-player RPG, it needs the internet to work. The lack of permanence in online DRM-enforced titles goes beyond inducing FOMO or being "anti-consumer," it means some of our favorites may be rendered unplayable in the future, only to be forgotten to the point where they may as well have never existed at all, and that's heartbreaking.
A lot of people probably consider Deus Ex Go a throwaway little thing, and it's certainly not as devastating losing it as it would have been to lose one of the series' main entries, but for me it stings all the same. The terms of service for games always states that publishers are giving us permission to play their games, which they can revoke at any time - that's why you can't redownload PT or play it on the PS5, because Konami doesn't want you to, and you implicitly agreed to that by downloading it in the first place. Is that okay? Are our generation's video games trivial enough to not want to share them with future ones? There can be value in fleeting experiences, certainly, but these decisions are made solely out of viewing games as products rather than art, and that makes me very sad.
2 Comments
Thank you!
MalditoMur
1 year ago