Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (
More info?)
OldDog wrote:
> Since this seems to be a hot topic, I recently ran across this in the
> lastest PCGamer magazine.
>
> At this years CES, Epic Games, Firaxis, and Warner Brothers all agree
that
> eventually (10-15yrs) all consoles & PCs will require an internet
connection
> to play.
>
> This OldDog might be in a nursing home by that time.
It wouldn't surprise me.
These days new houses are built with phone and plug sockets everywhere
in order to accommodate the amount of electronic gear we tend to
accumulate.
Broadband is continuing to be taken up and is (in word at least)
supported by The Powers That Be, so the number of connections is likely
to continue increasing.
The internet is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives.
Newsgroups and forums such as this one, online banking, VOIP, online
shopping, music downloads, online gaming, email, web browsing
generally. I research and book hotels, flights, car hire over the web.
In the UK we can get car tax and insurance online.
Take all the above and try to imagine a decade into the future. Well,
we'll all be wearing shiny suits and "food" will come in tablet form,
but apart from that, it really wouldn't be a shock to find that
broadband internet access is as common as mobile phones are now, and
consequently it will be no big deal for us to connect to the web to
update our console/PC, download and activate our games and play them.
Sure, Steam is raising eyebrows now, but in 10 years I think things
will be different. Maybe because of Steam?