I’m not trying to beat a dead horse or kick a man while they’re down, but what else can I do to voice my displeasure with Apple’s handling of their “HTML 5″ demos?
The first clue was when navigating to the demos page with Chrome 5.x. I was promptly met with a dialog box saying that I needed to download Safari to take advantage of these new fangled tricks. But as OS News points out, Chrome in particular actually has better HTML 5 standards support than Safari.
The whole grand show about CSS3 isn’t spot on either. Apple is making use of “-webkit-border-radius” when the real CSS3 code is “-border-radius”. That little difference means only Webkit browsers will understand the round border idea while others such as Firefox and Opera do not. Ya, that’s pretty shitty. Guess Apple’s definition of “open” and “HTML5″ aren’t quite what the rest of the world has set forward. Apple really is turning into the Microsoft of the decade with their forceful “it’s my way or the highway” ways. Funny how history repeats itself…
The rest of OS’s article is worth giving a look over, so go on ahead and stop by.
If you hold game demos near and dear to your heart, the tides are a changin’ in ways that just aren’t too friendly for consumers. First, a few weeks back EA announced that they were toying with the idea of charging $10-$15 for “premium demos”. Naturally, a fair share of gamers weren’t too pleased. But another developer has spoken out in favor of such things.
Alrighty then. We have a new contender for worlds most dumbest idea to turn a quick buck — game demos…with a price attached. EA somehow things taking something that was previously free and adding in a few added things here and there will somehow make gamers interested — interested enough to cough up $10-$15. Mind you, this is a demo they’re trying to charge you for. Demos are free for a reason. They allow us gamers to check a game out before we buy it. Charging for a demo ensures that a lot less people will “take the plunge” without any “preview”. The clever marketing name by EA goes by “Premium Downloadable Content”. Now, being the cynic that I am, every time I see “premium” and other such verbiage, I instantly lose interest. Such boasting of amazingness often results in disappointment and underdeveloped products.
To be fair, if EA actually makes these added premium offerings worthwhile and positions them more as mini-expansion packs, then it has the possibility to do a decent stint. But marketed purely as demos or “early offerings” is a failure from the beginning. No one is going to pay for a demo (that used to be free), especially not $10-$15. In the end, I see people either (1) ignoring the “Premium content” and instead holding out for the real deal or (2) straight up pirating that junk.
You see, EA isn’t giving anyone any reasons why paying an extra $10-$15 for this content is worth it. Sure it’s a solid 3-4 hours of gameplay, but why not wait for the finished product? What about people who do pay for the PDLC? Will there be a discounted “upgrade” where PLDC users can download the rest of the game at reduced cost? Probably not. You’ll pay once for the premium content and again for the same game, with all of that original “premium content” and the rest of the game. The term is double dipping.
EA, here’s a little tip: Don’t charge for a fucking demo! Has all common sense gone out the window…?
Slashdot > Gamasutra
- September 24, 2009 1:52 pm
My my. It’s only against the law if you’re under the law. Sound familiar? Ever experience double standards in play? Apparently Intel is a supporter of not only double standards, but hacking as well. Check out the image above and focus on the left. While Intel was busy showing off “Light Peak”, their 10Gbps optical interconnect technology geared towards mobile devices, one particularly interesting thing they didn’t highlight was the cute little Hackintosh running it all. Read over your own EULA lately Intel hmm?
Engadget
