...Allows owners of the game a free Steam copy. Thought they were handing out Steam codes to everyone for a second there ;)!

The article states that the Granting Tool works with retail discs. Will it work with non-Steam digital copies? Some people commenting are saying you have to have the disc in the drive when using the tool.

Most retail disc games (all, that I'm aware of...) come with a CD key for registration. I would assume if the tool requires the disc, it would then verify the CD Key, as a two-step proof of ownership. Just glad they moved away from SecuRom!

Excellent point. Another something to think about (or speculate over, as the case may be): Concerning the implementation of DRM, do you think most companies are worried about losing profits, or annoyed that someone is getting something for nothing? Put another way, if all the people that pirate games (or any digital content) lived on some remote island with amazing satellite broadband, but TSA level shipping restrictions, would anyone really care if their product was pirated? Would digital piracy even be an issue at that point?

My point is that pirates will pirate, they won't purchase. As long as they don't sell what they pirate, and the people that purchase content legitimately continue to do so, what harm does piracy do? Transformers 4 grossed $300M worldwide in its first three days. I'll take a presumptuous guess and say that it was pirated at least 100,000 times, which is likely a low figure. If someone steals something from a stockpile of infinite supply, what does it matter if a handful consistently go missing?

I'll amend my hyperbolic statement, and say instead that pirates don't want to purchase. I wasn't thinking so much of the people that dabble in blue moon piracy, as DRM isn't built for these people. Netflix streaming service hasn't offered much in the way of new content in years, and I'll bet that most of those pirates that "converted" are really just ripping Netflix discs as they come in the mail.

Free to Play is an excellent solution to piracy (maybe the only pure solution, as it is essentially legalized piracy), although it doesn't always seem applicable. How would Wolfenstein: New Order work as a Free to Play game? And this is what I was vaguely and sloppily coming around to: Could there be more room to innovate in the Free to Play model? Do you think we might see a big game, like Uncharted 4 or Half-Life 3, released in some F2P hybrid?

I've heard good things about the original Oldboy. I haven't seen either, though. All consumed with Guardians of the Galaxy coming out this Friday, which, I read on the internet somewhere, will be better than both Oldboys combined.

Say that Gabe sends out a memo to Team Half-Life, stating that he wants the third iteration to be Free to Play. Half Life is a universe serious in tone, and you don't want to throw gimmicks at it to monetize it, and no way in hell will there be ad placement. Beyond the typical Free to Play structures we've seen, how could you go about monetizing a "free" experience, without cheating the player or the story? I apologize if I just keep repeating the same thing in different words. It's fascinating to think about it, and each time I post a comment I feel like I'm close to progressing the conversation with an actual idea, but then I get trapped in my head, thinking about what I'm thinking about, and that turns into a desire for cinnamon rolls, and then I lose the thought.

I'll have something later, I promise!

There is a place here called Ginger Browns and they make amazing cinnamon rolls. Not gooey, or overly cinnamony, but dense and rich and chewy and you pretty much die after eating one. It's ridiculous.

I was messing around with this a few months ago, and found it to be functional, but lacking. I'm sure they've made some improvements since then. Too comfortable in my bed to check it out right now, though...

You've been working hard! There was an option to join the Steam Music user group early on, and they were granting early beta access that way. I was hoping it would be a viable solution to iTunes, which I usually love, but seems to be lacking in support on "the bastard platform" (i.e. Windows). WinAmp would be my next choice, but it's in corporate-buyout limbo. It still works, but man is it in need of a good designer.

Has Valve said that they would integrate music purchasing through a third party service?

I'm glad they're adding this since this will help flesh out the Steam OS a bit more. However I can't really see myself using this much. I primarily listen to music through Spotify (laptop or iPod) or I use my iPod plugged into a speaker to listen to the music I own.

I have iTunes but I only ever load it up when I need to sync my iPod to it.

I think it's less about having their own console, and more about getting out from under Windows, which is more or less where everything is going.

Do you have a link? I'm assuming Origin is like Steam, I've never heard of it.

Following the link, I see that The Sims 4 is read for pre-order. Thanks for posting the video, I think it's funny.

Ok, I'm downloading. I found Travis on there, but not you, Jon.

Some bastard out there took the name whiteboyslim already, so I had to use my alternate handle: taion333.

I downloaded the Sims 2 yesterday and played it for a little bit last night. By a little bit I mean I completely lost track of time and didn't realize it was 2am when I finally went to sleep. Oops!

LOL, Tim. I downloaded mine last night, but it wasn't finished by 2am.

I found news about this, I just think it's cool that I found out about it here first and days before finding this article in my email: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2457728/free-game-alert-eas-giving-away-the-sims-2-after-ending-support-for-the-game.html#tk.nl_game

Peggle is another free game that's mentioned in the article I shared in my last comment. It's kind of fun, I've spent 7 hours playing it. It's kind of like pinball.

As for The Sims 2, I've spent 11 hours playing. I had a very long game play run with it a few days ago. It was fun, cool, and I wasn't really ready for it to be over, but I needed to go to bed. I've gone through the game's tutorials. I selected Belladonna Cove and installed every additional thing in that neighborhood, which means there's much more there to discover. I selected Chester Gieke and moved him into an apartment. I gave him a nice bonus of money with a cheat.

I eventually bought him a phone and a huge screen TV. I've been enjoying the Aspiration system and getting my Sim to do what he wants to accomplish during the day. I've also enjoyed the Aspiration rewards. I bought the very expensive Elixir of Life. Actually, I've bought two of them, which you can only buy with Aspiration points. I've had Chester finish one (you can drink it a few times) and started on another. So right now, he's a fresh adult, since the EoL takes age off of your Sim, age that accumulates with time.

I completed one of his original Aspirations by getting a job as a detective, but recently his Aspirations were to quit his job, so I did that. I'm still trying to accomplish those Aspirations, but I'm finding that it's not always easy as my Sim is often now in a bad mood and doesn't want to study. I hate when he gets whiny and annoying. Hahaha.

I don't think I've had any issues with the game at all. I'm actually surprised that I've gotten into it and have been enjoying it. That's always a great reward when getting a game free, especially one like The Sims which has a large collection of add-ons.

Anyone else still playing? If you want to connect with me on Origin, you should be able to find me easily as GregoPeck.

No, I'm going to look into that, thanks! Time is running out, Jon, "get with the program!" LOL

I wish I had that problem. Just keep in mind that the offer expires soon. I thought it was funny that I was playing Starbound and you were playing Earthbound.

Oh, I followed your link. I edited one file, copied it, and then pasted it into each other folder that contained the resolution configuration. There are a lot of folders in The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection because of all the add-ons. I was then able to set my resolution in the game to the max 1920X1200. I didn't notice any black bars on the side as the link mentioned. The game has looked good in every resolution I've played it in.

While playing today, my Sim, Chester, met a lady named Gina. They some how hit it off, went on a "dream date," got married, moved into a house, and are now expecting a baby.

Unfortunately, Gina died before or during giving birth to the baby, neither survived. Her ghost was seen by "the player" (not the Sim), her ghost was still pregnant. While disappointed, Chester continues to live on spending a lot of his time jogging and loving his black kitten named Bonkers.

Well, Chester started bringing a female friend home from work. Eventually, they flirted enough and became lovers. They got married, she moved in, and now they're expecting a baby. She is at the same stage of pregnancy as Chester's first wife, so I'm hoping she survives. It was weird, with the first wife, she was playing pool and just disappeared. I'm not sure why she died, but I think she was hungry at the time and might have starved to death.

Oh and Chester did finally see her ghost. I then decided to move the grave to another plot in the community where they had their honeymoon.

Hahahaha. I was able to click on the urn and select "move grave." When doing that, you can decide to move it to a community lot, so I chose the place where they went on vacation after they married, which is not a cemetery.

Having a character named Chester (game created), I thought of Linkin Park's lead singer. So, i named the new baby boy, Linkin. He's a toddler now.

I found out that I could try to resurrect Chester's first wife, but that requires one of the career rewards in the Paranormal career field. Apparently with the Resurrect-O-Nomitron, there's a chance that the dead person may come back ill, as a zombie, or not at all. Chester got over that first loss rather gracefully, so I probably won't explore the resurrection option. His life aspiration is to be a criminal mastermind, so he's working in the Criminal career path.

Linkin is now a teen! Oh and the nanny died, Chester watched her die. She was seated on a couch and wouldn't move and I couldn't get my character to interact with her. I figured out that the huge-screen TV was in the way. Once I moved it, she passed out and died on the floor, Chester watched the Grim Reaper take her away, and then he moved her grave to Central Park.

I'm thinking of sending Linkin off to college, although he's been a horrible student.

Dang, there are a lot of people dying around Chester. Maybe his son should go off to college. It might be safer for him there.

Not much to update on my own Sims' progress. I made 4 new Sims based (loosely) off of my wife, myself, and two of our friends (gotta have friends for my sims!) and took all four of them through college together. I'm going to try apartment life next and start working towards trying out all the vacation stuff since I've never played those expansions before.

Linkin went to college and has received a "D" for three semesters now. I'm going to have to research how to get a better grade. I've had him write term papers and do assignments often, but he still fails. Tim, perhaps you've mastered the college life. Apartment life is what Chester started out with.

Chester isn't guilty for the death of the nanny, that was "the player's fault." Haha. I also forgot to mention that once lightning struck a tree and it caught fire. There seems to be a never-ending flame in the tree now. I had Ratna, Chester's wife, call the fire department, but they were fined instead, apparently the large fire had already extinguished. They did have to call the exterminator as a couple of groups of roaches appeared outside near the trash can.

Well, I'm glad you guys are entertained. Linkin still struggles through college, he can't seem to earn a passing grade. Perhaps we sent him to college too soon.

Actually, he got a job in the Musical career path, since his life-long aspiration includes being in the Entertainment business. He actually has fun at his job!

Bonkers, the first family cat, has died. His grave was moved to Central Park West. Alegra, a new kitten, and Jake, a puppy, were adopted. After getting expelled from college, Linkin temporarily moved in with his parents. He soon moved into his own place right next door.

Linkin got married, he and his wife had a baby boy, Vincenzo. Afterwards, Chester and Ratna had a baby boy, Toby. I named the boys after a character in the book series I'm currently reading. Ratna's life long aspiration is to marry off 6 children. She is now down to 5 left to marry off. I'm not sure if she'll accomplish this goal, but we shall see.

Meanwhile, Toby has grown into a kid and is now controllable. I didn't realize this when Linkin grew of the age. Perhaps that's why he did horribly in school. Hopefully, Toby will have a better childhood and do well in school.

You need to be a pretty big nerd to read Mario comic books...

http://i.imgur.com/aHVlAUw.jpg

A word of advice though. Comics are kind of hard to read as a bed time story for kids. There's usually a lot of onomatopoeia and trying to read it all out loud gets kind of awkward after awhile.

Travis, thanks for that Starbound update! I've apparently been out of the loop.