Scott Miller used to praise online distribution of games, and Triton as the future king of the hill. I guess he was a bit hasty: Triton has apparently shut down operations, and left Prey (and their other games) buyers out in the cold.

This highlights the biggest issue with Digital Rights Management, online distribution, and the concept of consumers having to buy not only the goods, but the right to use them: to what extent should the law bend to protect the sellers, rather than the buyers? When people wondered aloud about their ability to play Half-Life 2 in the future, if Valve and Steam ever went tits up, the reply was "that wouldn’t happen, and if it did, they would prepare a solution in advance." Well, if you want to delude yourself into thinking that Valve can never disappear, let’s see how that works out for companies that are not as rock solid.

For now, like it or not, illegal copies of Prey are a safer way to play the game than a number of legally purchased copies. As someone else put it: "when you make common behaviour illegal, you turn common customers into criminals." Should companies be required to provide guarantees if they want to sell a service or a license, rather than a finished product?

Interesting times.

Edit: 3D Realms has announced that they will mail boxed copies of the game to everyone who bought the game through Triton. A good conclusion to this particular episode, but the questions still stand.