scotth266 said:
The_root_of_all_evil said:
Micro$oft, charging the world for daring to use it's products.
The problem with that line of thought is that, unlike with Steam, this isn't Valve's platform. They're using Microsoft's services to distribute content: therefore, shouldn't they have to pay for it?
Like when they're using Internet Explorer?
Well, the big problem is that they're not paying for it; The consumer is. In any other business, this would be seen as immoral at best, but Micro$oft are allowed to get away with it because of their alleged illegal monopoly.
(European Court made the accusation, not me.)
Besides, "Micro$oft" (fuck, I hate that dollar sign crap) already let them release one major update for free.
One good deed does not make a saint.
Let's look at an example:
Let's say Esso wants to give free fuel to all Ford customers at the Ford Stations, but Ford force Esso to charge for it.
Would this even be entertained as viable? On the console market it seems to be. Would Dell ever say to load Firefox you have to pay us if you own a Dell Computer, as do Mozilla? No.
That's Micro$oft basically placing V.A.T.(GST) on anyone that uses it's platform, and I believe that only the Government is allowed to do that.