The Shadow kn- I mean, the Spector knows... (or, In hindsight, I'm all OVER the links in this one)
The KF-to-tha-Monkizzy got me punted across the internet and into the lap of Wonderland, where I saw a very (VERY) long transcript of one of the panels at GDC. It's about what's wrong with the gaming industry today, and holy crap is Warren Spector on the money. Not only can he make games like Deus Ex, System Shock and Ultima Underworld, all of which are very fine, but he knows what's going on and how to fix it:

We’re the only medium that lacks an alternate distribution system. All we have is boxed games sold at retail. This is changing a little. But think about our competition for your entertainment dollar. First run, broadcast, reruns, DVDs.. you name it. hardback, paperback, e-book. Theatre release, pay-per-view, video, DVD. We put our thing on the shelf at Wal-Mart, it sells or it doesn’t, and OMG you just blew 10m dollars. The publishers not respecting developers, this is not the problem. We have a flawed distribution model.

I've said it before: say what you will about Valve and their draconian rule of their games, but Steam changes everything. Mr. Spector and I aren't the only ones that think things should change. Safety Monkey just exploded off a little rant on this too, in response to Microsoft's announcement of the assine Tray and Play:

... there's always some sort of stupid improperly-functioning piracy protection program that's doing its damnedest to keep me from playing the game I paid for in a timely manner. I am constantly downloading CD cracks for games I legally own in a desperate attempt to get at the game within. When a game like Half Life 2 or GalCiv comes out that is available via download instead of retail purchase, I leap at it with all the vigor available to me. What I am getting at here, in case you had not picked it up, is that not only do I not want to stream games off a disc on my PC, I want PC game publishers to get rid of the goddamn disc altogether. Despite what any [Tray and Play] cronies might be saying, my optical drive is absolutely the weak point in my system, and to suggest that the way of the future is to rely on these and not things like SATA or RAID arrays smacks of delusion to me. In my perfect world, games would be available for purchase online, I would be able to download the content I need in a relatively speedy manner using some form of BitTorrent-esque technology, and I would never have to touch one of those filthy discs again.

Yet again, we have the incumbent monolith of the publishing industry, lumbering along still thinking it's the Paleolithic, when the asteroid has already hit the ground. Am I a bad person for sitting here waiting for them to fall over of asphyxiation? (Not that I care, of course. It's fun.)  ¶ 9:13 p.m.