Gamasutra Member Blogs: From Game Culture To PC Piracy

In highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our bloggers write about diverse topics, including the cultural relevance of games, pre-release downloadable content, and an analysis of PC piracy. Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top member blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Member Blogs - The Culture Of Video Games (Martin Avenue) Asserting that games are culturally relevant enough to deserve critical discussion, Martin Avenue discusses how the themes portrayed in games represent the physiological disposition of our time, with Deus Ex and Fallout 3 as noteworthy examples. - Is Your Game Really Yours? (Vanessa Laniawe) Buying and selling used games is a key element of the game market and greatly helps consumers, though Vanessa Laniawe warns that a recent U.S. court decision could prevent this practice in the future. - Pre-Release DLC And Improving Brand Identity (Michael Vaughn Green) Michael Vaughn Green takes a look at pre-release downloadable content for upcoming titles, and evaluates several recent examples of this budding promotional strategy. - Slaying The Dragon (Dan Felder) Dan Felder discusses how indie developers can compete with big publishers, and encourages them to create completely new ideas rather than to reuse concepts from other successful games. - What Do Torrents Statistics For PC Games Look Like? (James Grimshaw) James Grimshaw discusses the implications of PC piracy, and presents some rough figures that outline just how much money publishers could be losing to pirates.