Open question:
Is there a conclusive list of games exclusive to Steam anywhere on the 'net?

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1712878

http://www.drmdatabase.net/database/steamworks-games

but not any conclusive list that I can find at a glance...

Thanks - I tried google'ing for such a list but couldn't find much.

The second link (drmdatabase) is giving me problems, though; it refuses to load the spreadsheet in a frame ('cause of the https, so I probably only have to change the config in IE), and when opened in a new window/tab, the spreadssheet doesn't show any content.

In the second link I take it that every game not listed with "(only STEAM version)" is exclusive to Steam. That's close enough for me - thanks again =)

EDIT:
Correction, the list in the second link can't be understood that way - Alan Wake's American Nightmare for instance is not listed with "(only STEAM version)", yet it's available here on GOG.. The search continues..

Could you elaborate? I don't understand the difference.

Everything that isn't allowed but also not punished with criminal laws. Quite a lot of stuff if you think about it.

Eg. The possession of Marijuana is illegal in most countries, but you don't get charged for it (smaller amounts).

Piracy would still be illegal, as your copy is not covered by a license. But you would also not get punished with criminal laws. Any civil litigation would still be possible, as it is illegal. But pretty much pointless as there would be no ground for damages and any unjust enrichment claim would be as high as if you bought the license (20$).

I'm not going to read the program of the PiratenPartei, my German is not that good, but I think we can make some assumptions about a party that calls itself PIRATE Party, can't we?

Anyway, the original point I wanted to make about SimonG doesn't hold up too much now.

That they are seamen? Or maybe Somalians?
We can make a lot of assumptions, but that doesn't matter that much either, does it?
P.S. no worries about it, just a beef I have with assumptions, nothing personal :)
P.P.S. you should see my replies on people that claim torrents equal piracy, but let's keep this discussion a bit more civil than my usual replies :)

i don't boycott so much as i just don't accept their terms. i want ownership over the games usage license. i don't want to wait for authorization. Don't want forced updates. i want to install the games where i like. Want to be able install mods and have multiple installations for said mods and tweaks. Don't want to lose access to games when i don't have the net. i do want backups that i never have to worry about being able to install and play, regardless of how long i've been without the net, or what my current relationship is with the distributor. There is more.

As a gamer i was once stuck on the Civ series. With mods, Civ3 and Civ4 were the only games i needed. For many years. Civ5 was a guaranteed sale. i saved for it's release, and anxiously awaited it's arrival. Then came the news that steam was Required. So i researched steam. As extensively as required till i had made my mind up. i didn't want to miss the game. i dislike steams terms and method more than i loved the Civ series. Now 2k also had something to do with my dwindling interest in the franchise. But i was a slut and was gonna get the game anyhow. But i'm not so slutty that i'd accept steam.

Then i passed on Diablo and Fallout. Then more. Tried stardock but that game sucked and their replacement won't run on the same specs. Also stardock sold out it's customers to gamestop of all companies. i was pretty much done with the games industry at that point. Then i learned of GOG. Been here a year and bit more. Now i own, and have even just given away, more games that i owned in the previous ten years. No muss no fuss. The games are mine for as long as i can preserve the media they are stored on. i seek nobody's permission to play. i can run multiple installations. i can tweak the files and store the files in any which way i wish. Any updates are optional and installed at a time of my choosing. And i dig the company, so spending money on GOG has an added pleasure. And spending money on GOG IS altering the industry. People Are taking note. GOG rocks. This method is the future. i hope GOG is king.

I'm aware of its meaning, what I don't understand is how you believe a streamed video game can be reverse engineered. You have absolutely nothing of the game in your computer, no graphical assets, no sounds, no music, no code, no binary code, nothing. It's all in a server you cannot access, you just receive video. How do you crack a game in those conditions?

Well, you know what they say about ASSumptions ;-P.

The Pirate Party (which originated in Sweden) was created as a counterbalance to the increasingly restrictive and damaging policies of the right holders. In wake of Napster there has been a huge criminalization wave of piracy or suspected piracy. Additionally, laws that were never intended to be used against your average consumer were used for exactly that. Right holders knew that the battle against piracy was pretty much doomed and therefore resorted to scare tactics and legal exploitation.

The gaming industry was only a "remote battleground" at best, as the big players (Steam/EA) realized pretty fast that this was not the course to go. But movies and especially the music industry turned the insanity up to eleven.

I understand what you mean, but I don't think that's what Pirate Parties in general have in mind. And it would not even be a good idea, you are basically saying that authorities should be arbitrarily less zealous when applying anti-piracy laws, and arbitrariness is the last thing you want for a law to work well.

I haven't checked the German PP's ideas, and the ones of the Spanish one don't work right now, but the Swedish PP (the original one) clearly states that they want piracy, or copying and distributing digital content without the copyright (at least, non-commercially) to be legal (section Free Our Culture). I would assume the PiratenPartei agrees with this.

Most of the times I've reverse engineered stuff it's been through analysing output based on the input I give. It's a lot harder than cracking a game as you (in most cases anyway) have (most of) the code available for inspection.

A lot of puzzles in adventure games etc require you to reverse engineer some device or other; you flip switches and press buttons etc until you're able to figure out how input is connected to output. You haven't cracked the device but you have gain insight into its inner functionality.
Well, if the norwegian labour party is anything to go by, the Piraten Partei wouldn't be pro piracy.. =P

Yep!, the right-wing in Spain is called, "Popular Party", :P

That makes sense to me, as long as it's small scale piracy (not printing thousands of cpoies and tryign to pass them off as legit for instance). Punishment should fit the crime, and a "slap on the wrist" and a $20 "fine" is a befitting consequence of pirate a single game. Of course, it'd probably be $40, with $20 going to the IP holder and $20 going to the state as an "administration fee", but that's still ok - it should be high enough to discourage illegal activities, but within reasons.

With such a "system" the reported piracy numbers would probably become way more realistic - as it is today a lot of people "go all out", pirating everything they can without really intending to "consume" the song/game/movie/program. If you knew thee was a reasonably high risk of getting caught, yet if you kept it to reasonable amount you'd still be able to pay next month's rent, piracy would become lot less of a problem.

</my2cents>