Thinking on subscription gaming services and particularly the comment about what would happen if Steam came out with its own console, I had a thought:
What if said console had the explicit capability of burning and even stamping DVDs with logos of the game(s) that you own in Steam? You can then play from that disk or even take it with you elsewhere.
The disk is hard-written with your account information, asking for your Steam logon when you load it up on a machine that isn't logged onto the internet with your account info to confirm you are who you say you are. Off the top of my head, I think public-key encryption could be used to make sure that the disk itself never needs to have your logon info in a form that's "sniffable" by somebody who steals your disks. I'm not positive on this, though; I'm writing this as a quick idea rather than something deeply thought-out.
It would kill "right of first sale," but Steam doesn't really support that well anyway. A secondary buyer would find the fact that he's addressed by the original owner's name in most places mildly irritating, too, I'm sure. What would be a convenient feature that makes all the owner's preference settings pop into place for Steam while the disk is in use would be another irritant to a thief or a "black market" purchaser. Thus, there would be no need to restrict the printing and burning of these DVDs. Lose one? Print another...or just use it off your HD. Whatever floats your boat. You're rarely if ever successfully pirating.
It would still leave you free to really say you own your games, even if you lack space on the console's hard drive to save them all and even if Steam were to go out of business or the internet itself were to be shut down.
