You might be thinking too 'inside the box' - for instance, PhoneGap handles pretty much every smartphone OS out there, plus Mac and PC. SO HTML 5 + CSS + JavaScript + (insert JS datahandling concept of choice) has become a VERY viable way of handling a write once then compile for platfom(s) of choice. It's not a solution for every problem, of course - I somehow doubt writing RageHD in HTML 5 is going to be a choice anytime soon. But for 75% of apps out there, it's a good, solid solution. And PhoneGap is by no means the only one out there providing such a solution.

I'll agree with you - most of my development these days is web development and iPhone / iPad development, but I still dabble back into industrial automation from time to time. I like my Mac Mini, for instance - it's solid, it's managed to survive three major OS upgrades since 2006, and it's still solid after four years of constant use. I like the "it just works" philosophy - I can focus on software development, not hardware troubleshooting. Apple isn't perfect, but the OS and Hardware combination is pretty damned good. (I will say, though, that after four years I'm finally going to upgrade the little box. This one will sit on the shelf and be a media box.)

The 'cool factor' is problematic - you're dead on right about that. But I've not been one to care too much about what everyone else thinks is cool anway ;-)

Conceptually, cracking this game is trivial. If it's using a DNS lookup to find the server, edit hosts. so it just loops back to the local machine (127.0.0.1). Then, write app that simulates the DRM server to save games, etc. are handled locally. Of course, I say it's conceptually trivial - depending on some specifics, it could get a little more difficult, but definitely doable. Same goes for the idea of streaming textures, etc. that someone else suggested - it's all crackable, just like nearly every scheme. Heck, even having the game live online only can be overcome with the help of some really determined people - if you can set up a WoW server at home, then even streaming game content isn't viable as a copyprotection mechanism.