Posts Tagged ‘drm’
Eidos includes glitch in Batman: Arkham Asylum to thwart pirates
Now here’s an idea developers are sure to adopt — It seems that a user by the name of Chesirec_the_cat recently posted on the Batman: Arkham Asylum PC forums, expressing his concern that he could not use Batman’s glide at a part of the game thus leading to his continous death.
Well, it forum moderator Keir replied letting this user know that Eidos put the glitch into the game intentionally so those who pirated the game could not play through the entire thing. He then went on to say, “It’s not a bug in the game’s code, it’s a bug in your moral code.”
So, EA are you listening? This seems like the best alternative to DRM as it’s been proven no one likes that, right?
via maxconsole
Ubisoft to go head-to-head with piracy this year
Piracy has been an issue for a long time. Even before Napster was made mainstream people were recording songs off the radio and selling bootleg copies. Well, the game industry is no different and one company in particular has been hurtin’ especially bad; Ubisoft.
It seems that the publisher is so fed up with piracy that they have plans to combat the issue with their own firepower. Yves Guillemot, head of Ubisoft, speaks of the piracy problem:
“Altogether on console, the piracy is low. On the PC the piracy is quite a lot. We are working on a tool that would allow us to decrease that on the PC starting next year and probably one game this year.”
So what do they have cookin’ over at Ubisoft? Let’s hope they aren’t getting ideas from EA as we saw how well that was recieved with Spore.
C&C 4 needs internet connection to work
Here’s something that is sure to piss a few people off — Community Leader APOC has recently said that you will need to have a constant internet connection to play Command & Conquer 4:
“As of right now, you need to be online all the time to play C&C 4. This is primarily due to our “player progression” feature so everything can be tracked. C&C 4 is not an MMO in the sense of World of Warcraft, but conceptually it has similar principles for being online all the time. While some may be taken aback by this, we’ve been testing this feature internally with all of our world-wide markets.”
He then goes on to point out that this won’t be a big deal as it won’t require high-speed connections and won’t cause any lag in single-player gameplay. Hell, you can even use one an oldschool 56k connection because who needs phone calls, anyways?
ThatVideoGameBlog points out that this seems eerily like a ploy to hide the fact that EA will use a constant internet connection as a way to prevent piracy rather than using DRM.
EA: No DRM for Sims 3
Electronic Arts received some heavy criticism for using digital rights management software for Spore. The SecuROM software made it so that the game could only be authenticated up to a total of three times, which was later raised to five.
In response to all of the negative feedback, EA has decided to stick to the old fashioned key code authentication system for the Sims 3.
“To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed,” said executive producer Rod Humble. “We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorisation server access in the distant future.”
The Sims 3 will be out June 2, 2009 in North America, and June 5, 2009 in Europe and Australia. It will be available for the PC, Mac OS X, iPhone, and other mobile devices.
Read (Eurogamer)
The Sims 3 to Feature Simple DRM
Simplifying things down for its potentially casual userbase, The Sims label head Rod Humble announced on the official Sims website that The Sims 3 will feature very simple copy protection with no online activation. Here’s the scoop:
The game will have disc-based copy protection – there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed.
We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorization server access in the distant future.
EA has been criticized before for using – what people call – “draconian” DRM in their games. Spore is an example – it used online activation initially that allowed owners to install the game three times before having to contact EA.
World of Goo Creator Thinks DRM is a Waste of Time
DRM has been the gamer’s bane for a long time – those who pirate quite obviously face difficulties, and even those who don’t face severe problems.
2D Boy co-founder and World of Goo co-creator Ron Caramel believes that utilizing digital rights management as a means to prevent piracy is a “waste of time” and developers just “end up giving the DRM provider money.”
“Anything that is of interest gets cracked, and the cracked version ends up having a better user experience than the legit version because you don’t have to input in some 32-character serial number,” he quite simply stated.
DRM doesn’t exactly pose a threat to pirates anymore, seeing as how games are cracked and available on P2P sites within hours of release.
"We don’t see the point in having DRM," he added. "Anybody who wants the game is likely to find it on BitTorrent sites. It’s going to get cracked even with DRM, it’s going to be available very quickly."
EA to Launch DRM-Free Games via Steam Platform
Go get you Steam platform ready. Electronic Arts is going to use the platform to release its future game. And there’s a nice twist to that too! EA will launch games free of DRM over Steam. The company is ready to go to the next level of saving games. No more digital rights management issues for the true gamers. You’d still have to pay to play the games though!
The game available through Valve’s Steam are Spore, Mass Effect, Crysis and FIFA Manager 09. EA will launch Mirror’s Edge and Dead Space soon.
via arstechnica
Prince of Persia Has No DRM
Going the opposite way of most other publishers, Ubisoft has revealed that the retail PC version of Prince of Persia, which is to be released to stores this week, is entirely devoid of any form of DRM or copy-protection. This was disclosed by Ubisoft community manager Chris Easton.
“A lot of people complain that DRM is what forces people to pirate games but as PoP PC has no DRM we’ll see how truthful people actually are,” wrote Easton. “Not very, I imagine.”
Easton noted that only the physical retail copies of the game will be devoid of DRM.
Ubisoft is notorious for including draconian DRM in its games, including Assassins Creedfor which it was highly criticized because it had a DRM that apparently phoned home.
Spore #1 Most Pirated Title
While many were complaining about the rather harsh DRM methods implemented to keep people from pirating Spore, somewhere near two million people were doing just that. According to download data collected from peer-to-peer downloading program BitTorrent, Spore was downloaded over 1,700,000 times this year.
Sadly for Maxis not only do the number of pirated downloads approach the total number of copies sold (over two million), The Sims 2 is second on the list, Unfortunately many surmise that the vast amount of Spore piracy is due to the DRM they instituted on the extremely anticipated game.
While many question the future of PC gaming given the extremely high rates of piracy for these and other games, the continued success of World of Warcraft and other MMOs shows that the future of PC gaming is likely in that genre, given that the constant online access includes whatever DRM measures are necessary.
GTA 4 Using SecuROM DRM, Rockstar Addresses Complaints
Pissing off many gamers, Rockstar has revealed that the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV will make use of the oft-criticized SecuROM copy protection. However, some controversial features, such as install limits, won’t be utilized.
“SecuROM is the most effective form of disc based copy protection and allows us to manage authenticity on a global level for Grand Theft Auto IV,” said the developer.
As expected, the game will require a one-time activation via the Internet and the disc of the game has to be kept in the drive while you play.
While the retail physical version won’t have any install limits, digital download vendors may place their own installation limit.
Interestingly, the studio noted that those who crack and play the game will have their game experiences changed, ranging from “comical to game-progress-halting changes.”
GTA 4 is due out December 2 on PC.
EA Slapped With Two More DRM Lawsuits
The DRM saga continues, as Electronic Arts has been slapped with two more lawsuits related to its use of SecuROM DRM technology, this time in relation to The Sims 2 Bon Voyage and Spore Creature Creator.
One Richard Eldridge of Pennsylvania is suing the publisher over undisclosed installation of the DRM software after installing a demo version of Spore Creator Creator. Here’s a bit from his suit:
The inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed constitutes a major violation of computer owners’ absolute right to control what does and what does not get loaded onto their computers, and how their computers shall be used…
The other suit, filed by Dianna Cortez of Missouri, cites EA for “immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous” conduct for installing the DRM which caused problems on the user’s computer.
Hopefully, this will lead to nonsense-DRM being phased out, making place for smarter software and maybe a DRM-less future.
Wright Talks Spore DRM
The ugly controversy over Spore’s DRM has had people talking, and Will Wright, the game’s creator, is finally one of them. Kotaku asked what he thought about the whole situation:
It was something I probably should have tuned into more. It was a corporate decision to go with DRM on Spore. They had a plan and the parameters, but now we’re allowing more authentications and working with players to de-authenticate which makes it more in line like an iTunes. I think one of the most valid concerns about it was you could only install it so many times. For most players it’s not an issue, it’s a pretty small percentage, but some people do like wiping their hard disk and installing it 20 times or they want to play it 10 years later.
A sensible man, I might add. Anyways, when asked where to go from here, Wright commented that the whole dynamic of game commerce will eventually shift online. He cited Battlefield Heroes as an example, noting how they will need to monetize in Asian markets, among other things.
Far Cry 2 has SecuROM DRM
Keeping on the DRM path, the Far Cry 2 forums notes that the game will come with DRM, with a subsequent post by a Ubi forum manager confirming the use of SecuROM DRM indicated on the French Ubisoft shop.
The DRM will allow five activations on 3 separate computers. Interestingly, uninstalling the game “refunds” an activation so long as you complete proper uninstall. Ubisoft hopes to support the fans by allowing additional activations and assures that you’ll always be able to play the game, be it in the far future.
EA CEO on DRM Controversy
DRM is something that everybody hates. And that includes EA chief John Riccitiello.
"I personally don’t like DRM,” he said. “It interrupts the user experience. We would like to get around that. But there is this problem called piracy out there.”
Expressing his opinion that he recent Spore DRM outcry was blown out of proportion by a minority of activits, he noted that EA is still “working out the kinks.” He added that 99.8 percent of the users wouldn’t notice the DRM, saying that the .2 percent unfairly “launched a cabal online to protest against it.”
Now, if Mr. Riccitiello really hates DRM that much, why don’t they just get rid of it? Oh, piracy, I see. Damn pirates!
Publishers Scared of Going DRM-free
The gaming industry sure loves its DRM, unlike that of the recent trend in the music industry. CD Projekt’s Good Old Games digital distribution service, which is set to sell retro games without any form of DRM, is having a tough time convincing publishers to join the platform.
"We’re trying to convince [publishers] there is nothing to be afraid of," said studio CEO Michael Kicinski. "DRM-free, that is something they are really scared of, but on the other hand we can say ‘all of those games are available pirated widely so it’s better to sell them for small money than make the customer’s life difficult and get some more revenues.’"
CD Projekt is known best for The Witcher, but is currently focusing on launching the GOG service which will offer cheap, Vista-friendly versions of old games such as FreeSpace and Fallout.
"DRM makes customer’s lives too complicated, and this is usually because of some corporate ideas, policies and trying to be smart, too smart, in how to get customers and how to keep them and no let them go somewhere else. We are believers in the free market and bringing freedom to customers."