View Poll Results: Will "Spore-like" DRM kill PC gaming?
Yes
16
44.44%
No
20
55.56%
Voters: 36. You may not vote on this poll
Will DRM like the one with Spore and Crysis Warhead kill PC gaming?
09-17-08, 09:32 PM
#26
DVD Talk Legend
I think people can deal with DRM as long as the process is mostly invisible to them. Buying multiple retail games with multiple forms of DRM is where I see an issue, but I can agree not for everyone.
As far as PC hardware I would say it has stabilized greatly. I was playing FEAR and Bioshock with no trouble on my single core processor and 2 year old video card. Crysis is the only recent game that tried to push things way past 360 graphics. I recently had to buy a new PC after my 2 year old rig I built myself (I really should have spent more on that motherboard) had a motherboard failure and I decided it was time to move past it and its old AGP card. For $1200 from Dell I picked up a quad core with dual 9800GT cards and I don't see myself needing to upgrade this one (baring another hardware failure) for a long time. Games a year or two from now may require me to lower the settings, but I had no issues playing Bioshock and FEAR on medium to medium high settings.
09-18-08, 05:22 AM
#27
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Plus, for all the back and forth regarding backwards compatibility with the PS3 and 360, for the most part games a few years old can still be run on newer systems which means a lot of classics can remain playable down the line, with some needing just some slight tweaking.
It certainly makes the games library a lot larger when you can still play games from the late 90's.
It certainly makes the games library a lot larger when you can still play games from the late 90's.
I wish there was a way to make everyone play Freedom Force, a personal favorite of mine. For as much as I enjoyed Ultimate Alliance/X-men Legends/ and the like, Freedom Force BLOWS those games away. The only reason why people didn't play it was because it didn't have a license.
Last edited by boredsilly; 09-18-08 at 05:25 AM.
09-18-08, 12:51 PM
#28
DVD Talk Godfather
I don't disagree with the merits of Steam, as it's turned into an awesome service. But honestly, I remember there being a pretty big stink about it as well since it pretty much ushered in digital distribution of games.
09-18-08, 05:57 PM
#29
DVD Talk Limited Edition
I don't do any DRM that involves calling home to the mothership.
Imagine if my copy of Baldur's Gate II needed to call home on the internet...oh wait...no more Black Isle Studios, the D&D license is owned by Atari now, Interplay was in and out of business...
Here's what happened to Interplay via wikipedia:
Wow, wouldn't it be great to have a game that needed to call home to them! Tough luck for me.
I refuse to buy any games that have this new x number of installs B.S., and I refuse to buy content that has DRM that needs authentication over the internet. Praising the itunes/Steam model seems to be pretty common, but I won't put up with that either.
I will barely put up with Safedisc and the like (I eventually end up using the noCD crack for games I own, thanks hackers!).
Imagine if my copy of Baldur's Gate II needed to call home on the internet...oh wait...no more Black Isle Studios, the D&D license is owned by Atari now, Interplay was in and out of business...
Here's what happened to Interplay via wikipedia:
Shutdown
In 2004, the company was given an eviction notice by its landlord for non-payment of rent, and was briefly shut down by the California government for non-payment of workers' paychecks. This, combined with sketchy and sporadic information from Interplay representatives, led many in the game industry to speculate that Interplay had shut down. In fact, the company relocated to a small office and continued to operate, issuing occasional press releases about new publishing deals or the sale of an IP to another publisher. The company's web site shut down around this time.
In 2004, the company was given an eviction notice by its landlord for non-payment of rent, and was briefly shut down by the California government for non-payment of workers' paychecks. This, combined with sketchy and sporadic information from Interplay representatives, led many in the game industry to speculate that Interplay had shut down. In fact, the company relocated to a small office and continued to operate, issuing occasional press releases about new publishing deals or the sale of an IP to another publisher. The company's web site shut down around this time.
I refuse to buy any games that have this new x number of installs B.S., and I refuse to buy content that has DRM that needs authentication over the internet. Praising the itunes/Steam model seems to be pretty common, but I won't put up with that either.
I will barely put up with Safedisc and the like (I eventually end up using the noCD crack for games I own, thanks hackers!).
09-18-08, 11:32 PM
#30
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
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PC gaming has been dead for a long time as far as I'm concerned.
Not worth the hassle, consoles have caught up and surpassed the PC IMO.
Of course, it helps that I'm that into the kinds of games that are better on PC...
Not worth the hassle, consoles have caught up and surpassed the PC IMO.
Of course, it helps that I'm that into the kinds of games that are better on PC...
09-19-08, 11:14 AM
#31
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Steam is the way to go. People bitched about it when it first happened because there were problems with the service... noone knew exactly what it was going to be like... and the big thing I think. Is that it dramatically changed how you could play an existing up to date game of halflife..
But now steam is perfect. I love being able to bring my games up on basically any computer. I just wish the consoles would have a system as smooth as steam. 360 is closest but you have to carry around a memory card with your profile or suffer through those horrendously long profile downloads. PS3 is reasonable, but I think you have a limit to how many times you can download a game on different systems. Wii is just awful, I dont think you can do anything with downloaded games.
But now steam is perfect. I love being able to bring my games up on basically any computer. I just wish the consoles would have a system as smooth as steam. 360 is closest but you have to carry around a memory card with your profile or suffer through those horrendously long profile downloads. PS3 is reasonable, but I think you have a limit to how many times you can download a game on different systems. Wii is just awful, I dont think you can do anything with downloaded games.
09-20-08, 12:25 PM
#32
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Doesn't help, for sure. I was going to buy Spore until I found out about this and now I refuse. Sure, I'm only one person, but if there is one, there is more with the same viewpoint.
09-20-08, 12:58 PM
#33
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That is the only reason I didn't buy it. I'm am really into the creating thing but screw it. Littlebig planet comes out soon I can go crazy on that.
09-20-08, 02:42 PM
#34
DVD Talk Hero
Once I found out what it was, I felt the same way. Big deal if I can only install three times before calling EA. I rarely install games twice let alone three times.
The majority of those illegal downloads were people that actually bought the game and used their legit key with a pirated version. So it's win-win.
The majority of those illegal downloads were people that actually bought the game and used their legit key with a pirated version. So it's win-win.
09-20-08, 06:36 PM
#35
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I shudder to think of the number of times people have to reinstall their system due to trojan/virus threats defective hardware, bad installs ect ect.
with no assurance that in 5 years they'll let you activate again it basically means if you buy it you must download the cracked exe to ensure you'll be able to play it when you want to..
with no assurance that in 5 years they'll let you activate again it basically means if you buy it you must download the cracked exe to ensure you'll be able to play it when you want to..
09-22-08, 09:40 AM
#36
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Exactly. I like to own my games - not pirate them. But it was the game publishers that taught me how to do shady stuff so I could circumvent their ridiculous DRM just to play the game I legitimately purchased!
09-22-08, 10:41 AM
#38
DVD Talk Hero
This kind of stuff sucks, but really, people blow everything out of proportion.
09-24-08, 01:20 AM
#39
DVD Talk Reviewer
Thread Starter
Talk about Spore's DRM on the official formus; get banned from the game.
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54883
EA continues to shoot themselves in the foot over this whole issue.
I can understand the obvious problems if people were talking about breaking the DRM, but to ban any discussion of it and go as far as to ban their game accounts is pure idiocy.
EA continues to shoot themselves in the foot over this whole issue.
I can understand the obvious problems if people were talking about breaking the DRM, but to ban any discussion of it and go as far as to ban their game accounts is pure idiocy.
09-24-08, 01:32 AM
#40
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
While that is completely absurd, don't you think it's a topic that could have been covered in your own previous Spore DRM thread?
09-24-08, 10:07 AM
#41
DVD Talk Godfather
Seems like an exaggeration of what would really get you banned. I doubt anyone actually would or have got banned just for mentioning it, rather those who continue to harp over and over about it. In that case, good riddance.
09-25-08, 12:21 AM
#43
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09-25-08, 12:59 AM
#44
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Spore Class Action Lawsuit Filed
Despite making a recent concession to consumers, the Spore DRM saga doesn't seem likely to stop vexing publisher Electronic Arts any time soon.
In the latest development, Courthouse News Service reports that a class action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court. From the CNS story:
Copy of the lawsuit here.
Despite making a recent concession to consumers, the Spore DRM saga doesn't seem likely to stop vexing publisher Electronic Arts any time soon.
In the latest development, Courthouse News Service reports that a class action lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court. From the CNS story:
Electronic Arts, a leading maker of computer games, defrauds consumers through its "Spore" game, which "completely wipes their hard drive" and replaces it with an undisclosed program that prevents the computer from operating under some circumstances and disrupts hardware operations, a class action claims in Federal Court.
The class claims that "Spore," a virtual reality simulation game, contains "a second, undisclosed program" called SecuROM, a "form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for computer games."
Consumers are not warned about the program, which is installed without notice and cannot be uninstalled, even if the uninstall Spore, the complaint states. The secret SecuROM program is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations," the complaint states.
The class claims that "Spore," a virtual reality simulation game, contains "a second, undisclosed program" called SecuROM, a "form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for computer games."
Consumers are not warned about the program, which is installed without notice and cannot be uninstalled, even if the uninstall Spore, the complaint states. The secret SecuROM program is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations," the complaint states.
