Game Distribution and the 'Idiocy' of DRM 271
In light of the increased focus on the DRM controversy in recent days, Ars Technica did an interview with execs from CD Projekt's Good Old Games about where the problems are with current DRM implementation. "For me, the idiocy of those protection solutions shows how far from reality and from customers a lot of executives at big companies can be. You don't have to be a genius to check the internet and see all the pros and cons of those actions." Penny Arcade is also running a three-part series on DRM from game journalists Brian Crecente and Chris Remo. Crecente talks about how some companies are making progress in developing acceptable DRM, and some aren't. Remo recommends against a trend of overreaction to minor gripes.
Peeny Arcade (Score:4, Informative)
"Penny Arcade is also running a two-part series on DRM from game journalists Brian Crecente and Chris Remo."
It's a three part series, only two parts are up. The third will be up on Monday.
Re:First thing I do with every game I buy. . . (Score:5, Informative)
I bought Far Cry, I had to crack it to play it. I bought Doom 3, I had to crack it to play it. I've also had problems with overzealous measures such as the one used in Operation Flashpoint activating and making the game unplayable. Guess who didn't have any problems? That's right, the people who pirated them! Great job retards.
Nowadays I don't even bother trying to run a game without cracking it first. There's no point - the cracked version is almost always superior.
Re:First thing I do with every game I buy. . . (Score:2, Informative)
Everyone is all spouting off about how iTunes music will suddenly stop working if Apple decides to pull the plug when in actuality your iTunes install is authorized once, cached and is never reauthed again. I can then backup that authorization file, deauth iTunes and replace the the file and play my music for as long as I like.
Re:First thing I do with every game I buy. . . (Score:5, Informative)
I'm confused as to what the hell you're talking about because the quote is correct. Spore now gives you 5 activations. If you activate once on your laptop and reinstall it still counts as one activation because it's the same PC. Essentially it lets you install it on 5 unique PCs.
Re:First thing I do with every game I buy. . . (Score:3, Informative)
Well then perhaps you should go back to the forums because that is where I get my information from. It's just that mine isn't three weeks old.
Re:First thing I do with every game I buy. . . (Score:3, Informative)
Funny that you mention that... Wal*Mart is going to deactivate their DRM servers. [boingboing.net] People who bought music from them have about a month now to jump through some hoops, or lose it all.