The Sims 3 Racks Up Over 180,000 Downloads Prior To Release 187
Bloomberg reports that pirated versions of EA's The Sims 3 were downloaded over 180,000 times between May 18 and May 21. The game will not be officially released until June 2nd, and it does not make use of SecuROM for DRM. Quoting:
"That outpaces the 400,000 downloads over three weeks for Electronic Arts' Spore, the most-pirated game of 2008. ... Copies of the game available on file-sharing Web sites aren't the full version, Electronic Arts said. 'The pirated version is a buggy, pre-final build of the game,' Holly Rockwood, a company spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. 'It's not the full game. Half the world — an entire city — is missing from the pirated copy.'"
Propered (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, the original release (referred to in TFS, which was beta code) was propered earlier this week [rlslog.net] - the "current" pirated release is the RTM code.
Re:It just goes to show... (Score:5, Informative)
A few free downloadable content packs that would require online registration is all that's needed to make a number of customers out of pirates. It works for Stardock.
Actually, EA is doing exactly this with The Sims 3. When you register your game as legitly bought you get 1000 free points to download more stuff from their item store. So you get the free downloadable content there aswell.
Re:What? (Score:3, Informative)
The post has disappeared from EA's site, but
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.
Google's cache [74.125.155.132]
Re:Let's be honest... (Score:3, Informative)
In previous Sims you could, but had to be roundabout about it: for example, set the kitchen on fire so they'll burn, don't buy any food and let them starve, keep them from sleeping and then have them take a swim so they'll fall asleep in the pool. Or just sell the pool ladders while they're there >:). In Sims 2, you could also keep them from getting into their coffin if they're vampires, so they'll die from sunburn. Or the ever-popular trick of selling the only door of the room they're in, thus imprisoning them inside and letting them starve.
But no, you can't blow their brains out :(. This is a family-oriented game of wholesome entertainment, after all. So any teenager Sim who wants the orphan scholarship for university needs to be clever about killing their parents.
Sadly, no. Sims 2 had the "romance" life goal of fucking as many people as possible for aspiration points, thought. That was pretty ballsy of EA, now that I think of it, especially since all Sims are bisexual. It wouldn't be that big of a stretch to go from nymphomania to zoophilia.
No, the engine couldn't handle it. But Sims set in the world of Fallout would be really, really cool :). So would a fantasy world, too.
Re:What? (Score:3, Informative)
There are a number of reasons why many will pirate it now. For starters, the game is obviously done and is sitting at stores waiting for June 2nd. Due to differences between The Sims 2 and 3 in terms of gameplay, people will want to start experimenting with it early to see if they even want to pay the money for the game. You have those who paid early for the Feb launch, and have lost those deposits(the pre-order coupon they got with their pre-order expired in April).
The list goes on and on, but the primary reason is you have a rabid fan base who really wants to play the new game, and don't want to be forced to wait until release. Many/most of these will not cancel their pre-order and look forward to their legal copy, so from that perspective, these are people who want what they have paid for or will be paying for in the next week. If you don't care, then of course it is easy to say people should wait, but if you are going to pay for it anyway, why NOT get it a few days early?
For the younger players, what is better to do, homework?
Re:What? (Score:3, Informative)
A high BMI would give you more mass to haul out of the pool, but it would also make most of that mass much more buoyant. It probably evens out in the end.
Having experienced a broad range in my life I have to say that no, it doesn't. Having more surface area means that you have more drag, too. It's the muscles that get you out of the pool.