EMA Suggests Point-Of-Sale Game Activation To Fight Piracy 244
Gamasutra reports on a set of standards (PDF) published by the Entertainment Merchants Association to promote the use of technology that would "disable" games and DVDs until they are activated when purchased. "The effort is codenamed 'Project Lazarus,' and the EMA says it's assembled a consortium of retailers, home video companies and video game publishers to see how easily such 'benefit denial technology' could be implemented, and to evaluate possible cost-benefit analyses. The initiative is similar to security tags used in clothing retail that spill ink on garments if they're forcibly removed, thereby destroying the item. In such a situation, shoplifting is discouraged by implementing a solution that only the retailer can remove at the point of sale."
NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:3, Insightful)
Make the games good, remove the damned drm and make them affordable. How is that difficult to understand?
I will buy games after a half year or so, so that there is a good no-cd crack and the price is about half. I can't afford $60+ on a game. $20, ya no problem. I'll wait for the price drop, but drm, shit that's a deal breaker, I won't even bother with a hacked version.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Call me lame and perhaps not a true enthusiast to the cause, but the DRM I've encountered hasn't really bothered me.
You've apparently not played any game that used StarForce.
LK
Re: (Score:2)
I played X3 which used StarForce, and it never gave me problems, despite its rumors as the DRM of Satan. What I saw of it was a dialog box showing up for 1-2 secs before game launch. Later I uninstalled the game though, because of ridiculous system requirements, and StarForce too. Yes, it can be uninstalled too.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Or odds were that the person didn't have a specialized and very-custom computer.
Try having more than one optical drive in your system, virtual or physical. Watch whichever's the secondary end up disabled or having the firmware totally bricked (Which starforce did)
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. Worms killed my DVD burner, and did so in a way that took me a month to figure out what happened. Biggest overall gaming disappointment ever, that version of Worms was...
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:5, Insightful)
To be fair, activation-requiring games haven't been around very long. You might have a different opinion in a few years when EA decides old games are past their "support date" and turns off the activation servers, or you've upgraded your PC a few times and run out of re-activations.
Many game publishers regularly shut down all online support for their games a few years after release. Services like Direct2Drive and the Microsoft Store limit your activations or remove downloads after a certain period of time. Steam is the exception in this case, as they explicitly state that they will never remove or disable your games, but many publishers insist on adding their own activation scheme on top of Steam's DRM.
Claiming that DRM hasn't bothered you reminds me of the optimist falling from the skyscraper: Every few floors he tells himself "I'm feeling fine, so far!"
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Everyone I know that got a burned copy of starcraft (and used the 00110011 code) eventually bought it. Why? It was worth the price to get on battle.net
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
CD keys being authenticated for online play has only been around a few years longer than activation, though. In many ways, it's exactly the sort of thing people have encouraged because a good online component does lead people to buy the game, if they want to play online. It extends the life of the product (really, who would still be playing Starcraft if it had been a single-player only title?). That system was basically the first step towards activation.
With activation, though, you have to have an internet
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
I wouldn't call what starcraft did activation.
Firstly there was no install limit or anything like that, the only thing it enforced was that each CD key could only be used for one login at a time.
Secondly it only affected play on battle.net which would go away anyway if blizzard took the servers offline. Activation extends this point of failure to single player and lan play.
Re: (Score:2)
Direct2Drive limits installs but if you call them up/email them they're pretty easy to work with; I've had two PC's stolen from my apartment (being robbed three times in 18 months is an experience to be had, I suggest everyone try it some time!) and when it does happen I just call Direct2Drive up and tell them what happened. They give me more activations and I'm on my way...it isn't the easiest thing in the world but at least I don't have the overhead of Steam...
I hate Steam and its memory leaks....leave i
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Really? If you 'rebuy' them, iTunes tells you you've already bought them and asks if you want to re-download them again for free. Plus, if you sync your iPhone or iPod Touch to your new computer, it will automatically copy all of your apps to your new computer. Lastly, when you copy your iTunes folder to your new computer, your apps come along anyway.
Did what you wrote really happen? Or did you make it up to scare people about DRM?
Re: (Score:2)
iTunes deletes applications from the phone and do not copy them to local applications storage, if you have not "authorized" it to work with App Store. There is not a warning big enough that draw user's attention to that issue... There must not be the need for a warning at the first place, because there is no need to delete user's software from user's phone, unless user explicitly asked
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:5, Insightful)
I hope you know you can run steam in offline mode, and still have full access to all your single-player content. In fact, when I recently had an interruption in service while I switched providers, all I really played was single-player games I had previously purchased via Steam.
People on slashdot CONSTANTLY complain about that, and I can't help but facepalm. Has it really gotten to the point where the vnboards are better able to understand the programs they use every day than slashdot? FACEPALM
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Only works when you had online at the time you installed the games though, I was on a university network once (dorm) and they didn't allow using Steam (or anything else except http and email), couldn't install Half-Life 2.
Re: (Score:2)
I hope you know you can run steam in offline mode, and still have full access to all your single-player content. In fact, when I recently had an interruption in service while I switched providers, all I really played was single-player games I had previously purchased via Steam.
Previously purchased, yes. But could you install a new retail game disc while you were between providers? Even the game consoles, with their anti-homebrew measures, don't restrict that.
Re: (Score:2)
Umm ... I don't know about Steam games requiring
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know about Steam games requiring a live internet connection to install them, but console games CERTAINLY DO NOT.
Which was entirely my point. Thank you for expounding on it.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't mind Steam. I do mind some of the other systems -- SecuROM has been getting a lot of attention recently, and it has many things to hate. Becoming part of only one botnet, or acquiring only one virus/trojan, might not do anything that you'd notice immediately, but it's not something I would do deliberately.
This is worse than all of the above, if implemented in software.
If implemented in hardware -- I can imagine a system that might be harmless, where a DVD is "activated" by burning it, for example. I
Your situation may be atypical (Score:2)
I only have one gaming rig
What do you do when friends or relatives come to your home to play video games with you? Or when other people who live with you want to play video games with you?
and I have a reliable internet connection
What do you recommend for gamers who cannot afford to purchase real estate and find employment in a place where the cable TV or telephone company is willing to install "a reliable internet connection"?
Re: (Score:2)
Use a console?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
What happens when you wake up one day and ask permission to use the product you purchased and no response comes back? Why do you feel it's ok to ask permission to use things you bought? Would you be ok with calling Ford/Honda to ask permission to drive to work? How is that acceptable DRM?
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:5, Informative)
dude, this is not DRM, this is to stop people shoplifting. You might as well rant and spit about security tags on clothes.
try reading the article before you hit the "OH NOES TEH DRM" button.
Plus who the fuck buys games for $60? The only place I ever see $60 mentioned is by people complaining about not buying them.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
This has nothing to do with shoplifting. That's why there's those security strips in the packaging.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed they will -- which is exactly why they should stop spending money on stupid shit like this.
With EA, and I know I'm not the only one, but I pirate because of the DRM, not in spite of it. The pirated game I download, with the DRM stripped out, is a better product than the legitimate game I could buy in a store.
Re: (Score:2)
Valve is a DRM scheme, but I never heard anyone complain about things other than pure connection speed for downloads or downtime of the authentication servers.
no bricked firmware
no issues with virtual cd drives
no crashes
no minute-long authentication sequences that wear and tear on the drive's actuators
no authentication that fails with the tiniest dustmarks on the cd surface
no toolbars installed
no browser helpers
no additional marketing information about trusted partners
no rootkits
but
automatic updates for all
Re:NO DRM! Can you hear us now? (Score:4, Insightful)
In short, Steam provides a DRM scheme, but it also provides enough of a benefit that it's a worthwhile trade. In fact, many of the restrictions imposed by the DRM scheme are things you would have to sacrifice anyway for the network -- for example, the need to be online all the time, the need for constant updates, and the need to run their proprietary software (a given for any game).
Contrast this to SecuROM games, or even moreso, movies -- in these cases, the DRM scheme provides no value. There is no tradeoff to make me want to deal with the DRM -- and worse, the pirated copy is a better product.
That's the essential difference, I think. A pirated Valve game is worth less than a legitimate copy. A pirated EA game is worth more than a legitimate copy.
MMO/Online Key Use (Score:5, Insightful)
This sounds like a solution for people who steal keys out of retail boxes.
If the key isn't activated due to a sale, it can't be used online.
I see no problems with this. I hope they don't think it will actually affect single player game piracy.
Re: (Score:2)
I wouldn't necessarily say this is problemless. I've gotten some of my favorite games form a place that buys goods with damaged boxes or whatever. If this is stuff comes prepackaged with the games, it's going to be kinda annoying when customer support tells me I shouldn't have stolen the game I just bought.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
No kidding. This is yet another backward ass "protection" mechanism that won't actually do anything except inconvenience legit customers.
The industry needs to figure out HOW to offer the ease of use and pleasant experience of piracy. Steam is as close as we get right now.
Seriously, are these people THAT deluded that they believe this would do anything to fight piracy?
I am forever amazed (Score:4, Interesting)
at the number of big box stores which don't lock these game cards up. The problem is especially bad at Target, where more than a dozen of different games were obviously "opened" along the seam. Even after explaining it to the the customer service people I swear they didn't care or understand. I did get them to allow for my opening the box in front of them to confirm if it had a game card in it, took three of the ones that looked sealed to get it.
Stores need to understand, these things are as valuable as the gift cards they sell. They are real money.
Any subscription based game should follow the activation method, it will save a lot of grief for the customer. It really helps us more than the stores because it isn't easy to get the store to refund it (I would hate to see what BB would think if you told them the game card was missing and you had left the store already). Yet for stand alone games I don't think it is necessary
Yay, an advanced solution. (Score:2)
I mean, putting the key INSIDE the box instead is too difficult, isn't it?
Just a ploy (Score:2)
So once again the legit customer is screwed over (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:So once again the legit customer is screwed ove (Score:4, Funny)
Remember, no refunds on opened software. Have a nice day, thank you for shopping Super-Duper Mart!
Re: (Score:2)
So I was mostly kidding, most stores will exchange defective software, they just won't refund you. In this case, they would then activate it correctly.
All the other points of the OP stand, such as the wasted gas, time, and inconvenience.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
alternatively, rm -r.
Re: (Score:2)
actually you are wrong. If a game you bought is defective and you have the receipt (and it's within I think 30 days) the store must replace the game for the same game. It's the law.
Which of course is just boatloads of help when your CD drive isn't compatible with SecuROM, or the game doesn't start up at all due to some odd incompatibility or bug that the publisher may or may not deem worth fixing.
I'll stick with consoles until they fix that, or at least specifically state that returns will be accepted for defective software rather than just defective media (Stardock, and I believe Gas Powered Games, seem to be taking steps in that direction)
Re: (Score:2)
Consoles are the ultimate locked down DRM. Ever tried to make a back-up copy of a console game?
Re: (Score:2)
Ever tried to make a back-up copy of a console game?
Do DS and PSP count? Those are pirated to hell and back. And would developing a Free game with the same gameplay count (e.g. Frozen Bubble vs. Bust-A-Move, or StepMania vs. Dance Dance Revolution, or SuperTux vs. New Super Mario Bros., or Lockjaw vs. Tetris)?
Re: (Score:2)
Console games "just work" the same way an apple does.
Games get broken all the time, have glitches, errors, etc. The only difference is XBOX360/PS3/wii are slightly less locked than their previous versions so you can fix some of that via software updates.
Examples of console fiascos:
physical (xbox red ring crap)
software: PS3 update problems : http://www.technewsworld.com/story/63690.html?wlc=1228202794 [technewsworld.com]
Remember, "just works" also means "you can't fix the problem/nobody outside of the manufacturer can", as wel
Re: (Score:2)
Here's the diff.
If your Nvidia graphics card in your PC goes bad, you can replace it, or do business with other companies. There is competition. Also, you can do it yourself. Not all companies get stupid PS3 firmware fiasco, but only with MS and apple are you stuck with what they've done until it's fixed. With other OS's you can regress back to other versions. Or shall I remind you of all the WGA problems that still exist due to changing hardware, etc?
With a console system, who else are you going to go? Nob
Re: (Score:2)
This is becoming a thing of the past, the PS3 now requires installs for quite a few games. Nothing like sitting for 20mins waiting for a game to install. There is also the issue of having to micromanage game installs on a 60gb hard drive.
Re: (Score:2)
Don't worry, MS has "innovated" this feature also (mostly because customers complained their DVD drive sounded like a freight train), and it was added to the 360's firmware in the last Dash update. The only console that DOESN'T need installation is the one that skipped inc
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's the law. perhaps. but not many 'manager'-types at best buy know that. and will argue with you. especially if you come in waving your dick around proclaiming that there is a law they don't know.
Re: (Score:2)
...Which is why I carry around a copy of all relevant laws concerning consumer protection. When a manager argues, I shove that paper in his face and go "Capitulate or we call police, lawyers, and Federal Authorities for federal-level charges (If they apply.)
Come prepared and you'll win every time.
Re: (Score:2)
Except that the law is, in fact, more enforceable than whatever manager-types know.
If the manager-type doesn't know, or doesn't understand, you threaten to sue, or press charges. If they continue to be difficult, you follow through.
And if that doesn't work, move to a country where the law is enforced.
Re: (Score:2)
move to a country where the law is enforced.
You mean, enforced in your favor.
Anyways, that is a pretty extreme reaction for a $60 game.
I'll be careful not to step on your pumas.
Re: (Score:2)
I'd like to know when internet piracy and shoplifting became the same thing. It's not like someone swipes a legit copy of the shelves somewhere everytime you download a game.
Re: (Score:2)
It's not the same thing. But this solution is aimed at both problems.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
How is it aimed at all at piracy? Pirates don't use activation keys, they use cracks. It's a shoplifting measure at most, and retailers already keep games and keys behind the counter with empty boxes on the shelves. It's a solution to a non-existent problem that will just cause more hassle for the legitimate consumer and be bypassed as usual by pirates.
Interesting idea (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
You forgot to mention that it only takes one rip of the game to get onto a million hard drives in just a few hours. This 'protection' is just another fancy and useless system to control copying, an effort sure to end in stockholder misery and my personal amusement.
Re: (Score:2)
It'll work better than cdkeys at reducing multiplayer online piracy and resale, and screw fewer people due to stolen/generated keys.
As was said above, they're idiots if they think this will work on single player modes.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
This is highly unlikely to work.
Unless they put more thought into it than you did.
And it only needs to work somewhat better than the current DRM and anti-shoplifting systems. If it prevented 15% of the piracy and worked better than the DRM everyone hates, they'd implement it tomorrow.
Re: (Score:2)
Unless they put more thought into it than you did.
Since DRM can never work, it doesn't take very much thought to realize that any given DRM system is unlikely to work.
And it only needs to work somewhat better than the current DRM and anti-shoplifting systems. If it prevented 15% of the piracy
It may have a chance at anti-shoplifting, though I doubt they have many problems with shoplifters breaking into the locked glass cases where most games are kept.
It really has no chance at preventing any of the piracy. There may be 15% fewer people who might attempt to crack it -- meaning it still takes exactly one person to successfully crack it, and create a torrent. Once there's a torrent,
awesome idea (Score:2)
" EMA Suggests Point-Of-Sale Game Activation To Fight Piracy"
"...shoplifting is discouraged ..."
"...Piracy..."
"...shoplifting..."
I can only assume that the title of the article refers to the actual "ARRR I GONNA STEEL YER GAMES!" piracy - which i think is a lot more similar to shop lifting than to copying bits.
Now it all makes sense - this isn't about people ripping then torrenting the latest games (bit copying piracy), it is about preventing physical copies being stolen (by pirates...presumably)
Re:awesome idea (Score:4, Insightful)
It's pointless, pirate buys one copy breaks the protection than uploads that to the web. Congrats EA, you've managed one additional sale at the expense of many dozens of sales to people who now are unable to run the software.
Re: (Score:2)
This goes hand in hand with the new sign they've got out front of the local ebgames which says "No Galleon Parking"
Bad analogy (Score:4, Insightful)
The initiative is similar to security tags used in clothing retail that spill ink on garments if they're forcibly removed, thereby destroying the item. In such a situation, shoplifting is discouraged by implementing a solution that only the retailer can remove at the point of sale.
But it's not similar at all. Similar would be putting an acetone-filled tag through the hole in the CD that only the retailer can remove, to destroy it if it's shoplifted.
The reason the difference is important is this scheme isn't to fight shoplifting, the theft of a physical item. This is to fight copyright infringement, and it's like fighting people who make cheap knockoffs of designer clothes. Admittedly, this is much easier to do on a large scale than copying a physical item, but the scale of it does not magically make it become theft.
And the other part of where the analogy breaks down? I don't need an internet connection to put on my clothes after the retailer takes off the tag.
Re: (Score:2)
The reason the difference is important is this scheme isn't to fight shoplifting, the theft of a physical item.
Actually reading the standards, I think it looks like it's an attempt to combat both copyright infringement AND physical theft/shoplifting. One of the items listed (albeit the last one, in the 'valuable additions' section) is "audible notification at store exit if not deactivated", which reads to me like a normal anti-theft device. Although I suppose it could just be a courtesy thing for the customer to let them know their game has not been properly 'activated' after their purchase, also is it odds with th
Like all DRM, I give it about 2 weeks... (Score:2)
At most, the only
Re:Like all DRM, I give it about 2 weeks... (Score:5, Insightful)
*HEAVY SIGH*
This is NOT DRM The story is NOT ABOUT DRM. DRM is not the issue.
This is about preventing shoplifting.
Is it not possible for there to be ANY story ANYWHERE on-line about games, without people gushing about how they hate DRM, even when the story is NOTHING to do with it?
Re: (Score:2)
Is it not possible for there to be ANY story ANYWHERE on-line about games, without people gushing about how they hate DRM, even when the story is NOTHING to do with it?
Is DRM still in use for all AAA titles?
Has even one major publisher rejected DRM? Or even SecuROM?
Then no, it's probably not possible, no matter how offtopic it might be. This is a real, immediate problem which must be dealt with if PC gaming is to continue as an industry. Shoplifting really isn't.
Oh, and it's not clear either from the summary or from TFA -- or, even, from the PDF -- that this is not DRM. It could be what you're describing, or it could also include DRM. It seems like a list of wishful-think
Shoplifting is a solved problem. (Score:4, Insightful)
This is about preventing shoplifting.
You prevent shoplifting by putting the games behind the counter and putting the empty boxes on the shelf. It's low tech, reliable, and not a lot more manual than activation.
Provide the dealer with a printed card the size of the jewelbox they can put on the shelf without having to open the game and put the CD into storage like they do now. Problem solved, cheaply.
I hereby donate this idea to the public domain.
Piracy? (Score:2)
I'm sure the companies losing oil tankers right left and center will sleep well tonight, know that someone's come up with a viable way of fighting piracy.
A solution in search of a problem... (Score:3, Insightful)
I know a number of retailers stop this problem by using locking DVD cases that set off the door alarms. Usually the ones that have another alarm if someone stomps the case open. Shopperinc.com, the first site I hit on Google offers plenty of low cost ways to ensure that either a would-be shoplifter is going to have to be good at sneaking in the key equipment needed, or be able to run through the exit with security guards hot on their trail (and risk robbery charges as well as larceny).
Since effective technological measures are in place for this, why bother with screwing around with CD keys?
It is a *lot* harder to shoplift successfully media in one of these cases than it is to hit the usual sites, download a patch or a torrent. This is the old security adage of why add layers of protection to a door when the burglar can just enter through the window?
Epic Fail! (Couldn't resist) (Score:2)
I'm guessing this is how this idea works:
1) The game is on the shelf and has a CD Key.
2) The store clerk registers the CD key at the time of purchase, making it valid. (Much like a Gift Card)
3) The game won't install without a valid CD key, which it checks over the internet or with an over-the-phone verification (much like the current Windows activation).
Unless they have some much more elaborate plan, this is probably the method they're going to use... Now, what's wrong with this plan?
1) What happens 10 yea
Re: (Score:2)
This reminds me of some of the old Apple ][ abandonware games where the only copies still in existance are cracked copies. Maybe 10-15 years down the line when PCs have long since lost DVD drives, the accepted "industry standard" copy will be one either encased in a VM with a DVD emulator a well done pirated rip, or perhaps encapsulated in an app virtualization method like Thinstall.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe 10-15 years down the line when PCs have long since lost DVD drives
Compact Disc is two generations behind Blu-ray Disc, and BD drives can still read CDs. What makes you think drives for the optical disc tech after BD won't read DVDs?
Re: (Score:2)
What's to say that the tech will remain optical?
Nothing New! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
This is different, we've had stores using that technology for many years. I can't even go into certain stores because the equipment triggers severe tinnitus. This however is different, it doesn't use the tag, but registers the software over the network so that once it's out of the shop it can't be used. So sneaking it around the detectors wouldn't work. At least in theory, it's a given that it won't work correctly.
If you're a game maker (Score:3, Interesting)
Why do few people chip their xbox 360's? Because they are afraid of detection on xbox live. Same with the Wii. The only true, accepted DRM is one that protects online usage.
Not atall saying that there isn't a veritable mass of problems accompanying such a notion, just saying, look at what works, rather than this silly nonsense that makes almost no headway.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
this is to stop shoplifting
Re: (Score:2)
Most peoploe that Chips their 360s won't bother connecting to the network anyways since they can get all updates needed from the mod manufacturer.
And most buy the modchips to be able to tool around. They're just nerds, not hardcore pirates. They don't care about online.
Just speaking as someone that's had to install dozens of modchips in dozens of systems over the years.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
But there's no chip available for the 360 that lets you "just tool around" with it. Aside from a now close exploit, there is no way to gain full control of or run unsigned code on a 360. The chips and drive flash mods only allow one thing: Backup games to be loaded. That's it. Piracy is the only reason for chipping/flashing a 360.
Re: (Score:2)
Piracy and backups. The same method that pirates use will always be useful for people who want to make sure that $60 game continues to play after the neighbor's kid uses a key on it. (Because it's never YOUR kid, no!)
'Just buy another, it'll be cheaper by then' isn't a valid argument either because there are tons of games on EBay that are more expensive than they were originally due to stopped production. Try to buy Final Fantasy 7 or Suikoden 2.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
"paying heavily for your does of nostalgia."
That's exactly it. I -do- mind. I bought a copy a long time ago and lost it in a move. If I had backups, they would have been kept separately and I would still have it.
"your kids learning"
Kids will be kids. They aren't born trained. If you never trust them with anything, they'll never learn to take care of it. That doesn't mean I should have to buy a new copy of the game to teach -them- that lesson, though. It's -my- game, not theirs.
Kids aren't the only wa
And Secondhand Game Sales? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It won't.
It cannot be reliably enforced. If there is a key, in any form, it can be cracked and someone can figure it out using a few copies and a keygen.
Trying to hide things in the code is a failure in all programming (you cannot hide things in the code to anyone who even knows stuff as basic as well, basic or pascal).
Meanwhile, nothing new, just fud and "oh my god piracy" spewing. Having a system that triggers when someone tries to leave a store with something stolen has been around for 20-25+ years. This
Keygen for a public key system? (Score:2)
If there is a key, in any form, it can be cracked and someone can figure it out using a few copies and a keygen.
Almost. If the keys are generated with a digital signature mechanism such as RSA or ECC, you need the private key in order to make a keygen. If you replace the entire key verifier, you can't play online, just like you can't play online with a game using the system from the article that hasn't been activated.
Why steal games (Score:2)
Seriously, stealing from a B&M? The only reason to steal a key is to play a multi-player game.
The solution for the PC is digital downloads. The xbox on the other hand is getting so cheap now that you can play burned games on the thing and make up the cost of buying a second xbox in single-player 3 games.
With torrents, rapidshare and usenet, why steal media from a store? I guess life is hardest for the stupid.
Brilliant idea... (Score:2)
...which will save me lots of money.
I'm more and more and turning away from major game companies. There were quite a few games I really wanted to buy (Bioshock, Silent Hunter 3, Spore, GTA 4, and quite a few others) and then couldn't, due to ridiculous copy protections (Digital Restriction Management going nuts, no thanks).
Thus I sniffed around the indy games market more and more, and found some really nice ones. Simple Flash shoot-em-ups like Robokill (http://www.rocksolidarcade.com/games/robokill/ [rocksolidarcade.com]) or won
I foresee a day when (Score:3, Insightful)
All games have to be played online. There won't be single player games anymore, there'll just be web based games or virtual worlds you can play single player-style or massively multiplayer style, but in either case the data for the game world will only be on the server.
Then there'll be web based word processors where you can only store your data online, and you have to pay for it. No method to download it to your hard drive, but you can email it to people and they have to pay to use the app you need to read the document. If you need to move your data around in other ways, you probably are a pirate (in their mind).
The RIAA and MPAA then pull all their content and make it available only online. For a fee. You'll never touch that data again without the authorization of the server. (I actually see this coming first.)
In short, I could see companies making sure all of their copyrighted data is only available on their servers.
The end of E-rated games (Score:2)
All games have to be played online. There won't be single player games anymore, there'll just be web based games or virtual worlds you can play single player-style or massively multiplayer style
Due to laws such as COPPA in the United States, you can't sign up for one of these games until your 13th birthday. How will publishers work around this in order to deliver E-rated games? And how will publishers work around North American ISPs' utter failure to serve rural customers?
Re: (Score:2)
And how will publishers work around North American ISPs' utter failure to serve rural customers?
They simply won't. The number of players in rural areas wouldn't generate enough revenue to even care about so they'll just ignore them or tell those customers to get a better ISP.
There is a reason the Federal government needed to handle rural electricfication and mandate rural telephone service (and generate a seperate fee paid by all users to see that it's done). Basic economics dictates that serving rural
I wouldn't buy a DVD with a boobytrap in it. (Score:2)
If the DVD contains a mechanism that has to be activated before it can be used, then damage to the DVD is more likely to render it unplayable. I wouldn't buy a DVD on that basis. It's not like I have to buy DVDs, after all... they're a luxury good.
And the only computer game I regularly play is open source. The games I've paid for mostly sit on the bookshelf, so I more or less quit buying them.
And... how on earth would this fight piracy? It's just another copy protection variant, and it's inherently impossib
Shoplifting? No, try used sales (Score:2)
Not shoplifting, not piracy, not even used sales.. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Once again, the games industry is focussing on the street date. This ridiculous scheme is there to give them an enforcable street date, and to make sure the game cannot be pirated before that street date. Combine this with not shipping the EXE on the disc (Bioshock, I'm looking at you) and you have a lifetime of added complexity for three days of (a highly questionable) increase in sales.
Once again, the games i
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Post whoring on the back of a frist psot...
So what they're suggesting is that the game dev put something on your computer which will render the game unplayable until you activate it with the game dev? At which point some bits will be flipped on your computer, making the game playable?
How will this not be cracked in like three days?
Who's got the checklist? We need to mail one off pronto to the head of the EMA and tell him that this simply will not work any better than current DRM...
Perhaps they should rename this (Score:3, Insightful)
Perhaps they should rename it "Project Assfuck" - after all, that's what it's doing to the consumer.
The initiative is similar to security tags used in clothing retail that spill ink on garments if they're forcibly removed, thereby destroying the item.
Uhm... those tags come off if you get a rare earth magnet (say, from an old hard drive [dansdata.com] or something) anywhere near them.
Not that we're supposed to know how things work... after all, knowledge is evil, the almighty corporations want us to be dumb and stupid and [rottentomatoes.com]