Apparently that question of which DRM new game releases will use isn’t just a pet peeve of mine anymore.

Commercial PC games were fun, but between a lack of interesting titles and intolerable DRM shenanigans, the industry has lost me as a customer. Not that it’s much of a loss; in the last five or six years, I’ve bought two games and promptly flogged off the latest one on Amazon.

Man, and I really wanted to play Spore. Well...at least it also comes out for the Wii, so it’s not so bad. If you have a Wii.

Which I do.

It still makes me wonder whether I really want to play it knowing the company I bought it from thinks I am a criminal who simply hasn’t decided to steal yet.

Fuck you, EA. Fuck you.

EA can count me out of both of those games, then. Maybe not Spore. Depends on when I get a Wii and if I’m still interested by then.

Funny thing is I’ve never had a problem with DRM in games. One reason might be that I tend to buy games online through steam or direct2drive. Bought Bioshock thru steam. I’ve had no problems with playing the game. I think online distribution for pc games is the future which should solve the piracy issue. If people have a problem with DRM in a game just don’t buy the game. Pirating a game because of drm is still stealing.

I think online distribution for pc games is the future which should solve the piracy issue.

I’m not sure I see the logic between those two. Online distribution is a method of distribution - it can no better stop piracy than a brick-and-mortar store selling a copy on DVD. The essential problem sits with the practicality of the DRM involved.

If people have a problem with DRM in a game just don’t buy the game. Pirating a game because of drm is still stealing.

Moving past the implicit moral imperative in that statement, one can reasonably expect a digital product to be pirated if the legal alternative is crippled or invasive. This is a slap on publishers, who, even more than developers, claim that piracy is the problem.

Les has often repeated a statement which has virtually always shown true: DRM only hurts the legitimate purchasers of a game. It has not, and does not, stop pirates from pirating. As far as I’m concerned, this only backs it up. IMO, publishers need to stop buying the snake-oil that DRM designers are selling. The reason DRM is being attached to big titles is so that the DRM designers can claim an increase in sales on all of their DRMed products. Of course, publishers hear of this, and buy it up for their biggest titles.

DRM is really stupid. Basically it was developed by the old man sitting on his porch rocking chair yelling “Get off my lawn you damn kids!” It’s people that do not understand the digital age, communication mediums, and the audience they’re dealing with.

On the other hand, what do we all expect? Have any of us that bitch about DRM actually done anything to stop piracy? Companies legitimately lose money because of piracy and feel as though they are being robbed or taken advantage of. It seems to me DRM is a natural consequence of rampant piracy and in some ways a bed of our own making.

It also doesn’t help there appears to be no good solution to the the problem of people steeling computer games and it’s really a catch 22 at this point. Until video games become developed under an Open Source model or pirates stop their work and do something else with their spare time, we will likely see a shift from computer to console for game production in future. Maybe not completely, but I would expect major titles to be released under consoles.

xav, your purchase of Bioshock through Steam didn’t stop your machine from having SecuROM installed on it. Even the demo came with it.

Though I don’t disagree with the idea that digital distribution is a good thing. All of my copies of Valve’s various games have been bought through Steam and for folks who have broadband it’s a reasonable solution. That hasn’t stopped Valve’s games from being pirated, though.

I’m not one to start pirating games outright, but I’m not beyond using a crack on a game I’ve legitimately purchased to get around intrusive DRM schemes.

It appears that I’m not the only person saying these things. Lots of other bloggers are complaining as well and there’s articles up at TechDirt:

A lot of gamers consider this intrusive and inconvenient, and that the publishers are effectively assuming their customers are pirates and looking over their shoulders every 10 days to check. Other concerns have been raised over users who don’t play with machines permanently connected to the internet (such as laptops), or how the system will work in regards to resale. A comprehensive help-line has been promised to help people deal with these issues and the developers have mentioned the new system will remove the need for a DVD to run the game, but these potential problems combined with SecuROM’s past have made some call for a boycott of the titles and others to declare an intention to pirate the game out of spite.”

Seems like more short-term thinking. If the effort is to reduce “piracy” it won’t work. People will figure out other ways to pirate the games—that’s almost guaranteed. So, in the end, all this will really do is piss off the legitimate customers who paid for something that suddenly doesn’t work, though no fault of their own. That hardly seems like a good way to build up a strong supporting fan base.

And Cnet:

Systems like this are never going to be winners for companies like EA. For every copy of one of its games that it successfully keeps from being illegally copied, it’s going to lose a good customer who’s beyond annoyed at the way the system works and the way they feel they’re being treated.

To be sure, software companies feel they have to fight tooth and nail to avoid being robbed due to the ease with which many programs can be copied. But it seems they would do well to run their antipiracy/DRM systems by their PR departments--or, if they’re doing that already, then some outside consultants--to make sure that the systems aren’t going to alienate their user bases.

If they’re already doing that, they might want to consider seeking additional guidance. Because as the Sony rootkit scandal and other DRM PR nightmares have shown, users do not want to be controlled in this way. And they vote with their wallets.

EA started using SecuROM on some of the Sims 2 expansion discs and I’ve not purchased them as a result and I’ve already opted not to buy the very popular Bioshock due to the DRM.

I know next to nothing about the games industry and I can’t comment on the real impact of piracy. However, I draw the line at DRM schemes that are indistinguishable from malware, potentially or actually mess with my computer’s operation, dictate what software I can have installed (never mind run concurrently with the gamemalware, limit how often I can reinstall a game, and interfere with my ability to flog off a game on ebay. In very simple terms: Fuck that shit.

By the way, I don’t see any ethical problems with using cracks for games that somebody owns. Chances are the cracked game will run more stably than the encumbered one.

I doubt that switching to a console as an evasive maneuver is a feasible option. If console games aren’t pirated now, they’ll be pirated soon and the DRM bullshit will follow.

Call me open-source gamer from now on…