DRM: Something’s gotta give
Where do you draw the line on DRM? What Valve did with Half-Life 2 is a widely accepted practise today, even though at the time online activation was met with an unprecedented community backlash. Proper notification
in the system requirements box would have softened the blow for many, especially those that lugged PCs to work or school. But in hindsight this concept proved instrumental in introducing PC gamers to the juggernaut of digitial distribution that is Steam, which is the one positive thing I can take away from that whole debacle.
We’ve been weaned onto DRM in recent years and personally, I can accept limited activations as a part of my PC purchase. Does it bother me that my copy of Bioshock 2 can only be installed 15 times before I have to phone customer services for reactivation? Don’t be so soft. That barely counts, especially in the light of Ubisoft’s all-new, singing and goose-stepping, über-führer DRM, which forces Assassin’s Creed II PC customers to stay online while they’re playing (despite it being a single-player game) and will actually kick you out of the game if your connection drops for any reason. Talk about breaking the fourth wall – I wasn’t a big fan of leaving twelfth century Jerusalem for the world outside the Animus in the first place, but I’d rather be there than get punished for Internet death and hang around in limbo while I wait to reconnect.
So the pirates will become more prolific because of DRM, the publishing execs will continue to implement increasingly draconian measures because of it, everyone will blame eachother and this vicious circle is threatening to spiral out of control. Someone’s going to have to sidestep soon or big-budget PC gaming is heading for a crash.
DRM: Something’s gotta give
Where do you draw the line on DRM? What Valve did with Half-Life 2 is a widely accepted practise today, even though at the time online activation was met with an unprecedented community backlash. Proper notification
in the system requirements box would have softened the blow for many, especially those that lugged PCs to work or school. But in hindsight this concept proved instrumental in introducing PC gamers to the juggernaut of digitial distribution that is Steam, which is the one positive thing I can take away from that whole debacle.
We’ve been weaned onto DRM in recent years and personally, I can accept limited activations as a part of my PC purchase. Does it bother me that my copy of Bioshock 2 can only be installed 15 times before I have to phone customer services for reactivation? Don’t be so soft. That barely counts, especially in the light of Ubisoft’s all-new, singing and goose-stepping, über-führer DRM, which forces Assassin’s Creed II PC customers to stay online while they’re playing (despite it being a single-player game) and will actually kick you out of the game if your connection drops for any reason. Talk about breaking the fourth wall – I wasn’t a big fan of leaving twelfth century Jerusalem for the world outside the Animus in the first place, but I’d rather be there than get punished for Internet death and hang around in limbo while I wait to reconnect.
So the pirates will become more prolific because of DRM, the publishing execs will continue to implement increasingly draconian measures because of it, everyone will blame eachother and this vicious circle is threatening to spiral out of control. Someone’s going to have to sidestep soon or big-budget PC gaming is heading for a crash.
DRM: Something’s gotta give
Where do you draw the line on DRM? What Valve did with Half-Life 2 is a widely accepted practise today, even though at the time online activation was met with an unprecedented community backlash. Proper notification
in the system requirements box would have softened the blow for many, especially those that lugged PCs to work or school. But in hindsight this concept proved instrumental in introducing PC gamers to the juggernaut of digitial distribution that is Steam, which is the one positive thing I can take away from that whole debacle.
We’ve been weaned onto DRM in recent years and personally, I can accept limited activations as a part of my PC purchase. Does it bother me that my copy of Bioshock 2 can only be installed 15 times before I have to phone customer services for reactivation? Don’t be so soft. That barely counts, especially in the light of Ubisoft’s all-new, singing and goose-stepping, über-führer DRM, which forces Assassin’s Creed II PC customers to stay online while they’re playing (despite it being a single-player game) and will actually kick you out of the game if your connection drops for any reason. Talk about breaking the fourth wall – I wasn’t a big fan of leaving twelfth century Jerusalem for the world outside the Animus in the first place, but I’d rather be there than get punished for Internet death and hang around in limbo while I wait to reconnect.
So the pirates will become more prolific because of DRM, the publishing execs will continue to implement increasingly draconian measures because of it, everyone will blame eachother and this vicious circle is threatening to spiral out of control. Someone’s going to have to sidestep soon or big-budget PC gaming is heading for a crash.
Things You Should Boycott: Assassin’s Creed II and Its Horrendously Restrictive DRM
We love Assassin’s Creed II. It’s a fantastic game that actually lives up to all the promise its predecessor fell just short of.
Its DRM, however, manages to undo all that good will and then some.
We weren’t entirely sold on Ubisoft’s new “anti-piracy plan” when the publisher ran it by us last month, but little did we know that we were witnessing the birth of DRM so sinister that we’re now petitioning to have the guy that created SecuROM canonized.
Here’s how it works (as discovered by the fine folks at PC Gamer UK): as you’re already aware, the DRM requires an Internet connection to authenticate your game. As you weren’t already aware, it requires that Internet connection at all times. Constantly. The second you lose that connection for whatever reason, even for a second – be it a faulty wireless signal, a clumsy roommate, or a fried server on Ubisoft’s end – your game goes dark, you lose all unsaved progress, and you’re locked out of the game until you resolve your connection issue.
We’re reminded, at this point, of an old Internet saying: DO NOT WANT.
Ubisoft’s also afflicting the DRM upon Settlers 7. We weren’t actually planning on purchasing Settlers 7 in the first place, and – shockingly enough – this hasn’t done anything to change our minds.
Is this a joke, Ubisoft? Because we’re not seeing the punchline. That is, unless you burst out laughing every time hundreds of thousands of pirates cause you to lose millions of dollars.
Things You Should Boycott: Assassin’s Creed II and Its Horrendously Restrictive DRM
We love Assassin’s Creed II. It’s a fantastic game that actually lives up to all the promise its predecessor fell just short of.
Its DRM, however, manages to undo all that good will and then some.
We weren’t entirely sold on Ubisoft’s new “anti-piracy plan” when the publisher ran it by us last month, but little did we know that we were witnessing the birth of DRM so sinister that we’re now petitioning to have the guy that created SecuROM canonized.
Here’s how it works (as discovered by the fine folks at PC Gamer UK): as you’re already aware, the DRM requires an Internet connection to authenticate your game. As you weren’t already aware, it requires that Internet connection at all times. Constantly. The second you lose that connection for whatever reason, even for a second – be it a faulty wireless signal, a clumsy roommate, or a fried server on Ubisoft’s end – your game goes dark, you lose all unsaved progress, and you’re locked out of the game until you resolve your connection issue.
We’re reminded, at this point, of an old Internet saying: DO NOT WANT.
Ubisoft’s also afflicting the DRM upon Settlers 7. We weren’t actually planning on purchasing Settlers 7 in the first place, and – shockingly enough – this hasn’t done anything to change our minds.
Is this a joke, Ubisoft? Because we’re not seeing the punchline. That is, unless you burst out laughing every time hundreds of thousands of pirates cause you to lose millions of dollars.
PCGA President: SecuROM Parent Company on Our Side Now
Yesterday, we reported that, along with losing Activision Blizzard, the PC Gaming Alliance accepted a shifty-eyed new figure into its ranks: Sony DADC. Fortunately, however, the SecuROM parent company doesn’t plan on working any shady deals behind the curtain, according to PCGA president Randy Stude. In fact, like Arnold in Terminator 2, Sony DADC is switching sides to help PC gamers topple a much bigger baddy — in this case, piracy.
Speaking with BigDownload, Stude explained that Sony DADC decided to join the PCGA in order to assist the organization’s piracy-perforating subcommittee. According to Stude, keeping its alleged enemy roughly as close as its friends will provide the PCGA with ideas for its PC game piracy report, which is coming sometime before the year’s out.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the revolving door, Stude confirmed that PC manufacturer Acer left the building along with Activision Blizzard, for essentially the same monetarily minded reasons. Apparently, when it comes down to saving a few bucks or performing a philanthropic act – contrary to what Fable II and BioShock had us believing – the yellow brick road is the path of least resistance.
But hey, at least GameStop… exists. It recently joined the PCGA as a penny-pinching “Contributor,” which means that the notoriously PC-unfriendly game store is a member, but for less cash. Better than nothing, we guess.
Expect more PCGA-related announcements before this June’s E3 gaming expo.
PCGA President: SecuROM Parent Company on Our Side Now
Yesterday, we reported that, along with losing Activision Blizzard, the PC Gaming Alliance accepted a shifty-eyed new figure into its ranks: Sony DADC. Fortunately, however, the SecuROM parent company doesn’t plan on working any shady deals behind the curtain, according to PCGA president Randy Stude. In fact, like Arnold in Terminator 2, Sony DADC is switching sides to help PC gamers topple a much bigger baddy — in this case, piracy.
Speaking with BigDownload, Stude explained that Sony DADC decided to join the PCGA in order to assist the organization’s piracy-perforating subcommittee. According to Stude, keeping its alleged enemy roughly as close as its friends will provide the PCGA with ideas for its PC game piracy report, which is coming sometime before the year’s out.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the revolving door, Stude confirmed that PC manufacturer Acer left the building along with Activision Blizzard, for essentially the same monetarily minded reasons. Apparently, when it comes down to saving a few bucks or performing a philanthropic act – contrary to what Fable II and BioShock had us believing – the yellow brick road is the path of least resistance.
But hey, at least GameStop… exists. It recently joined the PCGA as a penny-pinching “Contributor,” which means that the notoriously PC-unfriendly game store is a member, but for less cash. Better than nothing, we guess.
Expect more PCGA-related announcements before this June’s E3 gaming expo.
Stardock’s “Goo” DRM Makes Steamworks Obsolete
Remember when Stardock outlined its plan to breed a half-DRM, half-helpful hybrid in order to violently obliterate DRM once and for all? We’re a bit foggy on it, to be honest, but we’re pretty sure the press release starred Wesley Snipes.
Well, anyway, the publisher recently unveiled the fruits of its labor, and amazingly, this slow starter just rocketed to the head of the class. Sorry, Steamworks – the second row isn’t so bad.
The stipulations of the DRM, known as Game Object Obfuscation (or “Goo” for short), are as follows:
- There is no third-party client required. This means a developer can use this as a universal solution since it is not tied to any particular digital distributor.
- It paves the way to letting users validate their game on any digital distribution service that supports that game. One common concern of gamers is if the company they purchased a game from exits the market, their game library may disappear too. Games that use Goo would be able to be validated anywhere.
- It opens the door to gamers being able to resell their games because users can voluntarily disable their game access and transfer their license ownership to another user.
True ownership of your game library – as opposed to paying for the right to play your games until their distributor shuts down? We really can’t find anything to complain about here. How about you?
Goo launches on April 7 with Stardock’s Impulse distribution platform’s next release.
Stardock’s “Goo” DRM Makes Steamworks Obsolete
Remember when Stardock outlined its plan to breed a half-DRM, half-helpful hybrid in order to violently obliterate DRM once and for all? We’re a bit foggy on it, to be honest, but we’re pretty sure the press release starred Wesley Snipes.
Well, anyway, the publisher recently unveiled the fruits of its labor, and amazingly, this slow starter just rocketed to the head of the class. Sorry, Steamworks – the second row isn’t so bad.
The stipulations of the DRM, known as Game Object Obfuscation (or “Goo” for short), are as follows:
- There is no third-party client required. This means a developer can use this as a universal solution since it is not tied to any particular digital distributor.
- It paves the way to letting users validate their game on any digital distribution service that supports that game. One common concern of gamers is if the company they purchased a game from exits the market, their game library may disappear too. Games that use Goo would be able to be validated anywhere.
- It opens the door to gamers being able to resell their games because users can voluntarily disable their game access and transfer their license ownership to another user.
True ownership of your game library – as opposed to paying for the right to play your games until their distributor shuts down? We really can’t find anything to complain about here. How about you?
Goo launches on April 7 with Stardock’s Impulse distribution platform’s next release.
“Steamworks Makes DRM Obsolete,” Claims Valve
Valve’s quiet, non-intrusive DRM solution – if nothing else – is highly preferable to many publishers’ boisterous assault on our PCs’ (presumed) innocence. We’d like to think Steam’s colossal success in some way attests to this.
So of course, Valve’s announcement that it’s now offering that DRM solution, known as the Custom Executable Generation, to any and all developers free of charge is reason enough to break out the Headcrab-shaped party hats. Or read press release quotes. Actually, you know what? Since we’re getting wild and crazy with excitement here, let’s just do both.
“Headlining the new feature set is the Custom Executable Generation (CEG) technology that compliments the already existing anti-piracy solution offered in Steamworks. A customer friendly approach to anti-piracy, CEG makes unique copies of games for each user allowing them to access the application on multiple machines without install limits and without having to install root kits on their PC,” explained the press release.
The new set of features also includes support for in-game DLC and a Left 4 Dead-tested, Valve-approved matchmaking system. Cool beans.
"Delivering this extension of services on Steamworks first anniversary, demonstrates our commitment to continually develop the platform to better serve the community working with these tools," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "As we roll out these features, we continue to look for new ways make PC games easier to create and better for customers to experience."
And yes, before you make a snarky comment about it: DRM was already obsolete. But now it’s obsolete-er. It’s like making a horse ride in a trailer attached to a truck; the passing of the torch – especially in a situation like the one DRM has forced gamers into – need not always be cordial.
