The last few months my jaw dropped to the floor so many times reading about and experiencing the new DRM systems deployed by game publishers I think it’s going to stay there forever. A couple of tales straight out of the hell a paying customer has to go through to get his/her game working follow behind the break.
Game companies need to understand that once pirated copies are, by all means, easier to activate, use and get support on compared to their legal counterparts, it’s time to pause and reflect, instead of shoveling yet another inherently flawed activation procedure on the pile. (Update: Tsk, tsk. It’s like they do it on purpose.) (Update 2: A nice article on SavyGamer)
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I picked up GTA4 yesterday. A bit reluctant, because I read about the horrible installation/validation process.
We’re now roughly a year after its release date, and because I’m a terrible sucker for bargain bins when it comes to PC games, I’ll analyze what has been fixed and what not in the process: the road to Liberty City.
More behind the cut
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DRM is a scheme of the past. Why the iTunes store is still florishing, I can only guess. Ease-of-use and tight coupling with the Apple product line (lifestyle) might be the reason. Since april, all of the iTunes songs are DRM-free. The problem is, this right is not invoked on already purchased items. Well, I think they’ve lost one customer today, and it’s a kind they need.
More draconian DRM schemes and patronizing functionality limitations behind the cut Continue reading »
