Building on what tekanji said…
Do we still want to purchase games for the PC?
…Don’t get me wrong, the answer is most likely “who am I kidding?” But it really pisses me off when I find out that a game that I like has installed some invasive bit of malware because I could be a software pirate.
And no, the fault of this does not lay at the feet of the pirates: in any other population lumping a whole group of people together based on the possibility or probability that a handful of them are criminals is unacceptable.
April 7th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I, too, dislike it when I am not trusted because I own a computer. I found it irritating when I discovered that I couldn’t play Half-Life 2 if my internet connection was down, or if my server was down, or if Steam just didn’t feel like accommodating me that day. I didn’t buy an MMO game, I bought Half-Life 2! Please let me squish head crabs in peace!
That being said, I am not getting out of PC gaming before I’ve had a chance to play Fallout 3. Which isn’t a promise to ditch the ol’ CPU, you understand.
I installed UFO: Aftershock on my PC back in November and almost immediately noticed an increase in the noise my computer makes. After reading up on the game online, I decided that it must be StarForce (the copy protection program Aftershock ships with) causing a memory drain.
Since I uninstalled Aftershock and StarForce, I’ve noticed that my computer is noisier than ever. I think it’s the fan that cools the motherboard itself, rather than the fan attached to the power source. Perhaps it’s just a year of wear on the bearings, but I think it really started after I upgraded my RAM by installing a second stick of 512 MB. The fan has to deal with all that extra heat. I especially notice it playing the older games like Heroes 3, Fallout and Baldur’s Gate, so it may have something to do with the graphics engine displaying SVGA graphics rather than polygons. That doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense, though.
That is one reason I’m hoping to get a separate graphics card one of these days. Besides bringing extra RAM with it, I’m hoping maybe it’ll let me disable graphics acceleration so I can play my older games without having to waste system resources on an option I’m not using.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Being a mac owner, my question is are they developing games with this system in mind. I understand it is a much smaller market but it is growing steadily. Its a bit of an irony that even though I finally have a machine that could handle games more complex than solitaire, I haven’t found any for it.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:12 am
personally I have always been insulted by such measures, while I respect the fact that they want to protect the work they’ve put into it and make there fair share, I wonder at what point did “at the cost of the consumers” really come into play but unfortunately in my experience if you complain about the root kit as being male ware or anything like that your a pirate and if your not your just suppose to keep your mouth shut and deal with it. and the inclusion of such software hasn’t seemed to hurt sales enough for the company to really care.
and while I hate to be off topic I thought this might be of interest and couldn’t find a more appropriate way to send this to you http://forums.gamespy.com/gaming_discussion/b50597/19768056/p1/?32
April 8th, 2008 at 4:16 am
Part of me feels the same way, but my unwillingness to install potentially harmful software onto my machine has basically curbed most of my purchases anyway. I just don’t think that I can take even one more purchase with copy protection malware that means I’ve just wasted upwards of 40 bucks on a CD that may as well be used as a car ornament because that’s about as useful it is to me.
I recently found out that Ubisoft switched from using Starforce to SecuROM for Dreamfall and I can’t help but wonder if installing the game helped my computer to its untimely demise. And I was just thrilled to find out that SafeDisc, which I had thought of as basically harmless (which, I suppose, if you compare it to Starforce and SecuROM, it is), has a nasty security hole in it. So before I can install The Sims 2 on my new machine (once I build it) I get to see if I can patch the hole.
Tekanji is not a happy camper. I may love video games enough to be learning how to design them, but days like this I really, really hate the industry.
April 8th, 2008 at 4:59 am
I must admit, these days, STEAM is about the worst I’ll accept. I can run the games in offline mode, and the copy protection is often lighter than the standalone title.
There are many titles I’ve simply avoided purchasing due to Starforce, SecuROM et al. And I suspect there will be many more yet to come.
I’ll stick to my flight sims and my DS perhaps.
April 8th, 2008 at 5:44 am
Te safest way to avid malware is, in fact, to install the pirate versions of most games. What do the pirates do? They strip all that crap out.
So, go buy the game, then install a version that doesn’t have it.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:28 am
Jamie — that’s honestly not a bad idea — except that you run the risk of the pirate also having put a virus into the cracked warez.
I feel comfortable with online game streaming services like GameTap and Steam–without any actual evidence to back this up: I somehow doubt they’re installing crappy copy protection on the games you’re downloading from them — the copy protection is that you have to be logged into their server to play. And… I’m ultimately ok with that… if I’m being “surveiled” while I play Psychonauts, what the hell do I care? “Market research shows this customer likes to clean up all cobwebs, baggage, and safes, but doesn’t go for 100% figment collection.”
I have a few anti-piracy programs on my compy as a result of various games like NWN2 and most likely Pirates of the Burning Sea (which, even though it’s been uninstalled, I suspect whatever little rootkit came with it is still there).
The XBox is looking like a more attractive choice. I used to prefer a mouse interface over a controller interface for First-Person games, but as I’m getting better at FP controller use and nearly every game that’s coming out for the PC now is also coming out for the 360 (Including Dreamfall), I’d just assume get the 360 version of a game and not have to worry about what the PC version is going to do to my machine.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Speaking as the addict on his 3rd!!! run through of Psychonauts, Figment collection isn’t THAT bad, with one of those indexed guides anyway. Although Milla’s race is an exercise in frustration. And some of Fred floaters are a pain, although cows make some of these easier. (No spoilers.)
April 8th, 2008 at 10:25 am
See, market research would show that you are a perfectionist.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I don’t play PC games anymore because… there aren’t any.
WoW: BC has been in the charts since release and has yet to leave. That’s how slow the PC market is right now.
I personally prefer almost all of my games on the PC, so I’m feeling ever more removed from my favourite entertainment medium.
Copy protection on games is… pretty ludicrous these days. I admit to cracking almost all of my games. Not because I’m a pirate, but because I want to play without needing the CD in the tray. Copy protection/DRM, in almost all its iterations, seems to do nothing to stop actual pirates, and merely inconveniences legitimate buyers.
If you think copy-protection is bad for assuming guilt, you should read the letters I’ve had about my TV license, telling me they’re going to burst into my house like they’re on a drug raid. They like to assume everyone in the country watches broadcast TV, and anyone who doesn’t have a license is stealing it. Damned if I’m gonna phone them to tell them I’m not breaking any laws.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
I pretty much game exclusively on console these days. Mostly because I just have a wimpy laptop, but also because of online gamer culture. I never got into FPS or RTS games, either, and that alone pretty much excludes me from PC gaming.
I did go out and download Castle of the Winds again, though, because it makes me feel happy. I played it to death way back when it came out. It’s cheesy, it’s simplistic, it’s fun. I’d install Diablo II and play that again if my install disk wasn’t scratched so badly it can’t be read…
April 8th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Te safest way to avid malware is, in fact, to install the pirate versions of most games. What do the pirates do? They strip all that crap out.
I did heavily consider it (seeing as most of my searches for info on the copy protections turned up the sites with cracking software), but I would probably have to go to a warez site to get an actual clean copy (the tools were all about how to get around the protections, but it appeared that the malware still had to be installed) and I decided that my money wasn’t worth all the hassle of having to get around the malware in order to safely play the game that I legitimately paid for.
I don’t play PC games anymore because… there aren’t any.
I rather enjoyed The Sims 2 and I was excited for Spore.
I’m also considering if Portal is worth it (ie. if Steam is a potential threat to my machine).
I admit to cracking almost all of my games. Not because I’m a pirate, but because I want to play without needing the CD in the tray.
Seriously. My laptop always gave me problems when The Sims 2 sat in the tray (which was often, because I played the game at least a few times a week). I actually mounted the original game using Alcohol, and was rather annoyed when I found out that you couldn’t do it with the expansion packs. And — surprise! — it wasn’t because I was a pirate (who already had the tools to get around that problem anyway) but because it was a pain in the ass to constantly have the CD in my drive slowing things down.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:34 am
– I rather enjoyed The Sims 2 and I was excited for Spore.
I’m also considering if Portal is worth it (ie. if Steam is a potential threat to my machine).
Spore looks good, but it’s a game that’s been due to release for about two years now. Does seem like it’s due though. I’m not a Sims fan, unfortunately.
I’ve never really had any problems with Steam. (although I’m basically required to have it installed as part of my course) It can be a pain, but it’s actually a much nicer system than some of the others, since you can log in anywhere and still have access to your games.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Now I’m afraid that my future Mass Effect purchase for the PC will be hampered by malware and adware, just because I don’t have my own XBox 360 but my family owns a copy.
Is there any tool to run to find malware on your PC installed by games? Now I’m paranoid that Civilization IV (which will have to be reinstalled due to data corruption, dammit) has malware.
April 9th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Cesar: I found this about the copy protection on Civ IV.
April 9th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Ah cripes.
At least Civ IV still runs for me… if I reinstall the damn thing! I’m going to download that Safedisk thing the blog talks about, just in case.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Cesar:
I’m pretty sure that there is (I swear I saw a link to one in a thread that I can’t seem to find again), but so far the only ones I’ve been able to find have been ones that check the protection on the disc itself.
April 10th, 2008 at 7:02 am
This kind of shit, when combined with the hassle of keeping my box up-to-date, is why I do almost all my gaming on consoles now.
I just stick the game in, and it works, and I don’t have to worry about anything.
Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that when I say up-to-date, I mean “current to about 3 years ago”. Grad student money just isn’t enough for first-release stuff.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Spore will probably be the last game I buy in a long time. It may not even be the last game I buy depending on what security they package with it. (And I’ll have plenty of time to find out before I can afford to buy it.) I’ve been getting heavily into older titles now and some of those little one-off puzzle games that are like digital junk food, and I’m pretty entertained with a lot of the K-RPGs flooding the internets.
A lot of the cost of games comes from the copy protection and I’m continually being priced out of the market on new games. I just don’t have $60 to plunk down on a game that may only deliver a few hours of entertainment - hell, I have to save up for months to pay $30 for something!
There is a company that’s doing games completely DRM free, I’ve forgotten the name but I think their newest game is “Sins of a Solar Empire” or something like that. It’s a gorgeous game if you like that kind of thing, my husband has it on his machine. Whatever company that is, if they make a game that appeals to me, they get my money. There’s a business practice worth supporting.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I’ve heard a lot of good things about Sins–but according to all indications, Spore is going to have some pretty serious DRM on it.
April 15th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Stardock games, that’s it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 am
Now I’m afraid that my future Mass Effect purchase for the PC will be hampered by malware and adware, just because I don’t have my own XBox 360 but my family owns a copy. (Cesar)
If Bioware uses the same publisher as they did for Jade Empire, who in turn use the same copy protection that they did for Jade Empire, then Mass Effect should only have a non-invasive form of SecuROM as described here:
http://jade.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=544783&forum=108#4767716
http://jade.bioware.com/forums/viewtopic.html?topic=544783&forum=108&sp=30#4800020
Though I’m uncertain how much of the “benignity” described is the deliberate result of decisions made by 2K Games, vs. just being how the version of SecuROM available at the time worked. As I understand it, the presence of SecuROM in newer games tends to be a bit more noticeable (and burdensome).