After a very public defense of rumors about the next Xbox’s always-on Internet requirements, a new report claims that Microsoft creative director Adam Orth is no longer with the company. In a series of Twitter posts, Orth defended the move by countering that “every device” is now constantly connected, and then delivered a low-blow when someone responded suggesting always-on connectivity might not… → Read More
SimCity is getting a lot of flack from players and consumers about its policy of requiring that they remain connected to EA’s servers to enjoy the game, even when playing in single-player mode. Maxis General Manager Lucy Bradshaw has indicated that SimCity actually requires the online connection, since it does a lot of important calculations on remote servers. But now a modder called UKAzzer has… → Read More
Electronic Arts’ SimCity was easily the most anticipated game of the season, but its launch was an unmitigated disaster because the DRM solution Electronic Arts and Maxis dreamt up means users have to always be online if they want to play. Sadly, EA’s servers weren’t up to the task and most players were either unable to connect or got kicked out of the game after a while. Today… → Read More
Developers are frustrated over what appears to be an issue with corrupt app store binaries being served by Apple, which is leading otherwise functional iOS and Mac applications to immediately crash upon launch. The issue was tipped to us by app developers and has also been making the rounds thanks to details shared by high-profile app developer Marco Arment of Instapaper. → Read More
For people who have been doing just one thing for a long, long time, it’s amazing how many content distributors get things so catastrophically wrong.
These last few weeks brought us quite a few unique situations, including the launch of Apple’s iBook Author software as well as a number of announcements from the studios to withhold streaming rights for Netflix viewers. Cory Doctorow points to a… → Read More
Our readers are probably familiar in passing with UltraViolet, a new content rights management system that is supposed to unify the rights architecture on the web, allowing cross-platform sharing and authentication of movies and TV. But for such a major effort by so many device makers and content producers, very little has been heard or said about it. Probably because it’s still in its infancy… → Read More
You may remember the “one DRM to rule them all” we heard about last year, UltraViolet. It’s essentially a DRM scheme that all the heavy hitters are getting behind, from device makers to content creators to distributors. Everyone, that is, except for one 800-pound media gorilla: Apple.
The last we heard of it was over a year ago, with nary a peep since then except the odd mention here or there. → Read More
The next big PC game will be The Witcher 2, which should be released on May 12 (and if you’re cool like me you will have already pre-ordered). Unlike a certain other big RPG this year, it actually looks like it was developed within the past few years. If you order it from Good Old Games (the company behind GoG, CD Projekt, also developed the game) it will be completely DRM-free. That is to say… → Read More
You might have heard by now of the senseless idea of HarperCollins’s that their e-books should only be able to be lent 26 times by libraries before “expiring.” Not the smartest PR move I’ve seen. But I’d just like to congratulate Halifax’s public library system for opting not to acquire any of these restricted titles for their collection. Many other librarians… → Read More
Ubisoft consistently brings the funny. The publisher will release the PC version Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, also known as Assassin’s Creed II 2, next week. The “deluxe” edition edition of the game contains an mp3 version of the soundtrack. So far, so good. Ubisoft has made the “deluxe” items available to download for people who’ve pre-ordered the game, that is, if you’ve pre-ordered… → Read More
Did EA ship the PC version of Dragon Age II with SecuROM DRM without telling anyone? It certainly looks that way. Reclaim Your Game’s analysis of the DVD (ie non-Steam) version of the PC game found that it does, in fact, contain SecurROM, and despite the fact that EA has a 28-page (!) EULA nowhere in there—nor anywhere else—is SecuROM mentioned. Furthermore, once installed, you can’t… → Read More
You really ought to take a few mounts of your day to check out Adventure Classic Gaming’s interview with the folks behind Good Old Games, the online service that lets people download and play classic games, and completely without DRM. And what do you know, their selling of DRM-free games hasn’t caused the planet to explode (but it is sometimes hard to convince publishers to sign up). We’ve been… → Read More
Valve has officially announced Steam Guard, which is a new form “user rights management” in the words of Gabe Newell. There were all sorts of rumors about it yesterday, but now that Valve has made the official announcement it’s safe there’s no real reason to panic. The service is more about keeping your Steam account secure and out of the hands of evildoers than it is about punishing you for… → Read More
This is really too bad; I was looking forward to this game, despite the unpardonable offense of getting jumping in my Bionic Commando. It turns out that Rearmed 2 has DRM that, like a few other games we’ve seen, prevents you from playing when you’re offline. Like, for instance, if there was a blizzard and your internet was down. Or you have metered internet and turn it off. Or you just… → Read More
Potentially big news here with respect to DRM, our rights, donuts, etc. Supposedly the HDCP master key has been released. Effectively, that means the copy protection found in your HDMI connection (which prevents you from easily copying anything going through that HDMI connection, including Blu-ray discs, over-the-air HDTV broadcasts, and so on) has been cracked. Maybe—things are still a… → Read More
If anyone wants to know where to find me, I’ll be in my cave, banging two rocks together. That seems to be the only place for me, since I can’t seem to wrap my head around DLC as a good thing — yet millions have decided to shell out, just recently passing the 20,000,000 sold mark for the Call Of Duty franchise. Congratulations all around, I guess, as they have clearly put out a… → Read More
Note: A reader sent us this interesting take on Steam and DRM, but requested to stay anonymous due to the nature of the article. We of course obliged.
Up until a few weeks ago, the last PC game I purchased and didn’t pirate was Team Fortress 2 via the digital download service, Steam. The last PC game I purchased in a retail box was Half Life 2. Yet like many, I’ve still managed to play every PC… → Read More
“We need our development teams focused on content and cool features, not anti-piracy technology.” Thank you, finally! See, Blizzard gets it. The company’s co-founder, Frank Pearce, recently told the good folks at Video Gamer that he thinks the fight against DRM is misguided. Not that he supports end-users going around torrenting his games till the end of time, but that the way to “beat” piracy is… → Read More
Looks like Netflix has decided to go with Microsoft’s PlayReady DRM for all upcoming Netflix-ready devices. If all goes according to plan you shouldn’t even notice the DRM being there, but we all know how well DRM has worked in the past. → Read More
Got an interesting e-mail a few hours ago detailing software piracy losses from the year 2009, also known as “last year.” The big, scary number is 51, as in $51 billion in losses. So says the Business Software Association. Reading the report, which is dripping with alarmist rhetoric, you’d think that Gaia herself were in danger. Don’t worry, guys, we’ll get through this. → Read More
You know how in Facebook, there’s no “dislike button”? Well think of that in this case: I’m not “liking” or supporting piracy, but consider this post a continuation of our “dislike” of Ubisoft’s faulty, ridiculous DRM scheme. Said DRM has prevented thousands, perhaps millions, of legitimate buyers of the game from playing it — and now, a leading group of hackers has put together a solution… → Read More
I’ll keep this short and to the point, if only because I’m sensing the “outrage” surrounding DRM has sorta died down. The movement ran out of fuel, I mean. Anyway, gamers in Australia have been unable to play Settlers 7, which uses that silly DRM nonsense that requires you be to constantly connected to the Internet, because Ubisoft‘s servers have been unreachable. Who saw this coming? Oh, right… → Read More
Jeff Green used to work at Games For Windows magazine before taking a sweet gig at EA, but that little fact won’t silence his criticism of the DRM found in Command and Conquer 4. He tweeted white-hot rage when, as everyone on the Internet predicted, this “always-on” nonsense worked as intended, and prevented a law-abiding citizen from playing his game. → Read More
Let’s make one thing clear: I wouldn’t play Command and Conquer 4 if it was the game on Earth. It’s just not “me.” So pardon my blase attitude while I drop this bombshell: the game uses the same stupid DRM that Ubisoft now uses, which I complained about on CNN. Add this to your list of games not to buy, then. → Read More
Since we’re your go-to source for complaining about DRM, I figure we should mention the latest development regarding EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Dice, the game’s developer’s, have removed SecuROM DRM from both the retail version of the game as well as the digitally distributed one (i.e. Steam). Why a Steam game even needs SecuROM in the first place (it’s merely a disc check, so…) is a… → Read More
When will this nonsense with online DRM stop? Ubisoft’s authentication servers were apparently attacked and therefore offline, but now they’re back. Now EA servers crashed for an hour this morning, locking players out of numerous gamings including Bad Company 2. This is crazy. DRM isn’t going anywhere but this current implementation simply isn’t stable enough. → Read More
Oh, Ubisoft. You so quickly went from the guys that brought us Splinter Cell (young people: Splinter Cell used to be cool in the early to mid 2000s) to the guys that have created the stupidest DRM known to man. Oh, and you’re also incapable of telling the truth. The authentication servers for Assassin’s Creed II (I thought that comes out tomorrow?) and Silent Hunter V were completely inaccessible… → Read More
When it was revealed that Ubisoft’s new DRM scheme would require you to be online at all times, and if disconnected for any reason would boot you out of the game, people immediately asked the obvious question: “Well, what if your DRM servers go down?”
Ubisoft was not forthcoming, unless this little calamity is their roguish idea of an answer. Yes, the servers which must be connected to constantly… → Read More
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