Just 2 more days till I can finish the fight. The anticipation is killing me!
Anyway, while I'm waiting for Halo 3 to come out, I've been mucking around with some other games. As you know from last weeks post, I've been replaying Gears of War. On a side note, I really hope that Halo 3 doesn't suffer from the same lag issues that GoW has - in case you weren't aware, the host in GoW has a pretty big advantage as he suffers no lag. And this isn't the case of a shitty player bitching as the lag and resulting host advantage in GoW is well documented.
Anyway, what you probably didn't know is that I have also been mucking around with Command & Conquer. Not C&C3 but the original C&C that was released 12 years ago and which kick-started the whole RTS genre. Basically, if you were a PC gamer 12 years ago, you would have known about this game (thats how famous it is!). Maybe its nostalgia, but its incredible how much fun I still have playing this game - especially as I got it for free by downloading it off the internet.
Shock! Did I say download for free? Have I turned into a pirate (avast ye!)?
Well - not quite. You see, as part of the birthday celebrations for C&C, EA (who now own the franchise) released the game for free on their website. In fact, you can download it here. So go on - download this classic of RTS gaming and relive your youth!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Gears of War redux
Halo 3 comes out on 25 September. And I am sooo looking forward to this game.
Or maybe I'm just a victim of the Microsoft marketing machine. As you can imagine, with a game like this, the PR team at Microsoft have gone into overdrive. This marketing blitz has placed Master Chief on every conceivable and in some cases inconceivable locations!
Anyway, while I'm waiting for Halo 3, I've been replaying GoW on Xbox Live. After several months not playing this game, I'm very happy to report that statistically, my skills haven't really deteriorated. In the past, out of 8 players, I would regularly challenge for 7th place. I am still challenging for 7th place now - so now change!
What can I say - them damn 13 year old kids are good at this game.
I need to find a group of old guys who have shitty reflexes like me!
:)
Or maybe I'm just a victim of the Microsoft marketing machine. As you can imagine, with a game like this, the PR team at Microsoft have gone into overdrive. This marketing blitz has placed Master Chief on every conceivable and in some cases inconceivable locations!
Anyway, while I'm waiting for Halo 3, I've been replaying GoW on Xbox Live. After several months not playing this game, I'm very happy to report that statistically, my skills haven't really deteriorated. In the past, out of 8 players, I would regularly challenge for 7th place. I am still challenging for 7th place now - so now change!
What can I say - them damn 13 year old kids are good at this game.
I need to find a group of old guys who have shitty reflexes like me!
:)
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Adios Bioshock
Last week, I posted about some of my dislike for DRM. Just when I think things can't get any worse, this happens.
So what happened? Basically, one of the buyers of Bioshock installed it on his PC. This guy has several users on the same PC and so, in accordance with PC best practice, he installed it as an admin. The problem arose when another user on the same PC tried to run the game. At this point, the game asked for the serial number again. Before proceeding, the guy went back to the forums and asked if this would count as 2 of his 5 activations.
Just in case that last statement wasn't clear, 2K games has put an install limit of 5 on this game (actually, it was 2 but the outcry on the forums was so bad that they upped it to 5). What this means is that you can install the game 5 times - if you want to install more, you have to properly uninstall once and get a reinstallation key.
So in summary, the question was whether 2 guys using the same PC, but under a different profile, would count as having installed the game twice. Reasonable question.
This was the answer from 2K Tech JT:
The other way to view this, is one USER has purchased the game. Not the whole family. So why should your brother play for free?
So in other words, if you want your entire family of say 5 people to play the game, you should buy 5 copies. Even if they are all using the same PC. This is so fucked up it defies belief (and if you can't understand why, please jump in front of a bus so that we can remove you from the gene pool).
2K have since said that he wasn't actually an employee of 2K - he was just a tech guy they outsourced technical support to. Furthermore, the guy has been suspended pending the results of an investigation (I have no idea what they are investigating - this is just what they said).
First off, if 2K Tech JT honestly believes in his above statement, then he fully deserves to be fired and publicly pilloried.
However, another point to consider is whether 2K Tech JT was simply toeing the company line. Although his comment was indelicate (and stupid), it seems to be a fair summary of the way that 2K are implementing DRM for Bioshock. Importantly, I note that although 2K are distancing themselves from 2K Tech JT, no one has actually said that the above situation does not count as 2 installs (although admittedly, the thread is soooo long that I might just have missed it).
Indelicate as his statements may have been, has 2K Tech JT nailed down in a nutshell the view taken by 2K based on how they are actually implementing DRM? Is 2K Tech JT being made a scapegoat?
Possibly. Either way, unless 2K do something drastic and soon, they are going to be joining Starforce on my boycott list.
So what happened? Basically, one of the buyers of Bioshock installed it on his PC. This guy has several users on the same PC and so, in accordance with PC best practice, he installed it as an admin. The problem arose when another user on the same PC tried to run the game. At this point, the game asked for the serial number again. Before proceeding, the guy went back to the forums and asked if this would count as 2 of his 5 activations.
Just in case that last statement wasn't clear, 2K games has put an install limit of 5 on this game (actually, it was 2 but the outcry on the forums was so bad that they upped it to 5). What this means is that you can install the game 5 times - if you want to install more, you have to properly uninstall once and get a reinstallation key.
So in summary, the question was whether 2 guys using the same PC, but under a different profile, would count as having installed the game twice. Reasonable question.
This was the answer from 2K Tech JT:
The other way to view this, is one USER has purchased the game. Not the whole family. So why should your brother play for free?
So in other words, if you want your entire family of say 5 people to play the game, you should buy 5 copies. Even if they are all using the same PC. This is so fucked up it defies belief (and if you can't understand why, please jump in front of a bus so that we can remove you from the gene pool).
2K have since said that he wasn't actually an employee of 2K - he was just a tech guy they outsourced technical support to. Furthermore, the guy has been suspended pending the results of an investigation (I have no idea what they are investigating - this is just what they said).
First off, if 2K Tech JT honestly believes in his above statement, then he fully deserves to be fired and publicly pilloried.
However, another point to consider is whether 2K Tech JT was simply toeing the company line. Although his comment was indelicate (and stupid), it seems to be a fair summary of the way that 2K are implementing DRM for Bioshock. Importantly, I note that although 2K are distancing themselves from 2K Tech JT, no one has actually said that the above situation does not count as 2 installs (although admittedly, the thread is soooo long that I might just have missed it).
Indelicate as his statements may have been, has 2K Tech JT nailed down in a nutshell the view taken by 2K based on how they are actually implementing DRM? Is 2K Tech JT being made a scapegoat?
Possibly. Either way, unless 2K do something drastic and soon, they are going to be joining Starforce on my boycott list.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
DRM is BAD
DRM (Digital Rights Management) is bad. Very bad.
For those of you who don't know, DRM is basically copy protection. DRM is used in a lot of applications, but as this is a gaming blog, I'm only going to talk about DRM in a game context. More specifically, in the context of Bioshock.
Bioshock came out for the PC and X360 recently. Based on the reviews, this is one hell of a kickass game! And I feel very comfortable saying that as I have also played the demo on the X360. In fact, after playing the demo, I had resolved to buy the game!
And then this happened. It turns out that Bioshock uses SecuRom copy protection which means that you only get to install the game twice (you can install more if you uninstall properly thereby getting an installation key - however, lots of users reported problems uninstalling the game properly). SecuRom also has other problems (eg other users have reported that they had to remove all virtual drives on their machine before allowing them to install the game). And this really really annoys me.
You see, I am hugely against DRM in games. In my opinion, having DRM in games is worthless. No matter how good your DRM is, within a couple of weeks, a pirated version of the game usually becomes available. In other words, people who don't intend to buy the original can very easily get a pirate copy.
It seems that the biggest argument in favour of DRM is piracy and the resulting lost sales revenue. However, in my opinion, this is a hugely overstated loss. In most cases, people who download pirate copies of the game probably would never have bought your game in the first place. In other words, you really aren't losing out that much. Having said that, I am also a realist and I know that most games will have some form of copy protection. So in most cases, I ignore the copy protection and get on with life.
However, I draw the line when people who do buy the original get screwed up the ass (as beautifully illustrated in the link above). If you are going to implement copy protection in your game, at least make it unobtrusive and ensure it doesn't contain any malware. Bioshock was unable to do this.
I doubt any of the developers of Bioshock or anyone at 2K Games is reading this. However, if there are, I just want you to know that I will not be buying Bioshock even though it wouldn't have effected me on the X360.
It is your prerogative to screw your customers. It is my prerogative to not become your customer.
For those of you who don't know, DRM is basically copy protection. DRM is used in a lot of applications, but as this is a gaming blog, I'm only going to talk about DRM in a game context. More specifically, in the context of Bioshock.
Bioshock came out for the PC and X360 recently. Based on the reviews, this is one hell of a kickass game! And I feel very comfortable saying that as I have also played the demo on the X360. In fact, after playing the demo, I had resolved to buy the game!
And then this happened. It turns out that Bioshock uses SecuRom copy protection which means that you only get to install the game twice (you can install more if you uninstall properly thereby getting an installation key - however, lots of users reported problems uninstalling the game properly). SecuRom also has other problems (eg other users have reported that they had to remove all virtual drives on their machine before allowing them to install the game). And this really really annoys me.
You see, I am hugely against DRM in games. In my opinion, having DRM in games is worthless. No matter how good your DRM is, within a couple of weeks, a pirated version of the game usually becomes available. In other words, people who don't intend to buy the original can very easily get a pirate copy.
It seems that the biggest argument in favour of DRM is piracy and the resulting lost sales revenue. However, in my opinion, this is a hugely overstated loss. In most cases, people who download pirate copies of the game probably would never have bought your game in the first place. In other words, you really aren't losing out that much. Having said that, I am also a realist and I know that most games will have some form of copy protection. So in most cases, I ignore the copy protection and get on with life.
However, I draw the line when people who do buy the original get screwed up the ass (as beautifully illustrated in the link above). If you are going to implement copy protection in your game, at least make it unobtrusive and ensure it doesn't contain any malware. Bioshock was unable to do this.
I doubt any of the developers of Bioshock or anyone at 2K Games is reading this. However, if there are, I just want you to know that I will not be buying Bioshock even though it wouldn't have effected me on the X360.
It is your prerogative to screw your customers. It is my prerogative to not become your customer.
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