EA got kicked medium style..?

[Dyne]

Turns out ever since the Spore DRM backlash, they decided to "scale back" on the DRM for Red Alert 3...

On another unrelated note, EA dropped its bid to buy up Take Two...

Yeah, "scale back"? Hah. This is E A. 'nuff said. At least, however, they've stopped trying to take over Take Two. I honestly don't believe EA should be allowed to buy up so many game companies. But I only say that because I think they're trying to push hard for their "one console world". Which is also a bunch of garbage. Sorry EA, but when you take choice away from your consumers, you risk not only alienating them, but also losing them forever to either another company who doesn't force their customers to jump through hoops just to play their games.

I wonder if The Game Overthinker will have a video on this, that'd be cool to hear his rant on it.

[RadioactivePancakes]

If I'm not mistaken, you can easily back up your games through Steam by just copying all the files in your steam account. Upon a reformat, just simply reinstall steam and paste all the files back and you can play again. Sounds pretty damn good to me.

As for Red Alert 3's 3-5 install limit...that's fine. I was still planning on buying this game regardless because I've been looking forward to it too much. I already own Spore. I usually would reformat my computer at least once a year but I guess that will no longer be the case.

Come to think of it...could anybody clarify that install limit? Does it get affected by simple reformats or is it only due to significant hardware changes such as memory and video card? What about changing a harddrive? Some people say reformats count and some don't. Any clarification on the matter would be appreciated.

[atmuh]

Problem is, you give the companies the impression that you'd possibly buy the game if it couldn't be pirated. The best solution to dealing with companies inserting DRM, or a particular kind, is to just not give any game with any of that crap any mindshare. That will give them the message pretty quickly.

this is so incredibly retarded the only reason i would do such a thing is if i didnt REALLY WANNA PLAY THE GAME

and by this argument ea doesnt give half a crap about the spore protests being that its already the fourth most dled thing on blackcats and i can only imagine how many dls its gotten from public places

[Bahamut]

this is so incredibly retarded the only reason i would do such a thing is if i didnt REALLY WANNA PLAY THE GAME

and by this argument ea doesnt give half a crap about the spore protests being that its already the fourth most dled thing on blackcats and i can only imagine how many dls its gotten from public places

They do give a crap cause they already upped the Spore install limit to 5 and announced so for Red Alert.

And your comment is far more retarded because you're willing to fuck over everyone just for one game, when there are plenty of others that don't shit on you like SecuROM does.

Of course, it's always like you to ignore the important parts of an argument and vote with the spoiled baby attitude of "I want something so I'll take it, screw everything bad that is associated with it."

Fuck brainwashed idiots.

[The wingless]

But I only say that because I think they're trying to push hard for their "one console world".

As part of the unwashed masses (aka, people not in the Industry) would it surprise you to know that if this actually happened, every game company the world over would weep tears of honey-joy? Costs of making games would go down significantly, the speed at which games are developed would increase, and overall quality would improve.

Taking choice from the consumer? Sounds like somebody is bashing EA because he heard the cool kid on the playground say the same thing. It certainly does not sound like a coherent thought.

[Darklink42]

The only thing about piracy that bugs people is the money, and honestly I think micro-transactions are easily going to start making up for that kind of loss. It's already pretty lucrative elsewhere.

I don't really know where to stand on SecuROM and other DRMs. Frankly, it just sounds like a really stupid way to give companies a feeling of security. It's not helping them (obvious both by comments here and real world evidence that people would rather pirate it to get around said feature than deal with it.) On the same token, people quickly get upset when they find out that companies are acquiring their personal information when they get a game. It doesn't matter how. As long as their is internet, there will be piracy. As long as there is piracy, we will have people trying to thwart them. In the end, the only chance companies have of really making profit out of it is either to go the route of Itunes or adapting creatively to make money through other means: episodic content, extra content transactions, etc. But the overall finger shaking won't stop because piracy can't be encouraged by big companies.

I agree though, that the best way to stop a company from doing stupid shit like this is to use the power of your wallet and by speaking out in mass. We are the ones that buy the games after all. The guys on Amazon did the right thing.

[The Coop]

As part of the unwashed masses (aka, people not in the Industry) would it surprise you to know that if this actually happened, every game company the world over would weep tears of honey-joy? Costs of making games would go down significantly, the speed at which games are developed would increase, and overall quality would improve.

And the console makers (and third-party accessory makers too) would weep tears of pain as they watched all the income they'd normally get from charging game makers for this and that, not to mention income by having exclusivity (you want our games? BUY OUR SYSTEM!), go right out the window

But I don't think we'll ever have an "all in one" console like what EA talked about in the past. There's too much pride involved with companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to ever be working together under someone else's console design. Each would always be thinking about what they'd add or do differently, and eventually, they'd build their own console again to make themselves (and possibly some game makers) happy (and richer).

[atmuh]

They do give a crap cause they already upped the Spore install limit to 5 and announced so for Red Alert.

And your comment is far more retarded because you're willing to fuck over everyone just for one game, when there are plenty of others that don't shit on you like SecuROM does.

Of course, it's always like you to ignore the important parts of an argument and vote with the spoiled baby attitude of "I want something so I'll take it, screw everything bad that is associated with it."

Fuck brainwashed idiots.

this is not one game

this is a PARTICULAR game that id been waiting for for years and that i built a computer specifically so id be able to play

youd better believe im gonna buy it

[OverCoat]

I mean, DRM sucks. But if we must deal with it, I'd rather deal with Steam's. The only problem I see with Steam is how when the Steam server go down in the future, you will be screwed out of your copy

Actually Valve has said that if they go under and Steam ceases to exist they will provide a utility to convert your games out of steam, or provide some kind of steam legacy app... I forget which, but they've got it covered.

Besides, I have played cracked versions of Portal and HL2 Ep 2 before, and they actually worked great! Of course, I promptly bought the Orange Box after finishing Portal, one of the few things that's impressed me so much I felt the need to give the developers their money, not to mention the Orange Box itself is an amazing bundle deal.

[Magewout]

As part of the unwashed masses (aka, people not in the Industry) would it surprise you to know that if this actually happened, every game company the world over would weep tears of honey-joy? Costs of making games would go down significantly, the speed at which games are developed would increase, and overall quality would improve.

That is highly doubtful. My prediction: if such a thing happens we'll get flooded by even more shovelware than now.

[Schwaltzvald]

Because if you don't like the terms on which something are sold, that makes it ok to steal, am I right?

If the price (which is actually fair in this case) and the strings that are attached to it (which is total bullshit which outweighs the price of the product)...

Then I say YES...

[The wingless]

That is highly doubtful. My prediction: if such a thing happens we'll get flooded by even more shovelware than now.

You'd be wrong, bitch. I'm in the game's industry. I WIN. ME. NOT YOU. ME!

[Monobrow]

this guy don't play fair

[Antipode]

Wingless, I think having multiple consoles incites competition, which can only improve such a massive industry. Having one console and one company at the head of everything means way too much power and control over something so big. It's the same reason I wouldn't want one company to own the movie industry.

[The wingless]

Oh, absolutely.

My argument was that it would be a godsend for game companies.

[Dark_T_Zeratul]

that's my employer you're talking about, douchebags!!! I SHANT HAVE IT!

They were my employers too at one point, and I trash-talked them even then.

[Pyrion]

What amazes me about DRM is that Valve seems to have solved the problem ok. All Steam games inherently have a basic DRM scheme, but nobody complains about it and goes nuts over Portal and Team Fortress 2. Why can't other companies just do what Valve does?

Stardock has Impulse. It's even less invasive than Steam, you can log on from multiple computers simultaneously (and you don't need to be logged on to play the games) without them bitching at you for it.

While that in itself wouldnt be so bad you cant find JUST a dvd drive. Typically adding a second one is a pretty nasty expense.

What the hell are you talking about?

[I-n-j-i-n]

I swear DVD players were actually freakishly expensive (at least $150 for a good one) a year ago. Now with Bluray drives starting to take over, nobody gives a damn about DVD players on PCs. I love it.

[Pyrion]

I swear DVD players were actually freakishly expensive (at least $150 for a good one) a year ago. Now with Bluray drives starting to take over, nobody gives a damn about DVD players on PCs. I love it.

No they weren't. They've been this cheap for at least the past 4 years. You just had to know where to look.