Anyone try Gears of War today?

[Bobblehead]

Gamers who tried to play Gears of War on the PC Thursday ran into a slight snag: it seems that the digital certificate that allows the game to run expired on January 28, 2009. Basically that means if you keep your PC's clock up to date, you can no longer play the game.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2...ting-today.ars


Good job, Epic and Microsoft.

Why are these publishers punishing their paying customers? Digital Rights Management does NOT stop the pirates from copying these games, it does not stop people who won't pay for the game from getting it. It majorly inconveniences the people who actually pay for the game, by usually forcing them to put the game disk in to play, or at worst totally shutting down the game or screwing up other programs on your computer. I don't think PC gaming is dying simply because of pirates, but issues like this make people think why not just get a console and avoid these issues (and deal with RRoD, but that is another issue)

[Hemi-Cuda]

it's more beneficial to get the pirated version of a game that doesn't have all these copy protections. i rarely buy PC games anymore because it just isn't worth the hassle of dealing with a "legit" copy

[llama64]

Yet another reason why buying a game on a console is probably a better investment.

I recently tried to load a game on my PC (Civ IV) to play from a couple years ago. It doesn't work with my current OS, or graphics card, or motherboard, or drivers, or.... etc.

I gave up. And yet I can still plug my Nintendo in and play Mario like it's 1987.

I don't have time anymore to fiddle around with my rig just to get a game to play. Consoles are cheaper and far more reliable (yes, even the Xbox360!).

/grumpy old man rant

[Inferno]

Statement from Epic regarding the problem

The good news is that Epic Games is aware of the problem and is currently working with Microsoft on a fix. "We have been notified of the issue and are working with Microsoft to get it resolved," an Epic Games community manager said in a post on the company's forums. "This was a surprise to us too. We aren't casting blame or chewing anyone out. We're trying to figure out how and why it happened so we can get it fixed."

http://www.gamespot.com/news/blogs/s...xpiration.html

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2...ting-today.ars


Good job, Epic and Microsoft.

Why are these publishers punishing their paying customers? Digital Rights Management does NOT stop the pirates from copying these games, it does not stop people who won't pay for the game from getting it.

When Bioware ( I think ) released a recent game they said that they didn't expect DRM to stop pirates, but slow them down for 3 days. If they could do this, it would cut its affect of piracy down to the point where it won't kill the company.


DRM doesn't suck, BAD DRM sucks, Buggy DRM sucks.

I think it goes without saying that releasing bad and/or buggy software is bad for consumers. This issue has nothing to do with DRM as far as I am concerned.

[Human Torch]

steam is the way to go

[mykalberta]

Yes, its working fine on the 360

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by llama64

Yet another reason why buying a game on a console is probably a better investment.

I recently tried to load a game on my PC (Civ IV) to play from a couple years ago. It doesn't work with my current OS, or graphics card, or motherboard, or drivers, or.... etc.

I gave up. And yet I can still plug my Nintendo in and play Mario like it's 1987.

I don't have time anymore to fiddle around with my rig just to get a game to play. Consoles are cheaper and far more reliable (yes, even the Xbox360!).

/grumpy old man rant

You seem to have different standards for a PC and a console. . . .

You don't expect a new console to support old console games, but expect a new OS to keep supporting old games.

[Hack&Lube]

A lot of times, when I want to support a game and it's developers, I will buy it but never actually use the disc. I'd just get the key.

And then download a version that all the hackers and crackers have actually fixed and patched and taken out all the obtrusive DRM.

[PsYcNeT]

I though the pseudo-DRM for Mirror's Edge on PC was pretty badass.

The first cracked versions could be playable until the beginning of level 3, where your fast running, super jumping, high flying character would suddenly suffer a manifestation of geriatric proportions and only be able to move sooooo slooowwwwly.

Took the crackers another 3 days on top of the original crack to get that one fixed.

Pretty clever by the company IMO

[NuclearFart]

Originally Posted by Rathji

When Bioware ( I think ) released a recent game they said that they didn't expect DRM to stop pirates, but slow them down for 3 days. If they could do this, it would cut its affect of piracy down to the point where it won't kill the company.

I don't know enough about the industry, but are companies being killed by pirates? Sure it's cutting into the profits, but are software companies going bankrupt because of it? I'm getting images of Metallica whining about pirated songs from their mansions.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

I don't know enough about the industry, but are companies being killed by pirates? Sure it's cutting into the profits, but are software companies going bankrupt because of it? I'm getting images of Metallica whining about pirated songs from their mansions.

Not ever company that makes a game is a Blizzard or EA. For the most part game development studios are not big companies and if they do not take steps to protect themselves through DRM, they will go out of business.

There is a reason you just can't pop in a copied CD and play a game anymore, because it has become so easy to distribute that CD image that it would kill a company to not put in some form of protection ( DRM, CD key, Account linking etc)

DRM is caused by people who 'steal' product, yet the customer is the one who has to pay with frustration while the game companies try and implement a DRM solution that actually stops the cracks while not limiting the consumer.

[llama64]

Originally Posted by Mike F

You seem to have different standards for a PC and a console. . . .

You don't expect a new console to support old console games, but expect a new OS to keep supporting old games.

I expect a game that was released for Direct X 10 (Supreme Commander) to function in Vista. It doesn't.

I expect a game released for XP (Civ IV) to function in Vista. It doesn't (for me).

I don't expect a game released for Win95 to work, nor for Dos. Perhaps I'm being unreasonable?

[mykalberta]

Originally Posted by NuclearFart

I don't know enough about the industry, but are companies being killed by pirates? Sure it's cutting into the profits, but are software companies going bankrupt because of it? I'm getting images of Metallica whining about pirated songs from their mansions.

One of if not the largest game developer in the world EA posted a yearly loss. Not sure if that means anything or not but food for thought.

[cKy]

www.joystiq.com - as I imagine 100 other gaming sites do - has news listings of all the gaming companies either laying tons of people off, or going tits up. From what I have read, no one really seems to blame pirating, just the way the whole economic situation has made it.

[PsYcNeT]

As long as Valve is still in business, every other company can go tits up...

...well okay 2k games have been pretty good lately. They can stay too.

...Bethesda too.

...Blizzard could afford to be taken down a few notches...

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Heheheh...tits up.