In an odd series of events, users are reporting on the Gears of War forums that the digital certificates for the PC version of the game have expired. The news started pouring in on January 28th which means that the game will not launch if your machine’s system date is current.
Events like this prove why PC gaming is slowly going the way of the dodo. The people who purchased a legitimate version of the game are getting screwed because of the DRM while the folks who pirated the game get to keep on playing. We don’t condone pirating games but it’s a serious disservice to the industry when things of this nature take place.
I just have to ask one thing, who in the world is still playing Gears of War on the PC?
[Via Ripten]
It seems the intarwebs are a bit pissed off at the SecuROM DRM scheme in Spore. You’re allowed 3 activations of the game before you have to call EA for help. When that happens, EA doesn’t even have to allow you any more activations. Sad. People have taken up arms on the Amazon reviews page. Check this one out:
First of all, the game incorporates a draconian DRM system that requires you to activate over the internet, and limits you to a grand total of 3 activations. If you reach that limit, then you’ll have to call EA in order to add one extra activation. That’s not as simple as it sounds, since when you reach that point EA will assume that you, the paying customer, are a filthy pirating thief. You will need to provide proof of purchase, reasons why the limit was reached, etc, etc (it has all happened before with another recent EA product, Mass Effect). EA, of course, is not obligated to grant you that extra activation or even provide that service. In a couple of years they might very well even shut down the general activation servers, because “it’s not financially feasible” to keep them running. What you will be left with is a nice, colorful $50 coaster. And you will be required to pay for another copy/license if you want to continue playing.
Many people are arguing that you’re essentially renting the game, and I can see their point. I hate being penalized for actually buying a PC/Mac game. You’d think game companies want to find ways to reward their paying customers. It’s things like this SecuROM crap that make people want to pirate games even more. I’m debating buying Spore and this fiasco is really leaning me towards not doing it. We’ll see what happens.
Since I just got my 10th Xbox 360, I decided I’d use the new DRM fix tool that Microsoft released last month. I fired up the website and went through the steps as outlined, then it was time to re-download everything. I had a whopping 665 items in my download list to reclaim. My jaw dropped a bit.
I sat there for an hour and a half going through my download list and grabbing the licenses for everything. There were a couple hitches along the way, aside from the tunnel vision and boredom. A couple XBLA games re-downloaded completely as if they weren’t there. Now I have 2 copies on my system. I have to delete both (since there’s no way to tell which one has the new license) and download them again. I couple videos (specifically the free South Park episode in HD and the free Code Monkeys episode) couldn’t be re-downloaded for some strange reason. Hopefully I’ll never have the need to watch them when I don’t have a Live connection.
Am I happy Microsoft released this fix and solved the issue? Hell yes. Do I wish they made it much easier? Hell yes. I’m glad I have all my licenses back, but I wish Microsoft would find a way to make this a bit more streamlined. Maybe scan the system and patch all the DRM in one fell swoop? I wouldn’t care if it took the same amount of time, as long as I wouldn’t have to sit there and re-download each one manually.
Have any of you used the DRM fix tool? What are your experiences?
If you’re like me, you aren’t still on Xbox 360 #1. Hopefully, you aren’t on #9 like me. For those of us who’ve had the pleasure of the Red Ring of Death, Microsoft has released a DRM fix tool to make all your content licensed to your new console. That means all your add-ons, XBLA games, videos, etc will be usable on all profiles and both online and offline. Good stuff.
Check out the above below on how it works and then head over to xbox.com to get started. But here’s the problem, Major Nelson calls it “quick and easy”. You have to manually re-download every single item individually on your Xbox 360 after you run the tool to get the new license onto your 360. Say what now? I have over 75 pieces of content that I will need to download again, and that’s only counting the stuff I care about. Come on, Microsoft. It’s a step in the right direction, but couldn’t you make this a bit quicker and easier?
Video: Xbox 360 Content License Transfer Tool on Xbox.com
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