I think we've long suspected this. The Universal Media Disc has not been an astoundingly successful component of the PSP. As mobile storage formats go, optical discs are far from being ideal. While UMDs can store a lot, they were plagued by slow load times and are bulkier compared to Nintendo DS flash cards. At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony has announced that all future PSP titles released in Japan will be download only. So far, there is no word when Sony's other major territories, namely Europe and North America, will receive the same treatment. The games are presumed to be priced the same as current UMD based titles and downloadable PSP games that are already available.

Thus is today's major debate in gaming. Downloadable games have numerous advantages compared to traditional disc based media. However, they also present gamers with some issues regarding ownership. First of all, the big draw with downloadable games is instant gratification. The games can be bought at any time of day, any day of the week. There are no lines, no sold out titles. There are no discs to store, load, and care for. The big issue for me is the fact that there's question as to what the gamer actually owns in the end. With traditional media, I own the disc even if I don't technically own what's on it. I like the idea of having something tangible, which is why I've tended to shy away from downloadable games unless they're cheap. With downloadable versions, I own nothing. The problem is there's nothing stopping companies from putting strict DRM restrictions on these titles, limiting them from being backed up. We all know hard drives and solid state drives fail but they also have finite amounts of storage, limiting how many you can have. Traditional media is only limited by how much storage space you have, and discs take up far less room on a shelf then the game does on a hard drive. If DRM prevents backup, you could be forced to redownload titles. That segues into the next issue which asks what if Sony decided to pull the game from its download server. You might not be able to redownload lost or deleted copies. While disc media may be clunkier and less convenient, it still remains the superior form of game storage due to what I have just noted.

Another thing worth noting is the PSP's own storage abilities. Common 1gb MSPD cards may only be able to store one, perhaps two games. So not only are you buying the games, likely at the same cost as the UMD versions, but you have to buy memory cards to store them on. The Memory Stick Pro Duo still remains the most expensive flash cards on the market dollar-gigabyte. Secure Digital cards with the same capacity may sell for as little as half the price of Memory Sticks. If Sony wants this to work, they really need to cut the cost of their proprietary flash cards to bring them in line with their competition. Personally, I think Sony should keep the UMD and follow the same route they've done with the PS3. Release games in both downloadable and disc versions to give the consumer a choice. My last piece of advice to them would be to follow the DS's lead with the PSP2 by releasing games on flash cards, thus eliminating the problems with both disc and downloadable formats.

Source: Playstation Universe

Windows users, or at least those who are technically inclined, like to keep their systems locked up like Fort Knox. I know my Windows desktop is. Mac and Linux users don't really have this issue. Why is that exactly? Macworld has an interesting article on the subject as to why Windows has a much higher infection rate than OS X, and why Macs don't really need anti-virus software at all. It's not because Mac and Linux systems are necessarily more secure (or that Windows is less secure) but rather because of their install base. Security expert Bruce Schneier noted that the magic number is 16%. That's how much of a market share an OS must have before writing viruses and other malware for it becomes profitable.

The article notes a changing trend in the way malicious hackers and other cyber crooks are doing business. Phishing is becoming more popular than viruses. That's presumable because phishing scames can be set up faster with less effort, especially concerning the recent issues with the way the web fundamentally handles web addresses. According to Macworld, this is the biggest threat to all computer users. The problem with Mac is that Safari does not currently include built in anti-phishing software, compared to Mac versions of Firefox and Opera which do. Stealing your identity is a lot more lucrative than vandalizing people's computers and phishing is easier than using complex key loggers and other spyware. If you use a Mac, don't bother with anti-virus, switch your web browser.

Source: Macworld

Game Gear, in the early 1990s it was the pinnacle of portable entertainment. Essentially a portable Sega Master System, the bulky system featured full colour graphics and even had a VHF TV tuner accessory. The Game Gear got a smack down from Nintendo's Game Boy due to its major flaws. The Game Gear was bulky and ate batteries like they were going out of style. The thing took six AAs and only offered 4-6hrs gameplay maximum. This was before high capacity rechargeable batteries came out. The last 13 years have been pretty rough for Sega. After the success of the Genesis/Mega Drive, the Saturn was a dismal failure. The Dreamcast, widely regarded as one of the best consoles of all time, also sold poorly. Sega exited the hardware market all together with the exception of their arcade systems.

Well, it seems Sega is going to take another stab at home systems with a new portable. The new portable is being marketed as a PMP. Along with music and movie playback, the system also includes a built in digital TV tuner for watching live broadcasts. Furthermore, the system has a built in camera for taking still pictures or video. Other features include an e-book reader, voice recorder, and of course games. Some units have been spotted on display at a London UK arcade. So far no tech specs have been revealed though it has been said the device is about the size of a credit card. Sega is really downplaying the system's gaming ability and it has been suggested that it only plays Java based mini games. The screen also presents some problems because it's a 4:3 aspect ratio.

I really don't know if this is a good idea on Sega's part. Their days as a hardware maker are long over and their games lately have been less than spectacular. The device still boasts many useful features but the PMP market is already crowded as it is. Can this thing really compete with the iPod Touch and Archos's media power houses. Probably not.



Source: The Register

Well, here we are again back at Bioshock. One of the Xbox 360's top games of the year for 2007. People ranted and raved about that version. The PC one, however, was like a dog's breakfast, encumbered by the intrusive SecuROM copy protection scheme and numerous bugs that caused the game to frequently crash. For some reason, Take Two thought it would be a good idea to finally port the game to the Playstation 3 one year after it appeared on these other two systems. Does Bioshock for the PS3 match the 360 version? Does it live up to the hype? Lets take a look at the demo.

Gameplay
Bioshock tells the story of an unnamed man who in 1960 has just survived a plane crash in the ocean. While swimming for his life, he discovers a tower in the middle of the sea. Investigating, he discovers it is owned by an Andrew Ryan. You discover a sub in the tower which takes you to the underwater art-deco inspired city of Rapture. After watching a quick movie telling of Ryan's dream, you soon discover that something has gone horribly wrong. The city is infested with crazed mutants, who are of course the city's former residents. Ryan had developed Plasmids, drugs that alter human DNA to give them super powers. The Plasmids, however, ended up corrupting Rapture's citizens into the state they are now. These mutants will attack you on sight. However, you do have one friend, an Irish fellow named Atlas, guiding you through the city by radio as recruits you to searche for his family.

BioShock is a first person shooter. The demo offers three weapons: a revolver, a Thompson sub-machine gun, and a wrench which is used as a club. You can use your weapons by hitting the R2 trigger. You can cycle your weapons using R1. Movement is pretty standard. You can look around with the right stick and move using the left stick. Triangle is used to jump and L3 is used to crouch. Your other offensive weponry includes Plasmids. You encounter your first one pretty early in the game. It allows you to shoot electricity from your hand. Another one found in the demo allows you to shoot fire from your finger tips. Plasmids are controlled using the L2 trigger and are cycled using L1. The closest game I can approximate this system to was the Jedi Knight series as it too combined super powers with shooting. There's not a heck of a lot to say on gameplay since it's pretty much like every other shooter out there.

While moving around rapture, make sure to search areas for items. You can find health packs and Plasmid recharging injections (containing a serum called "Eve") littered around the city. Search your victims too for items. Items can be picked up with the X button, which is also your action button. Health packs can be collected and you can use them with the Circle button. Eve power can be topped up using the Square button. You can also find food and drinks lying around which provide an small but instant health boost. Also, make sure to find the Vita-chambers. If you die, this is your respawn point.

The level designs are good. Everything is done in a 1930s art-deco style, even though that design style went out by the time the city was supposedly built in the mid-40s. It has a distinct 1930s feel about it, which is interesting, though not entirely unique. However, levels aren't entirely inspiring since they're pretty typical for this kind of horror shooter.

One last note is that Take Two has promised downloadable content and gameplay modes that are unique to the PS3 version.

Technical
Bioshock is a year old and really shows its age on the PS3. It's not as well polished and detailed as some other recent PS3 titles. I found the graphics to be a bit blurry. The main problem being that the texture resolutions are quite low compared to many other PS3 games released in the past year. Still, they do look ok and the art-deco theme is interesting. The game appears to run at a maximum resolution of at least 1080i. The technical flaws present in the 360 version have not entirely been fixed though. I noticed some frame rate drops during cinematic scenes. Audio is decent enough though its pretty typical for a horror FPS. The game does run fairly smooth and the console versions are definitely better than the hacked together Windows PC version.

Conclusion
Bioshock on the PS3 is an interesting game but I'd hardly call it the masterpiece that the hype machine had labelled it as. It was not 2007s best game. The content and level designs is pretty similar to other horror shooters. The colourful art-deco styling of the game adds some flare to it but not enough to rescue it from being another bland FPS. Bioshock seems to be directly ported from the 360 version and is really starting to show its age. The graphics are stylish though they are quite blurry compared to other recent games. If you've played Bioshock on the 360, or managed to get it to run on the PC, there's really no reason to buy the PS3 version. It's just another generic horror shooter. There's nothing really original about this game at all. Even the much touted moral system is not original as it's been present in games like those based on Star Wars for years. I personally won't be buying it on principle just due to the disgrace that was the PC version.

What Works
-Art Deco inspired world
-Super powers with Plasmid weapons
-Interesting story concept
-PS3 exclusive content

What Doesn't Work
-Blurry, dated graphics
-Some frame rate issues
-Unoriginal, cliched, generic horror shooter.

Score: 7 out of 10

There have been rumours for a couple of days now that Nintendo would be releasing a new DS portable. Nintendo finally acknowledged the redesign today, dubbing the new system the DSi. The new system features two major improvements. It includes a 0.3 megapixel camera (640x480 resolution) built into the unit. It also finally adds expandable storage with a standard SD card slot just like the Wii has. The DSi is supposedly also slimmer by 12%. The rumour mill says this was achieved by removing backwards compatibility with Gameboy Advanced cartrages. The screens are also said to be slightly larger, up to 3.25'' from 3''. Other than that, the system is identical to past DS models.

Furthermore, Nintendo will be launching a new DSi Shop, offering direct download over Wifi. The games, dubbed DSi Ware will be available for 200, 500, or 800 Wii points. The system will debut on November 1st in Japan at 18,900 Yen, or roughly $179 US. It will be available in black or white. Personally, I think the DS is more overpriced than ever considering the PSP is $169.99 and has more features. Nintendo needs to get the price down on the DS.

Source: The Register
CNET

EA is claiming that piracy didn't hurt Spore sales, lauding the 1 million plus copies sold since release compared to the rumoured 500,000 torrent downloads. EA has long claimed that torrent downloads and other forms of piracy have been eating into their bottom line big time. EA's corporate communications officer Mariam Sughayer had something interesting to say on the subject.

"We've talked to people that made several unsuccessful attempts to download the game and ended up with incomplete, slow, buggy or unusable code. In one case, a file identified as Spore contained a virus.

"To say that every download represents a successful copy of the game--or that there's been more than 500,000 copies downloaded--that's just not true."

"Stepping aside from the whole issue of DRM, people need to recognize that every BitTorrent download doesn't represent a successful copy of a game, let alone a lost sale,"

Step on the breaks here. A torrent download does not equal a lost sale? But for years the game industry has been claiming that every single one does and that's when DRM is necessary in games. In fact, EA made that vary claim just last week! I can't help but find that statement to be a little ironic. This begs the question as to whether piracy really is costing the gaming industry as much as they claim and whether the forms of intrusive DRM used in games like Spore are even necessary. Maybe EA is referring to all those people who bought the game and then downloaded it to obtain a working copy. Who knows. Still, this is a startling revelation strait from the horse's mouth. We've long suspected that the publishers have been jacking us legitimate gamers. This seems to be the proof.

Source: CNET

After September's Spore fiasco, I thought I'd put this question to October's survey. Do the new intrusive DRM measures used in PC games effectively stop piracy?

WipEout HD is probably this year's most anticipated PSN title. Originally set to be released in the Spring of 2008, the game suffered frequent delays. Now it's September and... the game is finally out. Currently, it is only available from the Playstation Store for the princely sum of $19.99. For those who don't know, Wipeout was one of the original 3D anti-gravity racers. The game first appeared on the original Playstation, PC, and Sega Saturn way back in 1995. WipEout HD is the sixth console version in the series. The game spans several racing modes in futuristic anti-gravity racers, complete with combat racing action.

Gameplay
Wipeout HD borrows heavily from the two recent PSP outings: Wipeouts Pulse and Pure. All the tracks from the PSP versions have been transfered over, with Pure getting more attention than the newer Pulse. Gameplay is also pretty much identical to the PSP titles except with a couple notable differences. As with the PSP version, you use the left analogue stick to pitch and yaw your racer. The X button controls your thrust. L2 and R2 control your left and right air brakes respectively. The square button is used to attack. The differences I mentioned take place in how the craft is controlled. For beginners, there's a new pilot assist feature. This is really helpful since it basically prevents you from crashing into walls unless you do something really stupid. The second feature is the introduction of Sixaxis control to steer the craft. You can either set motion control to pitch the craft or to both pitch and yaw. I found the motion control to be a bit more difficult to use than the analogue stick but some might like it.

The game features two modes: a campign mode and a racebox mode. There are eight campaign tickets which get increasingly difficult as the game progresses. Once you pass the first couple of campaigns, be warned that WipEout gets brutally difficult. The game is a true test of endurance for racing fans as the speeds increase with each class. Those being Venom, Flash, Rapier, and Phantom. The classes are the same as the PSP versions, ranging in from 460km/h at Venom class up to a white knuckled 800km/h in the Phantom level. Race types are also the same as the PSP titles so I'll just copy and paste from that review. Race types include single race, head-to-head, tournament, time trial, speed lap, and zone. The first four are self-explanatory. Speed lap involves getting the fastest lap time in a series of laps. Zone is extremely fast paced with all racer stats maxed out. The computer increases the speed for each 10 second zone you complete. The goal is to survive as long as possible, which is harder than it sounds. Missing from WipEout HD is the Eliminator mode featured in Pulse. This mode was a combat mode that saw you racing to take out all your opponents while they tried to do the same. For racers, there are 12 teams you can choose from with 8 to start with. Ships and additional liveries are unlockable by beating certain challenges in campaign mode or getting team loyalty points. Weapons in game are the same as the PSP versions and function in the same manner. For multiplayer, the game supports up to 8 players online or two players in split screen. Additionally, the game also includes trophy support, giving you a wide array of challenges to complete from easy to utterly brutal.

Technical
Graphics is where WipEout HD really shines. As I said, it takes what we saw on the PSP and pumps it up on steroids. The game supports full 1080p at a blistering 60fps, something that is unheard of for a downloadable title. As far as I know, the only other game that supports those resolutions on the PS3 is Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. As you'd expect from WipEout, what we have are clean, futuristic, and dangerous tracks. The graphics are razor sharp and the lighting is perfect. There are absolutely no frame rate or tearing issues at all. WipEout HD is probably one of the best looking racing games on the Playstation 3, probably tying GT5 in graphics quality and performace. Unlike GT5 though, your ships look more realistic. Though damage isn't rendered, your craft do at least look reasonably weathered.

For audio, the game features sound in Dolby Digital 5.1. The music in game has been directly copied from WipEout's Pulse and Pure, which is in a futuristic techno style. The game does allow for custom sound tracks though, allowing you to use any album folder or custom playlist on your PS3's hard drive. However, the game only supports playback of MP3 or AAC files. Playlists are selected through the game's audio options menu rather than using in-game XMB.

Conclusions
WipEout has become the benchmark for anti-gravity racing games. While WipEout HD borrows its content from the two PSP outings, what we have is something that is truly a spectacle to behold. The racing is fast paced and brutal and is sure to wet the appitite of hardcore racing fans. The new Pilot Assist mode is a huge improvement over past titles since it opens the game up to more casual racing fans. The game runs in full HD at 60fps, making fast and immersive gameplay. The controls are kept simple and are tight and responsive. Overall, WipEout HD is probably one of the best, if not the best PSN titles we've seen so far. Furthermore, the game is only $20, which is a considerable bargain considering what you're getting. The full game weighs in at just under 1gb. I'd definitely pick this up if you're looking for a racing challenge.

What Works
-Razor sharp full 1080p graphics at 60 frames per second
-Fast paced gameplay enhanced by sharp, simple controls
-Pilot Assist mode helps beginners and causal racers get into the game
-Support for custom soundtracks
-Trophy support with a wide variety of challenges
-Doesn't mess with a winning formula

What Doesn't Work
-Tracks and teams identical to PSP versions. No original content, yet.

Score 9 out of 10

Ok, so I reviewed the demo of Force Unleashed. The demo was fun all be it underwhelming. How does the full game do when compared to the demo? First a little background on the game. It takes place in 3BBY (Before Battle of Yavin in "A New Hope", this is how dating is done in the Star Wars universe) You play the role of Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice. He discovered the apprentice as a boy after killing his Jedi father on Kashyyyk. Vader takes in the young boy to raise him as a Sith in hopes of eventually overthrowing the Emperor. The game follows the Apprentice as he serves Vader and is forced to make his own difficult choices.

Gameplay
The game's first tutorial level has you playing as Vader himself. The events I introduced above are listed in this level. It also does a good job of showing off the game's highly touted Digital Molecular Matter (DMM) and Euphoria AI. Basically, Vader is there to kill the Jedi and he has to make his way through a bunch of upset Wookiees to get to him. Vader is pretty powerful, allowing you to get close to fully unleashing the force. Vader's attacks include standard saber techniques, force push, force grip, and force choke. Force Grip is probably the most used power in the game since it allows you to pick up objects or NPCs and throw them at other things. When a blue halo is seen around an object or person, you can pick it up with R2. You can move it in the air back and forth, left and right using the left stick. The right stick allows you to move objects up or down. Pushing either stick in a specific direction will hurl the object in the matching direction. There is some degree of auto-targeting for this power but its vary rough. It will throw the object in the general direction of a target but you have to be pretty aligned with it to make it hit. As I said in the review of the demo, the feature is clumsy and useless in fast paced battles. You also can't move when using the technique leaving you vulnerable to attack. When attacked, you'll drop the object. The other techniques are pretty self explanatory. You hit the button and the character will attack in the direction he's facing. Force grip is replaced by force lightening with the Apprentice. Other force powers include force repulse, sabre throw, and lightning shield, which can all be used while blocking with L2.

Combat is interesting to say the least. It's similar to other third-person melee games like God of War. You have your basic sabre attacks, then your combos. You can also block using L2. Combat is fairly strait forward against blaster wielding opponents such as Stormtroopers. You can deflect their shots and then go in for the kill. Melee opponents make things interesting. While the apprentice is quick on his feet, melee attacks feel vary sluggish. While the actual attack is quick, I have noticed a delayed reaction between control inputs and the actual character reaction, if they actually do what you want them to at all. Sometimes I'll press the right buttons for a combo or action but the Apprentice will not follow through. This gets extremely frustrating during boss fights as your mashing the buttons while getting shredded to pieces, while the Apprentice just stands there and does nothing. Oddly, I did not notice this in the demo, though most opponents there had blasters. What ruins the game is the combat controls being so sluggish.

The levels in the game are fairly linear and there's nothing particularly challenging about them. Each level has a sub-boss at the halfway point and a boss at the end. End level bosses are typically other force sensitives wielding light sabres. Boss fights can be difficult and frustrating due to the sluggish control system in the game. In addition, you can also search levels for hidden Jedi and Sith holocrons, which can be used as power ups or to gain additional force points or lightsabre crystals. Force points spheres can be traded to upgrade your force powers or to unlock new powers. You'll need to upgrade whenever possible to stay on top of your enemies. Other than that, there's not much to say about gameplay. If you've played God of War, you'll be familiar with how Force Unleashed plays. Force Unleashed has no online muliplayer mode. The game is surprisingly short lived and can be beaten in 5-7 hours.

Regarding the story, I think LucasArts has done an alright job at filling in the gaps between Episode III and Episode IV, including answering one of the biggest Star Wars questions of all: how the Rebellion started. However, I did feel there were a lot of plot holes in the story. KotOR 2 was known for this but Force Unleashed is somewhat worse. Some things that were poorly explained included Shaak Ti's story. Shaak Ti was heavily featured the games promotional material but here actual on-screen time is limited. I think Star Wars fans were all itching to know how she escaped Order 66. She's also picked up her own apprentice known as Maris Brood, a young Zabrak woman. According to promotional material, Maris seeks revenge on Darth Vader, though the game poorly explains her role. The Databank feature fills in some story with character profiles but who the heck wants to read stuff that should be in-game. Databank entries also have to be unlocked first. The game doesn't include any original locals to visit so it really doesn't add much to the Star Wars universe.

Technical
When it comes to technical aspects, Force Unleashed is really a mixed bag. As I said about the demo, the graphics look quite nice but they're hardly in the same league as games like Uncharted or MGS4. The game runs at 720p. Audio wise, we get the same mix of excellent Star Wars movie sound effects combined with John Williams classic score. The music in game, however, is mostly recycled from the moves so there's nothing particularly original about it. The big technical features of the game were DMM and Euphoria. DMM allows metal to bend, glass to break, and wood to splinter as it would in real life. For such a heavily marketed feature, the game doesn't do Digital Molecular Matter much justice. The first level as Vader on Kashyyyk is really the only place where it really shines. The same goes for Euphoria. It's fun to pick up Stormtroopers and watch them flail about and try to grab things, but most of the time, the game is going too fast to notice Euphoria in action. In the end, neither really adds much to gameplay. The game also uses Havok physics but I personally think the physics in game are not vary realistic.

The game also has some technical issues. During the final boss fight, I was just about to finish him off when the game froze. This was followed by a string foul language that would make a navy man blush. This was right after being killed by the final boss once before when the game's camera suddenly decided it wanted to pan below the arena by itself, blocking my view. I've often accused a game of cheating in frustration but this is the first time I've seen a game actually cheat. To add salt to the wound, the game makes you start back at the beginning of the rather lengthy three-part fight should you quit the game. According to LucasArts, the reason Force Unleashed was delayed so long was because of difficulties programming for the Playstation 3. However, can that excuse really be used anymore since every other developer has figured it out. Aside from that, I did not notice any issues with frame rates or sound.

Loading screens with Unleashed are also numerous. Even to load the menus in game, it goes to a loading screen. This is odd since it requires a manditory 2gb install to the hard drive.

Conclusions
In their promotional material, LucasArts promised us a Star Wars game that would rival Knights of the Old Republic. What we got was something that was far from it, in a bad way. The Force Unleashed is not a bad game but it's not exactly a good game either. We were all stoked for it but once again, the hype machine has failed us. It's a pitty because I think such a game has excellent potential had LucasArts done it right. The sluggish and unresponsive controls tend to make gameplay more frustrating than fun. The game is also short lived, taking only five hours to beat it. There's not a lot of replay value. I also felt that the story, while good in concept, was poorly explained. You might want to hop over to Wookieepedia to fill in some of the gaps. Lastly, I don't exactly consider Force Unleashed to be original. It's too similar to God of War and your force abilities in game are not much different than what Kyle Katarn has been wielding. We all thought we'd be able to wreak havoc with the dark side but we got just another generic Star Wars title. With this one, the force unleashed was not. I'd give this game a rent but I wouldn't buy it.

What Works:
-Decent graphics
-Good story concept fills in gaps between Episode III and Episode IV
-Character customization

What Doesn't Work
-Technical flaws such as freezing and load times
-Game doesn't show off much publicized DMM or Euphoria well
-Plot holes in story
-Sluggish and unresponsive controls
-Not original

Score: 7 out of 10

Tips and Easter Eggs:
-On Imperial Kashyyyk, you can find out what really happened to Jar Jar Binks. In the Imperial museum, you can spot him frozen in carbonite. This likely isn't cannon but it's something hardcore Star Wars fans have been wanting to see.
-After learning force lightening, hit Square, Square, Triangle, Circle for a devastating combo.

The Spore fiasco continues, on yesterdays news of EA's Spore breaching the 1 million sold mark, today we hear of angry customers suing the gaming giant over its SecuROM DRM system. The class action suit cites the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law stating that EA failed to inform consumers of DRM restrictions placed on Spore.

According to the complaint...

"Although consumers are told the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install, and operate on their computer," "Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore, and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecuROM remains a fixture on their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive."

The suit accuses EA of deliberately hiding the fact that Spore includes SecuROM, which it alleges is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel) and [is] surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation of the computer, and preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations." Furthermore, the suit also complains that SecuROM takes over a portion of the computers processing power to transmit information back to EA.

The suit seeks damages to the tune of $49.99, the retail cost of the game plus additional damages (presumably legal fees) for each participant in the suit.

The suit reinforces what I've been saying about DRM for a while now. Game publishers are deceiving consumers by not disclosing DRM restrictions. Does this lawsuit stand a chance? I can't really say since I'm a political scientist and not a lawyer. Hopefully though it will bring meaningful changes to the way DRM is handled in PC gaming. Developers should be forced to disclose all DRM restrictions on the games packaging. However, this is showing that the more restrictive you make DRM, the more people will not stand for it. Spore is one of the first games that has introduced the non-gaming crowd to the harsh and intrusive restrictions that have been plaguing PC games for several years now. At best for EA, this is still a PR nightmare regardless of whether they win or not. EA is still claiming that DRM is necessary to prevent piracy. This is despite the fact that statistics are proving otherwise. It's planned obsolescence pure and simple and hopefully EA will be made to pay for it.

Source: CNET

Update: The Register contains some more details about the suit. The case seems surprisingly air tight since EA does not provide any warning whatsoever in the EULA about SecuROM.

I'm rather puzzled about how companies like Electronic Arts (EA) stay in business. Apparently, they've received a deluge of complaints over the three install limit used in Spore's SecuROM DRM. In response, EA said the following...

"We've received complaints from a lot of customers who we recognize and respect. And while it's easy to discount the noise from those who only want to post or transfer thousands of copies of the game on the Internet, I believe we need to adapt our policy to accommodate our legitimate consumers."

EA plans to do two things. First, they are going to increase the number of installs. However, they did not say by how much. Secondly, the game now allows users to de-authorize a system should they buy a new computer. Therefore, they will not use up one of their installs transferring the game over. However, EA then went on to say...

"We're willing to evolve our policy to accommodate our consumers. But we're hoping that everyone understands that DRM policy is essential to the economic structure we use to fund our games and as well as to the rights of people who create them. "

So basically, they're response is only to relax the already unprecedented restrictions just a bit. As one commentary site put it, it equates moving you from a smaller cage to a bigger one. You're still locked in a cage no matter what. Their last line shows that EA still does not get it and they they still do not think they did anything wrong. So basically, it's ok to deceive and abuse legitimate customers as long as it protects their rights. As I've said before, this is the fundamental problem with DRM. It provides few to no rights to legitimate consumers. The government really needs to step in and amend laws like the DMCA to put a stop to this garbage.

Source: CNET

Update: The install count was increased to five (5).