Ubisoft DRM confirmed to boot you from your singleplayer game when the net drops out

[RPGmasterBoo]

IMO the PC gaming market is not dying just because the consoles are more profitable, but also because its quite stale for a while now.

 

If millions upon millions of dollars pumped into games every year result in an endless parade of clones and sequels people will get bored. I presume the PC demographic is older and pickier in general.

 

The same would apply for the console crowd if they weren't in mostly younger (thus less interested in innovation) and more "casual" in their gaming habits.

 

Most of the innovation for the PC comes from indie games that aren't likely to begin any real trends. Stuff like Braid, World of Goo etc. may be fun but it all really a "fire and forget" bag of tricks, not real innovation that could spark a definitive change.

[Azure79]

Really, who didn't see this coming?

 

Too bad. I really wanted to play Splinter Cell Conviction and the new Prince of Persia game.

 

I really wanted Beyond Good & Evil 2, but I flat out refuse to fund this sort of trash.

 

There are many other good games out there, and trustworthy and loyal developers (Valve, Blizzard, even Bioware) such that I lose nothing by completely avoiding Ubisoft products.

 

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that one.

 

Hopefully Ubi repeals their current DRM scheme into something more palatable.

[Purkake]

BG&E 2 still not coming to the PC so no problems there...

[Humodour]

BG&E 2 still not coming to the PC so no problems there...

 

Oh, cool, another reason to hope Ubisoft goes bankrupt.

[Gorgon]

blaaaahblahblahblahblah

Edited March 11, 2010 by Gorgon

[Gorgon]

Also I've noticed that me and my friends tend to buy the same games, usually the douche of the group pirates it and tells everyone how utterly amazing it is and the rest of us go out and buy it as the word spreads.. That's why I personally have this theory that if you actually used pirates as a PR resource of sorts, you might actually see an increase in sales, unless your game stinks of course.

They don't make demos anymore. Every wonder why. Also, you apparently have douces for friends, what does that say about you. Or maybe you were just making sure you ended up on the right side of the fence. Mmm huh...

 

[BicycleOfDeath]

It made CNN [Link: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/11/dele....drm/index.html ]

[Rosbjerg]

Also I've noticed that me and my friends tend to buy the same games, usually the douche of the group pirates it and tells everyone how utterly amazing it is and the rest of us go out and buy it as the word spreads.. That's why I personally have this theory that if you actually used pirates as a PR resource of sorts, you might actually see an increase in sales, unless your game stinks of course.

They don't make demos anymore. Every wonder why. Also, you apparently have douces for friends, what does that say about you. Or maybe you were just making sure you ended up on the right side of the fence. Mmm huh...

 

I can see why that looked a bit fishy, but I do have douches for friends when it comes to pirating. I remember the birth of pirate games back on the Commodore and Amiga - and how, when the PC came, the first "companies" of hackers started releasing their "products" on cds - Pirating became a sort of romantic profession, fighting the system - a digital Robin Hood.. That's the image most of my generation had when we were kids and that's a little difficult to fight, I'm proud that most of my friends have stopped pirating and started buying games instead, but I also understand why some haven't.. I don't know what todays youth thinks about pirating, if it is to them simply another means of getting a game, no moral strings attached.. but I imagine that fighting the misconceptions each generation has, would be a very good start.

[Gorgon]

It's nr.1 in the playstation charts. Does it require always online for consoles ?. If it doesn't I was just wondering what they are going to do about emulators.

 

PCs continue to get faster, but consoles wont untill the current cycle is over, say another 4 years.

Edited March 12, 2010 by Gorgon

[Hell Kitty]

Does it require always online for consoles ?.

 

No.

 

I was just wondering what they are going to do about emulators.

 

Was is there to do? There are no PS3 or 360 emulators. Hell, the original Xbox hasn't even been emulated yet.

[Purkake]

The Wii has, though, and it can even do 720p

[Mamoulian War]

It's nr.1 in the playstation charts. Does it require always online for consoles ?. If it doesn't I was just wondering what they are going to do about emulators.

 

PCs continue to get faster, but consoles wont untill the current cycle is over, say another 4 years.

 

The Xbox 360 and PS3 are so powerful hardwares, that good enough emulation will not be available for the next 10+ years...

[Purkake]

It's not about the power of the hardware, but the complexity of the emulation increases exponentially, to the point that trying to emulate it is just not feasible.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Purkake

[Morgoth]

Well, good that I withheld buying AC2 at the last moment. Not worth putting up with that always-down-servers bull****.

[Mamoulian War]

It's not about the power of the hardware, but the complexity of the emulation increases exponentially, to the point that trying to emulate it is just not feasible.

 

Do you know, that you just said the same thing as i did, but just different words?

[Purkake]

It doesn't have anything to do with the hardware itself, but the increasingly complicated code.

 

You're conclusion was correct, but it was based on a false premise.

[Walsingham]

I'm certainly anti-piracy, which is why I'm replaying my old games because I can't afford to splash out on new ones. But i'm also against oppressive DRM for one simple and - I feel - golden reason...

It doesn't stop piracy.

 

This should surely be the end of the argument. Publishers who buy and use DRM are wasting money and should stop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FURTHER

I also believe that DRM cannot work. Because DRM is an additional component which must be added into software, and therefore to negate it you just take that aspect out. The only way the defender can win is to mutate the DRM faster than the attackers can crack it, which would require constant DRM updates and a rolling enterprise. Which is unlikely to ever match the hacking community.

 

Unless I'm just being pessimistic.

[Purkake]

DRM works fine when you don't have an open platform.

 

Also, it works pretty well for stopping second-hand sales.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Purkake

[Zoraptor]

There's a lot of piracy on the 'closed' 360 and NintendoDS.

 

It doesn't have anything to do with the hardware itself, but the increasingly complicated code.

 

You're conclusion was correct, but it was based on a false premise.

Nope, he's right. You're right too, but less right than him

 

Better hardware leads to more complicated code and- all other things being equal- more complicated code is harder to emulate. You're looking at the symptom rather than the ultimate cause, the better hardware.

[Purkake]

I meant that it's possible for DRM to work on a closed system if you design it right.

 

I think they still haven't fully cracked the PS3 and possibly some of the newer PSPs.

[LostStraw]

I find it surprising how casually piracy is regarded by some people. During the few months I was working at Circuit City I had a customer come up and ask if we sold blank DS cartridges because they had heard that they could get free games if they had one. With the advent of broadband and peer to peer networking clients, piracy has exploded among the general populace where once it was regulated to a much more niche group of individuals.

 

Piracy although a problem on closed systems is generally less of an issue because of the difficulties of getting/installing a mod chip and other issues such as risks of having the console banned from online play. There are still people who will go through the trouble and take the risks but it's not the general populace that's doing it (I know this may be different depending on where one lives). Piracy with PCs (and on some closed devices) on the other hand is incredibly easy, appealing to a wider audience, and requires almost no thought -- pretty much any Joe-schmoe is capable.

[Gorgon]

I just saw on the news that the Danish government is considering instigating a piracy tax, they are going to call it something cutting edge like 'internet multimedia' tax or some such, much like the one already in place on digital storage media in most countries. If they do I'll start downloading immediately, I mean I would be losing out if I didn't and no one could say I didn't pay for it.

[Walsingham]

I admit I missed that point. Yes, consoles are harder to pirate for. The physical component is the clincher. It's possibly why console games are seen as bigger earners. Unless I'm wrong about that too.

 

But I do think PC games are unlikely to go away. I mean piracy hasn't killed film making. Yet.

[Mamoulian War]

I just saw on the news that the Danish government is considering instigating a piracy tax, they are going to call it something cutting edge like 'internet multimedia' tax or some such, much like the one already in place on digital storage media in most countries. If they do I'll start downloading immediately, I mean I would be losing out if I didn't and no one could say I didn't pay for it.

 

+1

[Magister Lajciak]

Anyway... anyone knows if Ubi's servers are still down???

 

Yes, apparently many are still down. Not all of them are down, but the connection problems remain and keep on recurring for many players.

 

DRM works fine when you don't have an open platform.

 

I recall hearing or reading somewhere that console piracy is now bigger than PC piracy, but I don't remember the source, so I don't want to be stating it unequivocally. Of course, assuming that's true, as a ratio to sales it is still much smaller.

 

Also, it works pretty well for stopping second-hand sales.

 

Yes, it is definitely effective at that.

 

Yes, consoles are harder to pirate for. The physical component is the clincher. It's possibly why console games are seen as bigger earners. Unless I'm wrong about that too.

 

Supposedly, there are now software cracks for consoles, but I am not sure how much truth there is to that.

 

Anyway, console games are generally assumed to be bigger earners. This is probably true even if digital downloads and MMOs are included as part of the PC market, but including those would make the disparity smaller than it appears to be going by retail sales alone.