As most folks expected, Electronic Arts use of the SecuROM trojan install has sparked up a little class action lawsuit against the publisher. At first, EA thought they could just bump the total installs from three to five to make gamers happy, but they’re out for blood.
With an amazon rating of 1.5 stars and 2900+ ratings, it’s obvious that people are not happy with the security system used by Electronic Arts for this title. Forbes mentions how pirated the game has become since the DRM news went hot and pirates are touting to download it for free to make your “voice” heard. Legally, you can make your voice heard by setting up a class action lawsuit and so it begins!
“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,” read the complaint. “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, SecurROM remains a fixture on their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive.” (gamespot)
It seems everything boils down to the how EA went about protecting their assets. Nobody faults the publisher for trying to keep their products out of the hands of pirates. The pure fact that EA has chosen to install separate products that snoop on your operations and can malfunction your system is the hart hitting point. Rubbing it in worse, pirates had the game broken and free to download prior to the release of Spore in the US.
Although the license agreement will state the product uses a digital rights management technique, it fails to explain the details of the SecuROM’s stealth install and inability to remove itself without wiping the hard disk.
The suit accuses EA of “intentionally” hiding the fact Spore uses the SecurROM.
Hey guys,
I just finished reading ‘Racing the Beam’, a semi-technical, semi-historical book on the Atari VCS and I’m currently reading ‘The Ultimate History of Video Games’ so your Gaming History segment was timed perfectly. I never had the Atari VCS but I did have the Atari 800XL machine and I did play most of the classic games. It’s certainly one of the most important companies in the history of video gaming and it’s a really fun and interesting story to read and listen about.
@Kinect
I never used the Kinect but the PS4 also has the voice command support and I never use it. I feel silly talking to a machine when I know I can do most of the stuff faster and easier with the controller. I am not suprised that the Kinect has been unbundled from the XBone. Those who think they spent too much money will just as easily sell their Kinects to those who want them. I don’t think it’s an issue. Overall, it seems to me that motion controls are vastly underused but there’s probably a reason for it. Other than party games I don’t really find them that fun. Having said that, I played through Heavy Rain using the PS Move and it wasn’t all that bad. Still, it’s a unique game, which attempts to be as immersive as possible.
@Philips versus Nintendo
This is so bizarre I don’t even know where to start… Why the Wii U and not the Move or the Kinect, which seem to infringe on the patent even more? Does it have to do with the scanner you talked about or the nunchucks because that’s still not clear to me? Didn’t Philips sue Nintendo over a different patent many years ago? Something about CD-i?
@QOTW
I don’t believe I played that many educational games back in the day. I remember a math game featuring Disney characters and butterfly nets but I don’t even remember what platform that was on. Atari or Commodore… Need For Speed didn’t teach me how to drive, Killzone didn’t teach me how to kill and Spelunky didn’t teach me about exploring caves. I prefer games for their entertainment value although I will have to look into the education genres when I have my own kids…