Legal Mumbo Jumbo

The legal mumbo jumbo currently being held over my head with posting newsworthy items is still there. The stuff I deem necessary to share I cannot share with you at this time. I could post some news but some of it could bore you to death. I strive to provide the best news possible for you all and once this legal turmoil is gone I will share what I am prevented from posting on this blog.


What I can share is that Blizzcon Tickets sold out very fast over the weekend. Round 2 will go on sale May 30th, 2009.

Terminator: Salvation Releases to movie theaters nationwide 5/21/09 along with the movie tie-in games.

For those who don't already know... Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles has got the axe. An inside source cites reasons of episodes costing way too much to produce and given the current economy crisis it did not seam feasible to continue. For now it's cancelled I am led to believe but later was told it could be resurrected pending an evaluation.

This all I can post for right now. If anything changes I will report back later.

Update Coming Monday

A lengthy update will be coming on Monday not today as planned. My hands are tied. Lets say a lid has been put on me until tomorrow regarding the 3D Realms closure stuff.

There will be one long post tomorrow broken up into topics within the post. News slow regarding DRM News so I'll focus on what is important on the gaming fronts.

I have also been busy with RL stuff. Nobody wants a yard with long grass do they?

What I've been up to since my last update:
I have been catching up on some games that I got for christmas and haven't had a chance to play yet. I have gone to the movies to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek. I did some yard work and ran network cables down into the basement. Got e-mail flooded with 3D Realms closure and DNF leaks. SecuROM had a great conversation with me last week. Lot's of doctor's appointments have filled up my schedule too.

So there it is. I have not ditched this blog and a new poll will pop up soon.

Have a great weekend!

Future Blog Posts.

Due to circumstances beyond my control this blog will be updated weekly not daily.

I'm going over all the news that has been submitted in my e-mail and will post what I think is newsworthy.


3DRealms closure stuff that is circulating I will be holding off on posting until I confirm it. I know www.3drealms.com has a Goodbye but there is quite a few contradictions I'm awaiting explanations.

Bioware says "NO" to SecuROM for Dragon Age: Origins

A reported here : http://daforums.bioware.com/viewtopic.html?topic=677056&forum=135

Dragon Age: Origins will use a basic disc check copy protection and will not require any of the online authentication mumbo jumbo some of us love to hate.

"Bioware: We have chosen not to use SecuROM in any version of Dragon Age that is distributed by EA or BioWare."

This will surely make some people happy.

Hardware Failure...UGH!!

I had a hardware failure so I'm updating this through my PSP... Updates will return as soon as my new RAM comes in. Both sticks 2GB each decided to die on me...shucks..

Slow News.

Todat was a slow news day. Nothing new and exciting worth sharing and last weekends news was also dead.

On Friday May 1st 2009 you should see the new Xbox 360 ELITE GOTY Bundles start to show up in stores. The Bundle includes Halo 3 and Fable 2.

Stardock continues to solve Demigod connectivity issues.

Other than that it's been slow.....

Internet Downed..

So this weekend is almost over and really not much to talk about other than to say TWC picked a bad time to bring the Internet/phone service down in my area for 12 hours straight.

Tomorrow I will play catch up on the news and so on.


SEGA sent me a copy of Stormrise for PS3 and PC. Sadly it's not worth playing and I sent the review discs back.. ugh. I couldn't find myself to continue playing with all the pathfinding issues and AI getting stuck everywhere. Avoid Stormrise like the plague.

Update Issues

I apologise for lack of updates. Spring is here and well I had to get into the cleaning before it was too late.


Nothing fancy this week with news but I'm keeping my eyes open for anything worth posting on this blog.

I know the poll is done and a new poll will be up ASAP.

Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor Review

" Relic's delivers an impressive but overpriced expansion"

This is relic's first attempt at offering an episodic feel to Company of Heroes. Sadly this Tales of Valor expansion offers 3 campaigns with only 3 missions per campaign. In other words the campaigns are over way too quickly then you have the new additions in multiplayer.
Those of you playing COH for it's multiplayer will be pleased with this expansion and enjoy the new game modes offered. Still even with all that is offered here this expansion pack feels like a light weight overpriced expansion. Overall your getting good quality stuff in a episodic type of feel. If you enjoyed the previous COH titles then give this a look, Otherwise wait til Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor hits the $19.99 price point.

Rating: 2.9/5.0

Pro: Great storytelling in the 3 campaigns, New Direct Fire mode, New multiplayer modes.
Cons: Feels too short and overpriced for a full expansion pack. Some nagging issues still remain from the previous games.

Editor's Note: I realize this a short review but with all that is offered in Tales of Valor I could sum it up in a pretty short write up.

What will be the next Command & Conquer?

Many of you who purchased a copy of C&C Red Alert 3 Premier Edition received a code to register for a beta on an upcoming C&C game.

Rumors are running afoul with claims of C&C: Arena which given it's name would lead me to believe it's another Sole Survivor attempt or something completely online based. C&C 4 and General 2 are also being tossed as possibilities. I would love to add in on this speculation but in all it's wisdom I'd rather not. EA is very tight lipped about the next upcoming C&C that I'm sure we'll something soon. As it stands now these beta codes will be used in the summer sometime.

Personally we need another C&C similar to renegade. I enjoyed renegade for what it was despite its flaws in so many ways.

For now let the rumors run afoul until EA announces somethings Officially.

Left 4 Dead Survival pack Released!

Valve has finally released the promised DLC for Left 4 Dead. Boot up your steam client and it will auto update your copy of Left 4 Dead with the new Survival Pack released today.

Check your local retailers as valve also made an announcement for some price cuts to L4D as well.

Battlefield 1943 reaches Alpha Stage

As reported here: http://planetbattlefield.gamespy.com/fullstory.php?id=157850

Battlefield 1943 hit reached Alpha stage of the development cycle.



I sure enjoyed the BF1942/Vietnam games but disliked BF2 and BF2142 due many unfixed bugs.

Judge Says Summer Redstone treated Midway like a toy?

From the WTF Dept comes article from the embattled Midway games label currently in court over it's Bankruptcy crapola.

If you care then go here :http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/21/judge-says-sumner-redstone-treated-midway-like-a-toy/


I feel Midway Games should just fail and go out of business. They had several good IP's but none of them seemed to be ground breaking enough to gain sales to keep the game developer/ publisher giant in business.

Microsoft Working on Windows 8?

Apparently Microsoft is already hard at work on Windows 8 claims this address: http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/04/20/microsoft.begins.windows.8/

I hope this a indication that we won't see huge gaps between new OS releases. XP to VISTA was just long enough for me.

Xbox 360 Elite GOTY Bundle Coming in May?

Spotted this listing on Amazon for a new Xbox 360 Elite bundle coming in May of this year(next month).

Have a look here: http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Elite-Halo-Fable-Bundle/dp/B0026GQ8WA/ref=sr_tr_1?ie=UTF8&s=aps&qid=1240283139&sr=8-1

This new Xbox 360 Bundle includes GOTY HIts Halo 3 and Fable 2.

Oh boy this is one hell of a bundle indeed folks :)

Future News Postings Timeline

I would like to put out a notice to those of you who view this blog on a daily basis. News Postings will occur daily, however if there is a slow news day in which not much to post related to this blog then posts will happen in the evenings at latest.

I am being pretty stingy on what to post and what not to post. If it falls into the DRM and general gaming caetgory I have to pick and choose what to post as it is already.

I hope this clears some issues up that some have contacted me about already.


More to come later on today.

GameBizBlog.com Interviews Brad Wardell

Stardocks Brad Wardell sounds off with GameBizBlog.com in a lengthy interview. Demigod, Securom and others are covered. It's too long to post here so vist this address below.

GameBizBlog:http://www.gamebizblog.com/gamebizblog/2009/04/interview-brad-wardell.html



Nice interesting point of view from Brad Wardell on the publisher using Securom too. Mostly I took his comments in this way even though he didn't say it like that "Your morons for putting activations/ install limits on your games. "

He does make some good points on current and future DRM games relating to what if said developer/publisher goes out of business and you want to play said game and it can't the find activation server stuff. Go to the address above and read all about it.

Enjoy the Weekend!

Well folks it seems the common cold has hit me finally and I'm feeling a bit drained. It's Spring time so this was expected as I usually get hit hard during this time of year and then I'm cold free for a good 10 months.

Anywhoo, Not much news happening this weekend from what I saw. I would encourage you all who love Multiplayer based games try Demigod out. Make sure you play through the skirmishes and tournament single-player stuff so you get a feel for the game. I have found it quite fun and enjoyable in either online or offline modes.

Unless anything newsworthy shows tomorrow you won't see another update until Monday. Spread the word on this blog as well.

Later Gang!

Demigod Piracy Update

Stardock's Brad Wardell has dropped off some clarification on the piracy stuff Demigod was hit with and here's the whole bevy of information below.

"First of all, the 18,000 figure is the # of concurrent users at the peak – not sales.

On the Steam stats page, for instance, you can see the peak concurrent users on titles that talk to Steam:

Current Players - Peak Today - Game

• 81,543 - 90,824 - Counter-Strike: Source
• 57,343 - 68,662 - Counter-Strike
• 18,788 - 23,755 - Football Manager 2009
• 14,577 - 15,606 - Empire: Total War
• 14,394 - 16,430 - Left 4 Dead
• 11,860 - 14,030 - Team Fortress 2

So just above Empire Total War in terms of peak connections (game just launched so it's not a surprise).

The infrastructure was designed to handle up to 50,000 of these connections.

But on day 0, there were around 140,000 concurrent users of which 18,000 are validated.

Pirated users can't get updates or play multiplayer but they still touch the servers.

So over the first 24 hours, we had to essentially scrap together a doppleganger of the infrastructure dedicated to Demigod's multiplayer network needs, release an update to legitimate users to point them to it.

The result was that in the first day, day and a half, users couldn't connect to each other (the connection servers would time out) and even the in game experience was horrible getting through menus and such because even a simple HTTP keep alive call (something as simple as a http call to check for the latest version to inform users if there's a new version) would cause the in game UI to hang.

The consequence is two-fold: First, early customers got a TERRRIBLE experience. Second, the reviews (notably Gamespot) based their review on this terrible experience.

Now today, day 3, it's pretty much taken care of. Users are connecting in multiplayer, the servers are pretty responsive and we're adding more in preparation for the weekend.

If there's any IT people here, they can probably better explain than I can what we've had to do essentially. It's not like we keep a room full of unused servers so the challenge of putting together a duplicate series of servers in 24 hours PLUS Stardock and GPG having to produce an update to the game to point to those servers was quite an undertaking."

I just got my boxed copy of Demigod today and so far I find it addicting as hell. Demigod will receive a fair review whenever it gets written up and posted.

Demigod Servers pounded by Pirates

Stardock's Brad Wardell has sounded off in his blog on the Demigod Server issues which have plagued it since launch. Here is the poop below :)

"Today

The system works pretty well if you have a few thousand people online at once. The system works…less well if there are tens of thousands of people online at once. And if there are over 100,000 people, well, you get horrific results such as the game being incredibly unresponsive due to simple web service calls that were considered pretty benign during the beta that suddenly start to bring down firewalls and such due to the sheer massive number of calls that are being made.

Sadly, most of the ~120,000 connections are not customers but via warez. About 18,000 are legitimate. So anyway, we spent a lot of time today trying to isolate out the warez users from the legitimate users (it would require a lot of surgery to actually break them and even if we did, there’d be no friendly “ha ha pirate” message which would result in people just saying the game is buggy). Mind you, the game makes relatively few server calls, it’s just the sheer number of people.

Our stress tests had counted on having maybe 50,000 people playing at once at peak and that wouldn’t be reached for a few weeks by which time we would have slowly seen things becoming problematic. With Sins of a Solar Empire, the game was incredibly successful but its user base grew slowly and steadily over time. Sometimes on a peak time the server would start to get slow and we would adjust so that it would be better next time.

But here, when you’re getting that many connections at once, you’re no longer talking about dealing with the basics like having a good SAN and lots of redundant servers. You instead fall into all kinds of weird secondary issues that start to pop up like yesterday’s case where an older network card couldn’t handle all the packets (not bandwidth limited but # of tiny packets being sent out at once).

So during the day today, people couldn’t even logon and in some cases, the Demigod forums, which use one of the affected databases for some piddly thing were even down. Even getting the game running was a pain today because a simple HTTP call to see what the latest version would get hung leaving people looking at a black screen. Stuff of nightmares.

Before the game shipped, I wrote a scary email to our team saying how disastrous things would be and predicted doom for us and GPG if there were problems with multiplayer. At the time, my worry was about things like disconnects and CVP. It didn’t occur to me that we’d have near MMO user connections to throw in."

My Opinion:
I applaud Stardock for not putting DRM on Demigod but this was certainly unavoidable. CD-Key verifications pounding a server continously can bring any server to it's knees if the load is large enough. I feel for the legit customers who were trying to enjoy playing the multiplayer game part but hopefully the folks at Stardock & GPG can get this all sorted out soon. Another Patch will be released soon as well.

Internet Bandwidth Caps feels like DRM. How about you?

Over the past several days I have been in contact with several ISP's who currently have or testing Bandwidth caps. The main reason given for introducing such caps is the increasing number P2P traffic and the bandwidth hog that it can be.

I did a little research here and I have found if we introduce bandwidth caps in order to punish the P2P players then places like Steam, Direct2Drive,Gog.com, MMO's and places offering services identical to Hulu would see a 50% drop if not more in traffic and less Direct download purchases occurring.

Now there isn't an easy answer to solve this bandwidth capping issue but I would suspect we should start by throttling P2P traffic to start off with then we could single out these offenders and gear a bandwidth service specifically for them. As is stands right now, ISP's want to punish everyone with caps regardless if your a P2P offender or not. My suggestion would be to do more research on these capping issues before making the ultimate mistake of punishing everyone.

If you really want to get technical about bandwidth caps then an alternative should be the following:

- Basic Internet use/ web surfing/ everyday normal use Plan $14.99/mo (You would receive basic broadband speed)

- Entertainment, Gaming, Music etc Plan $29.99/mo (You would receive an Upgraded Broadband speed specifically designed for this plan)

-Productivity,web hosting, FTP hosting, P2P Plan $49.99/mo (You would receive a broadband speed just under the buisness class model with a 750GB limit, If you pass the limit a surcharge of $1 per GB will be added up to the $25 surcharge limit)

-Buisness Class, Heavy traffic loads, service geared to keep you up and running 24/7 plan $129.99/mo (Everything goes plan for qualified subscribers)

That is the best that I can come up with to make everyone happy without capping unreasonably.

Feel free to sound off on your own ideas here drmrigger@gmail.com

Riddick DRM Explained Further

Atari has issued a statement further explaining the DRM use in Riddick, so here's the poop below:

"OK guys, first I want to say thanks for being patient, now to get right to it.

There has been a lot of talk lately about DRM and how it was implemented in Riddick and there is a lot of misinformation being tossed around. I just wanted to get word out to you guys that we are listening to your concerns but I also wanted to let you know a few facts.

As of today only about 10% of all the Riddick PC games sold have been activated more than once.

One Riddick serial number alone had over 50,000 activation attempts, so people do try and pirate games.

Only four people have been unable to play on the PC due to DRM. In all cases the parties involved first tried to activate illegal serials. They were banned initially but then were manually unbanned when they purchased legal copies of the game.

DRM is not designed to keep you from playing the game, nor is it designed to combat any after market sales. After market sales for PC games are nowhere near what they are for console games anyway, aside from ebay, craigslist and yard sales I can’t even really think of anywhere to get used PC games.

I want to make it clear that there are people who are monitoring activations so if and when we get into an issue with people not being able to play that issue will be addressed. Should the case get so severe it effects a large portion of the gamers, more activations will be set in place as needed. Further down the line the DRM will be removed and a new unprotected exe will be released.

So to summarize if you buy Riddick legally on the PC we are going to do our best to make sure you can play it for as long as you want.
I hope this helps answer some of your questions / concerns."

Last time a publisher made claims of releasing an unprotected exe for it's games was EA and well it hasn't happened yet. Mass Effect should have gotten one by now since it's shelf life exclusivity has passed since last november.

Lack of News

I scoured the web and checked my e-mail boxes and nothing caught my eye worth posting on this blog.

Those of you who own the PC Version of Chronicles of Riddick might wanna grab the patch released today as reported @ve3d.ign.com and www.bluesnews.com

The same old TWC battle continues as well. TWC tells the FCC to shut up over net-neutrality stuff.

Today was active in some areas in the gaming arena but nothing caught my eye that was and worth posting on here as I stated above. However I do have one interesting subject I will breifly list here.

Securom joined the PCGA this week and is tasked to provide a report on piracy and ways to combat by years end.

I can only hope we do not see increased DRM habits surface out of this.

More news to follow tomorrow.

News Update Delay Today

Due to a Family Emergency I will be delayed at posting newsworthy posts today. I will scour the web and will compile all newsworthy posts and get them up on this blog ASAP.


What Games are you currently playing right now? Feel free to e-mail(drmrigger@gmail.com) or leave comments.

PCGA Loses Activision-Blizzard but gains Securom

It seems as though our beloved PC Gamers Alliance has lost Activision-Blizzard as they cannot justify the cost to stay on board as a member. Soon thereafter Securom has Joined the PCGA which I find very disturbing.

SonyDADC who develops Securom makes my skin crawl when I read the news of them joining the PCGA. I despise securom because if configured poorly creates a hardship for legitimate users. I have no idea how to take this news but I hope the Securom developers hear us loud and clear and make some compromises so we don't have another DRM uproar on Cloud 9.

Only time will tell what this all means.

World of Warcraft Patch 3.1: Secrets of Ulduar Live Later Today

Blizzard Entertainment has finally released "The Secrets of Ulduar" Major content patch 3.1 to it's World of Warcraft servers. Later you will get to check out all that this content patch has to offer.

Here is the patch note here: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

An excerpt from the patch notes on what is included below:

"Secrets of Ulduar

• Since discovering Ulduar in the Storm Peaks, adventurers have journeyed to the titan city to learn more about its mysterious past. Further exploration has revealed that the magnificent complex is above all a prison, intended to permanently confine the Old God of death, Yogg-Saron. This ancient horror has corrupted its guards, and now it is breaking through the last of its restraints. Faced with the peril of Yogg-Saron's imminent freedom, a band of mortals has made preparations for a sweeping assault on the city. Overcoming the legions of iron minions and towering defenses at the city's entrance will take tremendous strength, but even that great victory may not be enough to overcome the madness that dwells below.

The Argent Tournament Begins!

• As the might of the Scourge wanes under the pressure of Azeroth’s heroes, the Argent Crusade have taken a foothold in Arthas’s back yard. Off the northeastern coast of Icecrown, the Argent Crusade have sounded the call for the most bold and brave adventurers of the Horde and Alliance to take part in the Argent Tournament. Representatives of all ten faction capitals, from Undercity to Exodar, have traveled to the tournament grounds to find champions among their heroes who will prepare for the inevitable battle against the enemy of all living beings, the Lich King.

In Memoriam: Dave Arneson

• Blizzard Entertainment would like to dedicate Secrets of Ulduar in memory of Dave Arneson. We were greatly saddened by the news of Dave’s passing. His work, passion, and creativity helped give life to an entirely new genre of gaming, and our fondest memories of playing Dungeons & Dragons continue to inspire us. Farewell, Dave, and thank you. You will be missed."

Poll Results

Here is the poll results as promised.

Should Atari Recall Chronicles of Riddick In order to put the proper DRM warnings on the box?

Yes: 93%

No: 6%

Many of you sounded off in this I'm pleased to this result as any publisher today be posting DRM warnings we wouldn't want another starforce fiasco would we now?

On an unrelated note, Updates will be sporadic or saved until the end of the day as my provider TWC is doing routine maintenance and will have some brief downtime along with it. Hang in there updates will soon follow thereafter.

ISP capping becoming the new DRM?

As Toms Hardware is reporting here: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/time-warner-cable-internet-drm,7530.html
Sounds like ISPs want to squeeze more cash out of us. All of this capping talk sure sounds like DRM too me, how about you?

Go to the link above and see for yourself.

Note: TWC is my current provider and if they push this capping BS in my area anytime soon, I will fight it as it's not the answer to combat P2P freeloaders and notorious piracy. My feeling is that $45/month is enough for Broadband access. If you want more bandwidth then by all means upgrade to a Business option and pay more but don't start capping the legit users like we're criminals. P2P is real problem because you can leave it on 24/7 use a lot of bandwidth, However you can start limiting the upload and download speeds at TWC's level or start filtering P2P altogether by instituting a P2P cap in which once you hit say 5GB of P2P traffic your speed gets downgraded at TWC's server level automatically under a P2P restriction rule. I have been in networking long enough to know that you can do anything to manipulate networks and try to squeeze more money out of people.

Gamestop Breaks Demigod Street date

Reported on this blog here:http://frogboy.impulsedriven.net/article/346061/Demigod_is_early

Read the blog to find out the whole scoop on Gamestop breaking yet another street date so far this year.

Note: Gamestop's in my area did not break the street date as I visited 2 of the stores. The manager simply would not put it on the shelf until it's intended street date. I applauded her(the manager) for sticking with the street date.

Release & Patch Later Scheme

We all should be use to the infamous "Release & Patch Later" crap we see in games today. Developers and publishers need to start looking at Blizzard and Bioware Corp in terms of reaching quality and less buggy releases. Granted Blizzard & Bioware are not perfect but they nip the serious game stopping bugs out of their games before release.

Today's culprit is Creative Assembly's Empire: Total War Released back in early March of this year. Empire is great game but it's marred by bugs which some will not see until your part of the way through the game. CA continues to release patches and another update is expect soon with balance and more bug fixes. As complex as Empire: Total War is, how many frickin patches should it take to get a game right? I ask this question a lot when I'm frustrated during games.

Often times I give the developers and publisher the benefit of the doubt because stuff happens beyond our control that none of use gamers can comprehend. Publishers love to rush games onto the market to make a quick others take their time. My other issue is that it's impossible to create a bug free game and test it on every possible configuration known in the PC environment.

My Opinion: Do not develop a project that is over your head which you cannot understand. If you need to then make it cross-platform so you can optimize it then limit the amount of PC development time as possible. If you can get your game running flawlessly on the Xbox360 and PS3 then you can easily get it up and running on the PC as well. This would cut down on compatibility issues on the PC too because you know the technology and how it works and can tweak it specifically for PCs to avoid game breaking bugs.

So what will it take to get things right? Please send your responses too me via e-mail: drmrigger@gmail.com with the subject "Release & Patch Later Opinion". Your response could show up if I like what you say :)

Demigod Released Early (To beta testers and pre-orders)

Stardock has released Demigod 1 day early to show some support to it's beta testers and pre-orders. Simply load up your Impulse client and your download should start. Note: You must have been a beta tester that pre-ordered or just plain pre-ordered the game in order for you to get this head-start.

Stardock also announced that the DVD Edition of Demigod will not have any DRM. Meaning Demigod is 100% DRM Free.

http://www.impulsedriven.com

Morning Update!

Ugh...I must have overslept and I'm sorry for that. Looks like after scouring the web there is a lot of news and I will get those that are noteworthy posted shortly.

The Poll will end in 22 hours as of this writing and so far looks like you pc gamers want Atari to recall Riddick in order to put the proper warnings on the box.

I have taken the opportunity at sending letters to Atari's legal team, FTC,BB, State Attorney General and our Fed Attorney General here in the states.

I received one response so far and here's an excerpt below:

"We understand your concerns and will investigate your claims thoroughly. Should we take any action you will be notified promptly -FTC"

On with the news.....

DRMrigger's Corner

Every Sunday I will post a " DRMrigger's" corner blog which will comprise of what I'm currently playing on all platforms and what I'm looking forward to. This will be the first post to kick off DRMrigger's corner.

Currently Playing This Week:

World of Warcraft PC
C&C Red Alert 3 PS3
C&C Red Alert 3: Uprising PC
Men of War PC
Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor PC
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena (All platforms)
C&C 3: Kane's Wrath
Guitar Hero: Metallica PS3/X360

Upcoming Week Outlook:

Hopefully tomorrow and the whole week will be normal with frequent updates. I will inject some gaming news into the mix while scouring for more DRM news as well. Demigod releases this upcoming week so hopefully I can grab a copy before the crowd discovers it. I will also try to churn out a review of Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor for all you COH fans lurking around. My Direct2Drive overview will occur soon. Easter really put a spin on things this year in my neck of the woods.

More to Come soon.

Keep speaking out for what is right my fellow PC Gamers!

GOG- Good Old Games= Direct Hit?

Do you have any old PC Games sitting in your closet collecting dust or being used as coasters? If you answered "yes" then your in luck as Good Old Games (http://www.gog.com) is comprised of CD Projekt Developers(The Witcher Enhanced Edition anyone?) who make our old favorites compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Good Old Games will only put out the critical acclaimed games of our old PC Days. GOG's game catalogue growing to this day and almost forgot....ALL GAMES ARE 100% DRM FREE. You can find anything from Fallout to Giants: Citizen Kabuto to Freespace or more recently added Cannon Fodder.

Really I don't need to say anymore about this Good Old Games service as it's a dream come true for many for whom wish to play their older games on current gen PCs.

I applaud GOG for bringing this service to the masses and the prices for games are pretty reasonable and I will say again 100% DRM free.

Head on over to http://www.gog.com and see what I'm talking about.

Riddick DRM Correction Notice!

As stated in my review and elsewhere I labeled Securom as the DRM used for Riddick. This is not the case as my system was incorrectly reporting the wrong DRM so I looked into my registry after reading reports of Tages implementations.

Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena PC- Uses a poorly implemented version of the Tages DRM system.

I have updated my DRM detection scripts in order to properly detect Tages in future games.

Not to be confused with GSC's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky tages implentation which was implemented well. Atari simply configured Riddicks use of Tages very poorly.


My GOG.com and Impulse blog posts will come on sunday due to the holiday weekend we are currently in.

Keep fighting against DRM my fellow pc gamers. Happy Easter Weekend!

Steam and why you should consider using it

Steam is one of Valve's greatest successes in the digital distribution front. I remember when steam was announced by valve as a way to distribute there games with ease and other nifty little things.

Now in 2009 Steam continues to grow and publishers and Developers alike are starting to see why it's so successful. You can find just about any game on steam to purchase and whatever you buy stays linked to your account. You can effectively backup your games or re-download them any time without restrictions.

Steam isn't just about games though. Steam has a community setting which allows you to meet friends and join groups to play games with and those nifty little forums are nice too.

So why should you use steam? Digital distribution is the way of the future and steam has a nice leg up on things. Steam is also a form of non-invasive DRM which I find pretty harmless despite what others have claimed. All you need is an internet connection to launch your games or you can setup your games so you can launch them in offline mode which is pretty useful. Valve has a robust system and continues to provide 24/7 support and if something buckles they are usually quick to fix it ASAP.

What you get with Steam:

- Games and lots of them
- Steam Community Feature
- Friends list
- Steam Groups
- Weekend Sales
- Special Promotional Sales (when available)
- Games Patch automatically within the steam client
- Forums

Review: 5/5 rating

You should climb aboard the Steam train and just see for yourself what I'm talking about.
http://www.steampowered.com

Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena Review

"Riddick surprises but stumbles on his face"

Riddick isn't for everyone as if you've played Escape from Butcher Bay then your not missing anything. Riddick's new adventure Assault on Dark Athena tries to do way too much as well as improve on Escape from Butcher Bay's faults. The storyline is mediocre and Riddick feels like a medicore shooter with very little to keep you from getting bored of the same old gameplay mechanics.

Vin Diesel reprises his Riddick role very well but the game itself suffers from some poor performance on the PC and the very dumb AI really makes this game feel less than desirable. The settings throughout the game feel out of place and bunched together in sequence at the last minute which I found very odd and disturbing given the extra development time starbreeze had while aquiring a new publisher. Given that this is a sequel to Escape From Butcher Bay I could not get into the new storyline at all. The Gameplay of shoot, stealth, hand to hand combat and control other objects felt very mediocre and uninspired.

Not much to say about this other than pick this game up if you haven't experienced Escape From Butcher Bay otherwise leave it on the shelf . PC Version has DRM and it's a 3 separate machine Install limit NON - REVOCABLE online authentication using securom.

Review Score: 2.5/5 rating

Pros: Riddick is back and more lethal than ever.

Cons: Dumb AI, performance issues, Combat system feels mediocre and setting feel out of place

DRM Awareness News Notice

Here at DRM Awareness News, I will be not just reporting on DRM stuff but I will take the time to review some games even the controversial DRM infested ones.

If you have any DRM or Game related news that you would like posted on this site please e-mail all news bits to: drmrigger@gmail.com with the subject "News" otherwise I will most likely delete your e-mails.

I realize this site looks a bit shoddy but a more in depth template is in the works and this blog will be updated with it once it's finished.

Peace Out!

EA & Ubisoft Making DRM Changes This Year

Apparently last year Ubisoft and EA were under a lot of fire for using Securom so this year will be a bit different according to my sources.

EA will be launching "The Sims 3" with a serial code/CD-Key feature and will not be tainted by Securom as reported. An EA rep has told me that future use of Securom would be configured so there was a revoke tool available upon launch and may even include it in the uninstaller itself for now.

Ubisoft said some of it's high profile games will ship without DRM and some will have Securom as they continuing this test as it was started with Prince of Persia last year. Ubisoft direct me to an e-mail stating they evaluate each product and decide which deserve the DRM treatment and what does not.

Both EA & Ubisoft said that is reality piracy will always be an issue but the profit margins for pc games has always been low since the consoles caught up with pc.

My Conclusion out of this is that PC Games need more sales per unit in order make profit margin than Console games do. I have said this all along that PCs need the extra attention so that it can compete with consoles.

DRM Thoughts: I can understand the need to use such methods but to do so with such limitations as of late is very obscene and drastic. Mass Effect PC was pirated ahead of it's release and so was Spore. These cracker know what there doing and until something can be done they will continue to fix problems better than the publishers or developers can.

Everybody needs to be responsible and use DRM wisely but not to deter customers. I am of firm belief that if you implement such DRM measures like Securom then you have the tools to configure it specifically per game. SonyDAC even sent me a response stating that all publishers are responsible to configure Securom how they see fit and if they do a poor job at it then basically you gotta deal with.

Again that is true and lazy publishers need to stop sleeping at the wheel ahem!!



Tonight's Update: Steam,GOG.com, Impulse will be covered and if I'm lucky a review of Riddick.

Spread the word against DRM and keep up the good fight!

Riddick & His Struggles with DRM

This has been one of the most busiest days that I can remember since the Launch of Red Alert3 back in October 2008. As promised now that Riddick has hit shelves nationwide its time to put the DRM to the test.

Securom is nitpicky piece of DRM like no other. While testing the limits of Riddick I got varied results. Atari's Authentication server didn't want to cooperate 90% of the time. I was able to kill one copy of riddick pretty quickly and the dvd is now a frisbee. Here's is generalization below.

Alienware Laptop: installed and uninstalled 3 times and authenticated when Atari's server wasn't burping. Upon 4th install and authentication it was a no go for launch.

Custom Built PC #1: Same result as laptop

Custom Built PC #2: Installed 10 times and Uninstalled and authenticated with ease. DRM now acting as Atari said it should be.

Final Results: Depending on the hardware in your PC or laptop you should be getting a 3 separate machine install limit. Provided you don't change any serious hardware or reinstall your OS you should be able to install on the same 3 machines multiple times. NOTE: If you have DVD Burner drive with emulation software then you run into problem as my Laptop had an embedded emulation software code in it's burner which triggered the extra activations during each reinstall.

Conclusion: Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is a "BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK" situation here. Your machine may or may not cooperate with the DRM. I firmly recommend experiencing this game through the Xbox 360 or PS3 versions.

My personal feelings on this matter is that Atari has broken the law in some ways here. DRM warnings should have been on the packaging in the first and I foresee atari getting reemed in court over this. EA, Ubisoft and other publishers are now labeling DRM warnings with their game and now Atari must do the same or face the consequences.

PC Gamer was indeed with their inital DRM listings however it just wasn't clear enough is all. I will admit that I was partially wrong during this fiasco based on the early information I had but my sources have confirmed that I reported appropriately to the pubic and it was justified.

We need to get all the publishers on the same page here to post DRM warnings on retail packaging as it's a way to keep us pc gamers informed.

More DRM news will follow tomorrow and hopefully Riddick will be a thing of the past.

Chronicles of Riddick : Assault on Dark Athena DRM Quandry

As I reported here http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=671930

Atari has went ahead including a DRM system which doesn't work for us PC Gamers. As of right now if you buy Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena PC Edition you can only install the game 3 fricking times then your DVD becomes a frisby and you must buy another copy.

This would certainly be different if Atari included a Revoke tool but they didn't and as of now things look pretty grim. Atari has committed an illegal act here by not placing warnings on the retail package for this DRM. To make matters worse is that if someone decides to sue Atari for it's deceptive methods then it will cause an embarassment or worse.

My suggestions for you as follows:

- Contact your local state represenatives
- Get in touch with your State Attorney General
- Report this to the FTC
- Submit a Report to the Better Business Bureau
- Take your Chronicles of Riddick Retail copy to a Lawyer
- Spread the word

For now I will be buying the PS3 version. Should Atari release a revoke tool then I will spring for another PC copy.

NOTE: I purchased a PC copy of Riddick and handed it over to my lawyer so they could review the licenses and what not. To an alarming 4 hours later I was informed I had a case for Atari's Deceptive DRM methods.

Speak out and be heard my fellow pc gamers!