Will Wright Speaks on Spore DRM
Source: Tom's Guide | Keywords: Spore, DRM, PC, Games
There’s nothing like jumping on the Spore DRM bandwagon... again.
It appears that Will Wright’s latest creation, the widely popular game Spore, can’t stay out of the negative light. Whether it’s a lawsuit filed in courts or Will Wright himself speaking out, the game has certainly made a name for itself despite positive or negative reviews. Surprisingly enough, Spore recently earned a "Breakthrough Reward" from Popular Mechanics, recognized for its achievement in design, creativity, and engineering. Unfortunately the game’s DRM plague and the super-secret software it silently installs on consumer PCs may make its achievements that much less spectacular.
Last night at the Popular Mechanics annual Breakthrough Awards ceremony in New York City, Kotaku’s Jim Reilly approached Will Wright after the event and asked about his involvement with the DRM decision-making process.
"It was something I probably should have tuned into more. It was a corporate decision to go with DRM on Spore. They had a plan and the parameters, but now we’re allowing more authentications and working with players to de-authenticate which makes it more in line like an iTunes," Wright told Reilly. "I think one of the most valid concerns about it was you could only install it so many times. For most players it’s not an issue, it’s a pretty small percentage, but some people do like wiping their hard disk and installing it 20 times or they want to play it 10 years later."
Will Wright couldn’t be more off the mark. While many gamers did complain about the installation limitations, the biggest issue was the installation of SecuRom without notifying the consumer. Thus, the anti-piracy silent infiltrates the system and cannot be removed without wiping the drive entirely. And as for the installation limitations, educated PC gamers wipe their drives on a regular basis, getting rid of junk that collects in the operating system over time. While installation limitations are understandable from a anti-piracy standpoint, in the long run, it only antagonizes the consumer, thus making them less likely to purchase a PC game in the future, but rather a console version of the same title.
So is DRM a permanent fixture in the PC gaming forecast? Will Wright had an answer for that question too. "I think it’s an interim solution to an interim problem," he told Kotaku. "You have games like Battlefield Heroes coming out where the idea is you give away the game and sell upgrades, which works more in the Asian markets where you need to monetize it over the Internet. I think we’re in this uncomfortable spot in going from what’s primarily a brink and motor shrink-wrapped product to what eventually will become more of an online monetization model."
Will going digital help prevent piracy? It’s possible. Many publishers including Electronic Arts and Atari- are already considering going totally digital. Online retail outlets such as Direct2Drive and Valve Software’s Steam have already proven that digital purchases are a lucrative business. But in the meantime, gamers will have to suffer with DRM while the industry tried to find its footing in the fight against piracy.
The unfortunate aspect about the entire DRM controversy is that Will Wright’s current game -while an honest attempt at originality and innovation- is taking the heat, and in the long run, the Spore name may turn the stomachs of legit gamers understandably sour.
You can read Tom’s Games’ review(s) of spore by heading here and here.
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In the article i think the author meant brick and mortar instead of "brink and motor," like a brick and mortar retailer such as Target or Bestbuy.
Yes, toss everything to "corporate decision". Every bad/selfish decision is a corporate decision.
you couldn't be more off the mark Parrish. unless there was a poll/survey/study that i dont know about, this sounds more like a personal opinion than fact. again he said one of the more valid concerns. will wright was on the mark, he didn't include every reason DRM sucked, but you writing that Mr. Parrish is wrong.
I think what companies fail to realize is that most pirated games wouldn't have been purchased in the first place. Look at Stardock. No DRM no secureRom, heck I don't even have to have the disk in my tray to play Sins or Galc Civ and guess what? I bought the game.
Will Wright.....STFU what an A-hole huh? How much money he sukn down the company with? Don't talk about piracy unless your willing to tell us how much money your "making". Kevin Parrish is RIGHT ON THE MARK! Software that installs without informing the user is just like hacking, spyware and viruses. Nobody likes it except MR Willya give me yo money and yo browsing habits, personal info... oh yea I heard how "we don't do that". STFU! Sony was sued over the same thing with their music CD's. I don't rent/buy Sperm or Spore whatever it is and will never rent it. FYI - it's easier to hack it and uninstall their uninstallable software and run it virtual. Who buys thi$ cr@p anyway? Some 30year old teenager living in the basement with mom or some noob kid?
TSM
Who buys thi$ cr@p anyway? Some 30year old teenager living in the basement with mom
/facepalm
A 30 year old TEENAGER?????
I do think rootkit (or rootkit-like) software is detrimental to consumers, can't stop hackers and generally hurts the consumers more than the pirates, and I'm sure stardock has a great point about DRM, also their gamers bill of rights is quite a good initiative.
I really hope EA realizes soon that the market won't tolerate invasive DRM any longer and switch their views to a more blizzard-like way, Starcraft, Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3 were very easy to pirate, but the online component was lost that way, I actually bought starcraft after beating the campaign in a pirated copy, go figure.
Quote: "Who buys thi$ cr@p anyway? Some 30year old teenager living in the basement with mom or some noob kid?"
It's more likely that the person who pirates the game is the one "living in the basement with mom or some noob kid", as you put it. ...because they can't afford it, hence the living with mom.
My only complaint with whole DRM is that if I want to format my machine every so often (which I do), I don't want to have to be concerned that the game might not run, or that I might have to deal with the hassle of getting something I bought "unlocked".
Hey, do any of you know of any good "secure rom blocker" software. Something that will detect and prevent the software from being installed? Most of the time you don't know it's being installed along with whatever game you purchased. Or maybe if there was a centralized database of titles that come with securerom?
Long live anti-CD/DVD cracks and ISO images. Why do games still try to require the disc be in the drive?!?!?! It's so Funking annoying. I own a ton of games, it's a hassle to go find the play disc (either #1 #2 or #5, sometimes not labled) and I like to rotate games frequently to keep it fresh. Maybe I should go buy one of those TB hdd's just to keep permanently mounted ISO's of all my play discs.
ohhh, and I'm sure the cd/dvd cracks we find are probably stealing our CD-Keys, but so what if it makes the experience for me generally easier. (until I install a patch and then have to re-crack) Once again publishers shooting themselves in the foot with 'play' discs.
....SecuRom will lead to the gaming company's going out of business. They will have to be bailed out by the federal government... or EA... whoever is more powerful..PC gamers will move to consoles..trading a free platform for a proprietary DRM infested box...the world will crumble under the weight of it's own stupidity as game companies charge 200$ for Madden Wars 2020...PC gamers will mix with console gamers and there will be a net intelligence loss..
Nostradamus
Why don't they all go with Steam. I really don't see the issue. I bought the Orange Box in the store, and it registered it on steam. This was really useful for me, as I didn't have to deal with any validation, or even Discs (or patches).
I do reformat my PC quite a bit, and all I have to have installed is Steam, and all my games are right there. I don't have to install and validate the game, install all the latest patches, just to play. I press install, it installs, then I play.
I hate Digital Distribution in general, but I love Steam.
Quote: "Who buys thi$ cr@p anyway? Some 30year old teenager living in the basement with mom or some noob kid?" It's more likely that the person who pirates the game is the one "living in the basement with mom or some noob kid", as you put it. ...because they can't afford it, hence the living with mom.My only complaint with whole DRM is that if I want to format my machine every so often (which I do), I don't want to have to be concerned that the game might not run, or that I might have to deal with the hassle of getting something I bought "unlocked".
Right, I pirated Spore, yet I'm willing to bet I buy more games a year then you. Same with most "pirates." Funny how pirates actually stole things yet software "pirates" do not steal anything. All they do is break copyright laws. Not stealing.
I buy all the games and get the crack from torrent sites.
I'm pissed off that the honest guys are the ones that actually eat the DRM shit.
I think they'll never learn. There will be a time when this will not be acceptable anymore and their products will just collect dust. Hope that day comes soon.
Thumbs up to Stardock.
I think valve really has it done right. As long as you always have access to the internet and remember your account info, you have a copy of the game. You can play the game on ANY computer, install it on ANY computer. Only limitation is that only one computer can be logged in at any one time. Its simple, fair, and safer then a dvd. You can't scratch an account username and password beyond use afterall.