BioShock Widescreen Supposed To Be Like That

[Russ Pitts]

They've said they'll be patching both versions to allow an option to increase the FOV, according to their homepage: http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/home.html

I think it says a lot about their integrity that they called however many people off a well-deserved vacation, less than a week after release, to address an issue of player choice. I still think it's silly to be so upset about what's ultimately, a preference issue, but you have to give props to the team for being willing to address it.

 

[Andrew Armstrong]

They are? I thought the patch team would be working on fixes anyway, I am sure its not a flawless release regardless of the lack of widescreen FOV changing ability.

Anywho, I'd be more interested to know how their SecureROM stuff was going. Seems a bit more of a PR nightmare. Its not going to impress me once I have the game, I suppose its better then paying Steam prices, but still sucks. They might have integrity for this, but they've not got as much as companies which don't use protection methods except a CD key (Company of Heroes before anyone asks for an example!). Will annoy me if it won't work correctly on my PC. SecureROM is going to get as bad as, dare I say it, Starforce...sigh.

 

[J.theYellow]

Bioshock Isn't Installing a Rootkit, You Idiots. [http://www.corpnews.com/node/177] Be mad at the right things, damn your eyes.

Edit: Fixed. That's the name of the title, and it's not harsh for me. People ought to be at least tech-savvy enough to know the difference between DRM measures and taking low-level control over your computarmachine.

 

[Russ Pitts]

<a href =http://www.corpnews.com/node/177>Bioshock Isn't Installing a Rootkit, You Idiots. Be mad at the right things, damn your eyes.

Idiots? That's a bit strong even for you, J. Also, your link is broken.

 

[Andy Chalk]

I'm not really seeing the relevance here. BioShock isn't installing a rootkit. BioShock is also not installing Shodan porn. So what, and how is it even an issue?

 

[J.theYellow]

Because "rootkit" was used in the original article that set off all this hoopla [http://www.gamingbob.com/2007/08/23/bioshock-installs-rootkit-including-demo/], which was then re-used by Slashdot Games [http://games.slashdot.org/games/07/08/24/213256.shtml]. The original author later replaced all instances of "rootkit" with "SecureROM," admitting in his own comments that "Using "rootkit" brings the traffic. It's all about the SEO, and is why this article is on top in Google."

While I question why SecureROM needed to be included in the demo version (and I'm just taking the word of the supposed experts who I just pointed out deliberately misled a bunch of gullible reactionary people), and the limit to 5 installs seems unobvious and arbitrary as a means for 2K to protect their product, Steam is probably as intrusive a delivery device as anything bundled with Bioshock itself and Internet people need to complain less and play games more.

 

[Andrew Armstrong]

Some would say Sony's SecureROM is as bad as malware, for the measures it takes and its basic problems (uninstalling never removes everything, folders appear that cannot be deleted ever, etc. etc.).

Relying on any kind of 3rd party to authenticate a offline game for installation is going to cause major problems later (by later, I mean years later. Film won't have this problem, but if all games authenticate online and the servers are taken offline (EA is notorious for this) goodbye playing older games!). Hopefully the publisher will simply release a patch given a late enough time (like many do for basic CD checking) so people can run a patch after installation and not need to authenticate online with a 3rd party.

It'd be an interesting topic to bring up, especially since I have brought this software and fully expect it could work if I keep my hardware or OS around long enough in 100 years, can they guarantee I can play it then? Why am I relying on a 3rd party to gain access to my game when no other entertainment industry can do this? Would the ELUA really stand up in court if I used a no-CD / no-authenticate patch to play the game I brought and have a key for? (something I'd love to see tested now these things are getting worse).

 

[Andy Chalk]

But that blog post was put up two days after the widescreen complaints started to roll in, and doesn't even make mention of the issue beyond using the word "widescreen" in relation to the statement 2K made about that and the DRM issues. While it's good that BioShock isn't installing a rootkit, it's also good that Ken Levine isn't over here killing my cats, and I don't see what either point has to do with the matter at hand.

Or did you just throw it out there because it's basically ALL BIOSHOCK, ALL THE TIME, and this was a BioShock-ish thread?

 

[Andrew Armstrong]

Sorry, J.theYellow mentioned SecureROM, I wanted to put in that point, which I thought of at the time.

Bringing it up in an entirely new thread would have been a bit pointless, since it is more worthwhile targeting an answer so someone might read it, and the point obviously doesn't merit its own discussion by the actual Escapists staff's response to it anyway, so on two counts it was better to post in this thread.

It wasn't even about BioShock, for which I am sorry, but a general pass at the kind of thing SecureROM is going to make problematic in the future.

Oh, and I know you were more responding to J, but I thought I'd defend my response.