Far Cry 2 is set to hit the stores this Friday (UK), its already out as of today in the States, but will you be buying it?
I'm putting this question forward because it was announced on October 15th that the shooter will contain the highly controversial SecuROM DRM, limiting the game under the following conditions:
# You have 5 activations on 3 separate PCs.
# Uninstalling the game "refunds" an activation. This process is called "revoke", so as long as you complete a proper uninstall you will be able to install the game an unlimited number of times on 3 systems.
# You can upgrade your computer as many time as you want (using our revoke system.
This doesn't seem that bad, but let me tell you something you may not know about SecuROM; it is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will install and operate on your computer. You are given no control, rights or options over SecuROM. The program is uninstallable. Once installed, it becomes permanently stuck on your computer. Even if you uninstall all games that have SecuROM and entirely delete it from your computer, SecuROM remains a fixture in your computer unless and until you completely wipe your hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive. Some people would argue that this isn't such a bad thing, but it is if you, like many people have found that SecuROM has slowed, damaged and in some cases broken your computer. Your computer slowing down is a certainty as the program is always running in the background, regardless of whether or not your playing the game that came with it or not, even if its uninstalled.
I don't know about you, but personally this is has made a huge impact on me deciding whether or not to get Far Cry 2. I have been following the hype, watching all the trailers and reading all the news on the game so its something that I definately don't want to miss out on, but having said that, I don't want a virus. Which is esentially what SecuROM is. This has been said by many people, some even going as far to file a lawsuit against EA. So this begs the question; should I illegally download it? I'm really not sure what to do. What will you be doing? I'll most likely buy it anyway, but I am totally furious with EA... as if i didn't have enough reasons to be like that in the first place.
EDIT:
Just to let everybody know, Far Cry 2 is being made by a completely different company to that of Far Cry 1. You really should check out the gameplay trailers, it looks like its going to be amazing. Don't shun it off because of Crysis or Far Cry 1, its got nothing to do with that.
Also, to the arguments that say SecuROM is worth having to prevent piracy - it doesn't even do that. I believe Spore (one of the first main games to have SecuROM) was pirated over 500,000 not long after its release. It is the most pirated game of all time. Why? People wanted to show EA that their virus wasn't going to do its job, that it was just going to be... a virus. It hasn't worked though, as Far Cry 2 will contain the same crap.
I'm putting this question forward because it was announced on October 15th that the shooter will contain the highly controversial SecuROM DRM, limiting the game under the following conditions:
# You have 5 activations on 3 separate PCs.
# Uninstalling the game "refunds" an activation. This process is called "revoke", so as long as you complete a proper uninstall you will be able to install the game an unlimited number of times on 3 systems.
# You can upgrade your computer as many time as you want (using our revoke system.
This doesn't seem that bad, but let me tell you something you may not know about SecuROM; it is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will install and operate on your computer. You are given no control, rights or options over SecuROM. The program is uninstallable. Once installed, it becomes permanently stuck on your computer. Even if you uninstall all games that have SecuROM and entirely delete it from your computer, SecuROM remains a fixture in your computer unless and until you completely wipe your hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive. Some people would argue that this isn't such a bad thing, but it is if you, like many people have found that SecuROM has slowed, damaged and in some cases broken your computer. Your computer slowing down is a certainty as the program is always running in the background, regardless of whether or not your playing the game that came with it or not, even if its uninstalled.
I don't know about you, but personally this is has made a huge impact on me deciding whether or not to get Far Cry 2. I have been following the hype, watching all the trailers and reading all the news on the game so its something that I definately don't want to miss out on, but having said that, I don't want a virus. Which is esentially what SecuROM is. This has been said by many people, some even going as far to file a lawsuit against EA. So this begs the question; should I illegally download it? I'm really not sure what to do. What will you be doing? I'll most likely buy it anyway, but I am totally furious with EA... as if i didn't have enough reasons to be like that in the first place.
EDIT:
Just to let everybody know, Far Cry 2 is being made by a completely different company to that of Far Cry 1. You really should check out the gameplay trailers, it looks like its going to be amazing. Don't shun it off because of Crysis or Far Cry 1, its got nothing to do with that.
Also, to the arguments that say SecuROM is worth having to prevent piracy - it doesn't even do that. I believe Spore (one of the first main games to have SecuROM) was pirated over 500,000 not long after its release. It is the most pirated game of all time. Why? People wanted to show EA that their virus wasn't going to do its job, that it was just going to be... a virus. It hasn't worked though, as Far Cry 2 will contain the same crap.
