BioShock 2 Will Use SecuROM DRM, Has 5-Time Activation Limit

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
It's been quite a while since I last ranted about digital rights management (DRM) in our news section, so with the recent news that BioShock 2 will pack in SecuROM, what better time could there be to rant some more? I don't like ranting for the sake of ranting, but I admit, DRM is something that makes my blood boil. It's not even because it has effected me to a great degree in the past. It's just the fact that DRM hurts legal customers more than those who just pirate the software, game, music, or what-have-you.

bioshock_2_012510.jpg


You can read the rest of our news post here.
 

madstork91

The One, The Only...
So glad that im in Korea where piracy isnt existant thanks to things like DRM + region controls + a language barrier.

LMFAO ROFL!
 

madstork91

The One, The Only...
I can see 15 being worth it right?

I mean... 15 people... who in ther right minds (besides a hardware reviewer) needs to activate 15 times?

Which then begs to question, why the hell have this at all?
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Another Tech Site says the 5 limit was moved to 15.

As nice as that sounds, that doesn't quite fix the issue. There should be no limit at all. That's especially the case if there's a limit of 15... what's the point of having a limit at ALL? It just makes whoever decided on this number look like an idiot as far as I'm concerned. The fact is, if you purchase a game, you should be able to un-install and re-install as many times as you like. Games aren't cheap, so why on earth should legal customers have to put up with such crap?

I should note that this isn't only a problem with games, because it isn't. Blu-ray's can be even worse. There's no limits as to the number of times you can watch a movie, but the protection that's in place is simply incredible. Playing movies feels like a bloated endevour just because of it. It's foolish.
 

Tharic-Nar

Senior Editor
Staff member
Moderator
Another fact that is brought up time and time again, and rightfully so, is WHEN the Authentication server goes offline. No if's about it, just when. You buy the game, you spend half an hour to and hour installing it, go to play, says it needs to authenticate and what do you know - beyond any of your control, the authentication server is unavailable. The server is either down, license expired, or the game is just too old, either way, you can't play.

What about no internet connection? You can activate manually.... through a web browser... *cough*... what? That's like the old joke of "Having problems connecting to the internet? View our online faq's or email us @..." The internet may be ubiquitous, but access certainly isn't. If you don't have internet access to activate, you can go through a web browser instead... logic people... Are you really going to go all the way down to a library or a friends house, just to punch in a ridiculous code, which you may have copied incorrectly, just to get another code to enter in conjunction with your serial number just to be told that you also need to create an online account to activate additional features? Then when you actually get to play, it's so buggy that you need to wait for a patch to fix it... but wait, no internet connection, so how do you know there's a patch and where can you get it? Back down the library/friends place again...

DVD/CD copy protection is bearable, but you'll be left with a bitter taste should the disc get damaged - or god forbid, simply scratched. Best system i know, was used with galactic civilizations series, Just a plain serial number, and when patches are released, you re-enter the serial again. The patch contains a blacklist, so every time they release a patch, new blacklist. No valid serial, no patch installation. It won't stop you playing, but you won't get any new content or fixes. So sure, it gets pirated, and sure, they can hack the patches, but at least the company doesn't pay a monthly subscription plus development cost to implement a rather dodgy DRM scheme, you at least still get to play if there are difficulties with the patches.

Systems like Steam can be useful as well, you buy it once and can play the game on any computer with an internet connection. Emphasis on the latter. No internet, no play.

I guess many would argue that the best system is one that isn't needed...
 
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Kougar

Techgage Staff
Staff member
Another fact that is brought up time and time again, and rightfully so, is WHEN the Authentication server goes offline..

According to the music industry, when this occurs with your music you are supposed to re-buy all of your DRM'd music that you lost access to. Gotta say one thing about those big label music execs, at least they are brutally honest about being greedy bastards. ;)
 

Yangster

Obliviot
Mmm some good news, the DRM has been removed from Steam. But it's still there for the retail version ( the cd version, not sure if that's the correct term) of the game. But I only buy games off Steam so that doesn't really affect me anymore. :D
 

Altrus

Coastermaker
I can see 15 being worth it right?

I mean... 15 people... who in ther right minds (besides a hardware reviewer) needs to activate 15 times?

Which then begs to question, why the hell have this at all?
Mmm some good news, the DRM has been removed from Steam. But it's still there for the retail version :D


This is what was said by the 2k Community Manager on "The Cult of Rapture" website:

There will be no SecuROM install limits for either the retail or digital editions of BioShock 2, and SecuROM will be used only to verify the game’s executable and check the date. Beyond that, we are only using standard Games for Windows Live non-SSA guidelines, which, per Microsoft, comes with 15 activations (after that, you can reset them with a call to Microsoft.)


[edit]
..........Coastermaker?
 
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