In a shocking display of clarity and reason, EA
and Bioware
have made an official announcement stating they have decided to drop the draconian every ten day activation fiasco they were intending for PC titles Mass Effect
and Spore. Whether this is a reaction to the out of control firestorm this issue became last week , or EA/Bioware growing a collective brain within the last week we cannot say for certain. It is however, a welcome return to sanity and customer centric thinking within EA/Bioware, and one we applaud them for. An excerpt from Bioware's official statement...
There has been a lot of discussion in the past few days on how the security requirements for Mass Effect for PC will work. BioWare, a division of EA, wants to let fans know that Mass Effect will not require 10- day periodic re-authentication.
BioWare has always listened very closely to its fans and we made this decision to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience to them. To all the fans including our many friends in the armed services and internationally who expressed concerns that they would not be able re-authenticate as often as required, EA and BioWare want you to know that your feedback is important to us.
The solution being implemented for Mass Effect for the PC changes copy protection from being key disc based, which requires authentication every time you play the game by requiring a disc in the drive, to a one time online authentication.
This system has an added benefit of allowing players to seamlessly play the game without needing the DVD in the drive.
EA/Bioware's careful wording, as you peruse the entire post, seems to indicate that this was the plan all along. Just keep in mind that this is P.R., and full of more spin than a game of Twister in a centrifuge.
Though by no means the most draconian of DRM schemes to date, a bit of a firestorm is brewing over the DRM infested activation system coming with the PC release of Bioware's Mass Effect.
Mass Effect PC will require an online connected activation courtesy of SecureRom servers every ten days. Apparently, for forever. Now, while it's clear Bioware and EA will go out of it's way to insure they avoid the activation debacle that hounded releases like Bioshock, it is also clear that when you purchase games these days you're not actually buying a consumable product that you "own" in the sense that you own a towel or a pair of shoes.
Just when you think the Pennsylvania Primary is the news of the hour, out of left field comes this. I was sitting watching MSNBC's Live feed of the Primary today, and during a commercial break I got to see MSNBC's feed PC being outed for having a bad MS Office license. Click on the image for a fullsize pop-up.
Maybe MSNBC is merely experiencing the woes many of us do with Microsoft's ridiculous and flawed Genuine Advantage program. Hilarious nonetheless.
Perv's rejoice! FyreTV promises to bring streaming high quality porn directly to your TV Home Entertainment Center. Announced at the AVN Adult Video awards in January, we've had the opportunity to put the FyreTV box through its paces while it is still in beta. So far so good? Let's go see.
