Gears Of War Shipped With DRM That Shuts The Game Down After 01/28/09
Do you play games for more than 3 years? I do! I still like Super Mario 3, and that's no lie. Well, if you are like me, you might be concerned about the fact that the PC version of Gears of War shipped with DRM that automatically made the game unplayable after 1/28/09.
Ars Technica says:
Gamers who tried to play Gears of War on the PC Thursday ran into a slight snag: it seems that the digital certificate that allows the game to run expired on January 28, 2009. Basically that means if you keep your PC's clock up to date, you can no longer play the game. The official Epic forum is ablaze with complaints about this issue, as the still-kicking community becomes enraged.
"I had this problem this evening, I had to change the date and time (from PM to AM) and I am able to get in just fine," one frustrated gamer posted. "I also changed it back to the current date and time and it didn't work. Change it back to yesterday AM and it works fine... EPIC games won't be on my list anytime soon...."
If you want to continue playing the game, you can adjust your system clock while waiting for a presumably forthcoming patch. Of course, if you pirated the game, you don't really have a problem.
Gears of War DRM screwup makes PC version unplayable [Ars Technica] (Thanks, Mike!)
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Set the clock on your PC ahead about 10 or 20 years. You'd be shocked to find out how much software no longer works.
Yeah, I know. Three years is a lot different than 10 years. But I just wanted to point out that a lot of software has a built-in kill date.
@AlteredBeast: I doubt that this was intentional. This was most likely an oversight that passed the QA department. The three-year certificate was probably in use by developers who didn’t update it prior to release.
Another win for piracy. Why the hell should I purchase anything outright when I have to deal with shit like this. If these corporations want to stop piracy, make it easier for my to actually purchase and install a game or program. Until then, fuck off.
@GMFish: Usually, it's nothing so malicious. It's just programmers that don't think to test dates that far in the future.
This is why I have all of my clocks set to 1950. Nothing was wrong in the 50's. It was all good.
@AlteredBeast: I think it was just an unforeseen bug in the coding, nothing intended. And it's due to an expering certificate. Lord of the Rings online and some other games was also affected due to the "YK9" issue. From what I understand, it's similar to the bug that affected the Zune.
I wonder when they will get it through their thick skulls that they are ENCOURAGING piracy with this idiotic type of DRM. My advice, LOOK AT STEAM, now THAT is the way to do drm. Good fr the consumer, good for the company. It's easy, your games are always up to date, and it simply works.
Another reason people pirate. Stupid game companies spend so much wasted money on piracy. Believe what you want but if a game is good enough people will buy it no matter what. Epic Fail!!
I am guessing that this DRM document has an expiration date and it could have been set to anything, they just picked three years out. Samething happens with Music DRM. Wasn't it Walmart that shut down servers and effectively killed all the music that was downloaded from there?
@AlteredBeast: It could just be that the company who ported it to PC screwed up, not the original developer? As I recall about the zune thing though, that was because last year was a leap year and it ended the next day.
Another reason why DRM fails HARD. I never bought bioshock due to DRM (maybe they fixed it, maybe not)...there are a bunch of other games I wanted to try, but never bought because I won't have malware installed or be limited by how many computers I can install it on, etc. I am BUYING YOUR GAME. Why are you punishing me? I could pirate it (I don't pirate anything), and play it for *free*, and not have to put up with you messing with my computer or rights.
@boomersix: I have no problems with steam, but they make me nervous because they have the potential to go so very wrong...
@enderx: I agree that this was a mistake on the publisher's part, but this is a prime example of how terrible DRM is. Legitimate customers are at the mercy of DRM, so if something goes wrong, they can't play the game they shelled out $50 for.
Indeed, those were simpler times. When the family would all gather round their computers and play wholesome games together to stop communism.
It's like the game industry has waged war against itself, trying to drive out as many customers as they can.
Question: Is "Brownie" in charge at Epic?
@enderx: Even when the DRM works perfectly, it's usually a hassle for legitimate owners. Pirates don't have to deal with digging up the disc to shove in the drive just to prove you own it. Pirates don't have to make sure their internet connection is working before it dials home. Pirates don't have to worry about reformatting their computer for the 6th time and finding out now they can't run it. Pirates don't have to worry about rootkits installed to make sure you don't run a debugger or cd-rom emulator.
It's just a hassle and it's just security theater (except for the hassle part). Pirates will simply sidestep whatever kooky incantations and rituals legitimate users have to do to get what they paid for to work. There will never be copy protection that cannot be bypassed. Therefore they ALWAYS have a better product, albeit stolen, than the people who pay.
@crice: Exactly. If I purchased, legally, an MP3 download which is laden with DRM, and that company decides one day to shut down their DRM server, which DOES happen, I am SOL. Conversely, if I simply illegally download the song, it is mine forever.
CD's come with rootkits. Blu-ray's come with profiles that some players cannot play. It never ends.
@AlteredBeast: I don't think there are any plans to release GoW2 on PC, which is too bad for PC owners. GoW2 is fantastic.
While I play the occasional PC game, this is exactly why I love playing on a console. You don't run into any of these problems, and you're always guaranteed to meet the hardware requirements.
@Caudill Miller: Can't wait for the Bull Conner version of NFL Football (with dogs! and firehoses!! and secret levels featuring exploding Black churches!!!)
@Mattlar: Epic also said there were no plans to port GOW to PC, and yet they did it after multiple denials. I imagine they'll release GOW 2 to PC down the road. It equates to "free money" for them given the lower development costs to port a 360 game to the PC.
Most people do want to legally purchase the products they use. Its unfortunate when you purchase a piece of software, then have to get the pirated copy in order for it to work correctly. DRM is a joke. It hurts sales and drives away future business. I'm not sure who these companies think they are fooling. If it was programmed, it can be reverse engineered given enough time an effort. Apparently there are people with enough time, so why annoy your customers in the process?
Nothing was wrong in the 50's??????
Do you remember the jingle:
Duck, and cover?
Duck and Cover was a suggested method of personal protection against the effects of a nuclear detonation which the United States government taught to generations of United States school children from the late 1940s into the 1980s. This was supposed to protect them in the event of an unexpected nuclear attack which, they were told, could come at any time without warning. Immediately after they saw a flash they had to stop what they were doing and get on the ground under some cover-such as a table, or at least next to a wall-and assume the fetal position, lying face-down and covering their heads with their hands.
@Applekid: And yet DRM-free, no-disc-needed games like World of Goo get heavily pirated. It's almost as if the real reason for pirating games is to get shit without having to pay for it, or something.
Sorry, I get the DRM hate (everybody remember when the solution to Bioware's DRM was "go buy a new CD drive and hope it's compatible with that brand?") but that's the excuse, not the reason.
@Yankees368: Agreed. DRM is bull-shit, there's no reason why you should have to pay for a crippled product. If you would like to be a nice, ethical person, I suppose it makes sense to buy the DRM crippled game, and then go download a pirated version, which is probably still illegal due to technicalities in the EULA, but would get the whiners on consumerist to shut up and supports your favorite game developers.
The only thing DRM does is push honest people towards piracy. I have a hell of a time getting GTA4 to run because it thinks I'm using a duplicate DVD. I guess that's what Take Two cares about these days. Where is the incentive to buy it when I can get a cracked version that has no issues?
@cynical_bastard: Yeah, its all well and good because Valve is doing OK, but they could easily go belly-up or get bought out one day and all your games are GONE FOREVER.
Epic fail.
DRM sucks, I agree. But it's also a form of self defence so I see why a company would want to stop people from punching them in their perverbial face.. but I don't understand why it has to have an expiry date. I know the game is no longer fresh, but that doesn't mean I should throw it out..
@Caudill Miller: this actually sounded like a great idea, & i started winding my clock backwards. do you realize that it has to be unwound 43,100 times?!??!
i lost count around 18,000. i figure that puts me somewhere in 1984. uh-oh.
@mythago: Very true. The real reason is "lol, free stuff". But if there was no piracy those people wouldn't be buying the game anyway. It'd be nice to stop them but you can't. Companies are fooling themselves and passing unnecessary costs to the users such as the DRM themselves (SafeDisc and pals cost money, you know) and in customer support when valid users get caught up in the DRM hair trigger.
Meanwhile the stripped, pirate version is still a superior product. I routinely download no-cd patches for my PC games so I don't have to keep a mountain of discs in a pile by my desk. Even have all my PS2 games on a hard drive that I use HD Loader on to have a PS2 Jukebox on my TV. The persuit of free stuff for some has the side effect where I too can obtain fixed versions of my software.
IF there was no DRM ever, yeah, piracy would still be out there for everything. But the good stuff priced reasonably will always make money because it represents a good value AND customers wouldn't hesitate on buying a game that they know doesn't have a kill switch or could risk hosing their machine. Example: PopCap Games doesn't use DRM on systems that don't require it (consoles) and they're doing quite well. Valve is doing fantastic even though all their games have a No-Steam patch available.
@GuinevereRucker: Please stop confusing copyright infringement with theft. The two have very little to do with each other.
@Skeetz: Yes, and chopping off your own arm because you got it caught in a bear trap is also self defense, but I wouldn't go recommending it to everyone.
But at least the bear trap won't expire.
This is why I gave up on PC gaming and got a console.
@Yankees368: That is a very good question.
A developer asked this of the pirate community, and adjusted some things based on these revelations.
Definitely worth a read.
@Skeetz: It isn't a form of self defence, it's a form of mutilation.
It harms the product, it harms the consumer's interests and therefore harms the company.
Why on earth would honest consumers pay for a defective product?
This isn't really DRM. A missigned or expired certificate will cause problems with any program, as it will be seen as malicious when it's not and refuse to run.
From what's been said on Kotaku, it seems this is simply a digital certificate that expired before it was supposed to or someone at Epic forgot to get it renewed. Either way, this is not a DRM issue at all.
@nataku83: Why should a nice, ethical person be forced to buy a defective product in the first place - to say nothing of then having to do something whose legality is questionable at best - simply to get the product HE PAID FOR working in an acceptable manner?
Downloading the pirated version of a game even though you own a legitimate copy would still get you busted for piracy and/or violating everyone's favorite copyright law, the DMCA, because you are trying to circumvent the DRM in the game. Granted, I don't know what would happen since the case would reveal a bunch of ugly details about both the DMCA and the software publishing industry.
Anyways, this is why I don't buy PC games from companies who treat their customers like criminals. If it's a title I want but uses unacceptable terms and DRM, I'll either buy a used copy for a game console (e.g. Xbox 360) or I'll just skip the game entirely. It's not as though there aren't tons of other games out there to choose from.
At the same time I will go out of my way to support software publishers that buck the trend and don't mess up their products with DRM and other junk. Stardock is a good example. They don't even use copy protection. They figure it's up to them to get you to buy their games by making good games - not by using DRM and treating their customers like criminals. Do their games still get pirated? Sure they do. At the same time, they don't seem to have any problem making successful games and getting people to happily pay for them.
Sure, DRM can be somewhat touchy, occasionally, but let's all think back to the countless headlines we've seen that have read something like DRM Saves Baby's Eye, Life or Lucky Local Man Celebrates Rootkit or SecuRom Engaged to Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.
But...why would they do this? I mean, I believe they did this, but I don't understand why. It's not like this would force gamers to buy GoW2 (is that even out on the PC?).