|
|
Prince of Persia PC is DRM-free
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 15th December 2008
Prince of Persia will be entirely DRM-free according to Ubisoft, who want to see how the market reacts.
"A lot of people complain that DRM is what forces people to pirate games but as POP PC has no DRM we'll see how truthful people actually are," wrote Chris. "Not very, I imagine."
Chris did warn however that while the retail versions of the game were totally DRM free, downloaded versions may not be.
There is some concern however, especially given Chris' comments, that Prince of Persia is being offered as something of a sacrificial lamb which Ubisoft may point to when it is pirated anyway - or are we just being cynics?
Ubisoft has previously drawn criticism for its use of the Starforce DRM system, which was used in the earlier Prince of Persia games. After a number of petitions however Ubisoft dropped Starforce and has begun using other copy-protection systems.
If you're interesting in finding out more about the new Prince of Persia game, which is really rather good, then you can check out our full Prince of Persia Xbox 360 review for more information. The game is now available for the PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360, though the PC version was released later than the console counterparts.
What's your opinion on DRM systems like Starforce and SecuROM? Let us know in the forums. Oh, and thanks to Spartan for tipping us off on this new story!
Related
Comments (40)- Site Links:
- About
- Email Editor
- Newsletter
- Privacy
- RSS
- Score Guide
- Our Other Websites:
- Auto Express
- Channel Pro
- Computer Buyer
- Computer Shopper
- Den of Geek
All content © bit-tech.net 2000-2010
© Copyright Dennis Publishing Limited licensed by Felden
Though it doesn't actually look too bad anyway but its still above what I want to pay (£20) for it.
Tim already has. I think it'll help to balance out the fact that he bought three copies of BioShock.
Two. One PC and one Xbox 360 version.
And yes, it's only the fourth game I've bought this year and I've returned two of those because of DRM (Spore and GTA IV). Typically, I'd buy quite a few more games in a year, but nothing has really grabbed me so far.
I think i really will buy a copy of this, if only to get my girlfriend gaming a bit (pretty pictures + immortality = girlyWIN).
Ofcourse it will be pirated, I hope that they do the fair thing and only draw conclusions if it is pirated more than games with DRM.
They want to see how the market reacts, do this with a decent game. This seems like an excuse to say 'oh look they even bought less of this than our DRM'd triple-A blockbuster titles! funny how that works! we're DRMing everything now.'
it will be pirated if it has DRM.
it will be pirated if it has no DRM.
therefore: DRM does not protect your software from piracy.
question: why use DRM?
you will get aids from a aids infected woman if you cover your instrument with reversed cactus skin condoms.
you will get aids from a aids infected woman if you do not cover your instrument with reversed cactus skin condoms.
therefore: reversed cactus skin condoms does not protect you from aids
question: why use reverse cactus condoms skin to protect you from aids?
reverse cactus skin condoms = the spikes are pointed inwards = a myth i just invented about being protected with reversed cactus skin, just because a guy down the street says so, the guy sells reversed cactus skin condoms.
Never once said DRM works did I. Learn soem comprehension.
Nonetheless I may well buy it to support this and hope many others will too.
Piece of crap? it is actually a very well made game. Pirate right?
Sorry Leper, after reading the demotivational posters thread just now I simply couldn't resist.
LOL! Neatly done!
Triple pack you say, I've been looking for something like that for a while, where did you see it?
Can we expect a review for the PC version from Bit-Tech?
did i say that you said it does work?
i took your words, that were true, and gave them some extra content, that i believe is true.
the final phrase should be something like:
"This will be pirated to hell like all games, the people who say DRM forces people to pirate are full of it, DRM is flawed and does not work and should be reworked into something that works."
i should add that some games do force you to pirate so you can play them, either that or use the dvd as a coaster and go buy another one.
I live in Sudan, we have absolutely no original games on sale here, the last one i found was a used Heroes of Might & Magic 3, i would really like to buy my games but the only way i could do that is when i go on vacation to uk or anywhere else, and that happens once every 3 years or so.
I dont consider pirating games where there is no market to be hurtful to the developers or publishers, as they have no profit coming from those places whatsoever, sometimes it becomes good, i found Ubisoft when i played a pirated version of the original POP, then i looked at their catalog and liked what i saw, the next trip to uk i bought 5 original ubisoft games. that's a profit from piracy...
dont misunderstand me, piracy is still wrong, but sometimes it can be of use...
But I will go and buy a copy and have a go, just because there's no DRM!
do yourself a favour and buy sands of time first.
I know this will never happen and might be not the best idea in history but if you really want to compare...
I honestly think the lack of a cd key is a bit overboard, but kudos to Ubi for having the balls to try it. Just crossing my fingers it won't backfire. As for me, I'll head out to buy a copy in the next few days.
If some 15 year old cant afford the game but wants to play it, then they WILL download it. All DRM is doing is wasting developers money that could be spent better creating a better gaming experience.
Game studios/publishers really need to catch up with the rest of the social internet. The success of most games nowadays are based on great online communities. If a publisher can create a decent enjoyable online community with which to interact and enhance the game that is being sold, then that game has a better chance of making money.
Valve has done a good job in my opinion on their steam product, it seems to have sold huge amounts of games, I personally have bought many games via steam simply because its so easy and that I can compete against my friends.
The achievements systems in some communities now are proving popular too.
It might be easy to pirate a game thats played "offline", but it seems harder to pirate the online component of games, especially when there is an account involved in it that someone actually might care about.
being the 'first' to openly do this with a 'tried and true' game series (i'm assuming here, as i've heard quite a bit about the PoP games, but have never played them) may reap huge benefits.
Whether a game is pirated zero times, or ten million times, does not necessarily make any impact on the financial success of the game. What matters is sales.
If a person pirates a game who would not have otherwise purchased it, there is no lost opportunity, no economic harm. If the person would have purchased the title, but did not because they have a pirated version, then yes, that does hurt the publishers. However, supplemented a company's base of customers with legitimate copies with other people with pirated copies can open up a greater market -- people who would never have gotten the game may be exposed to it only because of piracy, and then buy a legitimate version, thus leading to piracy helping a company.
I am not advocating for piracy. Personally I'm a big fan of purchasing all my software and media. But it's important for people to understand that any executive that claims that piracy is simply hurting their business either does not understand their own market, or is not painting an honest picture. Of course, this is understandable, as companies tend to not be comfortable with giving society the message that it's ok to play their game without paying them.
There was a study of the music industry in the early 2000's. It found that while the record companies were blaming MP3 downloads with decline in their profits and revenue, that had almost no affect in reality. Instead, the economic decline in that period lead to a shortage of jobs for teenagers and young adults, causing a decrease in their disposable income, which removed much of the market the record labels were trying to sell to at that time.
Extrapolating to today's game market, we can expect to see an increase in piracy, and a decrease in game sales. Not because of piracy, but because a lot of people are going to be hurting for money for a while. On the other hand, recessions can increase demand for escapist expenditures like booze, which may be a saving grace for computer games.
Haha, no. I buy games that I think I'll like. If I don't think I'll like them I don't give them the courtesy of a home on my hard drive, piracy or not.
If you have the bandwidth to torrent a game you have the bandwidth to buy it on Steam..
So Ubisoft, you can count an extra copy bought due to no DRM that would not have been sold if you had included DRM.