bioshock installs rootkit omfg

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Wow you people are silly.

QFT

[El_Cid]

Originally posted by Standup
A shame as I was looking forward to playing it.

Apart from installing unknown software on my machine the idea of relying on a remote server to be allowed to run it is equally worrying. Having just rebuilt my PC and reinstalled some old games there's a significant number with non-existent websites, update locations or even publishers.

Almost but not quite enough to make me buy an X-box.

Sadly Dr.Spike couldn't show such resolve - I hope next he won't start raving about how great the Sims is on Xbox

And who's silly? For not being happy about a pc game secretly installing something on my computer I can't ever get rid off(unless I completely re-install everything from scratch?).

That doesn't seem a 'silly' concern to me? nor does forcing me to connect to a remote server just to play a game that I want to play single player only.

No 'they' are trying their hardest to force pc gamers to buy their consoles, I think it's quite obvious and not something I care to support happening(by buying their games/consoles etc).

It's not like most of these games are even that excellent really anyway(except for graphics) - so no loss of gaming goodness on my part. No sale.

[Adagio]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
Wow you people are silly.

What is silly about hating when they install something on the computer that doesn't need to be there, but can't be removed? If what it installs doesn't do anything, then why is it there? Since it's hidden it's probably doing something it doesn't want us to know about


If buyers don't make a stand against this, I wouldn't be surprised if we some day will see a game that installs something that monitors all activity on the computer, keeps an eye on which sites you visit, reads your emails, and then refuses to run if you have visited warez sites

[Snotty]

whats this remote server business? I was playing bioshock in a shed just today. I was forced to download a patch and have an online activation when I originally installed the game but thats it.

So, in this case, the rootkit does what actually? I guess it doesnt matter anyway as Ive got an image DVD I can reinstall my windows from with all the right drivers

[Quillan]

Can't say exactly what it does. Primary purpose, of course, is to make sure that you have the original disk in the drive when you start the game. This particular version prevents the game from running if you've run Process Explorer (a Microsoft program) this session. Any other purpose is speculative.

[Asmodean]

Unless SecuRom is hogging system resources, even when I am not playing the game, i.e. when it is not used, I would have no problem with it installing itself as Rootkit

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by El_Cid


Sadly Dr.Spike couldn't show such resolve - I hope next he won't start raving about how great the Sims is on Xbox

Unlikely.

Originally posted by El_Cid
No 'they' are trying their hardest to force pc gamers to buy their consoles, I think it's quite obvious and not something I care to support happening(by buying their games/consoles etc).

What an absurd argument.

[MosesPresley]

Don't software pirates have to buy the game in the first place to crack it?

If that's true, then what's the point of CD/DVD protection?

[FrostyBoy]

Well it's not the hacker, it's the people who download it.

Even if one day, hackers were no longer able to hack games, I think the margin of sales increase would be tiny.

Consider that people who can afford to buy games, will most likely buy them. Those who can't afford it, will most likely download it; nothing effecting the industry there.

Infact, easy access to games by the masses creates great publicity, encouraging people to go buy it and try it out.

Personally, I think publishers are shooting themselves in the foot trying to 1. Push PC users to consoles and 2. Trying to make unhackable games.

[El_Cid]

Originally posted by DrSpike

What an absurd argument.

Well, yes i can see how it would look so on face value. But when you look at the broader picture of what has generally been happening to pc gaming over the years(and the rise of console gaming), you notice a shift that is worrying at best.

Some things to think about:

Vista - and by extension the kind of windows that will follow. It claims to be aiming to be the most secure windows etc, but of course that is a moot point as soon it won't be. What it really IS doing is making the end legitimate users experience less...functional/productive/open by 'locking out' many types of software you may want to use. A PC is a tool to let the user do an amazing array of things - Vista is narrowing that array. Why? well because i think in their flawed wisdom some execs at MS have decided to make you play the way they want. Its about control.

PC gaming - the current growing norm is one of shoddy ports of console games. We still do get the odd PC specific AAA title, but the amount is shrinking all the time. The PC game is often the after thought now. Consoles is where they want you to spend your money. Going back to Vista for a moment, it also makes it harder for an indie to produce games on vista. Unless your game has a legitimate ERSB rating(which cost money to get) you have to rely on the user going into settings and allowing the game to install. Yes it has a 'parental' guard that some may find useful if they don't want their kids playing a violent game, But by default this isn't a good thing for indie games.
Again its about control, either by the OS itself or the delivery methods like steam(which don't have to be as draconian as they are - e.g look at stardock for a comparison), all of which I predict will become even more heavy handed in the future.

Console gaming - the perfect controlled platform. Ok you can chip some machines, but i've never known anyone who has. It's a pretty small problem. Now with most gamers on console you can get on with charging your £50 for any old crap(which it often is), add in the whole on-line(and the extra revenue from that) console thing, charging users for mods(Oblivion etc) that used to be free fan work on the PC and you can see the execs laughing all the way to the bank. Are we getting better games? debatable. Are people making lots more money? sure.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not a console hater - I own two+a gba, but the strongest message I get from lots of console gaming is that now gaming is aiming to be a much more throw away experience. You pay your £50 bucks, you get a dozen or so hours of 'entertainment', then you look around for the next big thing(all hyped by a vast media network of course). To me it's made gaming a big 'bleh!' experience for the most part. Not much is substantial anymore, its all about gloss and cheap thrills. Wheres the depth going? Still if we keep filling their bank accounts to get the short cheap thrills it will continue.

So I've chosen to make my stand because i'm concerned about what gaming is like now and what it will become in the future. If the future is all about having to pay a monthly fee to be allowed to play a game i like, while having to play it on a platform not of my choice, all at a growing great expense......well I have chosen not to. Extreme maybe, but I do still support the developers that haven't yet switched to this model of thinking.

This rootkit thing with bioshock is so over the top - all it is really doing is keeping legitimate customers(like me) away.

I don't buy into hype so i can make a rational decision to do without a game(even a good one) if it isn't going to be nice to me(or my computer) even after I have paid money for it.

Think about it - you are paying for what a hacker would like to put on your computer(even if it doesn't do anything bad). THAT is crazy imho.