[binary visions]

So, if anyone's been following this game, it's been pretty over-hyped from the start, then there was the hype that it took the crackers a whole week to actually break the various SecuROM, online calling home and downloads that needed to happen at install merely to have a functional piece of software. Which, personally, I think is a load of horse s**t, since it's not actually going to stop the hackers and it just makes everyone's life difficult.

Regardless, most of the reviewers have been fellating 2k Games over the gameplay, graphics, etc. and this particular review, so at odds with the rest of them, cracked me up. The narrator is a funny guy:

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/102789.html

I'm, uh, waiting for my copy of Bioshock to arrive. Via... FedEx. Yeah. So I'll post up my impressions when I actually play it. The demo looked really pretty but the fact that I stumbled across 3 respawn points in the first two minutes of the game made me think it was going to be a little bit too easy.

 

[LordOpie]

...I stumbled across 3 respawn points ....

MMORPG?

If it's not MMO, then why have any respawn points?

I haven't gamed in years, love it, don't have the time now.

And yes, the security features they've added over the years is retarded and frankly, offensive.

 

[binary visions]

It's a FPS with a few RPG elements thrown in (though not many). Respawn points are there because the levels are large and fighting your way through the same level over and over again would be time consuming and frustrating. Plus, as far as I can tell, there aren't really "levels" as such, just stages to the game - it's all one big world. That's just my impression from the demo.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Can you find BV in this picture?

 

[binary visions]

WTF?

Are they playing a game? Praying? Doing homework? Eating lunch? There are office supplies and a pool triangle there. I don't even understand what kind of joke you're trying to make?

 

[Echo]

A friend of mine tells me I should get this game. What's this about calling your house to activate?

 

[LordOpie]

WTF?

Are they playing a game? Praying? Doing homework? Eating lunch? There are office supplies and a pool triangle there. I don't even understand what kind of joke you're trying to make?

He's saying that you're a Dungeons & Dragons gaming homosexual trying to senance contact Liberace.

Yeah, pool triangle is odd.

 

[binary visions]

A friend of mine tells me I should get this game. What's this about calling your house to activate?

I don't know anything about calling your house, but the game as it comes on the disc is actually incomplete. It actually has to contact the Bioshock servers and download its own files in order to run. Nice, eh? Not only does it require you to have an internet connection to even play the game, but the disc you buy doesn't even have enough files on it to run the game.

To top it all off, the remote activation only lets you install the game twice before it shuts you off. Lets hope you don't have a screwed up installation the first time around because then you only get one more before you have to deal with the well-documented crap customer service.

I don't have any issues paying for software if I want it, and Bioshock was good enough that I figured I'd wait for it to come down in price and pick up a copy. Crap like this, though, just pisses me off and as soon as I heard about the ridiculous copy protection and hoops people were having to jump through to play the piece of software they just paid for, I booted up Bittorrent.

 

[Kornphlake]

I don't have any issues paying for software if I want it... I booted up Bittorrent.

So you don't mind paying for software you want, if you weren't willing to pay for it that means you didn't really want it, so why did you boot up Bittorent for a program you didn't want?

 

[binary visions]

So you don't mind paying for software you want, if you weren't willing to pay for it that means you didn't really want it, so why did you boot up Bittorent for a program you didn't want?

I did want it, and was willing to pay for it, but I wasn't willing to jump through hoops and spin in circles because a few idiots at 2k Games thought it was a good idea to make everyone's life miserable in a vain attempt to foil the hackers. They know the game is going to get cracked, so what are they bothering to hurt all the legitimate users for? In the first week the game was released I read at least a dozen stories of issues trying to activate it the FIRST TIME.

I mess with my OS installations all the time. That means re-installation of my applications is pretty routine. I'm not dealing with applications like SecuROM, and I won't support companies who think a hundred layers of copy protection are a good idea if I have a choice.

 

[drakan]

Just to burst your bubble: It took them 4 days (On the scene) to break SecuROM, and Registration/Patch issues (Fixed EXE/Registry Key)

And it took the Scene (dopeman) about a week to crack Halo 2 from Vista to XP.



And Bioshock is pretty fun...

 

[Kornphlake]

I guess you missed the I agree they are shooting themselves in the foot trying to prevent the inevitable.

 

[binary visions]

They broke SecuROM before they actually had everything pulled together to be distributed to users. I saw the SecuROM registry patch go up but most users were still unable to get the game to run.

I don't know when the final mini images and patches actually got distributed but I was checking daily and thought it was about 6 days before there were reliable kits out that allowed most people to run it. I wasn't involved or getting news from any of the teams, just monitoring some message boards since I wanted to see who was having trouble (legally) getting the game to run.

Saw a few users who were told by 2k Games to contact SecuROM and SecuROM told them to talk to 2k Games.

I guess you missed the I agree they are shooting themselves in the foot trying to prevent the inevitable.

Nah, I didn't miss it - I just feel strongly that they hurt themselves with this over-protective business and wanted to clarify my feelings.

 

[drakan]

*Most* People != the Scene.

And it was quite funny with the mini images. Skulptura's version SUCKED. The only thing it was good for was bypassing the Updates. And lots of people re-named the mini images, but it was just the same md5...

But anyway, Bioshock took a while to crack. 2 days on the Scene is nuts.