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Big Daddy Is Watching You: Bioshock 2 DRM
Okay. Let's keep this just the facts, as everyone knows what they mean. The tech specs for Bioshock 2 are out. They're reasonable enough. There's also some fun DRM. Online verification via SecuRom, with an install limit (15 machines, admittedly). To save the game or play online, you need to be logged into Games for [...]

Author: Kieron Gillen
Category: RockPaperShotgun 2K 2K Marin bioshock 2 DRM
Publish Date: Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:37:00 +0000



Okay. Let's keep this just the facts, as everyone knows what they mean. The tech specs for Bioshock 2 are out. They're reasonable enough. There's also some fun DRM. Online verification via SecuRom, with an install limit (15 machines, admittedly). To save the game or play online, you need to be logged into Games for Window Live. This still applies on Steam - so SecuRom and Games For Windows Live are needed in addition to the Steam client. Hmm.

Comments thread... go. Let me and Edwin Starr provide the soundtrack.

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Writer: Kieron Gillen. | 266 comments

Post tags: 2K, 2K Marin, bioshock 2, DRM |
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This article is © Rock, Paper, Shotgun Ltd., 2010. If you're reading it on another site, they're thieves.



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Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I can't say that this bothers me too much. I'd rather it wasn't there, but GFWL didn't cause me any problems with Fallout 3 or Batman. On the up-side I get achievement gamer points for my neglected XBL account.

spoodie wrote:I can't say that this bothers me too much. I'd rather it wasn't there, but GFWL didn't cause me any problems with Fallout 3 or Batman. On the up-side I get achievement gamer points for my neglected XBL account.

I can't say the same as you, GFWL is in my experience the biggest most useless piece of crap that I ever installed on my computer, I only had to use it twice so far and had to spend the whole fucking night trying to make it update, and it still wouldn't work. It's not like I have a choice though.

Bloatware anyone? Having Steam and GFWL runnung is just silly. And I still hate online authentication for single player games. And having to be online to save your game is just ludicrous.

However, since I'm entirely meh about the game I'm not hugely bothered.

They added an update to the story:

UPDATE: 2K Community Manager Elizabeth elaborates over at the forums. In short, it will be doing the standard Games for Windows Live activation – as in, you can play and save games offline without achievements. SecuROM is only a disc-check method for the retail copy. While final details of Steam are forthcoming, that may imply it won’t be there. Hmm.

Mr. Johnson wrote:I can't say the same as you, GFWL is in my experience the biggest most useless piece of crap that I ever installed on my computer, I only had to use it twice so far and had to spend the whole fucking night trying to make it update, and it still wouldn't work. It's not like I have a choice though.

Was that the early days of Fallout 3 by any chance? I think that was the one that had the major problem with updating and stuff. I've found it works reasonably well now and I bought all the FO3 DLC using it.

I used it right before the final DLC, but eventually I the other DLC's since it was such a pain getting the DLC to work properly, and internet outage meant I couldn't play. Anti-piracy: You're doing it wrong.
The second time was a little while ago when I played Red faction gorilla, and it was even more of a pain in the ass as the first time.

Mr. Johnson wrote:
I can't say the same as you, GFWL is in my experience the biggest most useless piece of crap that I ever installed on my computer, I only had to use it twice so far and had to spend the whole fucking night trying to make it update, and it still wouldn't work. It's not like I have a choice though.

It took me a fucking age to get FO3 working with it and GTA4 caused a couple of headaches too if I recall

Erugh. You would have thought after the furore about Bioshock's DRM they would have just done the most minimal drm possible, instead they have gone and tried an alternate method.

Ah well, hopefully as hinted, the Steam version will be sans extra DRM, just relying on Steam, in which case that'll be the version I buy eventually.

GfW has been okay for the last few versions, but I did have an issue with the mouse registering about 20 pixels up from where the cursor was in earlier versions. Neither Fallout 3 nor Universe at War run without crashing on anything other than XP for me - which may or may not be GfW fault, Dawn of War II, the only other title I play which uses it, is fine.

It sucks for people without internet access, or for people whose internet isn't 100% reliable. Strangely the actual Xbox360 method of dealing with offline achievements is not to sulkily disable them when offline, but to store them locally, then validate them when connected - but I guess they worry that the local files could be hacked if they did that with PCs.

They are remarkably precious about the integrity of XBL achievements, and 2k must rate their worth above Steam achievements. While I rather like collecting them and agree they make me play a game longer than I would ordinarily, I don't value XBL ones any higher than Steam ones or indeed the BioWare ones which only the PC and PS3 versions of their games use.

Some games I'll go badger crazy with but I doubt I will with bioshock. Just think of it more as interactive story and not a collecting game like chimpz or wow.

GfWL doesn't bother me that much any more. I guess it might annoy me lots again if the same shit that plagued FO3 returns.

Only problems I've had with GFWL have been fixed with port forwarding, took a while to get it to work, but no problems now.

FatherJack wrote:They are remarkably precious about the integrity of XBL achievements

I'd guess this is because many players on XBL value them so much. If an exploit is discovered some enterprising people will charge idiots to add points to their account. It's been done in the past - using different methods - and in some cases it's resulted in account gamer points being reset, I think. Perhaps the companies are concerned the money being taken by the exploiters could be money lost to them.