since the internet has been in common use the ability to pirate games has also been common, i say this only too point out too all those 'the sky is falling' people that bemoan the 'death of PC gaming' becuse of piracy, your wrong. i find it hard to believe that anyone can be so ignorant as to think that a DRM scheme that requires you to access the internet can ever work, access too the internet means EVERYONE who plays PC games CAN pirate them. its been this way since the beginings of the net. and yet 15+ years on there are still game companys making PC games, (yes that are pirated), still making often times record profits. piracy is the cost of doing business to my mind. i cant think of a single business that SOMEONE wont figure out some way to steal from it. if we raised the CRY of 'ohhh the humanity' for every industry that suffers from theft and wring our hands about how that industry will go under unless we DO SOMETHING !!!!11! ......... there would be no businesses left. wal-mart suffers from shop lifting to the tune of multi millions of dollers every year, should they put a security guard on every single customers back, who will follow them around the store, go through checkout with tyhem, then follow them home after words to make sure that they arent 'abusing' the pruducts they bought? its all nonsense. the games makers arent going under, they arent even losing sales since the people......... excuse me, most of the people that used to pirate werent going to buy the game anyhow. (i say most because the DRM issues now are certianly forcing otherwise honest people to use pirated versions to avoid the DRM restrictions) the answer to piracy is NOT ......... let me say that again , it is NOT to restrict, harass, or otherwise annoy to hell your PAYING customers, its to go after the pirats. you dont make everyone who ownes a car, start having to walk because some morons speed, why on earth would anyone, ANYONE (besides the games companys) think its any form of a good idea to screw over your paying customers with obsured DRM that is clearly not capable in the least of actualy stopping pirates and is a very transparent effort at killing the second hand market as well as forcing repeat buying of first hand customers because your install limit has ran out. as of right now in my personel opinion it isnt the pirates that are killing PC gaming, its the companys that use securom and any other DRM like it. talk is cheap i know and everyone claims they arent pirates, but im not. i dont mind in the least paying for a game i will get enjoyment out of. to me $40-$50 even $60 for a game i will literally get YEARS of enjoyment from is a bargan. but with the advent of install limits, and a need for ongoing permission from a game company to play a game I paid for its driving me away. i dont want to spend $50 RENTING a game that i can only play if the game company needs to give me permission ...... forever. at this point id rather steal the game via piracy and if the games companys stop making PC games then so be it. maybe when the 'fall' happens the games companys that are left that make good games at a reasonable price and DONT spend all their time trying to figure out ways to milk one more doller out of their customers will take up the slack. you want to stop piracy ......... go after the pirats and leave me the hell alone.

hmm what took so long for this article gamespot? why not write something like this when these issues were actualy front and center instead of scrubbing all mention of DRM crap at the time these games were new? how many referances to bad DRM were scrubed from your sights when SPORE was a new product? you did your best to 'cover' for these turds when they were new so dont think YOU can get away with trying too slip in an article like this after the dust settles too try and bolster your 'objective reporting' months after it could possably do any good. why not write this article at the TIME these games were put out so that your readers could benifit from it BEFORE they were screwed over by DRM instead of months after their cash is long gone and they are left with a games coaster? this isnt gaming 'news'. DRM isnt a 'ballance issue' DRM is bad in ever possable way for everyone BUT the game companys. there is no 'up side' for the customer. your writing an article that seeks to offer a 'ballanced view' on an issue where there isnt one. once again your industry paid shill side is showing for all too see. maybe the republicans could get in touch with your writers for this article and see what they can do too put a good spin on torture. maybe find the 'ballance' on THAT issue?