Just when you thought that the internet is going to settle down after the launch of GTA 4, something new comes up which gets everyone excited.

The last week was very lively for gamers, PC gamers especially.

Some of you may know that Mass Effect is releasing on PC very shortly, and while everyone is excited about this and is praising BioWare for the free PC exclusive content, they quietly announce that Mass Effect PC is going to ship with SecuROM protection scheme that will stop the game from being pirated. Very naïve, don't you think?

Let's take a look at what this new "enhanced protection" is going to require from the user:

•1. The user who bought the game, MUST activate the game online

•2. The game will keep checking if the user has a legitimate copy every 10 days.

•3. If the game cannot connect to the EA servers after 10 days, it will NOT be possible to play the game.

•4. The game only allows three install slots, which means, that if you were to install the game for the fourth time, it will not work. You will have to call EA and make a request.

•5. The user needs to be online to play a single player game.

This is what a customer who bought the game legally will have to go through to get Mass Effect working on a PC.

Now, let's take a look at what a pirated version is going to require

•1. Download the game from a torrent

•2. Install

•3. Enter serial key provided

•4. Patch

•5. Play on any machine, online or offline

So there you have it. I do NOT condone piracy. It is stealing no matter which way you look at it. But isn't it strange that when you buy a legal copy of the game, you have to go through more trouble than someone who just downloads the game? Just doesn't sound right to me.

There has been a huge outcry on GameSpot and on official Bioware forums, and Bioware had no choice but to respond to it in some manner.

So they later announced that Mass Effect will not have the 10-day activation, instead, it will only require a onetime activation, however, it can only be installed thrice, the fourth time, you are going to have to call EA.

As of now, the 'battle' is still raging in the Bioware forums. But let us not forget, the companies cannot ignore us. Ultimately, they are in business because we are buying their products. Although this is merely a slight gesture on their part, it goes to show that the customer is not powerless.

Moving on to more news, Doom 4 has been announced! Quite excited about this.

And as usual, I have a review for you all to read:

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

If you want to agree or disagree, go HERE to cast your vote.

And some videos to watch.

Is this the longest blog I ever wrote? Could well be. I have a feeling it will scare people away! Ha-ha!

Until next time, it's goodnight!

Some of you must have known that I belong to the True Gaming Union and I am hoping a few of you might want to join in.

True Gaming Union was formed on March 30, 2005, so it's been online for a long time now. Basically, most of the people who established the union have now moved on, and the onus is on me to continue this union for as long as I can before I may hand it over to someone else.

Now, why is this unlike so many other gaming unions on GameSpot, you might wonder. This is a close knit community of sorts; there aren't a whole lot of members, which means you are not just an unknown person in a forum that is overflowing with people. It's easier to know the members, and make a few friends as well, which is why most of us are on GameSpot.

There are plenty of discussions, so no matter which platform you game on, you'll always find something to talk about. You can also submit your reviews, art work etc. It's a very friendly place, and I am sure if you give it a chance, you are going to like it.

I don't want to send invitations to you all because I know they are regarded as spam. So just click HERE and join the community.

I would like to thank the following people for their support so far: Red, Geo, Chris, mimic-Denmark and the newest member - Brigette, who generously agreed to help in making some new graphics for the union.

I'll make this very clear, you are under no obligation. If you don't want to join you don't have to, but if you take a look, I would appreciate it.

Thank you

Moving on, I have written a review of Tomb Raider 2, so kindly read it.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

If you want to recommend or reject it, you can go HERE and cast your vote.

Thanks for time, everyone. I'll see you around

UPDATE: 5/6/2008 7:52 PM Level 27: Sheng Long

I made it to 4th Medal Rank in country, but I can't play any longer because I have a couple of exams coming up. I badly wish I had the time. By the time I get back, I won't stand a chance of getting to first place because a lot of players from my country would have joined.

Check the screenshot. I have a feeling that rank will slip lower by the time I get back.

Here are some videos I uploaded

Now, I'll get back to books and pray that no one in India should play TrackMania until next Thursday.

I've been having some major issues with my friends list, which I think is partially sorted. For some reason GameSpot decided stop tracking some of my friends, and no matter how many times I tried adding them back it wouldn't work.

Well, I did that exercise all over again, but there are a few people I am still not able to add. So for those you reading this post, just be patient, I will add you all again a little later. This may well be a database error and GameSpot staff must be furiously working on it (ha-ha!).

Greetings!

Many days it has been since I posted, many days since you all got an insight into my life, not that a lot has been happening, nevertheless, you must be starved for some enlightenment.

So anyway, all that sounded very funny in my head, maybe I shouldn't pay attention to that voice so often.

Moving on, I have played a few games in the course of these few weeks. I finished Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Half-Life: Opposing Force and Splinter Cell.

And here is the review of Splinter Cell:

CLICK ON THE PICTURE

Now, don't be surprised that the link it taking you someplace else. That is another one of my blogs created just for my reviews. I was unhappy with GameSpot for not offering any flexibility to the users.

The plain text editor does not allow the use of HTML tags to italicize, to use bold text, or to include screenshots. Of course, it might not be feasible to let users post screenshots for some reason; nevertheless, I am not very happy with the existing editor.

Hence, until some changes are made, my reviews will be linked to the blog instead of GameSpot. And the fun part is, you can leave comments for the review. So if you want to curse me for the Halo review, you can do so and I wouldn't even know who you are! Isn't that great?!

Your thoughts on this will be appreciated.

However, if you want to recommend or reject it, you can find the GameSpot review HERE.

OTHER NEWS

I have a couple of exams coming up. I have an exam on April 22 and another on April 24. I should have some free time after that, so I will work on more reviews.

MOVIES

I have seen this movie called Dragon Wars. I hear that the movie is very popular in Korea. I gave it 3/10 on IMDB. So its obvious I didn't like it at all. The graphics were good, but the movie was so boring that it felt like an Uwe Boll masterpiece.

BOOKS

I recently started reading this book called Kevin and I In India by Frank Kusy. It's a hilarious tale of two English travellers in India back in the late 80s.

VIDEOS

I put up some more videos as well, feel free to browse my videos section.

CLOSING

Well, that's about all for now. I have a lot of studying to do. Not looking forward to that at all.

You see around my friends!

4/15/2008 4:41 PM - Level 26 - Cyber-Lip

Thank you canana for tagging me. To write something about myself is hard because there is not much to write about, so I might just mention the obvious. So here goes:

1. I am scared of spiders

2. I turned 25 on March 20th

3. I am a huge fan of Sherlock Holmes

4. I have not seen a single episode of LOST yet.

5. When I was in middle school (Grade 6th to 10th), I couldn't speak a proper sentance of english.

Now I tag gfile, nutcrackr, gamesnanimegirl, t3hrubikscube, SYdoggXxX.

See you all around!