@Triaxx2 Regarding Mass Effect, exactly. And it's hardly alone in that regard. I forget what game it was recently (Crysis Warhead? Spore? one of the big names, anyway) that was available in cracked form BEFORE it went out to retail. What does that tell you?

@pwnzord I suggest you re-read my posts and try to actually understand them. You're using pseudo-logic. Of course, no one is FORCED to pirate or play games. But there are plenty of games that people want to play, but don't want the hassle of dealing with DRM nonsense, and so they pirate. As I said, not everyone who pirates is like that; but a good percentage is. And yes, I know several people who would gladly buy a game without DRM rather than pirating it, but will turn to piracy instead if it has DRM. You will never eliminate piracy completely, but DRM rather than preventing it, encourages it. The pirates laugh at it and disable it in 15 minutes, and people who would otherwise buy the product legitimately are turned off and pirate because they want to play it. And you're really naive if you think people didn't pirate Spore largely because of the DRM. There's a reason it's #1 of all time, why it was rated one star on amazon, etc. It's certainly not because it's the best game of all time; based on that logic, it wouldn't come close. Many of my friends pirated it out of protest, even though they had little to no interest in the game itself. Maybe it is a flawed protest; but a flawed protest is better than none. @ XDoggLegacy Spot on, man. Though EA's been getting better lately, removing DRM from a lot of their games. Hopefully they've learned their lesson. Companies claim that DRM is targeting pirates, but I think really the situation is that they're targeting the used games market. They collectively lose millions on potential sales every time Gamestop/EB/whoever sales a used game; DRM is their draconian solution to this. Completely unethical, and a total anti-trust/monopoly kind of tactic, but that's what it is.

@pwnzord You're lumping everyone who pirates into the same category. Sure, some pirates don't care about developers. These are the ones who would pirate things no matter what, and wouldn't ever pay for them. Scum, in other words. On the other hand, there are people who will pirate stuff because they feel forced to, or else out of protest, because the developer/publisher has put crappy stuff like DRM/spyware/etc. on their disc, and is treating their customers like potential criminals. In such cases, many of the people pirating - who would otherwise gladly give their money to the developer for the product - are turned off, and turn to piracy. The fact of the matter is, games with DRM are pirated more than ones that don't have it. Don't believe me? Take a look at the list of top 10 games pirated in 2008 here: http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-games-of-2008-081204/ 7 out of 10 on the list have some form of DRM. As far as I'm aware, only Sims 2, Call of Duty 4, and GTA San Andreas don't. And of course, Spore, the #1 pirated game last year - and of all time - occupies that spot solely because of the widespread anger that occured because of its DRM. While Spore and the other 6 games with DRM on that list would no doubt have been pirated lots no matter the circumstances, had they all been DRM free the numbers would've probably been significantly less. The only people who win when DRM is put on is the companies who make it.

@Ychi Completely agree with you. Steam = DRM. I won't buy any game that has it, or other similar "online activation required" type of programs. For example, I was very interested in Empire: Total War, having greatly enjoyed Medieval II, but the moment I found out it has Steam, my interest went to 0. They lost a sale because of it, and I doubt I was the only one. Same thing with Crysis Warhead (due to its non-Steam DRM, that is). The list goes on. What I find funny/pathetic is how many Steam fanboys there are out there who praise it as if it's the Second Coming. Yet many of these same people loathe the type of DRM that companies like EA use. Wake up, people! DRM is DRM, no matter what name it goes by, and that's all there is to it.