The PC version of Gears of War has a very big problem at the moment. The DRM used to protect the game has a certificate that expired on January 28, 2009. This means the game has been shut off and can no longer be played even after uninstalling and installing the game.

As a result of this blunder, Gears of War is unplayable by legitimate paying customers. When trying to play the game, the gamer is presented with the following error:

[installpath]\Gears of War\Binaries\wargame-g4wlive.exe: You cannot run the game with modified executable code. Please reinstall the game

A moderator of Epic Studios stated they are working with Microsoft to get the problem resolved. Other games released on Windows with potential DRM expiration include Grand Theft Auto IV and Crysis. It is only a matter of time before we know if these two games will be affected by the same certificate expiration.

Source: torrentfreak.com; DRM Jams the Gears of War: Crysis and GTA IV Next?

Game Director, Peter Edward, made it clear that Sony does not want to replicate another social networking platform.  He believes Home will take advantage of the PS3 as a gaming platform.  Unfortunately, there isn’t much gaming actually involved in Home, other than boring arcade games and bowling.  Edward also discussed the idea of connecting the gamer with their games in the Home environment to include tournaments, leaderboards, and feedback about games.  Goodwin believes developers can take advantage of Home to reward users through their games in the Home environment.

When asked about the reception of developers to Home, both Edward and Goodwin stated that the reception was exciting at first, but due to its slow development and no real indication in how Home can be used by developers to connect with gamers, there is still a bit of hesitation.  Goodwin believes as Home develops to a more mature state it will be up to the developers to take advantage of the platform to show unique and creative ways to use it.

Source: developmag.com; Home Sweet Home – Part 1

One game in particular that many gamers might appreciate being released on Steam is Spore, a game that was ruined partly by DRM protection know as SecuROM.  A limited number of installs is one of the many complaints from Spore players.  MaxisCactus, a Maxis community manager, confirmed that Spore will not contain SecuROM when released on Steam.

The EA games releasing on Steam will include:-  Spore
-  Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack
-  Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
-  Mass Effect
-  Need for Speed Undercover
-  EA SPORTS FIFA Manager 2009
- Mirror’s Edge
- Command & Conquer Red Alert 3
- Dead Space

Source: hellforge.gameriot.com; EA Games to release DRM-free titles on Steam

It doesn’t seem like EA ever wants to listen to its customers.  EA continues to bundle their PC games with the intrusive DRM known as SecuROM.  The latest game including SecuROM is Spore.

As a result, two class-action lawsuits have been filed against EA claiming the DRM is installed intrusively and is virtually impossible to uninstall.  One of the lawsuits is filed by Richard Eldridge, who claims, “Consumers are given no notices whatsoever that the FREE trial version of the game [Spore] includes Digital Rights Management technology.”

The second lawsuit was filed claiming months of computer problems, and eventually required a reformat of the computer to get rid of SecuROM. The key points to the lawsuits are the fact that the consumer is unaware that SecuROM is installed on his computer, and there is no directions or options to install SecuROM once it is installed.

I have gone through my run-ins with SecuROM, including Bioshock and Spore. In both instances I decided to never play the games again. And after installing both games, I eventually just reformatted my hard drive to get rid of SecuROM.

I have SecuROM removal directions posted in the forums, but they don’t seem to always get rid of SecuROM completely.

The question that I always have is why game companies think they are protecting their product by installing intrusive DRM? Not only is it simply a pain in the ass to deal with, in most instances it comes with limited installs of the game. WTF is that about? Since when is purchasing a game equivalent to renting? Spore was the last game I bought on the PC platform, and is likely one of the last. I’m sticking to consoles for a while until the PC world decides to lower prices and gets rid of the DRM bullshit.

Source:  ars technica; EA hit with two more lawsuits over use of SecuROM

Once again if you dowload rootkit revealer from Microsoft, you will discover that the program will show SecuROM as being a rootkit.  Some will say it is just a false positive, and others will swear it is a rootkit.  It seems like Microsoft would have figured it out by now.  So, the question still remains, is SecuROM is really a rootkit?  This is what shows up after installing Spore:

There is still one thing that is for certain, removing SecuROM isn’t an easy task for the everyday computer folks.  To remove SecuROM from you computer you have to delete several registry keys and other files and folders from you computer.  And, it requires downloading separate programs to do so.  To remove SecuROM from you computer you should follow these steps, keep in mind this doesn’t always work with all the left over files with SecuROM:

Download RegDelNull here and place in C:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys…egDelNull.mspx

Download MoveOnBoot from here:
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/moveonboot.html

Regedit (or more specifically..Securom) will not allow deleting of Securom Registry keys, hence the need for Regnull.

From command prompt (assuming RegDelNull is in root of C, type/paste

C:\regdelnull HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-2052111302-1757981266-725345543-500
\Software\SecuROM -s

(Im assuming this key is the same for all users..you can check yourself using Regedit)
When asked to delete..choose Yes

Do the same with this Key from command prompt (Start..Run):
C:\regdelnull HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SecuROM -s

Now run MoveOnBoot and navigate to the “hidden” securom folder in:

Docs and Settings\Admin\AppData\Securom

I chose 3 files for removal upon reboot. After I rebooted, Securom
wasnt in registry or Docs & settings folder.

Delete UAService7.exe from your windows/system32 folder.

Besides the SecuROM bundled with Spore, the game has been fairly enjoyable so far. I’m still in the creature phase. I’m not condoning alcohol abuse, but I really enjoyed the cell stage while extremely drunk. I felt a sense of accomplishment emerging from the sea with by defensive spikes killing the larger cells attempting to eat me.

Well, apparently people have been having problems with the new update, and as a result Sony has taken the update offline for further testing.  They are promising to get it released as soon as possible once they pin down the cause of the problems.  Sony has this to say,

“As has been reported on many gaming blogs and websites, we have temporarily taken Firmware v2.40 offline. We’ve received a limited number of calls from consumers experiencing an issue with installing the system software update on their PS3. While our consumer services department has seen a low volume of calls on this topic, we are committed to providing the PS3 community with XMB access features delivered in the v2.40 update. We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up.”

Hopefully they will sort this out soon so I can play around with the new features.

UPDATE

The new release of firmware 2.41 is expected midweek after July 4th.  Sony believes to have fixed the issue concerning 2.40.

Playstation Blog update:

“Hi, everyone. As many of you know, we released PS3 firmware update v2.40 last week, but had to take it offline temporarily because, for a limited number of users, the XMB wouldn’t display after the update was installed. We’ve been able to fix the problem, and I’m happy to report that firmware update v2.41 will be released shortly.”

With update 2.40 you now have XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) access in-game. This means that you can access the PS3 menu at any time while playing most games, simply by tapping the PlayStation button on your controller.

With 2.40, you can also check if any of your friends are online, read and send messages, change some settings for games, all without having to quit the game you are playing. While you can’t pause an online multiplayer game involving other people, you can rejoin play at any time when you’ve finished browsing. Along with these enhanced communications features, the Friends list capacity will double to 100 Friends.

Another addition to 2.40 is “trophies”, Sony’s version of the Xbox achievements.

Super Stardust™ HD will be the first game to leverage the Trophies system and will offer a variety of trophies. The following first-party games are also slated to offer Trophy support:

• BUZZ!™ Quiz TV
• LittleBigPlanet™
• MotorStorm™ Pacific Rift
• NBA 09 – PS3
• PAIN
• PixelJunk™ Eden
• Resistance 2™
• SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
• Warhawk™

The Playstation Blog has not given much details other than “improved system stability”. Never the less, Sony is promising a step up in firmware version 2.40. The Playstation Blog had this to say,

“We’re also happy to officially report that the 2.40 system software update for PS3 will include “XMB” access in-game. The update will also include “trophies,” an exciting new feature that we’ll be providing more details on soon, as well as some other new enhancements. We’ve talked about some of this on the blog previously and know that many of you can’t wait to get your hands on these features. You can expect us to share all of the official details shortly.”

Hopefully we will see 2.40 fairly soon.

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 20, 2007 – Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced that the next system software update for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system, slated for release in late March, will add Blu-ray Disc™ (BD) Profile 2.0 or BD-LIVE, enabling PS3 owners to experience interactive features, such as downloadable video content, ringtones, games, and more. In addition to BD-LIVE, the system software update (v.2.20) will enable photo and music playlists on PS3 to be copied to PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system, among other new features. These updates demonstrate how PS3 continues to evolve as a home entertainment hub with the flexibility to deliver the newest technology innovations that benefit PS3 owners.

“With Blu-ray established as the high-definition optical disc standard, more consumers are ready to jump in and take advantage of everything the format offers,” said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President, Product Marketing, SCEA. “Whether you want to download movie extras, send ringtones to your phone, or play interactive games, BD-LIVE will offer exciting new ways to enjoy a Blu-ray movie. With these regular firmware updates and future-proofed technology, SCEA is making the 10-year lifecycle of PS3 possible.”

BD Profile 2.0 requires an Internet connection and at least 1GB of local storage. The following features have all been demonstrated as possibilities with BD-Live and will vary by movie title.

• A variety of downloadable content can be offered, including bonus scenes, shorts, trailers, subtitles, ringtones that can be sent to mobile phones, images, and more.
• Interactive movie-based games can pit players who are sitting in the same room, or are across the world and online, against each other.

In conjunction with the PS3 firmware update, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is pleased to announce two BD-LIVE enabled titles to be released on April 8 – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day. Both titles will include exclusive downloadable content that goes beyond what is available on the actual Blu-ray discs. These initial releases preview some of the exciting new developments that will soon be available from BD-LIVE on Blu-ray disc.

Beyond BD-LIVE, the new system software update enhances PS3 system’s interoperability with PSP system, enabling users to take their favorite music and photo playlists with them on-the-go with their PSP. To copy a playlist, PSP and PS3 must first be connected with a USB cable, and the PSP must be in USB mode. Then, on PS3, select “Copy” in the option menu of each music or photo playlist, and choose PSP as the destination. Now the playlist order, and the songs or photos themselves, will be accessible on the PSP’s Memory Stick PRO Duo anytime, anywhere. This new functionality makes it easer than ever to share media content between the two systems.

The following new features will also be included in the system software update.

• “Resume play” will enable PS3 system to start playing a Blu-ray disc and DVD at the point it was stopped, even if the disc had been removed.
• “Audio Output Device” will be a new Remote Play setting, enabling PSP to serve as a remote control for music played through PS3.
• PS3 system’s Internet browser will be enhanced: Video files directly linked from a Web page will be able to be streamed, and the browser’s view speed will be improved.
• DivX and WMV format videos that are larger than 2GB will be playable.
• “Mosquito Noise Reduction” will be added as an AV setting in the control panel of the DVD/BD player for improved movie playback.

“Since partnering with SCEI, we have seen our research capabilities increase by leaps and bounds through the continued participation of Folding@home users,” said Vijay Pande, Associate Professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@home project lead. “Now we have over one million PS3 users registered for Folding@home, allowing us to address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally, with the goal of finding cures to some of the world’s most life-threatening diseases. We are grateful for the extraordinary worldwide participation by PS3 and PC users around the globe.”

Currently PS3 users make up approximately 74 percent of the total teraflop computing power of the Folding@home project. For more information, please see official website: scei.co.jp/folding/en/.