Hacker News Reader

Comment by dirtbox | Hacker News Reader

Well, not to troll, but I downloaded SH5 from a newsgroup to see if this claim is true (not a file sharing site as I don't have any wish to perpetuate the infringement and upload to others) and it's fine, I haven't noticed a single thing missing from the gameplay. I'll be uninstalling shortly and deleting the ISO, but I'm currently about 3 hours in.

Can you give specific info as to exactly what is missing?

It's a great game, I'll definitely be buying it when the DRM is gone despite not really being much of a gamer anymore.

I stress when, because it's the biggest backfire in copy protection history and Ubi know it. After all the development time and resource that has obviously gone into the DRM, I was surprised/amused to see that the hack is pretty much just a cracked exe.

View on HN

I don't know anything about SH5, but until someone 100%s the game with a "cracked" copy I remain sceptical that the DRM has been cracked.

I really don't think there's going to be a "when", TBH. I don't know for sure, but I'm worried that this is a last attempt at trying to make the big-budget PC games market profitable. Either it works and stays, or it doesn't work and publishers start to drop out of the market. EA are doing exactly the same thing with the next C&C by the way.

Either it works and stays, or it doesn't work and publishers start to drop out of the market.

I think this attitude is a big part of the problem.

The mindset that they can only be profitable by preventing copying, whatever draconian measures that requires, puts them in a box that will prevent any innovation, either in gameplay or in business model.

It may be that efforts at copy protection are well past the point of diminishing returns. Perhaps the investment in these technologies, and the resulting loss in customer goodwill, are costing more than the actual piracy.

Maybe the vast cinematography, scoring, voice acting, etc., aren't what gamers really want, and the "big budget" games are really throwing away money. Maybe gamers just want new ideas like Tetris.

But the idea that "this DRM must work or the industry is doomed" will prevent the publishers from discovering these approaches, or others like them.

> Maybe the vast cinematography, scoring, voice acting, etc., aren't what gamers really want, and the "big budget" games are really throwing away money.

I was referring specifically to big-budget blockbuster titles. The major publishers have divested portfolios. If the big budget PC titles aren't profitable they'll be dropped and the investment will be elsewhere, like facebook games or whatever.

I'd argue that a lot of people do want these games though, because although PC sales are very low, millions of people play them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com