short SPORE update

Just some news on the mainstream media:

Copyright row dogs Spore release
Did 'Spore' copy protections backfire on EA?
Spore And The Great DRM Backlash

The winner was BBC on how fast it published the news.

As far as EA responds?
None really

However Red Alert 3 will have 5 installs and no CD requirements to play.

I'm definitely getting that one. Previews are hilarious.

SPORE: it has begun

Yes, the uprising to the stupid Copy protection/management policy that EA has enforced upon customers of SPORE.

The People Have Spoken: ‘Spore’ Is Ruined By Its Own DRM
EA's Spore hit by DRM backlash
Spore losing the DRM Fight
Customer Reviews (Keeps adding 1 star reviews, but pretty sure to change soon, since there are not REAL reviews)

Now, unfortunately I'm not sure EA will actually listen. A similar thing had happen to BIOSHOCK, which introduce the incredibly stupid 3 installation rule also used in SPORE, and yet given how good Bioshock was, it hurt sales very little. (2K was brave enough to leave on their forums a "If you need to have your game refunded, here's how." topic for this issues)
I'm guessing SPORE might have the same effect. Though plenty of people will go ahead and download a crack version of it, the game will be good enough to make enough sales to keep EA from removing the insane rules. (I hope I'm wrong and EA will change on a later patch, but I'm not holding my breath to it. I am holding my purchase for now though)

Meanwhile good news from my favorite Game developer Stardock who knows how I like my games.

Cool Japan

and their amazing fountains.


Inkjet-Like Smart Waterfall Makes Animated Falling Water Show

The cell-phone that is just...a phone

Remember when the iPhone came out, and people actually looked for something with all the functionality of the iPhone minus the AT&T phone service?

Well finally, the complete opposite is here (hooray, hurray?)