SimCity. Always on DRM example of failure.

You hear about the New Activision DRM? Every game is tracked by a ballistic missile, if you're playing a game and your internet drops, it fires the Missile right at your house.

 

In the future, when you play war games, you are unknowingly controlling an actual war drone in a combat zone, murdering soldiers and civilians. They will be able to see who are the best players and simply insert live missions secretly.

Imagine playing future war games that customize your missions, only to hear about them in the news.

 

So basically, Ender's Game? (or the not very well known Robin Williams movie Toys, the world of which is scarily close to becoming a reality)

 

Somewhat different than Ender's Game , as the common game playing population at large could be unwitting combat zone participants. The key approach is this being unknown to the public. Today, drone pilots in the U.S military utilize game controllers to guide their craft. So, by extension, if you had an unwitting public at one's disposal, using what are essentially combat control devices/game controllers, one could choose from a large playing pool to find the best "players" suited for military missions, without them ever knowing. The moral issues that plague soldiers, it being well known that a majority of rounds fired on the battlefield are subconsciously aimed to miss, one as a military could skirt this entire issue by using unwitting participants. With games becoming more violent with torture as a growing theme, it wouldn't be absurd to think that one could be torturing someone to death, perpetuating the act through their gaming device onto their television, unknowingly while waiting for pizza delivery.

This way, you have a massive database of soldiers to operate drones without ever having to invest in the overhead of keeping a regulated force.

Just a fascist visionary extension. On a side note, the Pentagon has successfully funded a research firm's creation, a war robot which eats human corpses to power itself. So, yes we are increasingly moving closer to life imitating art.

 

This is pretty much the plot for Toys, a movie that was made about 20 years ago and now seems pretty damn topical.

 

I remember watching this movie, while on acid at someone's house party. It was strange and I wasn't in a state to grasp the plot. I do remember very vivid imagery from this. Shocked to think that internet based war gaming and unwitting participants were a twenty year old movies plot line. Anyhow, these thoughts are hardly unique and common grist mill themes for where we are heading. Absolutely.

 

It wasn't Internet-based, the kids were playing games in arcades (that's the part that's maybe a little dated ), but "unwitting participants playing video games who are in fact fighting a war" is the plot either way.

 

Yeah, I am looking at the synopsis for the film. Interesting. I will have to watch it again. In fact, I will do that today if it's on netflix, as I am sick and going nowhere. The weather is really good today. Stuck indoors.

 

Wasn't Virtual on's plot supposed to be some sort of War games where real mechs were piloted from an arcade?

 

From Wickipedia:

In the plot of the first game, Cyber Troopers Virtual-On (Virtual-On: Operation Moongate), the Virtual-On's arcade machine is actually a remote operation device sent from the future in search of "Virtual-On Positive" (VO+) pilots.

So a plot taken from the last starfighter.

 

I didn't even know Virtual On had a plot...

 

BETTER?! :|

Underground series was a phase that happened, that's fine. Not everyone liked the idea. Should of ended with Underground.

All the Shift,Pro Street games were stupid - Agreed

Hot Pursuit wasn't back to it's roots at all, get-away cars never had spike-strips etc. Never could "total" a car to bust them.

Series died after Most Wanted really. Where modification started getting REALLY old. I just want High Stakes/Road Challenge to be re-booted correctly.

 

Yes, better. The last time NFS was at least as good as the new Hot Pursuit was with the PC version of Porsche Unleashed, way back in 1999. And I didn't say it was "back to its roots", I said it was closer to its roots, meaning no stupid fucking tuner aesthetic and customization or retard racing on lame-ass city tracks. The series died with Underground 1, but now it's regenerated into something different :wink-new:

 

-> Just for people who haven't seen it yet, attached is the convo between said SimCity owner and an EA Customer Service guy. Take note of line 10.

Now i don't play SimCity (haven't played any Sims games in a long time) but i think this is pure disgusting. DRM was tolerable when it first started doing the rounds (WMA music anyone?), but now it is nothing more or less than a weapon to line the pockets of ANY stakeholder/shareholder/exec of shitey companies such as EA (piracy being an excuse, often to overcharge). The only way these fuckers will learn is if we do not buy any more of their half-arsed, half-complete products.

Digital Dictatorship.

 

banned account...

Clearly they get their heads buried so deeply in someone's asses. They release a few million copies from presale, and never thought that a few million sale = a few million trying to get on at once, and had a very badly undersized and underpowered server. Then they threaten to ban people who can't get what they paid for?

I smell class action lawsuit somewhere, somehow.

 

Heres a new quote today released by Maxis: "We need a few more days of data before we can assure you that the problem is completely solved and the game is running at 100 percent."

Shouldn't the game have been running 100% before launch? Are they serious? Thats like putting in a store bought disc game and the thing never loading. They should issue refunds for all early players, period.

 

It seems very fucking complicated to EA to make NFS HOW it WAS. I don't understand why they have to add stupid shit.

 

I'd prefer it if they went back to the first NFS game too, since that's my favorite in the series. Unfortunately, racing games with no added gimmicks don't seem to appeal to today's ADD kids.

 

I guess we have to face that, it will never happen

 

In addition to Enders game, last starfighter etc, there is also something similar when you are in the line queue for Terminator 3-D at Universal Studios. There is a cyberdyne advertisement for drafting kids into military service based on thier video game prowess, without thier consent.