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A Reddit AMA thread can do wonders for somebody's publicity, as companies and personalities engage directly with one of the largest online communities. However, Maxis didn't quite get what it wanted from the system, after revealing the newest SimCity's ludicrous DRM policy. The most upvoted question for Maxis concerned the game's DRM, with a user asking what would happen to his game should he lose his Internet connection. Senior producer Kip Katsarelis answered that "short" outages are handled "gracefully," meaning that if you can get online quick enough, you won't lost any progress. Unfortunately, nobody at Maxis yet knows how quick you have to be. What really annoyed users, however, was the idea that they have no power the save their games offline. Instead, cloud saves are being used as DRM in their own right, as only Maxis is allowed to maintain your progress. Of course publishers found a way to turn cloud saving into another form of product control. "We will allow you to play for as long as we can preserve your game state," Katsarelis added. "This will most likely be minutes." One Reddit user fired back with a beautifully sarcastic retort (spotted by TechDirt): "My computer happens to have a hard drive that's suitable for preserving game state. Should I consider buying your game, or is it crippled to online-only?" As you might expect, other Reddit users joined in, asking what "sorcery" would allow a gamer to obtain such a mystical computer. Electronic Arts has always been just behind Ubisoft when it comes to mucking up PC gaming for everybody, and it shows no signs of stopping until it's number one in the field. Expect, as usual, paying customers to jump through hoops for no other purpose than to give EA executives a power trip, while pirates get to bypass the bullshit. Because videogames. Did you know? You can now get daily or weekly email notifications when humans reply to your comments.
8:00 AM on 05.08.2013 Sony 'didn't consider' always-online PS4 restrictionsSony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida claims the topic of a PlayStation 4 locked down by always-on DRM restrictions never came up. While rumors of such things surround talk of the Next Xbox, Yoshida's sure to put so...
10:30 AM on 04.29.2013 Game Dev Tycoon turns piracy back on the piratesGame Dev Tycoon has implemented an interesting little method for combating piracy. Anybody who runs a cracked version of the game will, in turn, have their virtual product pirated so they can see what it feels like. Well play...
1:30 PM on 04.26.2013 Rumor: Next Xbox DRM is up to the individual publisherFollowing yesterday's talk of price points and a potential November launch for the next Xbox, Polygon has compiled the latest it's heard about the console. Sources say that yes, there will be an always-online requirement pres...
3:15 PM on 04.24.2013 Rhymedown Spectacular: Quoth The GamerYour ol' pals Jim and Yahtzee are back with some more poetic justice. This week, your ears can be teased with the tale of Always John and Fear's Farewell. They are poems, you see. About videogames. Enjoy!
1:30 PM on 04.17.2013 Jim & Yahtzee's Rhymedown Spectacular!A few months back, I was chatting with Susan Arendt over at The Escapist about doing some sort of videogame poetry. It was a very vulgar idea. Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation was also mulling over a poetry-themed produ...
11:45 AM on 04.15.2013 Ubisoft thinks audience is ready for always-on consolesDespite the massive outrage sparked by ex-Microsoft employee Adam Orth and his suggestions we'll have to "deal" with an always-online console, Ubisoft thinks the game buying public will be just fine with it. Responding to que...
3:00 PM on 04.08.2013 Jimquisition: Why An Always-On DRM Console Is DumbJust talking about an "always-on" Xbox is a really dumb idea. Hopefully not even Microsoft would be so stupid, but just in case any of the platform holders are seriously considering this awful, nasty little idea, let Jimquisition lay out the many good reasons as to why an always-on console would be utterly ludicrous. Seriously, it's ... it's terrible. Deal with it!
6:15 PM on 04.05.2013 Microsoft apologizes for 'Deal With It' statementsFollowing an earlier controversy of stunning proportions, Microsoft has issued an official statement concerning employee Adam Orth's public sentiment that always-on DRM haters need to just "Deal with it." The company apologiz...
8:00 AM on 04.05.2013 Microsoft man on always-online consoles: 'Deal with it'[Update: Microsoft has since apologized for Orth's statements. Deal with it.] Rumors that the Next Xbox will be restricted by the same always-online requirement that has crippled several major PC releases of late has not exac...
12:00 PM on 04.02.2013 Jimquisition: Bullshit In Sheep's ClothingJoin Jim as he celebrates the 100th episode of Jimquisition ... and complains about EA. Again. Companies (mostly EA) have started to learn they can get away with pulling their familiar stunts by giving them a new coat of pai...
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