SPORE is out, finally

[Chacal]

I've been looking forward to this game for 2 years.
And now it is out, but it installs the SecuROM DRM rootkit on your PC, and you don't want that, no matter how good the game is.

SecuROM is evil. It installs as a rootkit, which will trigger rootkit scanners. Problem is, there's no way to tell if it is legitimate. So your scanner detects a rootkit which could be secuROM, or could be a malicious rootkit that was named secuROM to look legitimate. It will add hidden files and registry entries (and I don't mean files with the "hidden" flag), and broken registry entries.

You will be able to install the game exactly three times, after which you'll have to call EA to get it unlocked. Too bad if you reformat your disk every few months.

This is angering the user base, and the Amazon site, among others, is being hammered with 1-star reviews. The score is now down to less than 1. That's too bad for the game itself, which certainly rates more, but as I said it doesn't really matter.

The Amazon Custermer reviews....
http://www.amazon.com/review/product/B0 ... ewpoints=1

It fares better on gaming sites, several of which will delete any review or forum post containing the word "DRM" or "SecuROM".
Gamestop comes to mind.

[BAD]

This is what happens when paranoid idiots are put in charge of things.

Congratulations to them, they just lost another customer.

[Nynaveve]

Damn, that sucks. As a fan of Creatures (from way back when), I was looking forward to this game. I noticed it came out on the Nintendo DS, so I wonder if there is hope for it on the Wii. I'd get it then. But no more crap on my PC.

Maybe its worth installing on my laptop, which doesn't get used for anything other than collecting dust. Hmmm...

[Chacal]

Four options:

1- Install the game and play it just before a scheduled reformat. I guess after a month or two the game starts getting old anyway.
2- Use DeepFreeze before you install the game and don't reboot until you're finished with the game.
3- Install a temporary Windows partition on your PC and delete it when you're finished with the game.
4- Install a virtual Windows machine using VMWare on your PC and delete it when you're finished with the game.

[semplerfi]

Thanks for the heads-up on this one. You are saving a lot of people some grief, self included.

[Tsar Hoikas]

Thanks for the warning.

Reminds me of how I was set to buy Prince of Persia: T2T, then I realized that it uses StarForce... Ugh.

[Paradox]

4- Install a virtual Windows machine using VMWare on your PC and delete it when you're finished with the game.

Unfortunately, this likely won't work. There are some issues with running 3D games in a virtual installation due to hardware restrictions. (Hence why I can't run Uru in my virtual XP install)

[Grogyan]

I'm waiting for this game too

Then I wonder how long before there will be a patch to disable that nasty feature (or crack)

[Chacal]

The cracked version was out before the legal one.

Ironic: Microsoft's Root Kit Revealer shows I have SecuROM. I have no idea which game installed it on my system.

[andylegate]

Hrmmmm.....

I had been considering getting this, but after reading what Chacal posted, nope, no way, uh-uh, don't think so.....