AgeRage.net - Feeding Your Cheating Obsession

The release of the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV is only a few days away and some relevant news has surfaced. Apparently installation of GTA IV with also require installation of the latest version of anti-piracy product, SecuROM.

Maybe this is not a huge deal for many gamers in that unlike earlier SecuROM controversies that dogged Mass Effect, Spore and Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, it does not look as if there will be a limit on the number of times GTA IV can be installed. But the fact that yet another big title is swinging this way may be a sign that copy protection like this may become the norm, if it isn’t already. No player wants to be saddled with a security measure that could impact gameplay and possibly their machine, especially when those measures will probably be broken relatively quickly by the serious software pirates out there, and so only really hinder the average player. Publishers have backed off a little, for example EA’s stance on the number of allowable installs of a few of their games, but only time will tell where this all leads.

IGN got Rock Star Games’ unofficial take on this, through an unnamed spokesperson. Read the full piece here. Depending on how PC sales for GTA IV go, the bad boys of video game development may wish for the more genteel days of the Hot Coffee mod controversy.