Posted 09/17/08 at 09:37:40 PM by Nathan Grayson

As we've become painfully aware over the past couple of weeks, game publishers will do just about anything if it means pointing an over-sized foam middle-finger in piracy's direction. But, with EA's recent decision to plunge a grimy claw into an old wound that was finally beginning to scar over, another lesson has been hammered into our collective conscious: DRM doesn't work. It alienates legitimate customers and pushes budding pirates right over the edge.

However, there are other, much more viable methods of thwarting thieves, most of which are only now heaving themselves upward and making awkward, Bambi-esque strides into the limelight. Thus far, however, only one such anti-piracy tool has proven itself stupidly lucrative: the subscription fee.

During this week's Activision Analyst Day event, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith mused about a possible Guitar Hero subscription service -- part of the publisher's plan to "monetize" the series. In addition, he noted that Call of Duty could fall under a similar, dollar-shaped banner.

Taken on its own, I see no problem with this pseudo-announcement. In both cases, a subscription service would have us lazing in a warm tub of new content with minimal hassle, and, as WoW has kindly pointed out, PC piracy of those games would slope off drastically.

But try ka-ching-ing a few more subscriptions onto your bank account's emaciated form and suddenly, this idea doesn't seem quite so dandy.

Continue reading to find out why subscription fees -- in their current form -- just can't muster the strength to heft the gaming industry above piracy's grasping mitts, as well as how they might be altered to succeed. 

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24

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gaming, Software, news, world of warcraft, guitar hero, activision, call of duty

Posted 07/14/08 at 08:08:02 PM by Pulkit Chandna

With gamers increasingly voicing their concerns about the Guitar Hero series becoming monotonous, all eyes are now on the second installment of the Rock Band series. Harmonix and MTV Games gave away the full Rock Band 2 track list at the ongoing E3. The game’s disc will come with 84 tracks and 20 songs will be released as downloadable content or dlc. Additionally, gamers will be able to import their on-disc and downloaded Rock Band 1 tracks to Rock Band 2. Tracks from the who’s who of the rockosphere populate the list. Make the jump for the entire list. Make the jump for the list.

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guitar hero, E3, e3 2008, harmonix, rock band 2, tracks, list, mtv games

Posted 11/25/07 at 10:05:21 PM by Erin Simon

The Romantics try an end-run around the Copyright Act by claiming a cover song sounds too much like them.

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guitar hero, copyright, law, preemption, right of publicity, romantics, what i like about you, cover songs, activision

Posted 03/29/07 at 08:19:13 PM by David Murphy

Associate Editor Dave Murphy rocks out with his cursor keys out. Dare you challenge his finger mastery?

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david, murphy, news, ddr, guitar hero, editor blogs