All posts by Mike

2K Games Hates Freedom

Gaming, Internet

Are we ready for some sensationalist reporting? Let’s press onward!

Tuesday’s release of BioShock on the PC ruffled quite a few feathers, as one can tell by looking at just about any gaming news website. Most of the fuss is over the game’s DRM activation feature, which implements a 21st century version of SecuROM, the copy protection software that does all in its power to prevent software piracy. As it turns out, the software also is preventing some legitimate users from even playing the game, coughing up activation errors and denying players’ entry into Rapture.

Continue reading 2K Games Hates Freedom →

BioShock

Gaming

It’s coming on August 21, and my computer barely exceeds most of the minimum system requirements. Looks like it is about time for an upgrade. Still, it looks to be getting excellent reviews so far, which is likely only to continue. The game was put up for preorder and preloading on Steam today, but I will not be ready to play it by Tuesday 🙁

It’s Over

School

As of last night around 7:30 PM, I finished my associates degree in Computer Science. It won’t be official until grades are in and I have that piece of paper in my hand, but it’s nice to have that out of the way.

Next stop, University! 😀

Update: Crap, missed the opportunity to sell back my Discrete Math textbook 🙁

Second update: I got an A- in Discrete Structures! *raise the roof*

Steam Community Launched

Gaming, Internet

Since it was delayed from the intended date last week (possibly due to QuakeCon), it was a surprise to see that Valve has forged ahead with the beta launch of Steam Community, described by Valve as the largest addition to Steam since its official launch in 2003.

Steam Community introduces some major new features to the Friends network, such as personal pages for each user and groups for gamers to join to organize games. The advanced features promised, such as player matching, do not appear to be present yet. The service is comparable to Xbox Live, but does not require a subscription fee.