Grand Theft Auto IV PC debut gets SecuROM sideshow

@JUST BUY IT ON STEAM

You mean like Spore, which even on Steam included SecuROM as part of the download?

You may download on Steam and find you have SecuROM anyway!

Damn shame.

I purchased copies of GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas. I still have the boxes, install media and all. I was really looking forward to GTA4. I really was. :(

As a (potential) customer I now have the choice between a "pirated" version which MIGHT put rubbish on my system and a "legit" version which WILL put rubbish on my system. Thanks for nothing Rockstar.

Avoiding SecuROM? Don't get Steamed up ...

"All versions of the game will use SecuROM for Product Activation. Downloadable versions of the game will have additional code if the vendor requires it, such as Valve's Steam program. "

Did you get that?

ALL versions will use SecuROM.

Steam versions will have ADDITIONAL code [possibly].

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/56133

@rockstar

maybe those rockstar douchebags should release a demo version so that people can see if the game runs smooth. there are lots of complains, that the game doesnt even run good on modern hardware. so yeah, stop wasting money on useless protection and release a demo.

DRM'd demo title.

>>>maybe those rockstar douchebags should release a demo version so that people can see if the game runs smooth. there are lots of complains, that the game doesnt even run good on modern hardware. so yeah, stop wasting money on useless protection and release a demo.<<<

Except, the downloadable demo of Bioshock also had the SecureROM Software attached to it.

Grrrrrr

If SECUR ROM installs and runs no matter if the game is playing or not then I will make sure I will remove it and FORMAT MY HARD DRIVE.

Purchased DVD version

It took a while to install and set up the online account + updates but apart from that the "DRM" isnt making my pc turn into a death machine, as everyone seems to think it will.

My complaints is that its a poor console port. It hasnt been PC optimised very much, apart from the capacity to increase certain aspects of the games engine to show more detail at a distance which was limited by Rockstar for the console, but doing so make the game run extremely poorly.

Rockstar have made efforts to make it hard to crack, which is fair enough no worries there. What they should be ashamed of it not making this a true Pc version(where GTA began). Most the "PC exclusives" written on the back of the box are marketing crap.

To play this game as smoothly as the consle counterpart you need to set it to medium settings or it runs very poorly. Anti alaising is disabled like it is on consoles and turning the graphics up forces a lockdown on the overall settings you can choose. An example is if you select high textures you are then limited to the amount of view distance you can select. Limited, not reminded that it may slow your pc down.

I use Vista 64, an Intel Q6660 Cpu, 6g of ram and an GF8800GTX-768Mb, which runs many games nicely,ecept Crysis and now GTA 4.

Forums are filed with bug complaints and fps issues, so if you have a console to play it on buy that version rather than buying it on PC in hope its a better version.At the moment the Pc version offers no major benefits over the console edition.

Did IGN and Gamespot mention all these issues?

Well i dont have any console and despite the crap fps performance and the odd resource restrictions, i still love the game.

Any one for Co-Op mode? :)

@ No DRM on the Steam version

From Steam:

Title: Grand Theft Auto IV

Genre: Action, Adventure

Developer: Rockstar North Rockstar Toronto

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Release Date: Dec 2, 2008

Languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish

3rd-party DRM: SecuROM™

Unlimited machine activations

It does appear that the steam version carries SecuROM too

Online authenitication...

Online authenticiation with this stupid Securom 7 is preventing people who don't have internet access from playing games.

My sister recently bought Spore and got it home. She was so annoyed when she installed it as she lives in a flat and doesn't want to pay an ISP £25 a month 'cos she'd rather go the library to use the internet than subscribe.

The only problem is you can't just take your PC down to the library and plug it in to their network just to activate Spore, so for her to play the game EA were trying to force her to sign a 12-month contract to a broadband service which she'd very rarely use, except to just activate one stupid game!

I told her to see if there was a way to activate offline (like Microsoft do with Vista and XP - and these are worth between £80-£200, unlike this stupid little game that's only worth £40). And the idiots at EA have made no way to allow you to activate the game offline.

So they have just alienated loads of people who do not have and do not want or can't afford the internet and ripped them off by £40. She did notice on the bottom of the Spore box in very small writing it does state "Internet connection required for activation". Well EA and Rockstar if you're going to do that with future games you might want to make that sign a little LARGER like maybe on the front of the box in big letters (like you get when you buy an expansion pack for something where it says on the top "Requires original game to run"), not hide it on the back of the box, in 5pt writing so no-one can see it.

She did end up activating the game by bringing the PC to my house, but what if she hadn't known somebody with an internet connection, or didn't have someone who would be willing for her to come down and lend it to activate the game (or even had the technologic knowledge to do this. She'd have wasted £40 on a game she couldn't play. Securirom should think more carefully about people who don't have the internet and allow them to phone a number up to activate it.

Bollocks to it

Bollocks to DRM cripled PC games.

I'm going to buy an xbox 360 or wii, get the fucker chipped and just play pirated games on it (just as availiable as pirate PC games anyway)

So screw em...Software houses will have none of my money, I'm sick to death of being treated like a criminal when buying PC games so I might as well start acting like one.

@ Just buy it on steam

Obviously you haven't noticed but Steam games are usually about £15 more expensive than in the shops, Left4Dead is a fine example. I thought the idea of steam was to cut out the middle men.

The truth is the whole gaming industry is rapidly gearing towards saps, sorry, I mean customers who will think they are getting a good deal when they are allowed free download insurance and if they upgrade to the platinum service they are allowed unlimited installs on their own PC (subject to fair use policy).