Note: GV ate this article the first time I wrote it, so if I sound a little less-than-spirited and practically crying at some points, it's because I HAD TO DO ALL THIS OVER AGAIN.

*ahem* Welcome to Drama Llama, my new would-be series of game politics, controversies and kerfuffle, devised largely as a way to cut down on making new graphics all the time.

Today we'll be looking at new developments in the magical candy land of Digital Rights Management, PEGI not quite understanding what "journalism" is, and whether or not there are Republicans on Second Life, and if anyone cares.

EA Faces Lawsuit From Angry Spore Customers

Rather than abating, it seems that the furore surrounding Spore's draconian DRM system is continuing to mount, such that many furious customers have assembled to file a class-action lawsuit against Electronic Arts. Quoth the lawsuit:

Electronic Arts, a leading maker of computer games, defrauds consumers through its "Spore" game, which "completely wipes their hard drive" and replaces it with an undisclosed program that prevents the computer from operating under some circumstances and disrupts hardware operations, a class action claims in Federal Court. 

The class claims that "Spore," a virtual reality simulation game, contains "a second, undisclosed program" called SecuROM, a "form of Digital Rights Management (DRM) for computer games."

Consumers are not warned about the program, which is installed without notice and cannot be uninstalled, even if the uninstall Spore, the complaint states. The secret SecuROM program is "secretly installed to the command and control center of the computer (Ring 0, or the Kernel), and surreptitiously operated, overseeing function and operation on the computer, preventing the computer from operating under certain circumstances and/or disrupting hardware operations," the complaint states.

Link to the Game Politics article.

As usual, there's a Penny Arcade strip for everything.

 

PEGI not only wants acknowledgement from the British, but from Brian Crecente as well.

Brian Crecente --whose kerfuffle over fake rumour reporting was oddly not itself made into gaming news-- reports today that the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) system would be more than happy for an interview, provided Kotaku says they're in its corner.

From the letter sent to Kotaku's unnamed reporter:

Is there any way that we could have confirmation from Kotaku’s editor that he supports PEGI – that way it might ease the way to getting an interview set up. Also, can you find out to me how many unique hits Kotaku gets in the UK. The reason is ELSPA may come back and say Kotaku is just US based. The fact that Kotaku is a US blog might make things tough – just trying to help set this up...

Also if you could provide the transcript for the BBFC interview that’d be useful.

Note to PEGI: journalism does not work that way.

Link to the Kotaku report.

 

Another day, another video game linked arbitrarily to murder.

I suppose the one amusing twist to this account of a Scotland Yard probe into the fatal stabbing of a young gamer is that the game in question is not GTA.

The game [Advance Wars], rated E-10 for players 10 and older by the ESRB, was a passion of Matthew Pyke, who was found dead on Friday evening. Pike apparently operated an Advance Wars fansite under the screen name "Shade."

This doesn't stop the Daily Telegraph from spinning it into another TALE OF THE DARK TERRORS OF THE INTERNET.

Online games are frequently criticised for trivialising killing, but there is increasing concern that even non-violent games can harm young people by making them withdraw from the real world.

Just in case you needed the reminder that The Internet And All Young People Are Dangerous. I was starting to forget, myself.

Link to the Game Politics report.

Update! A German student has been arrested on suspicion of connection to the crime. Police allege the student had a disagreement with the victim on the victim's fansite and the suspect flew to England to stab him. Seems a lot to go through just over a forum discussion.

 

GTA DS to feature drug-dealing mini-game. Wow, this is going to go over really well.

"In a move that is sure to spark controversy," Game Politics notes, "the upcoming Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for Nintendo's handheld DS will feature a drug-dealing mini-game."

CVG reports:

Revealed in the latest Edge magazine, the drug-dealing feature lets you flog heroine, cocaine, weed, ecstasy, acid and downers. Selling the six type of drugs makes you a ton of in-game cash and help you gain experience of market conditions, says the mag.

Even a lot of adults could get a few lessons on the economy. More power to Nintendo. I can't wait to see Cammy smile her way through the PR avalanche this thing will entail.

Link to the Game Politics report.

 

Activision software pirate criticises scare tactics.

It's quite telling how "RIAA" is synonymous with "a giant bunch of thugs" to the average consumer. Why Activision would wish to follow down the same path is beyond pretty much everyone, including the guys stealing from them:

Audibly shaken, our contact [the pirate in questioned] explained how he was scared into a costly settlement by attorneys who determined how much to sue based not on the actual material infringed, but on his purchase history, the equity on his home, and the number of cars in his driveway.

If he were to get an attorney, he was informed, he would have to pay even more.

When asked why he chose the sub-par Call of Duty 3 in particular to infringe, our contact told us that the title was not involved, and was something Activision had scrounged up all on their own. “They told us they had strong evidence,” he said, “but they never showed it or proved they had it.”

Grievous trespasses in the world of justice are as heinous out of corporate entities as from the federal government. This isn't to say we shouldn't punish criminals, but is it going to take till Activision or RIAA sends guys out to break your kneecaps before someone says something?

Link to the Gamecyte article.

 

Finally, a few links that, while not filled to the brim with kerfuffle on their own terms, could surely encourage some with a bit of prodding.

Llama Food for Thought!

• Where are all the Second Life Republicans? Rik apparently missed the memo that no-one cares about Second Life anymore.
• Are we dooming our own industry? A bit of an oldy, but check out this 10-minutes-feels-like-6-minutes spiel drawing a parallel between the arc of the game industry and the rise and fall of the comics industry. Could it happen to us?
• Thus Spoke Henry Jenkins. My personal hero and hopefully future instructor, Jenkins here makes some assertions on the equalising force of piracy.
• Are you ready for BRAWL? I sure am! Check out the first episode and ask yourself: is it grit for grit's sake, or is this the discursive take on the Nintendo multiverse we've secretly been craving all this time?
• Is four minutes really long enough to tackle homophobia in the game world?

There. If I missed anything from my previous draft, I suppose it just wasn't dramatic enough. Tune in... sometime... for the next edition of Drama Llama!