satan

First and foremost as a general rule before buying
a game you should look on the package to see if it
uses GameSpy and if that is the case then drop it like a hot potato,
because you are asking for trouble.

Look you do not have to take my word for it,
just look how GameSpy handles security issues when
it is notified about it, follow the links and
take some time to read them, and if you are
concerned about your computer security stay away
from the games that are using GameSpy.

http://aluigi.altervista.org/misc/75395-1.pdf
http://aluigi.altervista.org/papers/castleoflies.txt

With respect to your individual privacy, again,
you should ask GameSpy to see if their product is
in compliance with European Union Privacy legislation,
no prizes given for your guess.
Simple question for the managers from GameSpy:

Does your product comply with the existing European Union
privacy legislation and for that matter where I live, Australia?

Why not?

And who is to blame for it, Electronic Arts for distributing
a product which does not comply with the law of the land.
I am looking forward to the answer from the
Office of the Attorney General.

Now, with respect Electronic Arts, the only product that I own
is C&C Generals and C&C Generals Zero Hour and they suck big time.

Look, in solo play, I have to admit it, the game plays
quite well, reasonable AI, however the gameplay user
interface is a rip-off from World War 3 Black Gold,
where is the compliance with U.S. Copyrights in that.

If you consider playing the game online, forget it,
I have ADSL 512K, and there are times when the game speed
drops to less than 1 (one) frame per second, and Electronic Arts
tries to blame the ISPs of the individuals, ha, do it again
Electronic Arts because I can see class legal action.

What you should look for before deciding to buy an Electronic Arts product,
is user interface, the metric of this is quite simple,
if you have to go through more than two screens in order to play
any feature of the game, then, forget it, they are using splash screens
in order to hide the poor performance of the game.

Before you buy, try to get the trial version of the game,
if you are happy with it by all means go and throw your money
away, however, make sure that the trial version supports online gaming,
because if it doesn't, it is most likely that the online feature of
the game is crap as it is the case with C&C Generals and C&C Generals Zero
Hour.
Check to see if after you quit the game it leaves any garbage
in the memory, because if it does it is most likely that
it will affect the overall performance of your computer
until you restart your computer.

On the other hand if are a owner of the crap, you have all my sympathy.

alan bernardo

Then again, there are a lot of EA games that also have IP-to-IP. Myself, I
never go to GameSpy, mainly because the program stinks.

Sounds to me like you have some sort of Big Beef with EA. There are quite a
number of excellent EA games, and I at least am not going to let GameSpy
stop me from trying these games. Alanb

david sadtwat

I


Here, here. I always use All Seeing Eye - much better.

ben sisson

From the shadows, the mysterious "David Sadtwat" <david@unknown.co.m>
(if that IS his real name) conspiratorially whispered:

obNitpick: the term is "hear, hear", as in "hear what he has to say".

dan luke

Actually, short for "hear him, hear him."

hank

On Tue, 6 Jan 2004 14:44:52 +1100, "satan" <satan@hellwantsyou.org>
enlightened me with:

Because Australia is only one country? Granted, it's better than
Europe. But EA isn't going to modify every game because anyone in
Europe says so. They know ( as do we all ) that a lot of their
'legislation' is geared more toward penalizing competition from
foriegn companies than protecting anyone.

When you buy the game and buy into their license agreement, you're
accepting the product as is. If any company tried to work around the
legislations of 200 countries nothing would ever get produced.

H

Feel the burning stare of my hamster and change your ways!

satan

As it is the case with cars that must comply with safety legislation of that
particular country where the car is sold, the same it applies to other
products. These are the requirements of doing business at
interantional (global) level, what are you saying?

The license agreement has nothing to do with legal compliance, that is rubbish.

tim phelps

I agree, although I wish I can win in Madden 2001 or Fifa 2002. I also wish
I can play the newer EA games (such as Madden 2003, MVP 2003) but I can't
due to my old system. I know. THe only way to play them is to upgrade.

rudolph mccrack

Or just buy an X-Box or PS2.

david sadtwat

wish


Unless you're an adult.