According to PG.biz, Apple is set to add a “premium games section” to the App Store which will offer games for the iPhone and the iPod Touch for about $19.99 USD.
The section will be open to a restricted number of large publishers such as Electronics Arts, and would set the iPhone apart in the smartphone market as a “serious gaming” handheld.
Most games in the App Store currently come from low budget publishers or casual coders, and many sell for 99 cents to $9.99 USD. Apple recently noted that the store had hit a half billion downloads and was home to 15,000 applications.
Apple has not confirmed the report, and neither has any large publisher, but PocketGamer believes Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) would be a likely launch date.
Result for: electronics arts
A class action lawsuit has been filed against Electronics Arts claiming that the publisher is violating California law by hiding the fact that the hit game Spore install SecuROM DRM which is impossible to remove.
EA has been under fire since the release of the game on September 7th with many gamers taking exception to the crippling SecuROM DRM which allows for the game to only be installed 5 times over its lifetime and only allows for a single user profile.
The more bitter complaint however is that after it is installed, SecuROM cannot be removed and will linger on your PC until a reformat. SecuROM could even be considered malware by some accounts as it will monitor your computer’s activities, preventing duplication.
The SecuROM backlash seems to be hitting EA in their wallets as well, with some reports saying 500,000 illegal downloads were made of the game in just the first week.
The new suit, filed by law firm Kamber Edelson on behalf of all Spore buyers, says the publisher violated the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law by not making clear that SecuROM cannot be uninstalled once installed.
“Although consumers are told the game uses access control and copy protection technology, consumers are not told that this technology is actually an entirely separate, stand-alone program which will download, install, and operate on their computer,” reads the complaint. “Once installed, it becomes a permanent part of the consumer’s software portfolio. Even if the consumer uninstalls Spore, and entirely deletes it from their computer, SecurROM remains a fixture on their computer unless and until the consumer completely wipes their hard drive through reformatting or replacement of the drive.”
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Result for: electronics arts
Electronics Arts has threatened users on its official forum boards with a ban if they continue to talk about the crippling SecuROM DRM that has been as much of a headline this month as the release of the hit game Spore.
Although it appears now that the company has backtracked on their threats, the fact that it occurred at all is alarming. The SecuROM DRM used on Spore limits a buyer to five installs over the lifetime of the game and only allows for a single user profile.
“SecuROM has been discussed and discussed so much and it causes arguments in threads,” commented a moderator on the forum. “If you want to talk about DRM SecuROM then please use another fansite forum. If there is any change you will be able to read it on the official Spore site.”
“Please do not continue to post theses thread or you account may be at risk of banning which in some cases would mean you would need to buy a new copy to play Spore.”
Later in the conversation however a producer for EA Maxis changed tones when he said that the discussion was fine as long as it was “civil.”
“We are happy to support healthy exchanges on the forums. And people will only get banned for breaking the rules,” read his post. “Discussing DRM is not breaking the rules - and as long as it is a civil conversation, it’s cool with us.”
