You probably shouldn’t buy GTA IV.

Sigh. Will it never end?

If you’re a PC gamer, you’re probably well aware of the problems with DRM and copy protection in the past few years. It’s gotten quite out of hand recently with Mass Effect, Spore, and others, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

If you’ve had any doubts, let me try and quell them for you. DRM isn’t about stopping piracy. Considering it never has and never will, it’s stupid to think that such is the case. Implementing it has never done anything but inconvenience legitimate buyers; those who’ve downloaded the games have never had to deal with it and all the trouble it has caused.

DRM is mostly in place to prevent second-hand sales. Copy protection is only there to stop fair use and to keep investors from turning tail. Its only purpose is to allow someone in a meeting with the bigwigs to go, “We’re using SecuROM to ensure our game is as safe and secure as it could possibly be.” This is a lie and the game will be cracked within a week of its release, but so long as some fat, white haired guys are convinced and keep their money in the pot, who cares?

Surprised? Don’t be. The entire video game industry is up its own ass with self-righteousness. I mean, thinking they deserve a cut of the used games sales when such a thing doesn’t apply to used anything else sales? Come on! Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry and the piracy isn’t having nearly the effect that developers and publishers claim it is. Piracy does have some effect on PC game sales, but overall it’s barely a blip on the radar.

The reasoning behind the title of this post, then, is due to what Rockstar has recently said about the DRM and copy protection involved with their upcoming PC port of GTA IV. Completely ignoring all the problems and lost sales with Spore, they’ve gone ahead and not listened to their customers. But they’ve gone one step further in how they try to justify it! Let me pull out some of the more retarded quotes for you.

Having copy protection allows us to protect the integrity or our titles and future investments…

Aside from the fact that warez are a great place to pick up a Trojan or key logger, using a cracked copy of GTA IV PC will result in varying changes to the game experience. These can range from comical to game-progress-halting changes.

GTA IV PC also requires a number of software installations, including Games For Windows, Adobe Flash, Internet Explorer, SecuROM and our Rockstar Games Social Club application.

Never mind the fact that torrents from known sources are much easier to trust than SecuROM, a program designed to disable things you’ve paid for and won’t uninstall.

To put it simply, buying GTA IV means putting yourself through a lot of bullshit. It’s not worth it. If ever there were a game to boycott, this is the one. Enough of this DRM idiocy. It does nothing to protect anything; these developers are completely delusional. Greed is the motivational factor here, and you, a lowly pawn in this corporate game, can have an effect…

Don’t buy it!