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That evil copy protection
From the "Luddite's View" department
Lately, people started noticing a new obtrusive copy protection scheme on many games. Starforce was never too widespread, but this is changing. In addition to "protecting" gamer (read: "encouraging legitimate users to find cracks"), the protection doesn't get uninstalled when you get rid of the game, reinstalls itself when you remove it, and collects user data. In other words, it behaves like a typical trojan. In addition, many people reported computer problems, and those who use USB devices, such as external hard drives), reported hardware failures. What makes this even more frustrating, some companies, such as one of the main culprits, Dreamcatcher, refuse to disclose which games are protected by Starforce. In other words, you buy the game, install it and pray it's not protected by Starforce.

I'm very much against software piracy, and I'm also against an all-out boycott of companies that use this protection. For this reason, I compiled a list of known games that use the Starforce protection. However, this list may not be complete, so it's in your best interest to research a game before purchasing it.

AceSaga
American Conquest (Russia) (CDV Software)
Anito: Defend A Land Enraged (Asia) (Anino Entertainment)
Anstoss 4
Beyond Divinity (Hip Games)
Black Mirror (Dreamcatcher)
Breed (CDV Software)
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (Dreamcatcher)
Chrome (Russia) (Strategy First)
Codename: Outbreak (Russia) (Virgin)
Cossacks: Back To War (Russia) (CDV Software)
Cossacks: European War (Russia) (CDV Software)
Curse: They Eye of Isis (Dreamcatcher)
Cycling Manager 3 (GMX Media)
Dead to Rights (Hip Interactive)
Demonic Speedway (Poland)
Desert Rats vs. Afrika Corps
DTM Race Driver 2 (Codemasters)
Emergency Fire Response (Dreamcatcher)
Enigma: Rising Tide (Tesseraction Games)
Etherlords (Russia) (Strategy First)
Etherlords II (Strategy First)
Fire Chief (Strategy First)
Fire Department (Monte Cristo)
Gangland (Whiptail Interactive)
Heroes of Might & Magic IV: The Gathering Storm (Russia) (3DO)
Horse Race Manager (Cyanide)
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter (Interplay)
IL-2 Sturmovik (UBI Soft)
Kill Switch (France) (Namco)
Korea: Forgotten Conflict (Cenega)
Magne Carta (Korea)
Mercedes-Benz World Racing (Spain) (TDK Interactive)
Might & Magic IX: Writ of Fate (Russia) (3DO)
Narsillion (Russia)
Post Mortem (Dreamcatcher)
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Russia) (UBI Soft)
Pro Rugby Manager (Digital Jesters)
Rally Championship Xtreme (Warthog Entertainment Software)
Rendezvous 3 (Russia)
Restaurant Empire (Enlight Software)
Revolution (Activision Value)
Runaway: A Road Adventure (Tri Synergy)
Seventh Seal: The Resurrection of the Dark Lord (Asia)
Shtyrlits 3: USSR Agent (Russia)
Siege of Avalon (Russia) (Digital Tome)
Silent Storm (Nival)
Silkolene Honda Motocross GP (Midas Interactive)
Sniper
Tennis Masters Series: Battleground of Champions (Microids)
The Heroes of Three Kingdoms (Asia)
The I Of The Dragon (Russia) (Primal Software)
TOCA Race Driver 2 (Codemasters)
Track Mania (Nadeo)
Traitor's Gate 2 (Dreamcatcher)
UFO: Aftermath (Spain) (Cenega)
V8 Supercars 2 (Codemasters)
World War II: Frontline Command (Strategy First)
X2: The Threat (Enlight Software)

This, however, is only a temporary solution. In the long run, the customers should pressure companies to dump this copy protection scheme. And here comes my ages-old mantra: it should be the reviewers' responsibility to point out such problems with games, if the publishers refuse to disclose it on the game boxes. Unfortunately, even some of the most respected review magazines are refusing to become gamers' advocates.

Now, because I'm talking about copy protection, I'd like to mention another one. Safedisc, version 3.15 and above, has a software conflict with about a dozen of other applications, some of them are quite wide-spread. If you have one of them installed, this bug would prevent you from playing the game. The following is a list of known games that use this copy protection:

Bad Boys II (Empire Interactive)
Crazy Taxi 3 (Sega)
Far Cry (UBI Soft)
Lock On: Modern Air Combat (UBI Soft)
Painkiller (Dreamcatcher)
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (UBI Soft)
Syberia II (Dreamcatcher)
True Crime: Streets of L.A. (Activision)
Universal Combat (Dreamcatcher)
June 13, 2004 at 2:52 pm GMT by Jozef