GTA 4 for the PC

What was supposed to be the most anticipated day in PC gaming in all of 2008 became a day in infamy, as GTA 4 was released for the PC on December 2, 2008...featuring SecuROM anti-piracy software.

Negative comments and 1-star ratings poured in by the dozens on retail sites across the internet, as many expressed their extreme buyer's remorse of the most beloved and anticipated release of the Grand Theft Auto series, and possibly the most anticipated PC game of 2008 (aside from Spore - which proved to be a complete failure).

What is SecuROM?
SecuROM is software that attempts to combat piracy. It requires internet activation to run the software (now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, etc.) A majority of gamers who have had experience running games that had SecuROM have described it as no less than a "virus" or "spyware," as it can cause serious, unrecoverable system errors. SecuROM checks .exe files to determine your software's legitimacy, and will block it from running if it feels something is not in line. It typically requires logins during installation, and before saving games.

GTA 4 sold over 17 million copies to date, bringing in $500 million in revenue. It was given a perfect 10 by IGN, Game Informer, Edge, GameSpot, Euro Gamer, 1UP, PlayStation Magazine and XBOX Magazine. Yet, the PC release was a disgrace of monumental proportions.

How could this be? Well, all that is to blame: SecuROM, Rockstar Social Club, and Microsoft Windows Live: all three are required to run the PC version of GTA 4. The installation alone was a huge complaint amongst most customers, for taking well over a half hour to complete. Even on the most demanding of systems, the game has repeatedly been said to crash, or run at extremely low framerates.

Rockstar Social Club, a mandatory online service, is forced upon all PC gamers in order to play GTA 4...whether you like it or not. It's a social networking system where you can share game progress. Many noted the blatant issue of "what happens 10 years from now when Rockstar Social Club isn't around, but you want to play GTA 4?" Windows Live software was also mandatory for the game's chat system.

Amongst the flood of bad ratings (just check them yourself, below!), many did complement the game's huge upgrade from GTA San Andreas, although few had systems strong enough to even get far enough to witness it.