Remember yesterday, when I wrote about Spore? Well, I gushed too soon.

It’s not that I don’t like the game. I’ve yet to play the full version, but most of the reviews I’ve read have been generally positive. Except the Amazon ratings, that is. “What’s with all the one-star reviews?” I asked myself. “Could every professional reviewer have been bribed?”

Nope. Turns out Spore contains some truly nasty DRM, so DRM opponents have descended on its Amazon page to drive its rating down. Even though I’ll end up playing the game anyway, I can’t say I disagree with the cause.

I’m sorry, but if the game monitors my system to see how many times I’ve installed it, and then limits me to 3 installs even though I paid $49.99 for the game, that’s going to put something of a damper on the experience. If i buy a new computer, I don’t want to have to buy a fresh copy of the game to go with it — or worse, call EA and petition them for extra install privileges. If, a few years down the line, EA decides it’s no longer cost-effective to support the game, I may not be able to install it at all. And when people complain about that, they’ll release an Deluxe Special Edition of Spore which they totally promise to support.

At least until a couple years later, when they release the Ultra-Deluxe Platinum Special Edition box set of Spore 1 and 2, plus all ten expansion packs (I’m just guessing on that last one).

I sincerely hope the brutal DRM measures were EA’s idea, and did not come from the game’s developer, Maxis, or its designer, the legendary Will Wright. Wright and the Maxis crew come off as friendly, innovative geeks, and I will be pissed the fuck off if I find out they were requesting stricter DRM on their masterpiece. EA, on the other hand, is a soulless corporation that makes its money by dumping a new version of Madden on the public every year. Coming from them, draconian security measures are the opposite of surprising. But they’re just the distributor in this relationship, and with any luck, this backlash will convince Maxis to look elsewhere for distributors in the future.

Oh, and the punchline? People found a way around the DRM before the game was even released, and liberated copies of Spore have been bouncing around the major torrent sites for several days now. I can’t link to them, but you’re smart enough to find them without much trouble, so go nuts. Remember to seed to 100%, at least!