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Niceday Labels For Word Doc Template Avery Free Downloads. Home Print Labels, Mac Label Maker 2.0.0 Mac Barcode Label Creator provides the printing of barcode labels by organizing the label attributes & feature to print in any of the labels such as Aone, APLI, Ace Label, Avery, C-line etc. Feb 9, 2011 - Check the Avery site for pre-made label templates designed for use with Apple's Pages. You can open a Word template in Pages, but you'll often need to adjust the. He writes about Macs and more at his blog.
Back in 2011, Samsung decided bigger the better and showed the world its Note series. The obvious headline with the Note 4 is that it has a 2K display.
Launch Google Chrome. Click the Chrome’s menu icon at the top right of the window to expand the menu. From the menu, choose Settings. In the Settings page, scroll down to the bottom, and click Show advanced settings 5. Among the advanced settings list, find the Passwords and forms section, and click Manage saved passwords. If you sign into Google Chrome with your Google account, it is likely you will need to delete the password from your account with these steps. Open your saved passwords page at passwords.google.com. Sign in using the same account you use with Chrome. Locate the website in the list, then select the “X” next to it to delete it from your account.
Welcome to, the community for Apple news, rumors, and discussions related to the MacBook family. If you have a tech question, please check out! Rules. No memes. No NSFW content. Self-Posts Must Foster Reasonable Discussion.
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Still Stuck with Quicken 2017. There are many problems still with 2017. It is the last of the you have your data. Starting 2018 Quicken is subscription. Intuit sold Quicken to a private equity firm H.I.G. In March of 2016. I am sure that 2017 is what was developed by Intuit which didn't spend much time on it. But I understand High Sierra will require 64-bit applications. I did try Quicken Essentials a few years back and it did not import all transactions correctly and did not do reports correctly. I hope Quicken for Mac 2017 is OK.
Hi Everyone, Finally its here, the long awaited final release of my PacMan emulator. Its fully configurable thanks to Sekio's suggestion. Source + Executable Attached. Open pacman.conf in notepad or your favorite text editored to play with settings. Contents of default pacman.conf: # # Napalms PacMan v1.0 - Configuration File # # # Layout: l-value = r-value # and anything after a hash is ignored.
Google's Play Store has nearly three million apps. With that many apps, surfing through the store can become overwhelming, and a few wrong choices in what to download can lead you to just staying away from it in general. But here at Pocket-lint we've been faithfully using the Google Play Store since it first launched (remember 'Android Market'?) a decade ago. So, we've put our expertise to the test and assembled this complete guide, to help you find the absolute best of what Play Store has to offer. We have arranged everything by category, so it should be easy to find exactly what you want. If you want to find great apps for the iPhone,.
Overview An old IBM PC. In terms of home video games, the PC is the oldest gaming platform still in use today, having an established library of tens of thousands of games.
While there were various different personal computer platforms in the past (from manufacturers like, and ), the modern PC is largely descended from the PC, which originally released in 1981 for $1561 (nearly $4000 in 2013 dollars). History The first electronic computers were created between the 1930s and the 1940s. The first binary computer was the Z1 Computer, created by the German inventor Konrad Zuse. Other electronic computers would be created throughout the time period, including the ENIAC and the Harvard Mark I. Many of the first computers were used during by both factions and would be later used for scientific research. Early computers were large enough to fill a room, making them unusable for practical, personal use.
Later it would be used by banks and large businesses for economic calculations. Companies like have supplied many businesses with computers years before the personal computer. 1970s It wasn't until the 1970s where computers usable for the average person were being made. Several revolutionary inventions paved the way to the modern personal computer, most importantly the microprocessor, a single-chip CPU. The concept originated from engineer, who in 1968 proposed the idea to manufacturer and manufacturer Intel, which both soon collaborated to produce the first microprocessor. By 1970, Intel engineer Federico Faggin and Busicom engineer had completed their design of the world's first microprocessor, the 4-bit Intel 4004.
Apr 24, 2005 - Looking for good CO-OP multiplayer games that span Mac and PC. Its cross platform, and not hardware hungry (60+ fps on imac g4).
The microprocessor helped in creating a more powerful central processing unit than the ones used in computers at the time and shrunk it so computers could be smaller. The microprocessor was the major invention that gave birth to the microcomputer, or the personal computer as it is known today.
The, created in 1970 by John V. Blakenbaker of the Kenbak Corporation, was an early attempt at a personal computer, despite the lack of a microprocessor.
Starting in 1971, it was sold for $750 and only 40 machines were ever built and sold. In 1973, Kenbak folded and stopped production. It was based on TTL (transistor-transistor-logic) discrete circuitry (much like the and ) rather than microprocessor technology (which has been used in nearly all video games since ). As such, it wasn't until later that the first 'true' personal computers began appearing. The first microprocessor-based personal computer, or microcomputer, was the, developed by Sord (now ) in 1972, utilizing the 8-bit Intel 8008, which was followed in 1974 by the Sord SMP80/x series, utilizing the, an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Federico Faggin and Masatoshi Shima. It was then followed in 1975 by the Altair 8800, which also used the Intel 8080 as its CPU.
Since the computer's main language was binary code and only had an output of flashing lights, the computer was unusable by the common person. A similar microcomputer was released by in 1976, the TK-80, which used the Intel 8080A. It wasn't until 1977 when two college students, and, created the first personal computers with a monitor, the. The monitor display allowed users to access files and run tasks on the computer using a terminal and allowed programmers to write code in low and high-level languages, such as. This sparked a new revolution in the computer industry, bringing the creation of and starting the personal computer market. Other desktop computers with CRT display monitors soon followed in the late 1970s, including the M200 by Sord (now ) and in 1977, Hitachi's in 1978, and 's System 1 in 1979. In 1977, (a conglomerate of, and ) released the, the first 16-bit microcomputer.
Its CPU was the Panafacom, the first microprocessor, introduced in 1975. 1980s After the release of the, many competitors formed in the early 1980s, including the Personal Computer, which would later dominate the market in the 1990s. The IBM PC was also one of the first 16-bit home computers, along with 's MULTI16 in 1981. Other leading manufacturers in the 1980s included and in Western markets, and, and in Eastern markets.
Due to the gaming crash of 1983, many computer manufacturers focused on the business aspects of these machines, leaving gaming as an afterthought. However, there were many computers that were well-known for their gaming libraries.
The leading 8-bit gaming computer platforms in the 1980s included the in North America, the and Atari 400/800 in the West, the and in the, the in and, the high-resolution in, and the high-colour and in Japan. The leading 16/32-bit gaming computers in the late 1980s to early 1990s were the in Japan, the and in the West, the MS-DOS Compatible computers worldwide, and the more powerful (near quality) and computers in Japan. The best-selling computer models of the 20th century were the (17 million units sold worldwide) and (over 18 million units sold in Japan). In the mid-1980s, the graphical user interface was implemented on new PCs. Visual interfaces that were controlled using a mouse allowed the common person who were not accustomed to using a terminal to navigate and use various visual applications on a computer. The GUI was first created by Xerox in the 1960s, but the company was not interested in entering the computer market. Apple was given the rights to use GUI for the, however, Microsoft was able to trick Apple into lending them prototype Macintosh computers to create programs for the new machines.
They used the coding of the operating system to create Windows, an extension to DOS. Thanks to the cheap $100 price point and its compatibility with all DOS computers, Windows became a success, becoming the new standard of computers by the mid-1990s. Powerful laptops have made PC gaming mobile. The 1980s also saw the emergence of portable computers. The world's first laptop computer was the in 1981.
The first commercially successful laptop was 's Kyotronic 85, originally released in 1983 and re-branded by as the Model 100, selling 6 million units worldwide. Other competitors soon followed. 's introduced the modern laptop, with a clamshell design and interface in 1983. It was followed by 's SX 64 in 1984. The first mass-market laptop was 's 16-bit T-1100 in 1985, which they followed with the T-3100 (the first with a built-in hard drive) in 1986. Other competitors soon followed, including 's LT and 's PC Convertible in 1986 and 's Portable in 1989.
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The first notebook computer was released in 1989, NEC's UltraLite, which they followed with the first colour TFT LCD laptop in 1990, the 32-bit NC. Apple soon followed with the PowerBook series from 1991 onwards, further popularizing laptop computers in the 1990s. In 1982, introduced the 3.5' floppy disk format, with its computer. 3.5' floppy disks would become the standard storage medium for personal computers up until the 1990s. In July 1986, announced the world's first home computer equipped with AI , intended for household and consumer markets, the. 1990s In the 1990s, the Internet became easily accessible to the public after being used by government and educational networks decades prior. Internet service providers such as America Online and Prodigy gave PC users cheap and easy access to the newly-formed network.
Web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator allowed users to access various websites for nearly every task and interest, such as business, research, and general shopping. Search engines such as Yahoo and Google allowed users to navigate the internet with ease using only a few keywords instead of searching through 'sitebooks' for a particular site. Although online games have existed since the 1970s, they've gained in popularity by the mid 90's as more and more people gained access to the internet.
Another important revolution for PC gaming was the introduction of accelerator cards in the late 1990s, which allowed the PC to take the lead in cutting-edge 3D graphics technology by the 21st century. The first 3D graphics card for a home computer was 's PC-FXGA, released for their platform in 1995, which could produce 3D graphics surpassing the console and rivaling the in terms of polygon rendering performance. The first 3D graphics cards for IBM-compatible PC's soon followed in early 1996: Creative Labs' 3D Blaster, 's NV1, and particularly 's PowerVR. While the 3D Blaster and NV1 (with the first game to support them being PlayStation port ) were unable to rival the PlayStation, the PowerVR surpassed the PlayStation and even approached quality graphics, with a near arcade quality PowerVR demo of 's (though this PC port was later cancelled). Similarly, the NV1 card received PC ports of titles and (which surpassed the versions, but couldn't rival the arcade originals). In late 1996, 3dfx launched the Voodoo line, which rivalled the PowerVR in quality and would soon become the most popular PC graphics cards of the late 1990s.
Soon introduced the FXG-1 'Pinolite' geometry processor, the first GPU with T&L (Transform & Lighting) hardware capabilities, in 1997, paving the way for NVIDIA's GeForce and ATI's Radeon, both of which would later dominate the PC graphics card market in the 21st century. 21st century Today, more than a billion people around the world use the PC platform, with the majority of them being connected to the internet. A majority of PC gamers today are located in, with alone accounting for nearly a third of the worldwide PC gaming market, the growth of which has largely been fueled by the rise of gaming. Operating Systems Before operating systems, one had to learn complex coding in order to get something to work. With the creation of operating systems, computers became more accessible to the public. Microsoft Windows Almost all PC games are designed for MS Windows.
Windows was originally an extension to 's own coding system MS-DOS back in 1985. With Windows, people could easily browse through their files and do other simple functions much more quickly. Windows has grown in popularity and became the most popular OS in the world, having the support of PC makers like, Gateway, and HP. Windows has gone through many iterations, starting with the MS-DOS days having Windows versions 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.11. Then came Windows NT 3.0-4.0 and Windows 2000 (oriented toward business) and the Windows 9x operating systems including Windows 95, 98, and ME (oriented toward home users). By the 2000's, Microsoft stopped building Windows versions based on DOS in favor of NET, starting with Windows XP.
The preferred platform for modern PC games (as of 2016) is a Windows PC running either Windows 7, 8(.1), or 10. As of 2014, Microsoft has ceased supporting Windows XP, however, various games and applications will still run on the OS using DirectX 9 or lower. Windows Vista and Windows 7 will allow users to run games that use DirectX 10 and 11, such as,.
DirectX 11.2 is exclusive to Windows 8, but not many games use this version. Windows 10 introduces DirectX 12, which is currently used in games like,. Windows 7 provides gamers with a games browser that notifies the user of patches and updates for some games as they become available. Windows 7 is generally faster than Vista and fixes many of the issues people had with that OS such as intrusive Security settings and sluggish performance, Windows 7 also comes with DirectX 11. Was among the first games to support this.
On October 25, 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 to the public. This new operating system introduces the 'Metro' interface, which makes menus more easily accessible to people who are using tablets and touch controls. Windows 8 also introduces its own app store which will allow developers to publish and distribute their Metro applications and games.
Is integrated with the OS which can be used as a user account for the computer and can earn on games downloaded from the app store. There have been complaints about the new OS because of its lackluster desktop interface and the removal of the standard Start menu in favor of the Metro interface, but Windows 8.1 addressed some of these issues with the return of the Start menu and the ability to use windowed Metro apps. On July 29, 2015, Microsoft released Windows 10 to the public. It's a free update for all Windows 7 and 8 users for the first year of release, making it the first Windows OS that is available for free. One of the major features of Windows 10 is it's cross compatibility with tablets and smartphones as well as desktop and laptop PCs, as well as being implemented for consoles in the future. It also features a new voice companion called, which is meant to compete with Apple's Siri. For gaming, Windows 10 introduces DirectX 12, which allows programmers to get better performance out of older graphics hardware with less oversight.
Although current graphics cards can support some of the features of DirectX 12, fully-featured DX12 cards are not expected to release until 2016. The first game to support DX12 will be Fable Legends, which is releasing as a free-to-play title by the end of 2015. It also introduces further connections with the Xbox brand, where Microsoft will be selling games with the Xbox brand on the App Store as well as allow you to stream games from the Xbox One on all Windows 10 devices. Mac OS Apple's Mac OS has a limited but growing game library. In 1976, and made the Apple 1, Apple's first computer. They later gained popularity with the.
In 1984, Apple released the, which was the first Apple computer to have an operating system. The Mac OS lineup was born. Later, Apple switched to Unix-like coding, creating the Mac OS X lineup, which is still used in the new Apple computer lineup today. The main issue with gaming on a Mac OS is that almost all earlier Mac PCs were not compatible with Windows based video games. More recently however with the creation of applications such as Boot Camp and Parallels more games are able to be run.
The development of Intel x86-based Macs also helps reduce this barrier by lifting some of the hardware restrictions. In May 2010, Valve released Steam for Mac OS X, and ported all of their Source games to the Mac platform by the end of 2010. Valve is hoping for the expansion of Mac gaming in the near future. During the WDCC in 2014, Apple has announced their own graphics API, Metal. It allows game developers to use more hardware resources from devices using Mac OS X or to gain better performance. This allows devices such as Macbooks and the to run games with comparable performance to Windows PCs and consoles. Because of Metal, it was announced that Frostbite 3 is coming to Mac OS X and iOS, with its flagship title being.
Linux is a Unix-like OS licenced under the GPL. Unlike Windows and Mac OS, which require specific hardware for the OS to work properly, Linux is a software-based OS, which can be installed on a variety of devices, including devices which are not PC-based.
Linux comes in various distributions, or 'distros,' such as Ubuntu or Gentoo. Being an open source OS, the Linux community actively develops open source software, including games, for the Linux platform.
However, there is no requirement that Linux software be open-source. You can get many Windows applications to work on Linux using specific Windows coding software for Linux (such as ) but it is generally not a preferable way of playing Windows games compared to running them in Windows on the same machine. Furthermore, WINE is not compatible with PowerPCs including PS3s with Linux installed. A popular option for overcoming Windows compatibility issues is to multi-boot the Linux distro with a version of Windows so that both operating systems are installed on the same PC at once and the user can switch between them. In recent years, it's become more popular to run Linux in a virtual machine inside their Windows or Mac OS. There has been increased development for Linux games in recent years, with many indie games, such as, releasing a Linux version.
The typically includes Linux versions of games in addition to Mac and PC. In 2012, Valve released Steam for Linux, porting all of their games to the OS along with various other games.
In 2015, Valve has released SteamOS, which is installed in nearly every 'Steam box'. It is a derivative of Ubuntu that has an interface similar to Big Picture Mode that can be navigated using a controller. It allows users to stream games from another PC so users can run games that are currently not compatible with Linux. However, support for Linux gaming has been growing over the years, with many games, including indie and AAA titles, having Linux versions being released at launch. The most popular Linux-based OS on the market right now is.
It is a growing, open source mobile operating system with a growing gaming library. However, it is important to note that most Linux-PC applications are incompatible with Android and vice-verse (without a significant amount of effort). Components of a PC There are many replaceable parts in a PC, which is a main aspect separating them from consoles. PCs may be upgraded and maintained as time passes to keep up with the latest games, and a user's configuration will affect which games they can play. The main parts of a computer are as follows:. CPU (Central Processing Unit) - The processing unit that executes operations in a computer.
It consists of an integrated circuit built of many transistors that runs on binary code. The CPU communicates with the rest of the computer through the Northbridge via a front side bus.
Most medium and high end processors are 64-bit and have several cores which is known as parallel processing. The CPU creates a lot of heat and as a result requires its own dedicated heatsink or waterblock even on a low end computer.
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) - The dedicated graphics rendering device, very important for games. The GPU generally has its own circuit board which is slotted into the motherboard, the processing unit its self is also made up of many transistors and is heavily based on parallel processing. The GPU also uses its own dedicated RAM for storing texture data to be processed. Current generation GPUs are capable of rendering shader model 4.1 processes as part of the DirectX 11 package.
Many graphics cards are also compatible with. Motherboard - The main circuit board in a PC that all the components connect to. Its through this board that all other components may communicate between each other and is run by a set of North and South bridge chipsets, though newer CPUs actually include an integrated nothrbridge. RAM ( Random Access Memory) - Volatile dynamic memory of a system. Data can be temporarily loaded here to be accessed much faster than from the hard drive or even a solid state drive so not to slow the calculations made by the CPU.
The current standard is DDR3. PSU (Power Supply Unit) - Supplies power to the PC. Needs to have high enough power (measured in Watts) to run all the components in the system under high load. HDD (Hard Disk Drive) - The main storage device of a PC. SSD (Solid State Drive) - A type of storage similar to a hard drive, but contain no moving parts. Because of this, data stored in solid state drives can be accessed and written quicker than hard drives. Sound Card - An expansion card that processes audio on a separate chip.
Most motherboards provide integrated sound chips making sound cards an optional upgrade. ODD (Optical Disc Drive) - The peripheral device that reads optical discs such as DVDs, BDs, and CDs. Case - Houses the components. Monitor - The visual display unit of a computer. Input Devices - Mouse, keyboard, microphone, etc. Because of the uptake of the Xbox 360 most games from 2005 onward will work with the Xbox 360 controller.
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This is also helped by the fact that the Xbox 360 has a USB connection that allows game developers to easily port the control system from current console games to the PC. In 2014, Microsoft released drivers that allowed Xbox One controllers to work for all 360 controller-compatible games. Cooling - Commonly either water or air based. With standard cooling devices the lowest possible temperature is the ambient temperature, that of the room the system resides in. To further lower the temperature elaborate devices such as Peltier coolers, liquid gases or phase cooling may be installed, though this is best left to the extreme enthusiast due to the risk of most of these options. Graphic Settings Unlike their console equivalents most PC games have the ability to vary the graphical settings. This feature is inherent to PCs as few systems bear the same hardware and so the user must tailor the game's settings for optimal performance and visual quality.
With modern hardware PCs can often surpass their console counterparts in terms of technical graphics. Recent titles offer the option to set the ideal configuration of a game automatically. Such settings include:. Resolution - The number of pixels along the x and y axes to which the game will render.
Anti-Aliasing - Raises the quality of the edges of polygon based models using smoothing algorithms. Anisotropic Filtering - Raises the quality of textures viewed from obtuse angles.
Texture Quality - General resolution of the paint scheme of each model. Model Quality - General number of polygons used for each model. Allows for dynamic tone mapping in games. Shader Model - Technology a game can use to render advanced visual effects.
Vsync - Reduces an artifact known as tearing by synchronizing the frame rate and refresh rate of the monitor. Game Lineup Early History Blizzard is one of the most prominent PC developers. Computers first featured simple titles similar to or simple text-input games such as but have since evolved to become the leading platform for cutting-edge game development in the 21st century due to their seemingly limitless potential. Old computers such as the and featured a built-in controller port, for C64 controllers as well as and other controllers. Many games supported both keyboard and joystick input. Since mice have become standard, they have become the preferable method of input for many games, with various manufacturers branding mice specifically for gaming.
Joysticks are still widely used via USB. Early games were simply saved onto floppy disks by a publisher or even the programmer themselves. These disks were sold in Ziploc bags and Vinyl slips; they generally had a bland manual and had nowhere near the shelf-presentation of a modern game.
Modern games are distributed mainly on optical discs in hard plastic cases or cardboard boxes. There has been a large surge in digital distribution as well. By the 1980s, developers such as, and became some of the biggest publishers of PC games, with titles such as, and becoming some of the biggest titles of that era.
Evolution in the 1990s In the early days of computer gaming, most games were developed by a single programmer, and were often simple or downgraded ports/clones of more powerful games. PC gaming has since evolved to encompass a wide variety of genres, some faring better than others. The most popular genres that have evolved on the platform are the ( Computer Role-Playing Game), ( Strategy), and ( Shooter). CRPG's were largely inspired by pen & paper role playing games such as. The genre spans early ASCII adventures such as, action RPG's such as and, and (Massively Multiplayer Online RPGs) such as. Freedom is a main element that has evolved with CRPG's.
The earlier games were more linear in their approach, sometimes even approaching level design from a distinct 'stages' standpoint. CRPGs evolved to have, and huge multiplayer,. Real-Time Strategy games, such as and, is a genre that was at the heart of PC gaming in the 1990s and continues to remain a dominant PC genre in countries like. The genre requires fast-paced clicking using a mouse, making implementation on consoles very difficult; ironically, the game often considered the first RTS, was a console game. The genre has certainly seen evolution, but the premise of collecting resources, spawning an army, and sending it into battle, has remained relatively constant throughout RTS history.
Today, the most popular RTS games are called (Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas), with games such as and being some of the most played games in the world. Steam comprises over 70% of the digital distribution market.
The third, and arguably most popular, PC genre is the FPS. After being popularized with 's, the genre exploded into popularity with. The use of mouse a mouse to look around was later popularized. It's a genre that has been ported to consoles, but still controls better on PC due to quick, precise aiming with mice. Landmark PC FPS games include,. The PC game industry has seen a steady push towards consoles for many years now, due to low sales numbers. These sales are often attributed to illegal downloading as well as the cost of upgrading one's system.
The PC industry is largely kept alive by the convenience of having many games at ones fingertips on a PC as well as the superiority of certain genres on the platform. However, PC gaming has seen a massive resurgence of popularity within the last few years thanks to the growing popularity of Steam, the massive success of indie titles such as and, and the rise of eSports with games such as League of Legends, DOTA 2,. Digital Distribution However, even with retail PC game sales slowing, digital distribution has been expanding within the last few years. Popular digital distribution services like 's, 's, and helped in boosting the sales of PC games and have helped in making many indie games popular. Other digital distributors, like, sell older PC games that either don't sell in retail anymore or are too old to be compatible with newer operating systems. These services allow you to play older games and usually sell them for less than $10 while also being free of DRM. The and other alternatives have been a great resource in downloading numerous indie and retail games for prices set by the end user.
The majority of the proceeds go to the game developers as well as numerous charities. These type of services help in having an easy way to play PC games and having developers keep in touch with their communities. Issues Upgrading NVidia's popular GeForce series of GPUs. A primary issue with PC gaming is the barrier to entry due to cost. Pricing of a PC depends on what type of performance a user wants when it comes to playing games, but for people who want to play games at maximum settings, it can cost at least $1000 to build and up to $3000 to buy from a manufacturer. In order to play some of the biggest, most graphically impressive games on PC at maximum settings with a stable framerate, it may require a user to upgrade their computer components every 2-3 years.
However, thanks to better optimization of games and the creation of lower level APIs such as AMD's Mantle, the barrier of entry for PC gaming has been decreasing and lower-end hardware can be used to run games with decent performance. The ability to selectively upgrade hardware also gives PC gamers a flexibility absent in console gaming.
Users can upgrade RAM, GPU or hard drives to make their computers more powerful as the games become more demanding. In turn, this flexibility and constant increase in performance allows developers to create games that can fully utilize the latest hardware, often leading to more complex or better looking games.
Piracy and Digital Rights Management One huge problem reported by publishers with PC gaming is the excessive piracy of games. Bootleg copies of games have been a problem since the introduction of the personal computer. Many computer experts were able to copy floppy disks and distribute them to either share with friends or profit off them.
Since the introduction of the internet, it has been easier to distribute pirated software than ever before (including games). Bittorrent sites make it easier for people to put up game files where everyone can download and play. Although piracy ranges across the world, the areas with the most piracy are developing nations. These are areas that either have poor game distribution or have gamers that are too poor to afford many games. Piracy has also gone up since the economic crash of 2008.
There are many measures that game publishers use in attempts to prevent piracy. Floppy disk games of the 1980's included items in their game boxes called 'feelies', or items necessary to have in order to play the game. Some games required the player to look in the instruction manual and type in a specific word to play the game while others had the player decrypt a code displayed on a screen using one of the items in the box.
As CD games became more popular and CD copiers were gaining traction, CD keys, unique codes to identify legitimately purchased games, were introduced. Sometimes CD keys are used to access certain parts of a game such as multiplayer and Live features in games. There have been many issues with CD keys. If you were to lose your CD key and needed to reinstall a game, you had to buy your game again.
This type of security did not last long because pirates were finding ways to create fake CD keys that they could use to play pirated games. Digital Distribution has made CD keys mostly obsolete. This led game publishers and various third parties to develop forms of (DRM).
DRM is digtal software protection that prevents the user from using copied game discs and downloaded disc images or installing games on multiple machines. Some early forms of DRM may interfere with some applications such as disc drive emulation software used for mounting disc images.
Activation failure screen for GTA IV. There have been controversial uses of DRM within the last few years. In 2008, announced that they are going to use a new version of DRM that limits the number of simultaneous activated installs for all of their new PC games (starting with and ). Since then there has been a huge controversy over DRM, even questioning the legality of it. In 2009, introduced a new DRM that will require you to be online at all times when playing a game. If you are disconnected from the internet for any reason, gameplay will stop.
The first games to utilize the new DRM were. As of 2011, Ubisoft decided to discontinue and retool their online DRM system with the release of, and was relaunched with the release of.
Today, Ubisoft has their own digital platform, that is needed to access many of their games. Common complaints about this type of DRM are losing game progress and not being able to play when an internet connection is unavailable.
Other companies are using similar DRM including EA with and with. Both and require a constant, active connection to the host servers, but Blizzard's implementation in allows offline play of the single player campaign and AI versus modes with achievement functionality disabled. Recently, a new DRM method called Denuvo has been used in various games such as, and (2016). It claims to be 'uncrackable', but there have been various cases where games have been successfully cracked. Many digital distributors feature their own DRM. Steam requires users to connect to their servers at least once and enable offline mode before playing games offline. In Steam's offline mode, achievements are deactivated.
Microsoft's Games For Windows Live has similar restrictions.
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