Worst DRM ever?

Anno 2070 have the worst DRM.

все юбисофтовские игры которым нужен выход в инет - вот там гавно DRM

Red Alert 3 had one that if you use a cracked version all units explode after ~5 minutes of game.

Not worst, but "best" DRM :)

http://www.digital-digest.com/news-62969-Something-New-A-DRM-That-Actually-Punishes-Pirates-Not-Legitimate-Buyers.html

Yeah Ubisoft are quite terrible. For instance, Conflux did not activate properly in all countries after the launch of HoMM 6. But I remember that discovering you can not play SC2 boxed edition offline was very unpleasant too. You were supposed to use "guest passes", which came in a pack of 3 "each-good-for-one-month" with the purchase. After that I am pretty much ignoring Blizzard.

Games for Windows.

UbiPlay

How is SS3's DRM bad again?

Things like SS3 and Red Alert 3 are examples of GOOD DRM.

Ubisoft tends to take the crown on this generally.

Ol' crashy StarForce for my ol' crashy Spellforce retail

Operation Flashpoint

Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Assassins Creed 2 and so on.

And some RTS game that had one of the worst DRM software i've ever seen to date (cant remember the game's name), right before the UBISOFT DRM crap started...............AHHHHHHHHHHH STARDOCK!!!!!!!!!!

EA

Whichever DRM started all of this "firebomb the customers with stupidity to inconvenience the few pirates who can't work around it" is the worst. DRM is an insult. It's like if you sold someone a bucket of paint, but made sure they couldn't open it because you don't trust them not to throw it over your house.

All DRM.

Uses a heck of a lot of memory, starts updates without me knowing

Anybody who includes DRM with a game that's on Steam counts in my book. Given that Steam is basically a DRM platform with features that make it not suck.

So far I've got two games like that: Risen and Bioshock 2 (the latter's wholly unplayable for no reason).

StarForce

All of them, with the exception of SS3's hilarious one.

Earthbound's DRM. >> Even though it wasn't really a DRM.

Similarly to SS3 and RA3, let us not forget GTA IV's awesome DRM: "The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV has a copy protection that swings the camera as though the player was drunk. If the player entered a vehicle it will automatically throttle, making it difficult to steer. It also damages the vehicle, making it vulnerable to collisions and bullets."

+1 for Earthbounds "DRM" being pretty funny.
If you don't know what it is, it pretty much makes the game harder. Oh and, right before the final boss the game crashes and deletes your save file.

For the worst, I'd have to agree on Anno 2070.

origin

I never played it myself, but my father told me of an anti-pirating measure in The Settlers III where (if the game thought you didn't have a legit copy) iron smelters would produced little iron pigs instead of iron ingots, preventing the player from advancing to iron technology.

This strikes me as actually pretty good DRM, because it essentially turns pirated copies that didn't evade the detection into demos of the real game.

Alpha Protocol's DRM is apparently a constant smatterting of homoerotic kung fu noises.

Any DRM with activation limits.

Worst: Nearly any game published by EA/Ubisoft. Required internet connection/install limits are pointless. They only hurt people who buy the game.

Best: Serious Sam's invincible scorpion is awesome, that's one of the best. Take on Helicopters is another one. While playing, the graphics get blurry and warped. People went on to the forums to complain, and were immediately banned. Love it. These work as intended, punishing pirates and not every person who buys the game.