Ubisoft's new DRM system in Assassins Creed 2 requires you to be online all the time. If you lose your internet connection then the game stops, your lose your current progress and it won't work until it can reconnect. All your save games are kept on their servers as well.

What genius came up with this system? All it is going to do is aggravate people. The limited activation system used in other games is bad enough but at least they don't require a constant internet connection.

It's not clear yet how single player Starcraft 2 will work, but it may be very similar. A Battle.net login screen will be the first thing you see for either mode. How it handles disconnects can't currently be tested in beta, as it's multiplayer only and the single player button is one of many UI elements grayed out.

Seems every major gaming company is trying to force online as a method of DRM, or a way to try and hinder used game sales. Recent EA games are intentionally leaving out pieces of the game on the retail disc, and require the user to go online to download the rest. They still call it DLC, but when it's free, locked to a code in the box, and available when the product ships, it's a bit fishy.

Whats really frustrating about all this is how it makes it impossible to play these games in certain environments, like an airplane (without forking over for internet access), or worse yet, soldiers out in the field seeking some RnR time.

And how long until someone reverse-engineers their protocol so you can run your own server at home?

As with most DRM, it's going to aggravate the people who have no intention of doing anything nefarious, and going to be a minor irritant to those that do.

I think that will be hacked in a couple of days. Maybe even before the game hits the shelves. What a total and complete waste of time implementing this.

Just like nearly all DRM, this only hurts the innocent. Pirates are going to pirate the game and Ubisoft is arrogant to think this will stop them.

It's the honest people who will end up getting screwed when they're just having a fun time playing their game, and all of a sudden a family member screws something up (flips the switched outlet the router is plugged into, for instance ), and suddenly you've lost an hour of progress.