Serves them right

Destructoid.com reports that Spore is the most pirated game of 2008 - impressive, considering the game was released in September. Doubly impressive considering the "draconian" Digital Rights Management padlocks in which EA shackled the game.

For the inattentive, anyone who slapped down 50.00 USD to play Spore could install it thrice before the DVD becomes an expensive coaster - a munificent patch has since changed the limit to five. It's a cynical move, even for EA, and brought the industry to a new low - that is, until publishers started discussing subscription fees for single-player games.

In my wildest dreams, I imagine Spore's piracy as a coordinated consumer rebellion; more likely, a bunch of gamers heard that a potentially great product had been reduced to a bundle-pack of reheated minigames, the best of which is a half-baked Star Control ripoff.

Enjoy the freshest irony of the year. Laugh, and then cry.