Video Games Suck - Spore: What Happened?

Spore wasn't a horrible game, but it could have been much better. The game's first major flaw is that EA published it. Right there, the game is telling you "Don't buy!" The only reason I got it was because my friend brought it down when he was visiting.

I started off with general optimism towards the game; the first stage was great fun, and the customisation aspect was brilliant. When I advanced to the second stage, the difficulty seemed to have been ramped up, as I kept getting preyed upon by Epic creatures and packs that were hostile for no reason, even though I was being friendly. After that ordeal, I noticed that I got an achievement for completing the second stage in under an hour. An hour? So this stage was supposed to take much longer and I got lucky? I decided to delve deeper into the achievement aspect, but I couldn't as I needed an EA account for it. I registered for an EA account, but I got no confirmation email. I double checked my info and tried again; nothing. I brushed it off and continued playing. The third stage had its difficulty ramped up even further: my tribe had allied with another one, but for some reason nobody else liked that. My poor tribe was ripped to shreds. After about fifteen restarts, I got to the fourth stage, and things were insanely easy there. I beat that in about five minutes; nothing more to say. Then came the fifth stage. I was getting bored of the game at around this time, so I quit. After about a month of not playing, I uninstalled the game. Then, about two years later, I remember that I left the entire fifth age undone. That's when I got my friend to bring down the game again. I attempted to install the game again, but the DRM wouldn't let me. I flipped out. I did a quick search on the Internet to see if it was shitting me, but no; everyone else had the same problem. I then torrented the game out of necessity. When I got the game working, I realised that I didn't miss much. The fifth stage was dull and uninteresting. I uninstalled it again. A few months later, I was browsing around my computer looking for a certain file when I came across a folder called "SecuROM". I thought to myself "Is that a virus? I don't remember installing anything like that..." A quick search revealed it to be EA's virus-rootkit-thing that prevents an EA game (e.g. Spore) from being installed more than thrice. The official EA reason was "to cut down on piracy", but I saw no logic there. How does restricting access to a game you (read as: my friend) LEGALLY BOUGHT cut down on piracy? I then found out that Spore was the most pirated video game of all time. Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh...and die a little inside. When I recount these memories of Spore, I see that EA took Will Wright's genius idea - create a creature that evolves as it progresses - and turned it into a money-grabbing, vile, beast of a program. I see innocent gamers with new computers trying to install a game, only to be confronted with a slap in the face. I see a game ruined. I see childhoods ruined. The game itself is decent,but the rules and restrictions that come with it turn it into an abomination. 3/10.