Yeah I read about that yesterday, it's the most awesomest DRM ever!

Disregarding the issue of is DRM bad or good, Capcom must assume the only reason people would buy the game is to play online, because that seems awfully draconian if you weren't hooked to the net.

That said, being a Street Fighter game (assuming there's no LAN play), I'm guessing they're probably mostly right. Not that I'm excusing the DRM (I think DRM is dumb, though they obviously need to do something to keep cheaters off their ladders). I'm just wondering how many players it's actually going to have a real effect on, since I can't imagine that many people would buy a Street Fighter game to play by themselves against the computer. I'm sure such quirky individuals exist, but they can't be the market Capcom is aiming the game at.

You're looking at one. :) There are people who buy MMOs and play singleplayer, so I'm not so surprised. I actually play against CPU more, yes I do play online too, but I have no problems playing against the computer. I play whenever I feel like playing a fighting game and for now it's almost everyday. Half the fun of SF is also learning and practising the combos which is what I'm doing now.

Yeah, I'm still getting PC SSFIV: AE. Didn't wait for 2 years painfully, checking forums for rumours, getting hopes up for nothing etc I'm pretty sure there'll be an unlocker to unlock the remaining characters in offline mode. Something like the unlocker for SFIV now to unlock characters like Akuma and Gouken without going the blasted sequence everytime you format your computer.

I usually only own fighting games for when buddies come over. No online is necessary.

Me too, but on consoles. Can you even do this on the PC? Does the PC accept and seperate input from two gamepads at the same time?

Y not? I got a keyboard, Logitech gamepad, Madcatz fighting stick for the PC version. Would be pretty stupid of Capcom if there was only 1 player support. Nearly 20 years ago, I was playing Mortal Kombat with a friend on the PC as well using the keyboard in DOS.

Yes. It's even possible to have more than one keyboard/mouse which act independently (see multi-seat setups: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiseat_configuration).

Yea, I thought about it after I posted. Obviously it must be possible since my gamepad and mouse can work side by side.

I guess I just never thought about it before since I never play with friends "in the flesh" on my PC these days. Think the last I did that was like in the 90s.

In that case, if SF IV can be played like that, the DRM is really, incredibly, stupid.

I was really looking forward to this and usually I don't object to some reasonable form of DRM, but this is a no-go for me.

Now my only hope is Mortal Kombat.

A demo mode? Does that mean it's free? Wheee

A sad thing, this. I'm one of those guys who just plays SFIV offline, or rather played. Spent 50e on the PC version back when it was released, and I rarely do that. Stuff like this DRM is really disappointing, and IMO a real deterrent to people who don't absolutely need the game and want to be treated fairly.

It seems the way they feel about their possible customers is "Guilty until inferred guiltier from some phony statistics".

On the list of games to pirate, pronto!

Screw capcom they do this ill never buy a game of theirs again period they are stupid to think this is going to help but screw over their paying customers who might have crap internet or prefer to play solo.

GFWL has a nasty tendency to disconnect every once in a while, at least for me. Playing in that 'demo mode' must be fun, but think i'm pass.