I love gaming on the PC. So much so that it took me several years to buy a current generation console.

I like my XBox360 (Suck it, Sony) well enough, but honestly, some games are just better on PC.

EA has singlehandedly been trying to crush the life out of PC gaming since at least 1997. How do I know? Consider this statement from EA subsidiary Bioware's technical producer Derek French: (From Shacknews...)

BioWare technical producer Derek French has said that the PC versions of both Mass Effect and Spore will make use of copy protection that will require online validation every ten days to continue working.

"After the first activation, SecuROM requires that [Mass Effect PC] re-check with the server within ten days (in case the CD Key has become public/warez'd and gets banned)," said French in a post on the BioWare forums.

If customers do not come online after ten days, the game will cease to function. "After 10 days a re-check is required before the game can run," added French.

The check is run when users activate the game's executable file, with the first re-check coming within "5 days remaining in the 10 day window."

According to French, Maxis' Spore will also make use of the same scheme: "[Electronic Arts] is ready for us and getting ready for Spore, which will use the same system."

French also noted that the online requirement will be clearly labeled on the games' packaging.