Max Payne 3 An RYG Analysis

Platform: PC (Windows 7 only) Developer: DRM: Rockstar Social Club and Gameshield Publisher: Rockstar Games Digital Distributor: PHYSICAL COPY ONLY!

RYG’s % BARGAIN BIN MATERIAL VERDICT 42 64% and Below

Product Looking at how much information is provided on 3 on its website prior and on release. 1. Info 99 Minimum and recommended specs provided See Also: Further details on 99 Advised Rockstar Social Club & Gameshield DRM to be used for Max Payne 3 Gameshield DRM used in Max 99 Manual and Readme provided Payne 3 can be found on RYG. 99 EULA, Privacy Policy and TOS fully accessible on rockstargames.com See Also: Max Payne 3’s EULA 99 All game-related information can be found on rockstargames.com and Privacy Policy. 88 Max Payne 3 for PC released 2 weeks after the sale of its console version 88 Max Payne 3 released with different global dates 88 Available only on Windows Note: There’s little information 88 Base game sold as multiple “editions” with varying selections of day-one DLCs on how many activation limits a user would have in relation to 88 No demo Gameshield DRM. 88 No advice on how Rockstar Social Club & Gameshield DRM would affect users

Privacy Looking at Max Payne 3’s Privacy Policy found only through Rockstar Game’s official website. 2. Policy Note: 5,386 words found within 99 Policy specifies how user’s info is collected before and during gameplay Rockstar Game’s Privacy Policy. 99 Info is used solely to access Rockstar’s services, confirm purchases, tech support See Also: “Who is collecting my and internal research (demographics, marketing and gaming stats) information and how is it used?” 99 Users can access their Rockstar Social Club account within Rockstar Game’s Privacy Policy. 99 Users can modify their Rockstar Social Club account 99 Users can validate the info they’ve provided 99 Can review and query changes made to the Privacy Policy

See Also: Rockstar Game’s Priva- 88 Privacy Policy only found on rockstargames.com cy Policy, retrieved 8 December 88 Policy only applies to Rockstar Social Club 2012 88 Difficult to read, understand and is inconsistently worded 88 Users not visibly notified of any changes made to the Policy 88 “Personally-identifiable” and “non-personally identifiable” info are intertwined

RYG Analysis: Max Payne 3 1 Note: Some third parties are 88 “Personally-identifiable” and “non-personally identifiable” info are intertwined identified. They include Arvato 88 Not advised where the info is specifically stored Digital Services, Mediaplex, Yahoo, DoubleClick, Nielsen, 88 Assurances of safety and security of information not provided Omniture and ATLAS 88 Third parties not fully identified 88 Opt-in / opt-out process not provided Note: Users can choose to opt- 88 Users have limited control over the info they send to Rockstar during gameplay out of their Rockstar Social Club account and/or services via. 88 User data is retained by Rockstar Games for an extended period of time Email. 88 Users must accept ALL changes made to the Policy before playing Max Payne 3

EULA Looking at Max Payne 3’s End User License Agreement. 3. TOS

Note: 2,995 Words found within 99 EULA / TOS is found on rockstargames.com Max Payne 3’s EULA. 99 EULA / TOS covers Max Payne 3, Rockstar Social Club & Gameshield DRM 99 Can review and query changes made to the EULA / TOS See Also: Section 2, “Information, 99 Can replace damaged copies with a free, replacement copy Collection and Usage”, within Max Payne 3’s EULA, which also 99 Terms and conditions for Rockstar Social Club & Gameshield DRM are defined ties to Rockstar’s Privacy Policy. 99 Users can initiate legal action if the arbitration process fails 99 Users can criticise or provide criticism about the game without reprisals

88 Difficult to read, understand and is inconsistently worded 88 Drafted to only abide by the laws of USA in the state of New York 88 Users not visibly notified of any changes made to the EULA / TOS 88 License to play the game only provided 88 No refunds or exchanges for purchased games 88 Circumvention of Rockstar Social Club & Gameshield DRM prohibited 88 Back-ups aren’t permitted Note: Users are “requested” to 88 Max Payne 3’s source code isn’t to be modified or reverse-engineered disable or shutdown their AV or 88 Not permitted to create “mods” Firewall settings/software prior 88 Monitoring services / software are required to play Max Payne 3 to installation. 88 AV and Firewall software require shutdown before gameplay Note: Limited warranties, waivers 88 Warranties waived (excluding physical merchantability warranties) of liability and indemnity are 88 Cover waived against any unforeseeable damages, disruptions of service commonly found within many 88 Termination process dictated by Rockstar Games software EULAs and TOSs

Setup / Looking at how Max Payne 3 is installed on Windows PCs only. 4. Install

Note: Users are “requested” by 99 Custom installation options are provided Rockstar Games to disable or 99 Currently-executing background services won’t interfere with installation shutdown their AV or Firewall settings/software prior to instal- 99 Error-free installation lation. 88 No installation logs of files and registry keys Note: 35Gb is required to play 88 Extra files found in /Program Data/ in relation to Rockstar Social Club Max Payne 3. 88 Extra DRM files found in /Program Data/ in relation to Rockstar Social Club Note: Completed installation 88 Installation completed just under 70 minutes (excluding ~1 hour of updates) time (dependent on the con- nection speed at the time of evaluation) was 2+ hours.

RYG Analysis: Max Payne 3 2 Updates / Looking at how Max Payne 3 is patched prior and after gameplay. 5. Patching 99 No other DRM files or registry keys are installed

Note: Day-one patch is required 88 Automatic updates are mandatory to activate Max Payne 3. 88 Day-one patch required 88 Requires ALL patches to play Max Payne 3 See Also: Complete patch notes 88 Patches only installed successfully via. automatic updates supplied by PCGamingWiki. 88 Details of patches not provided prior to installation 88 Notifications not provided for availability of game patches Note: Manual patches are found 88 Changes to the Privacy Policy and/or EULA not provided until updates begin through Rockstar Support, however, updating Max Payne 88 No installation logs of files and registry keys 3 automatically is preferred by 88 Rollback option not provided Rockstar Games. 88 No plans to sunset Rockstar Social Club and Gameshield DRM

DRM & Looking at Rockstar Social Club and Gameshield DRM in relation to Max Payne 3 and its effects on Windows PCs only. 6. Activation 99 Username, password and email are only required Note: Unlimited online activa- 99 Unlimited online activations to any one PC tions is in respect to Rockstar 99 Can play single-player game offline after initially activating Max Payne 3 Social Club only!

88 No instructions provided on the activation process Note: Max Payne 3 will connect 88 Will interfere with current AV and/or Firewall settings/software to the following servers: IGN Entertainment, Google, Rockstar 88 Can’t verify the safety and reliability of the activation process Social Club, Twitter, Entrust 88 Activation pathway isn’t properly explained (SSL), Verisign, Limelight Net- 88 A non-transferrable user account is required works 88 Game is locked to specific Rockstar Social Club account after activation 88 Rockstar Social Club and Gameshield DRM are implemented See Also: Unknown quantity of 88 Limited to “unknown number of” hardware activations instalation and/or hardware ac- 88 Limited to “unknown number of” installations on one PC tivations in relation to Gamesh- ield DRM was noted by Dean 88 No support or troubleshooting process Rosolen. 88 Activating the game isn’t simple and hassle-free

Gameplay Looking at the gameplay aspects of Max Payne 3 and how it interacts with PC Windows. 7. Experience 99 Can play on minimum specs 99 Disc not required for gameplay See Also: GeForce has provided 99 Suitable options to modify video settings a lengthy tutorial on how to 99 Can customise controls graphically optimise Max Payne 99 Can play with console controller 3 on PCs with NVIDIA GPUs. 99 Can play in windowed mode 99 Can play offline 99 Can play without connectivity issues on an ADSL connection Note: The equivalent of Max 9 Payne 3’s “ini” file is command- 9 Can play error-free for more than 5hrs line.txt. More info at GeForce. 99 Will resume at the last checkpoint 99 Can modify savegame and/or ini file

RYG Analysis: Max Payne 3 3 88 Requires original copy to play the game 88 Requires constant and tethered internet connection to access DLC 88 Will “phone home” Note: AV and/or Firewall settings 88 AV and Firewall software needs to be shutdown before play must be disabled before playing Max Payne 3 through Rockstar 88 Can only play on one PC at a time per game / account Social Club. 88 DRM and monitoring services will operate during and after gameplay

PC Looking at whether Max Payne 3 will modify certain PC settings without users permission / consent. 8. Checkup 99 PC clean after scanning for viruses 99 PC clean after scanning for malware and spyware 99 PC clean after scanning for rootkits 99 HOSTS wasn’t modified 99 Played Max Payne 3 without major errors 99 Start-up settings remain unaltered 99 No DRM / monitoring services running in the background after shutting down 99 System configuration files remain unaltered

Removal Looking at how clean, efficient and effective the removal process is for Max Payne 3 (How much legacy mate- rial is there after the removal of Max Payne 3?) 9. Uninstall

Note: Uninstallation logs of 99 Direct uninstallation shortcut provided Rockstar Social Club files are 99 Backup savegames prompt provided / Savegames retained provided.

88 Rockstar Social Club registry keys will remain

Customer Looking at the customer support side of Max Payne 3 through Rockstar Support 10. Support 99 Customer service / support found in one place at support.rockstargames.com 99 Rockstar Games Support is easy to use and navigate 99 Searching on Rockstar Games Support is direct and quick 99 Info is easy to read and understand 99 Consumers can initiate legal action if arbitration process fails

Note: Tone and language is 88 Customer service takes more than 24 hours to respond written to ensure non-response 88 Customer service will take more than 72 hours to resolve issues from customers. This enables the support teams to “close” 88 Tone and language used is distant, robotic and impersonal customer-initiated within com- 88 Focused on generic suggestions and solutions within their FAQ pany-directed timelines. 88 No option provided for giving feedback on the quality of customer support

RYG Analysis: Max Payne 3 4 RYG’s BARGAIN BIN SHOWS PROMISE WORTH VERDICT MATERIAL & POTENTIAL SUPPORTING 42% 64% and below Between 65% and 84% 85% and above

Getting Max Payne 3 to launch and play in single-player mode wasn’t without diffi- culties or frustrations. Having to disable AV and/or Firewall settings and software(s) to play Max Payne 3 was the major per-requisite for playing the game. This raises ques- tions on how Rockstar Games had chosen to integrate both Gameshield and Rockstar Social Club into the game. In any case, it’s hard to pay full price for the many frustra- tions that ensued or will ensue for other PC Gamers.

Colophon Disclaimer

This analysis of Max Payne 3 was These analyses are only a guide compiled by Lisa and Martin Pham. and represent RYG’s perspective Typeface used is ITC Stone Sans. into Max Payne 3 as a product. We RYG thanks Anna Henriksson, Josh believe everyone should perform Bush, Ethan Lee, Adam Ames and their own research and reach their David Hatch for their insights and own conclusions. This is one view suggestions in the design of this of many, we hope. Again, we thank analysis. Max Payne 3 was bought you for taking the time to read our with RYG funds through EB Games. analysis of Max Payne 3 and hope you continue to support our work.

RYG is a user research and design studio for de- RYG Analysis: Max Payne 3 velopers and publishers. Our focus is planning and designing Copyright © 2012, Reclaim Your Game (RYG) Pty Ltd games with a gamers’-first mentality through user and product www.reclaimyourgame.com @projectryg research. RYG is led by a husband-and-wife team of Lisa and PRYG3-00006-01 Martin Pham. RYG is operated in the heart of Sydney. 1 January 2013

RYG Analysis: Max Payne 3 5