While the Microsofts, Symantecs, HPs and Dells make many appearances in the Gripe Line, one repeat performer I wouldn't have expected is software game vendor Hyperbowl. A couple of years ago I wrote about Hyperbowl's product activation depriving one reader's child of a favorite game. Unfortunately, a recent message from another reader shows that Hyperbowl has not changed its ways.
The reader writes:
"Last year we purchased Hyperbowl Arcade Edition online for our son's birthday. He struggles with a major brain disorder and several other life-impacting syndromes. The one thing he is able to do pretty well is play some computer games and video games. He was thrilled to get the Hyperbowl, and played it very often until the computer it was installed on died."
"Because of his learning disabilities, we have home-schooled our son for several years. He could hardly wait until we could replace his computer, which we did with a refurbished computer. I dutifully installed all the old programs onto the replacement computer and thought everything was 'good to go.' Upon coming home the next evening, my son told me his Hyperbowl wasn't working. I sat down, and discovered that Hyperbowl only licenses the program for the single computer. If you have to replace the computer, you're out of luck!"
"I sent an e-mail asking why on earth I couldn't have the license transferred to the replacement computer and they sent a lame e-mail reply telling me how costly it would be to do that, etc. etc. but that I could BUY a new program at a discounted price - not much, mind you! I had a son crying, asking me why he can't play the game we had bought him for his birthday the previous year. Tell me, how do you explain the disgusting greed of a software company to a child? Needless to say, I will never buy anything from that company, and if I can dissuade even one person from making the same mistake we did, I'll be one happy camper!"
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