Interesting Anti Piracy Measures

[El Presidente]

Eight of the Most Hilarious Anti-Piracy Measures in Video Games - IGN

Fair play to the developers, there's some really clever methods there.

Not mentioned is the "Chicken Glitch" in Crysis Warhead, whereby if you didn't activate the game properly, from a certain level onwards, all guns shoot chickens, rendering them useless.

Chicken - Crysis Wiki

 

[SiempreTuna]

Darn! If I'd known about that I might have waited to activate the game - sounds hilarious

 

[AntimonyER]

That's awesome. Especially the Game Dev one! Can't believe they have the nerve to complain about it!

 

[SiempreTuna]

One thing I don't understand is, if they can detect that the game has been pirated, why allow it to work at all?

 

[jhawkkw]

I can't believe the measures to as far back as earthbound for the snes. I might have been too young to remember, but was cartridge piracy an issue in the late 80s - early 90s?

 

[AntimonyER]

One thing I don't understand is, if they can detect that the game has been pirated, why allow it to work at all?

Well the especially vicious ones seem appropriate alternatives. Deleting the save file at the final level after it freezes? Ouch!

 

[El Presidente]

I can't believe the measures to as far back as earthbound for the snes. I might have been too young to remember, but was cartridge piracy an issue in the late 80s - early 90s?

I'm not sure, I don't ever remember it being an issue.

 

[pbf98]

I only remember game piracy being an issue when the Sony Playstation was introduced, then onwards from there it was a problem. I do not remember hearing anything about cartridge games in the 90s

 

[Metroid Prime]

There's actually other ones I have heard of, but cannot recall. That is hilarious though.

 

[dibblebill]

I'm with the other guy- if only I didn't have a Steam copy of Crysis Warhead. Creative, though. Also far more obnoxious and difficult to detect/break, I'd wager, than traditional 'activation' measures.

 

[ParishL31]

One thing I don't understand is, if they can detect that the game has been pirated, why allow it to work at all?

Probably to hurt the offender as much as they can by letting them invest their time and then wasting it by taking it back away. The Earthbound one is really brutal, especially since average play through takes about 30 hours, usually longer. To play that long and have everything taken away before you can finish would be an appropriate punishment for stealing.

 

[mikedt]

I'm not sure, I don't ever remember it being an issue.

I remember a lot cartridge piracy happening, particularly for the Nintendo SNES. You could get a third-party box, which came directly from China of course, that plugged into the SNES, and the Sega Megadrive, that had a 3.5in floppy drive on it. Games were much cheaper on floppies than carts, and usually they came from markets, unscrupulous video rental stores and mail order. This was in the UK.

I only remember game piracy being an issue when the Sony Playstation was introduced, then onwards from there it was a problem. I do not remember hearing anything about cartridge games in the 90s

Cart piracy was a big problem, especially in the UK, because I knew the people who did it. From what I know about it, Playstation piracy was very easy. With just a PC and a CD burner, and the right software. The console itself needed an inexpensive mod-chip fitted to completely defeat the black CD DRM. But with a little bit of jiggery-pokery, the mod-chip wasn't always necessary.

Copy protection schemes for games go back a long way, as it was always very easy to duplicate game cassettes for the Commodore C64, Sinclair Spectrum, etc.
One of the wackiest, unusable and most inconvenient ones I remember was a thing called Lenslock.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenslock

 

[jroc]

Cartridge piracy is news to me. I didnt think it was possible. Knew about the orig Playstation and PS2. Sony did a good job with it with the PS3. MS has gotten better too with the Xbox. It was extremely easy on the PS2 and orig Xbox. The Wii was easy too. Dont know about the Wii U.

The risk of being banned from Live is enough to make ppl either get 2 systems, just not do it at all or stop doing it. I assume being banned from PSN would cause ppl to think twice too. IMHO...its just not worth it anymore. I kinda understood in the beginning.....but now....its too much to risk and lose out on from the online services of the consoles.

Oh yea....those were some genius ways to go after pirated gamers. If one didnt know...they would just assume the game was glitchy. I love Mirrors Edge too. That woulda pissed me off royally....lol.

 

[jhawkkw]

I know cartridge piracy was prevalent on the Nintendo gameboy advance and ds thanks to cartridge stimulators. From what I've read, this was reduced with the 3ds AFAIK.

 

[XplosiV]

I thought piracy talk was not allowed here on AF

I know, I know, most of the discussion is about old and redundant technologies,

 

[dibblebill]

What about intelligent discourse of the history of pirating?

 

[mikedt]

Cartridge piracy is news to me. I didnt think it was possible.

It was quite possible, but it would always require some extra hardware. There was a device for the Nintendo SNES called a Game Doctor, that came from China. Basically it would plug into the SNES's catridge slot and sit on top of the console. You put the original game cartridge into the Game Doctor's cartridge slot, and it would copy the game to a 3.5in floppy.

Knew about the orig Playstation and PS2. Sony did a good job with it with the PS3. MS has gotten better too with the Xbox. It was extremely easy on the PS2 and orig Xbox. The Wii was easy too. Dont know about the Wii U.

Piracy has happened on many consoles, often it would require a mod-chip though to be fitted to the console. Most likely the reason why the DMCA outlawed the sale and use of mod-chips in the US. And probably things like Game Doctors as well.