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Playstation 2 Recalled In Japan
silvergun writes: "According to FGNonline, the 1.25 million Playstation 2 units sold in Japan have been placed under a mandatory recall by Sony, due to the fact that they can play DVDs for territories other than they were intended. I'll say ouch for Sony." Update: 03/31 02:04 by CT : Several people noted that the recall was on the DVD Playing Software, not the actual PS2 hardware itself. Sorry about the confusion.
..but rather the start up software. I.e., a CD (or a DVD, I don't know, I don't own one).
That sucks for Sony, but it is definitively not as bad as having to recall the consoles themselves.
OG.
Given that software development and publishing are tightly controlled by Sony (who have to approve each title that is manufactured), they could change the format of new titles so that it breaks the old units, and update the firmware of the new units to work around the introduced "defect". You can keep your old unit, but say goodbye to any plans to play new PS2 games on it.
One other thing I was going to bring up but forgot to mention - in the Daily Radar article they mention a future HW recall is possible if Sony cannot overcome the issue of copying DVD's to a VCR via the PS2 output (through lack of macrovision altogether or unprotected component output I cannot remember).
If that did come to pass, the article states that might very well put the estimated US launch date into jepordy.
That would bring about an interesting situation indeed - would Sony then stick with the scheme to region code DVD's, or would loss of the potential benefit of having the timing to place a PS2 in 75% of American homes lead them to break away from the MPAA and fight the lawsuits that would come from a U.S. release of hardware that would allow perfect duplication and possibly region free DVD playing with hacked DVD drivers?
It seems like the very design of the PS2 (DVD player software loaded from CD) makes it fairly open to modification.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It's DVD player software that's loaded into the PS2 memory card - they have the software on a CD in case you buy a larger memory card, or need to erase the software on the card you have to make room for save games and then want it back later.
I found a bit more detailed article at DailyRadar that explains how to get a PS2 to play a US DVD - it's a button seqence, quoted here from the article:
----------
wait until the PlayStation2 bootup sequence ends, hold the following keys as it fades to black:
L1, Circle and Select
Or,
L3 (the button function of the left analog stick)
If the code is successful, two lines of Japanese text will appear, and the movie will begin normally. If one line of text appears, the code may not work on that movie.
-------------
So it's not perfect, but enough to get them in trouble.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
DVD Copy Protection costs Sony $5billion (Monday's Headline)
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+&x
(The PS1 DexDrive was compatible with both Japanese and North American saves... I'm assuming the PS2 one will be as well.)
Green Monkey
1) Why doesn't someone big sue the DVD CCA for restraint of trade with the whole region encoding scheme? Money. Don't you guys see....it's much cheapr to buy into the system and try to make it work for you than to try and fight it. Sure, the rewards are potentially greater, but the risks are much bigger.
/. effect. That is a very real, documented case of the internet's power to disseminate. I can't think of a single news station/newspaper/magazine that can claim that. They may have a larger/broader base of viewers/listeners/readers (for now), but we all know that is changing. Ultimately time will tell if journalists can really be held responsible for things like this. After all, it is their job to "get the scoop". The net just makes the scoop a matter of seconds rather than hours.
2) Why is Sony doing this recall now? I'll bet its a contract issue with the DVD CCA. You can bet that when they sign the NDA and technology license agreement, there are clauses about not infringing upon the whole scheme. Here again it's much much cheaper to go along with the crowd than to do what's right.
3) Why 7-11? Well, why did the US Mint release the new Golden Dollars in Wal-Mart first, before the banks? It's simple: convenience of location and power of distribution. There are pantloads of WalMarts here, and they are pretty close to where people live (in addition to being pretty popular places, especially for Southern teenagers on Friday nights.) I'm sure 7-11 has a similar stature in Japan: lots of stores close to where people live, and people are in the habit of going there anyways. Besides, id Software had Quake 1 shareware CDs sold in 7-11 in the US. It's not THAT strange.
4) When will the DVDCCA/MPAA/whomever get a clue? Never, as long as nobody is willing to fight. What we really need is a company with the money and the balls to fight this thing out. Afterall, assuming there do exist clauses in the DVD Forum contracts making you comply with region encoding, you can't be bound by them if they are illegal. Perhaps there is a company out there willing to sell such a value added product (Apex?) and also willing to legitimize the whole thing.
5) Are journalists responsible for creating problems like this? That's an interesting question that we don't seem to have an answer for. 5 years ago, I'd think not. There didn't exist news networks to get infortmation out to large numbers of people rapidly enough to make a difference. Now there is the Internet, with the potential to move millions of people to action in a matter of minutes. Don't believe me? Think
... honestly, how can it be illegal for someone to sell a non-region encoded device?
Even in the US, assuming that the DMCA stands (which is a big if), I would have assumed that several things occured in the manufacturing of the PS2:
If Sony would be in trouble for anything, it might be for failing to adhere to the terms of the DVD CCS license contract (which undoubtable says something like "You are supposed to enforce Region Encoding"). However, this is contract (ie Civil) law, certainly not criminal law.
Of course, IANAJL (I'm not a Japanese Lawyer), so things may be different there.
Certainly, if the case is Civil, people who bought the PS2 aren't legally forced to return it. They can keep it. If it's criminal (wherein the possession of such a device is illegal), well, then, guess you have to give it back.
I'd be interested to see what this turns out to be...
-Erik
There are always four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.
Other people have posted this already, but since few seem to be noticing I thought I'd mention it again. It's only the CD's that come with the Playstation 2 that are being recalled - these hold the software which you load into the Playstation 2 memory cards, which is in turn used to play DVD's.
The software was buggy, and I believe not only would not play Japanese DVD's (though I could be wrong about that part), but it definatley let them play Region 1 (US) DVD's - quite a no-no in Japan!
You do have to wonder though how many people would return software that would let them play US DVD's. Perhaps Sony will refuse to support the systems at all until the CD's are returned.
DailyRadar (yes the site is a bit juvinile but it has pretty good PS2 coverage) has a story about this as well - they mention that Sony might have to recall all the actual PS2 hardware if the ability to copy DVD's from the component output is not resolved.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Just think! A black market filled with DANGEROUS CRIMINAL MASTERMINDS will soon spring up, centering around ilicit "original PS2 trade". PS2 cartels will come into power, and rule japan and other countries with an iron fist of TERROR , doling out favors and original PS2s to those that please them, and curry favors... While they ruthlessly withHOLD these blessed units from those whom do NOT please them, condemning such individuals to an eternety of region coded gaming and DVD watching. OH THE HUMANITY! OH THE PATHOS.
Ok, I'll stop.
Sony:
"Sorry guys, the software we gave you is too good. You'll have to return it for an inferior copy. I'm sure you understand."
Customers:
"Fuck off."
translated from Japanese by,
tingalingusob