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Sony vs Modchips
Cryptnotic writes "Sony
has decided to instigate legal action against companies distributing two new Playstation 2 modchips, the Messiah and the NEO4. Sony has previously ignored modchip makers who made products which were only capable of playing CD-R copies of games. These new modchips, however, have legitimate uses, such as playing original import games or out-of-region DVD's. Aparrantly this is what has angered Sony." If I could read Kanji I'd probably care a bit more ;)
- The only reason I would buy, or make, a chip would be to play legally-bought imports, because:
- Some PAL conversions suck.
- Some games never even get released here! (ala Tsugunai)
- The ever-present release/conversion delay.
- Prices
- I wouldn't, but with this in mind, and a chip installed, other people might be more tempted to buy illegal or counterfeit copies, since they already have the chip to run them.
- (So) buy basically forcing me to chip my playstation to play legally[1] imported games, they may well have increased piracy... Ooops.
[1] My PS2 is legally bought, my imports (would be) legally bought, all my games and peripherals are Sony branded, yet I cannot play games I legally buy. The same stupid situation exists with DVDs.You really should read actsofgord, which explains this nicely. There are two sorts of modchips: the ones that defeat copy protection, and the ones that defeat region protection. The latter are what we're talking about; the only use for them is playing legitimate, bought-and-paid-for games from different regions.
There is only one reason to have region "protection", and that's simply control. The only thing I can see this gains for companies is by letting them use this artificial monopoly to increase the price in certain regions. Technological controls keep them from importing. This is not a copyright-protection issue. It is only an issue of control and artificial price inflation.
I have a PS2 (not to mention lots of peripherals and 15 legitimate games I paid full price for, not to mention the load of legitimate PSX games I also bought), and I love the games, and I'd love to import stuff. Sony's wanting to rip another $400+ out of me for an import PS2 is just pure greed. They lost against Bleem, I hope they lose here, too.
I love the games. I want the games. But this is ridiculous.
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
Actually, this is a case of things happening exactly how Sony wants. Here's how I see it:
Up until now, Sony has had a tough time with modchips. Each time a new one is released, they release a new way of detecting the modchip to game developers. Game developers add this check, and that modchip is defeated.
Every time a modchip is defeated, the end-user has to upgrade their modchip. Now if every user has to upgrade every time they get a new game, how often do you think it's going to be before the end-user finally gets ticked off at upgrading, and just switches to buying legit copies?
Additionally, think about this; newer games can detect old modchips. So if you have an old modchip, you can't play newer games, even if you buy them legit. Now you're forced to choose between modchip and legit.
This is what Sony's counting on; people "wasting" so much money on modchip upgrades that they go straight. If you can't buy a modchip and have it last, then you may as well not buy the modchip, right?
Enter the Messiah and NEO4. (the latter potentially; I'm not sure if it works the same way) The Messiah is a one-time upgrade that fixes your PS2 for the lifetime of the system. From what I understand, they've placed the chip in such a place that newer Sony games can't easily detect it's presence.
Sony can no longer rely on people getting tired of upgrading modchips--now they have a problem. This is where the DMCA comes in.
Arguably, this is how Sony wanted it all along. Sue them back into the stone age, using their newly-bought DMCA. Of course, they could've used this tactic at any time, but the ability to piss off pirates with a constant "upgrade your modchip" routine probably greatly amused/satisfied the people at Sony. Now that they're no longer able to do that, they'll use the more expensive--yet reliable--method of just suing them into the ground.
It's been in Sony's best interests to wait to sue, btw, because there now exists legal prescedent for using the DMCA. Before, it could've been hairy..