Vuvuzelas Blare On Pirated Copies of Music Game

An anonymous reader sends this quote from Wired: "A novel anti-piracy measure baked into the Nintendo DS version of Michael Jackson: The Experience makes copied versions of the game unplayable and taunts gamers with the blaring sound of vuvuzelas. Many games have installed switches that detect pirated copies and act accordingly, like ending the user's game after 20 minutes. Ubisoft has come under fire multiple times for what players have seen as highly restrictive anti-piracy measures that annoy legitimate users as much or more so than pirates. But some more-mischievous developers have used tricks similar to the vuvuzela fanfare to mess with pirates. Batman: Arkham Asylum lets unauthorized users play through the game as if it were a normal copy, with a single exception: Batman's cape-glide ability doesn't work, rendering the game impossible to finish — although you might bash your head against it trying to make what are now impossible jumps. If you pirate Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, brace yourself for an explosion, as your entire base will detonate within 30 seconds of loading the game."

Comments

butbutbutbutbut

[Dwebtron]

if they can tell it's pirated... why all the crazy piracy schemes in the first place? Why even LAUNCH the game? how can they tell?

Re:butbutbutbutbut

[BadAnalogyGuy]

It turns it into a demo, which could lead to an actual game purchase.

Re:butbutbutbutbut

[petermgreen]

I see two problems with this kind of approach though

1: the code may get triggered by accident leading to a legitimate user getting frustrated at the games apparent buginess/uncompletability.
2: pirates may not realise that the problems they are experiencing are a result of antipiracy meausres.

Either way you have users who think the game is buggy as hell telling their friends to avoid it.

Re:butbutbutbutbut

[xtracto]

There is a third option that I see here... and makes me personally affected.

See, each DS game is a big piece of plastic. If I want to take my DS complete game collection with me in each trip, I would need to carry all of them in a big bag.

By format-shifting said games I bought, I am able to take just ONE cart inside the DS and have access to all the games I and my wife like.

So, for me, buying a game that is "uncrackable" is a no go, because it means to play that game I would need to take the piece of plastic with me wherever I go.

I've been misled!

[Anachragnome]

"Batman: Arkham Asylum lets unauthorized users play through the game as if it were a normal copy, with a single exception: Batman's cape-glide ability doesn't work, rendering the game impossible to finish — although you might bash your head against it trying to make what are now impossible jumps. If you pirate Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, brace yourself for an explosion, as your entire base will detonate within 30 seconds of loading the game..."

So how is this different then the purchased, bug-ridden, unfinished versions that are pawned off on us with every release?

Red Alert 2

[GrumblyStuff]

Ah, yes, I remember that. It was always fun to uninstall and reinstall the whole fucking game because the DRM flipped a shit over nothing at all.

Re:Detection = failure

[Locke2005]

The thing to remember about warez crackers, is they tend to be more skilled than the people who release the games. Trying to outsmart them is a fallacy.

Then why don't they try, I dunno, maybe writing their own games instead of leeching off the work of others!

Re:Detection = failure

[gman003]

The point of DRM, from the publisher's perspective, isn't to prevent piracy - it's to delay it. Most of the sales will happen within the first week, due to the advertising focus - look at all the huge launches like Halo or Call of Duty, that sell millions in a day. If a game can stay uncracked for a month, the DRM is considered to have done its job exceptionally. If you can make DRM that takes a full day to test, and which would take several attempts to circumvent fully, you can easily delay the piracy of the game long enough that potential pirates instead go out and buy the game.

Re:It needs copy protection?

[Pharmboy]

Whatever medication you are on, adjust the dose. More, less, just pick a direction and try it for a while.

In between your struggles to "keep you and your future generations alive", I would try to get some bed rest. Oh, and yes, we know that Monsanto is a bunch of asshat tried to take over the food world by patenting everything and sue farmers who put back seeds, but in between anxiety attacks, we like to read about video games.

And good luck with the music career.