Slashdot Mirror
Sony Suing Connectix over Mac Playstation Emulator
phorce phed writes "
According to this ZDNNet burst Sony is seeking a temporary injunction against sale of the Virtual Game Station (Connectix's soon-to-be-released PlayStation emulator)."
We mentioned this when it was more of a rumor, but now its apparently
for real.
I think he was not commenting on the emulator, only the fact that he was the first to post.
Could be wrong though.
I fail to understand how Sony can sue Connectix over Virtual Game Station, but Nintendo can do nothing to Snes9x and Zsnes, even though Snes9x and Zsnes promote piracy, whereas VGS only promotes game sales (though Sony may lose a very small ammount of console sales). Is it because VGS is a commercial product? Why isn't Sony after the autors of PSEmu or Bleem? Bleem is also set to be commercial. Do emulators infringe on "intellectual property" and therefore are illegal? Why is Sony the only company concerned about the emulator itself. Nintendo and others are mostly concerned about losing game sales because of ROMs (even though most people haven't purchased an NES or SNES game in years). I simply fail to see the logic.
Of course Sony will probably win their lawsuit seeing as justice is bought these days, and Sony has enough money to buy it.
What the fuck r u talking. It is the greatest bullshit i every heard! Connectix has a great Playstation emu for Mac, and Sony makes a fucking trouble and rumble. For gods sake, doesnt Sony see the great advantage of selling more games?!
Sony has very good reason to be 'irked' by the Connectix Virtual game station. The fact
of the matter is, while Connectix is turning a profit on their Virtual Game Station, Sony has lost money on every single physical Playstation
sold.
There have been many Playstation emulation projects in development in the past years. The biggest one that comes to mind is PSEmu Pro
(www.psemu.com). The difference here is that these projects have always been free.
What 'irks' me is that Connectix has probably used these free emulators as the basis for their development.
jas0n
if(Sony == bunch_of_rat_bastard_fuck_nuts){
download VGS from the net;
cout}
else
buy VGS;
comparing apples to oranges .. :/
jas0n
Don't you people have anything better to do? I have to laugh every time I see a first post because of the sheer ludicrousness of it.
You logic confuses me. Sony loses money on every playstation sold. This is because the point of the console is in selling the software (a little comes from peripherals, but I can't imagine it even approaches software). So they sue someone who makes them selling hardware (at a loss) possibly unneccessary for some people. However, those people will still buy the software (well, the ones who aren't pirating - but they'd just chip their system anyway).
A better point might be that the emulator makes pirating easier by not honoring the coding on the disc. Someone else posted that this was true. This hasn't been substatiated yet, though.
--
Jason Eric Pierce
I knew it wasn't my fault: stupid /., or html, or something. But it wasn't my fault.
Are you sure that Sony has spent over $1,000,000,000 on marketing and development? I doubt it.
Except it doesn't bypass it; if you try to put in a CD-R duplicate game, VGS just ejects it. There's a software "modchip [k]" to get around this, but out of the box it won't run pirates or imports. I don't know what the mechanism VGS uses to detect this is, but it works (try it yourself).
What makes you think they ripped off code from PSEmu? Haven't you ever seen Virtual PC?
Yes, but the point of Sony spending all that money (a billion? I doubt it) was to get a console out there that will sell software. However, when they sell this hardware, Sony takes a loss.
If there are people out there who will actually buy this emulator and not buy hardware, Sony won't take that loss. They will still sell software, though.
So it would seem that Connectix could theoretically save Sony money.
However, your statement that Connectix will never lose money is laughable. I imagine this emulator will be rapidly pirated by anyone with a clue that wants it. And the large percentage of those without a clue will just buy a playstation (hell, I'd much rather play my playstation than an emulator - but I don't have a Mac so the point is moot). But Connectix still has to pay their programmers, their rent, their electricity, etc. I can see how they are actually in a very precarious market position.
--
Jason Eric Pierce
I would like to share with you a poem that I stumbled across in a MAD magazine many years ago. It seems appropriate.
Sing a song of Sonys,
A pocket full of yen,
Magnavox and Zenith
Undersold again.
See the US suffer,
from the job we do
This is how we get revenge
for losing world war 2.
...reasoned, well thought out responses :-)
No, Sony loses money with each Playstation they sell. They're more worried about Connectix "encouraging" piracy this way (since they make all their money from the games).
Does anyone know what PSX "protection" schemes the Virutal PSX honors? Clearly it can't check for the black coat since Mac CDROM drives don't have the extra piece of hardware that PSX does for detecting it. But does Virtual PSX honor the "country code" that limits customers to only playing games that the buy in the same country as where they purchase the PSX itself?
Sony doesn't make money from selling the Playstation. Quite the opposite, as has been pointed out before. They lose money on every console sold. The way they make a profit is from sales of software. And it seems to me, that this emulator opens up the software to a whole other market. Though maybe not too large of a one. Mac users without playstations that want to play playstation games. Either way, a game sold is a game sold, says me.
You gotta love inane, irrelevant analogies.. comparing shoes, cars, breadmakers, etc. to things like computers and video game consoles.
I have plenty of mac-using friends who, instead of getting their own Playstation and actually buying a few games while they're in the store, have now just downloaded VGS and the mod krak along with however many imaged games they can stuff down their pipes.
Sony's "groundless" suit is about the disruption of their software distribution (which you seem to know zero about) and the fact that the Connectix emulator actually makes it easier to play pirated and imported games; those of us that own a real hardware unit know that Sony has tried to prevent the modifying that goes on, and that they are always trying new schemes to curb piracy.
In fact, I think Nintendo hassled a few of the snes9x people, the result being that the snes9x web pages were moved to a server in another country to avoid lawsuits and Nintendo eventually just gave up.
The bottom line being that this has nothing to do with legality, but rather that the payoff is bigger if you sue someone who has money.
Your comment seems much less defensible if you change the proprietary Playstation hardware software combo to one more familiar to many people:
Microsoft & Intel made Windows on x86 to make money. It is their proprietary system. They may make money from selling the system. They make money from selling the rights and information to make applications for the system.
Emulation endangers how Wintel makes money. Now, someone can make applications without the blessing of or payment to Wintel.
So, Wintel is justified taking legal action to ensure their profits by maintaning tight control of the Wintel system.
If Wintel loses their proprietary stranglehold on the market, all computers will become more expensive to make because of the ability to make applications without the help of the vendor, and the ability to copy some applications. The whole market has been threatend by Connectix. Apple, Commodore, Kaypro, and several other companies could find themseleves in great trouble through lack of profits if Wintel loses.
-----
I like Playstation games.
I like Sony for making a great game platform.
I'd like Sony to be rewarded for their work.
But if Connectix clean-room reverse engineered the Playstation, it would be a bigger injustice for them to be prohibited from selling their emulator.
Where are all the Slashdotters who were bashing Rob for puting this story up earlier. Come and stand in the light now so we can see you.
Hate to correct you, but CodeWarrior has a package
for writing PSX games. I believe they worked with Sony to develop it, but I believe you can write PSX games with it without Sony's approval. Now whether you need Sony's approval to get the official "PlayStation" logos plastered all over your packaging is a a seperate matter.
Sony is not worried about people licensing PSX technology from Connectix to make games, I think they are concerned with the possibility of someone making an actual PSX compatible console placing the Connectix emulator on a chip.
What's left of them is sitting in a few boxes located somewhere at Hasbro...
I might say it's ironic that "tight control" is what killed Atari's last ditch to save itself -- the Jaguar.
You will *always* need the vendor to supply some sort of dev kit; the "free" ones are usually pretty crappy and not nearly as sophisticated. In addition, if you want to claim that your game will run on a playstation you still have to go through Sony.
TEEHEEHEE
Sony's probably doing this to get some kick back money from Connectix or more likely from Apple. The VGS was just played up at MacWorld to show how Apple was back into games. If Sony holds this up, they could get Apple to throw them some money to go ahead with it. Really, with Playstation II coming within a year, they can't be to worried about losing money selling hardware. The Copy Protection/piracy thing is just enough to probably get them the injuction but this won't hold up long term in court
I met the author of this program recently, and he claims to have written a fairly significant percentage of Virtual PC himself... and most of VGS. He indicated that he didn't even look at the 'free' emulators, as they were 'too far behind' where he needed to be.
--Adam Lang
fornicate under command of the king.
Back in the hundred years war, they
needed more soldiers to replace all the ones killed in the war
Im very sure sony KNOWS what kind of money they make on their playstation hardware and periperals.. and what they make from the games being distributed.. many of you here treat them as if you know exactly how much they make... with 250 for a playstation when it is brand new.. and another controller and memory card.. that is $300.. now.. for each video game.. do you think sony would rather have a buck or 2 per game for maybe a total of 10 games.. and usually with computer people.. the rest you know will be pirated.. so why not.. it would be SOOO much easier copying cds for a computer than it would by installing a mod chip for PSX.. Im sure sony has made sure this decision is more profitable for them.. All other points aside!
I also think it is a pretty lameass accusation that Connectix needed to use someone else's code for VGS. They came up with 680x0 emulation for the PowerPC (Speed Doubler) better than Apple's. They then parlayed this into x86 emulation (VirtualPC), and have now moved on to VGS. Simply put, they just know their shit when it comes to assembly language. Lord only knows what they'll be able to do with AltiVec G4s...
The basis of their argument is bypassing of copyright protection, but Bleem contains copyright protection code to go around this legal loop-hole.
Real men write assembly, its old but good...
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/120296/5813234a.ht
There once was a company who made a computer, promoted it, wrote software for it, advertised it, etc... We will call them Big Cyan..
They we're making money, and lots of it so others noticed, as is always the case.
So others made machines that did the exact same thing and sold them for cheaper..They did not advertise and they used to call their machines 'Cyan' compatible..
It was legal...
-------------------
If the mac can emulate a playstation (dedicated hardware), Maybe playstations time has come. Its hardly state of the art anymore...Sony just is afraid of losing its game royalties..
SOny doesn't make a ton of games so maybe those game makers will sell MAC versions. (1 version for Playstation for which sony gets royalties and a MAC VPS version no royalties??) That seems doubtfull..
-----------
Maybe Sony's hoping to renegotiate apples firewire contract by using VPS as a barganing chip??? They make a lot of firewire camcorders?
I think SOny should be more concerned with Segas new box...
/A
whatever there is a crack for it heh
I just placed my order at Connectix's online store (total came to $55US with shipping). Whether or not it will be shipped I don't know. I certainly hope I get my copy.
The PSX doesn't check for the black coat. It checks for a purposely placed incorrect checksum on the CD. The black coat is there to prevent prying eyes from finding the location of the error by a visual inspection. The location, however, is already public knowledge.
I remember that issue!
My favorite of the "Nursery Rhymes From Around the World" was
There was an old woman who lived in a shoe
With Boris, 12 kids and a pet kangaroo.
She said, "Though it is small and from feet it is smelling,
In Russia it's known as a luxury dwelling."
USA, too.
Wrong, dumbass! The PSX protection scheme has *nothing* to do with the black (adtually deep purple if you look) disc plastic. The real protection is a lot more subtle and technical; specifially, the 15th sector of an original purple disc has a bad CRC, which the PSX checks for on boot. In case you're wondering, MOD chips work around this by simply replacing the PSX ROM with a developer ROM that doesn't check for the bad CRC or the location codes...the perfect hack.
when the pc came out, ibm made everything a well documented standard because ibm would take decades to come up with peripherals, etc. that 3rd parties could develop in months. BUT, the bios was the big link, and it was kept private. but once people reverse engineered it, it was all legal to do. as long as connectix did it from scratch without needing "boot rooms, like some other emulators do"...it's legal. i wouldn't be surprised if sony gets it's temporary injunction, but it won't stand in the long run.
> Sigh. I've got my old Sega Saturn stashed under
> my desk at home, languishing for the day that
> someone writes an emulator for it. After all,
> the CDs are PC-readable...
Actually, so are the PlayStation discs...
Don't bother. They send you this:
Thanks for writing us. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. and Sony Computer
Entertainment America filed legal action against Connectix Corporation on
January 27, 1999.
Our decision to pursue legal action against Connectix Corporation was based
on the belief that the "Virtual Game Station" infringes on Sony Computer
Entertainment Inc.$B!G(Bs copyrights and intellectual property rights. Through
the release of the "Virtual Game Station," the Connectix Corporation
willfully introduced a product into the market that circumvents the
PlayStation anti-piracy protection. This means that this product will not
only negatively impact Sony Computer Entertainment America hardware sales,
but third party developers and publishers of PlayStation software could now
lose sales to pirated goods (games that are copied and distributed without
permission) as a direct result of the "Virtual Game Station." Our
involvement in this issue underscores the active role Sony Computer
Entertainment America is taking against videogame piracy.
The Connectix "Virtual Game Station" does not accurately emulate the
PlayStation gaming experience and consequently, is not fully compatible
with all PlayStation game titles, a fact supported by Connectix$B!G(Bs own
admissions. It is important to note that this product attempts to imitate
PlayStation gaming, but more than 17 million consumers can attest to the
fact that nothing technically can compare to the experience delivered
through the PlayStation game console in tandem with a home television set.
We regret that we had to take legal action against the Connectix
Corporation since litigation should always be the last resort to resolution
of an issue. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to call our
800 Consumer Service line listed below:
In North America call:
Consumer Services 1-800-345-SONY (7669) M-F 7am-6pm PST
Sincerely,
Webmaster
Sony Computer Entertainment of America
If you reply to any of it, they send you it again.
Okay, I'm sure they're getting a lot of email about
this, but why bother having an email address in
the first place if you're just going to pattern
match and send back form letters?
"Clearly it can't check for the black coat since Mac CDROM drives don't have the extra piece of hardware that the PSX does. . ."
Couple of things:
First, a minor nitpick: the "black coat" is actually a very dark blue. Second, I don't believe it's possible to check the colour of the bottom of a CD in any CDROM drive, though since I know nothing of the mechanics of CDROM drives and the lasers used therein, I could be wrong. The way that PSX games are copy-protected is that some blocks on the CDs are intentionally munged in such a way that normal CDROM drives 'correct' them (which, of course, actually munges it further so that if you try to copy it the copy is useless in a PSX) when they read them, but the PSX CDROM drive doesn't.
Standard Oil, New York.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
When you totally miss the point, you say something that makes you look like an idiot.
It's far easier to forgive your enemy after you get even with him.
>The only problem here is that Sony is making money from the PlayStation.
>Emulators for these game systems *might* technically be illegal
I think not. Atari was still making money off of 2600 systems when Coleco came up with their add-on 2600 emulator. Atari sued and lost. Hence, the precenent was set that emulators are not illegal.
All that can really still be an issue is how Connectix handled the PlayStation BIOS. If it's an unlicensed verbatim copy, Connectix will be in trouble. If it's a compatible substitute written from the ground up then they're OK just like BIOSs in PC clones are not grounds for lawsuits anymore.
Gee, how dispicable, someone might code products that actually show how ridiculous the platform wars can be by eroding the platform-gap... given that this was developed in a double-blind environment and no IP was stolen, my heart doesnt hurt for Sony one bit...
... in fact, reminds me of another infamous standards battle way back in the early 80s... as it turned out then, the only people who lost were consumer by being stuck with inferior technology and Sony for creating a closed market and limiting their own potential userbase. How many kids these days even know what BetaMax was?
You are confusing two different product categories: terminal emulators, which are simple telecom apps intended to provide a range of connectivity options for microcomputers which emulate "dumb terminals"...
:)
..then there are the emulators in question which are essentially a set of routines to allow one type of hardware to execute instructions written for a different chipset.. whether it is a single component, like Apples m68k emulator built in to their PPC-based systems, or a complete system emulator such as VirtualPC or Virtual Game Station which emulates an entire environment. One of my machines is a high-end PowerMac with VirtualPC and 6 different OSes running under it (each has its own drive file, like a subpartition of sorts). While there is always a performance hit, it provides an excellent environment for cross-platform development of any kind.
What 'irks' me is that Connectix has probably used these free emulators as the basis for their development.
Very doubtful. While all the PSX emulators out there are zero-cost (except VGS), all of them are also closed-source. I doubt Connectix would be stupid enough to reverse-engineer those. Not that it would have done them much good; they're pretty much all written in x86 assembly (they'd have to be in order to get the speed even semi-acceptable), and that stuff is immensely painful to translate into something a PPC chip can use.
Actually, that's hardly the copy-protection sceme a PSX uses (if that were true a PSX wouldn't be able to play audio CD's, which also lack this barcode).
VGS does not bypass copy-protection. Indeed, it takes pains to honor it. Some crackers have made "Modchip patches" which will prevent this, but VGS itself doesn't bypass any copy-protection schemes out there. I've tried it; it simply does not work that way.
thats horrible code and coding style. that is c notation, but dont even try running that through a compiler!
A> cout is a stream, it requires the standards for defines is all caps, it should be "if (Sony == BUNCH_OF_RAT_FUCK_NUTS)"
C> got languages mixed up? C functions and procedures take parameters in ()'s seperated by commas.
It SHOULD BE:
if (Sony == BUNCH_OF_RAT_BASTARD_FUCKNUTS) {
download(VGS,net);
printf("Sony is a bunch of rat bastards\n");
}
else
buy(VGS);
thank you.
(and yes, minus well follow a worthless post with a worthless post that knit picks.)
is at www.MacWeek.com.
David Gould
David Gould
main(i){putchar(340056100>>(i-1)*5&31|!!(i<6)<< 6)&&main(++i);}
for making a Un*x workalike without using Un*x source code :/
Sheesh.
One day, you'll learn to watch what you post...
I won't say it....... ;-) Couldn't resist.
I was commenting on the first post thing. Just being juvenile. Please forgive me. I figure it's a one in a lifetime opportunity. = )
Actually, I think the Sony suit is a bunch of bullshit. Why do they need to do this? It's senseless. Like people are going to stop buying PlayStations because of this? I don't think so..... I'm not a lawyer, but the grounds of the suit seem baseless. However, fighting this could kill Connectix.
Let's start:
>Sony made the PlayStation to make money. It is their proprietary system.
True. So far so good.
>They may make money from selling the system.
*BZZZZZZZ* Wrong. They loose money on every box they sell. They only make money on software.
>They new Connectix thing endangers how Sony is making money from the PlayStation.
Again - you're wrong. Sony sells more boxes than there are G3 Powermacs (read: potential clients) over and over and over again.
The market for G3s with this software would be SO small why would anyone develop a game for using the emulator? That's insane! Why not just develop a Mac game?
Or are you contending that people could use it for developing NON-Sony approved games and sell those for the Play Station? It's a huge jump to say that a program I can buy would allow me use it as a development tool to produce games. You can easily find the information for how the Sony Playstation works and the APIs etc - those aren't secret - heck the Connectix product isn't even the only emulator out there.
>Furthermore, as Timur mentioned, the emulator does not honor the copy protection encoding. This endangers the profits of all those game makers who have the blessing of and pay Sony.
Why?!? If there a game that doesn't follow the copy protection doesn't that mean that THAT game could be copied? So I use Connectix's product to create a PlayStation game - in a way that has yet to be established - that can be copied because I ignore 'Sony required copy protection'. Why does that endanger the profits of another developer? My game can be copied but theirs can't - doesn't that threaten MY profits?
Or are you saying that I can take my friends copy of a Playstation game, copy it to play on my G3 PowerMac? I doubt that very much:
1)My friend would PROBABLY just lend it to me - no profit for the manufacturer anyway
2)The market would be VERY small compared to the existing market - 50,000 MAYBE - and all those are
al new potential customers. Even if a few copy disks some of them will go out and buy them.
>So, Sony is taking legal action to ensure their profits by maintaning tight control of the PlayStation system. Their tight control is very common in the video game market.
Well, you're right there. But common doesn't mean right, legal or good. Look at M$....
=tkk
Bill Gates - Creationist?!?
Another possible outcome: there have been rumors that Apple would acquire Connectix (before the Sony action). They'd get the emulator smarts as well as specific good products like Virtual PC the VGS. If this actually happened soon, Apple's lawyer's would probably get a better deal out of Sony's lawyers than Connectix could.
I can see why any company would try to hunt down and kill the emulators (even if I don't agree with it), but I think Sony stands to succeed where Nintendo failed simply for the profit return factor. The law will definately look at this instance differently since Connectix stands to make money off of technology developed by Sony while the makers of SNes9x and such didn't recieve any profits. While it is true that Sony doesn't make much (if any) off the sale of Playstation hardware units, it does make since that they would want to keep the platform proprietary and ensure sell-through quality to the consumer. If Connectix's emulator is released and becomes rather sucessful, it is no doubt that the market would soon be flooded with emulators most likely of lesser quality. A sea of semi compatible commercial emulators of poor quality would be bad for the image of the Playstation platform reguardless of Sony's involvement in their creation. VGS is facing this lawsuit because it is the first of its kind, bleem will no doubt face similar problems in the future if it goes commercial.
In short, I really don't like this lawsuit. But, it makes a hell of a lot of sense for Sony.
I mean, hey, this is an *emulator* we're talking about here, right? This could set a really nasty legal precedent... and there are a LOT of emulators out there, and a lot of people that depend on them.
I think the suit is kind of pointless myself, but what I want to know is, is there any real legal base to this?
- Slarty
Hi... I'm Larry... the shivering chipmunk... brrrrr!... I'm cold... I need a sweater...
There are no AS/400 emulators that run on PCs.
There are terminal emulators that allow PCs to connect to AS/400s. And there have been since the AS/400 was released. The current version shipped with OS/400 is called Client Access. It used to be called PC Support.
This was not a case of exchanging hardware for software, it was a case of IBM meeting the needs of their AS/400 clients.
SteveM
I have plenty of mac-using friends who ... have now just downloaded VGS ...
...
... the Connectix emulator actually makes it easier to play pirated and imported games...
Where did they get it?
Sony's "groundless" suit is about the disruption of their software distribution
What laws protect software distribution in this sense? If Connectix did not infringe on Sony's intellectual property, then it is irrelavent if one can play imported or pirated games.
While I have no problem with Sony going after software pirates, I do have a problem with the idea of geographical zones for software or DVDs. I think that it is absurd that if while I am in Japan I buy a game or movie that I can't play on a machine I bought in the states. I'm sure glad I can play imported music CDs. The only reason for this is greed, and if Connectix helps destroy that distribution model I say more power to them.
SteveM
And how would this in and of itself be illegal?
Would not the manufacture of the copy be the illegal act? Since the VGS was not made only to play illegal copies, I don't see how this could be grounds for a suit.
However, I am not a lawyer, nor do I expect the legal system to be logical.
SteveM
And you can order a copy here.
SteveM
VPC is a Pentium® MMX(TM) PC in software, not a Windows emulator. You can run any OS that runs on a Pentium on VPC.
SteveM
When youre tired of making money by creating and selling stuff, you do it by calling in the lawyers.
...and the emulator isn't a product in and of it self that is worthy to be sold? Sony's case is totally groundless. Show me one person who uses an emulator for _any_ machine, who would have actually bought the machine had the emulator not been available.
This is like Nike suing Reebok for making socks that fit into Nike shoes.
The playstation's copyprotection consists of having the playstation cds burned with incorrect checksums on the theory that normal burners will put in the correct checksums when burning the data. The ubiquitous modchips get around this restriction, but VGS officially honors this copy protection.
Disagree with Sony's point of view? Tell them at http://www.playstation.com/scripts/ feedback.plx
Oh no! I'm going to cry for Sony now.
Haven't you heard the old adage?
You can always tell the pioneers, they're the ones
with the arrows in their back.
Seriously, though, this is what happens in every
industry. Its a big race between those who are first to the market, and those who are the fast/cheap followers. Its just a question of whether the early adopters provide a critical mass in market dominance, or the price-sensitive majority runs the market over. Think Beta vs VHS?
As long as it sells more software, I think Sony should relax a bit.
-sk
Everybody, don't forget that all PlayStations have copy protection built right in. You can't go burn a CD and just start playing it.
I wonder if these emulators enforce this?
You can already take a $15 chip, a screw driver, and a soldering iron to your playstation to defeat this. Emulators are just another drag on their software sales.
Just a thought.
Anyone who wants to defend emulation from threats both current and future, put together a petition against Sony's injunction!!!
Sony tries to get an injunction, saying the VGS allows pirated games to run on the Mac.
Connectix's response? The updated VGS 1.1 doesn't play pirated games.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You sound as if you know something about playstation prices. FYI:
Playstations cost about $130 right now. Initially at launch, Sony _lost_ money on every Playstation console sold. Since Sony cut down on manufactured parts for the PSX and moved production to sweatshop factories a while back, they've been able to turn a profit of about $20 per machine. Yes, this IS a profit, but not nearly what they'd get off of $250. When was the last time you went shopping?
I know several people who were PSX developers. Sony gets a flat fee of about $7-8 for every playstation game sold. That means, whether or not the game bombs or does well, Sony gets SEVEN TO EIGHT BUCKS for every Playstation disc sold. Whether the game is $20 or $50, Sony gets SEVEN TO EIGHT BUCKS for each disc sold. This is a lot more burdensome for smaller developers than the typical percentage royalty, which is what Sony initially charged developers for Playstation licenses. Now that Sony's console is king of the hill, Sony decided they'd charge a flat per-disc-sold fee and screw anyone who complained.
My friend bought one at MacWorld, and we gave it a homegrown test. We tried Japanese games on them, and it wouldn't play the japanese games, but his gold CD playstation games worked just fine. (No, we're not bootleggers, my friend worked for a Playstation developer).
Sony made the PlayStation to make money. It is their proprietary system. They may make money from selling the system. They do make money from selling the rights and information to make games for the system.
They new Connectix thing endangers how Sony is making money from the PlayStation. Now, someone else knows how the games work and could inform game makers so that these game makers could make PlayStation games without the blessing of or payment to Sony. Furthermore, as Timur mentioned, the emulator does not honor the copy protection encoding. This endangers the profits of all those game makers who have the blessing of and pay Sony.
So, Sony is taking legal action to ensure their profits by maintaning tight control of the PlayStation system. Their tight control is very common in the video game market.
If Sony loses, all video game systems will become more expensive to make because of the ability to make ganmes without the help of the vendor, and the ability to copy some games. The whole market has been threatend by Connectix. Nintendo, Atari, and several other companies could find themseleves in great trouble through lack of profits if Sony loses.
"Luncheon meats make the sawdust in your stomach explode."
I think this proves my point quite nicely. Sony wants to maintain its monopoly over its PlayStation microcosm. Too many incursions that go too far into that mircocosm threaten Sony's monopoly.
Circumvent copy protection so games can be copied, circulate knowlege gained through emulation on how the system works, etc . . . and no one needs Sony anymore to have PlayStations and new PlayStation games. Some of Sony's income is threatened. The goal of a capitolist society, like the one Sony exists in, is to accumulate wealth. Sony sees that it will lose its ability to gain wealth from the PlayStation if its monopoly over the PlayStation is lost. Sony makes the *logical* move to prevent others from taking away its monoploy.
After all, their business is greed. Accept it and move on.
"Luncheon meats make the sawdust in your stomach explode."
have you seen Connectix' Virtual PC...I don't think Connectix needs to steal anything from anybody
So, Sony loses money on the Playstation. So what? They make money off games, and Connectix is adding to the number of games Sony can sell.
Actually, I think you mean, "Don't the makers of Playstation Games see the great advantage of selling more games?" Sony itself only manufactures a small fraction of Playstation games. Everything else is Third Party stuff. Supposedly, that why Saturn got left behind.
Sigh. I've got my old Sega Saturn stashed under my desk at home, languishing for the day that someone writes an emulator for it. After all, the CDs are PC-readable...
Skevin
"Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
I wonder if INTeL will be next in line to sue Connectix for their Virtual PC software (an x86 processor "emulator")? I'd love to see this go on ... sidster--
--sidster
Play lotto? Try http://www.alottofun.com/
You must be thinking of SoftWindows or
something else.
sidster--
--sidster
Play lotto? Try http://www.alottofun.com/
Look I do not claim to know how it all works, but a have a copy of VGS and its DOES NOT play games that are not US NTSC games, ie Jap, Uk or Copies.
And further more it will not even let you install it on a Non Us System (Mac Os System).
But there are many Kracks out there that Rip all this shit out, and i can now happley Play all my game UK US Jap And Copies.