I think the best and most practical piracy prevention method is the CD key and an online ladder that bans shared CD keys from online play. Who would get a full $50 of value from a stolen copy of CoD4 if they couldn't play their pirated copy online?
EA does that and it was cracked before the game came out because crackers got a hold of the beta copies
the problem is that it will cost the company 200-300 thousand dollars to DRM their game, and the most they can hope for is a 1-2 day delay in the piracy of the game
The way to go is really just a cd key entered when you install in my opinion. People who are going to pirate the game no matter what will always find a way, but the cd key is enough to deter the lazier pirates (myself included when it comes to online games).
pirates do the work so others don't have to, most pirate games have been said to not even require an installation. a simple download and play.
if pirates can make the game not need an installation (and still work with patches and other addons ) why cant the developers do it?
pirates have made pc games run just like console games, no install needed. thats 1 of the problems.
why don't people get pirate cable tv?, the reason is that it i not as good as the real thing.
but when the pirate copy is better than the real thing, then you have a problem.
why do you buy iphone instead of the hiphone? the video toms hardware made should answer that for you.
a full game crack is making the entire thing a download and play and depending on the game, the exe may add a registry key into your registry to make patches and mods detect it as being installed
EA does that and it was cracked before the game came out because crackers got a hold of the beta copies
the problem is that it will cost the company 200-300 thousand dollars to DRM their game, and the most they can hope for is a 1-2 day delay in the piracy of the game
Then don't build DRM, just ban pirated CD keys from online play.
Then don't build DRM, just ban pirated CD keys from online play.
they already do that, but the problem is that they have cracked copies that cant be banned, and if they use a more complex banning method then you see thousands of cracked servers spring up which allow banned cd keys
most legit servers also patch their server to allow invalid cd keys so they can get more players in their server
if you check the Rulez bf2 server (really popular, they allowed invalid cd keys because they get more players that way and they also make more money with the banner in the loading screen banner they put, which helps cover the cost of the server)
the best way to stop piracy is to offer something the pirates cant offer. quality. you pay for your movies because the pirate copies are 99% of the time blurry and have poor sound that sounds like the pirate hid the mic in his/her butt so no one would notice. while the video looks like they stuck a garbage bag over the lens or smeared bird crap on it
for movies, pirates cant offer quality. for games, pirates offer more quality and convenience. (the same convenience of consoles, no install just download or insert game disk and play)
piracy is a business and the only way to win it to make something better than what pirates can offer.
sell game cheaper (people are more ok with spending $20 on a game they never tried before, than spending $60 for it)
offer other incentives for using non pirated like no installation needed
discount card for half off if they make an expansion to the game
and try to provide all of the convenience of the pirate copies and have no drm and piracy for the game will most likely stop because the legit copy will be convenient and it will feel safer as it is less likely to contain a trojan
It would be interesting if you can build your own PS3 or any other console. BYO PC and BYO Console lol.
IMHO: I was waisting away money when I would buy a new PC every few years. For example: Alienware (There customer service sucks!) and Falcon Northwest. I was afraid of building my own until just recently. I liek the flexability with PC games as well as the PC itself. If I upgrade it would a few years until I feel the need. I've given up with keeping up with the technology lol, what was I thinkin! The console games are going up as well as the consoles too. I remember when Nintendo first came out (the commerical with R.O.B.) and I saw it at Toys R US. When my father saw the pricetag he was like, are you nuts! Funny how you see the Xbox360 and PS3 up to $299-$599 and games as high as $59.99. Will Flight Simulator X be on PS3 anytime soon lol. I wasnt to crazy with different renditions of the Sims Franchise on the consoles. I enjoy playing the Sims2 and its expansions on my PC. After buying all the expansions now Sims3 was just announced. Oh well, i will buy it and all the expansions also. With all the new technoloy across all the platforms and PC's and the new stuff being released months later, oh well.
Tweaking settings does not make the PC better. Consoles run just fine and for the newer consoles they can run on the 1920x1080.
The consoles scale it to 1080P. Like COD4, it's a native 600P (1024x600) and scaled (upcoverted) to 1080P. A PC playing COD4 at native 1080P or 19x12 will look much better.
Message edited by pauldh on 03-24-2008 at 01:11:20 AM
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MSI P6N SLI Platinum, Q6600, 2GB Crucial Ballistix Tracer PC8000, SLI BFG 8800GT OC 512MB, SB X-Fi Fatality, Antec TruePower Trio 550W, Windows XP pro
I've been a PC guy all my life...had the Commodore VIC-20, then the Commodore 64 and the 128 after that. But I have always been a buyer, not a builder, which has been expensive for me. The Commodore's were all bought for my brother and I by our parents...after that it was all me. First it was a Gateway with a 486 and 1X CD-ROM...everyone was SO JEALOUS! Haha! Then, years later, a Dell...then another Dell (hate Dell)...then built my own with a friend's help...then an Alienware (sigh). Now I am, for the first time, going to be building my own SOLO for my kids...I am going to stick with my Alienware (sigh) for another year...this build is going to replace the one I handed down to my kids that was built in 2001. Depending how this solo build goes I am committing myself to build all future PC's and never buy another pre-built again. Anyway, back to the topic at hand:
I have been a "hardcore" (sort-of) PC gamer all my life. I love PC's...and always hated consoles. I never had any interest in them. Then my friend got Tomb Raider (yes, the first one) for the PS (yes, the first one). I was wowed but not enough to get a console. Ended up getting my oldest son (he was my ONLY son at the time) a PS2 though. He loved gaming on the PC but all his friends had PS2's (because, he said, their parents couldn't afford a PC). I still couldn't get into it though. Then I had a good friend get the XBOX (yes, the first one) and go on and on and on about HALO. Well, my brother got a great opportunity to get a great deal on the new 360 when they first came out so I said what the heck...then the same great opportunity for the PS3.
So believe it or not, I know have the two PC's, the XBOX 360, and the PS3. My wife and three kids (that is how far the fam has come) are ALL gamers...they use all of the above, as for me, I'm still mainly a PC guy but love the 360...and here's why...(this was ultimately the point of my post):
I buy the game, take the game out of the box, I put it in the 360, and I play it. As a long time PC guy, there is just something so damn refreshing about that! From dealing with playing "TELENGARD" on the tape deck (yes, the games came on actual cassette tapes for those of you that are not old enough to remember, yet blow me away as far as PC knowledge goes ), to dealing with SSI Baseball, Impossible Mission, Summer Games, Beachhead, and the like on a 5 1/4 floppy in the 1541 Drive for the C64, to Pirates and Tony LaRussa Baseball on 3.5" diskettes in my Gateway floppy drive, to Baldurs Gate and Dark Forces on CD for my Dell's, to Half-Life and Earth 2150 on CD for my home build with friend, to RTCW and HL2 (the latter on DVD-ROM) for my Alieanware (Sigh).
Do you know how much it sucked installing Tony LaRussa baseball? It was something like 12 Diskettes...and about 6 more if you wanted the stadium pack installed, and another 3 or 4 if you wanted the face pack! Haha! Baldur's Gate took about 45 minutes to install! Black & White, the original one, gave my wife and kids nothing but problems with every patch I installed to fix the other stuff that was giving them problems!
But my 360? Man, I just slide it in and play! Damn that feels good! With that being said, I still prefer PC gaming (love my mouse and KB), but it is such a pain in the butt to install this stuff, deal with key codes, patch it up, and then all that troubleshooting because something is creating a conflict with something else. Now, for one, this is a by product of one of the benefits of PC over console, it does SO MUCH MORE than play games...but the software and utilities you use to do so much more, or to protect yourself from others doing stuff to you, creates hassles at many times...damn those damn conflicts! Haha!
I could never go to console and leave PC completely...never, but man do I wish we could get to a point where we slide the game in and play....which will probably never happen...if for no other reason than all the customization in PC world (which is yet another reason that makes PC'ing so much fun)...
Looking back at my post...did I actually have a point?
13Bravo -- USHA!!
OK, I get your point, but heres one for you...why didnt you just get a console way back when? Because maybe they were limited to pong? And once a game its downloaded from cd its done. The coming of the 780G for a igp that really can play games, the ideas that the game makers are pushing out , like everything being done on the internet just may elimanate consoles. This article astounded me, as this is exactly how I feel about the future of gaming period. Read it, good stuff http://www.extremetech.com/article [...] 507,00.asp So, you want easy? Its coming. You want better graphics like a pc and still easy? Its coming. You went where the best was, early on. Have the consoles caught up? Yes. Will they last? Thatll be decided in a few short years
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Every artist is a cannibal,every poet is a thief,they all kill their inspiration then sing about their grief
I think Mark Rein at Epic hit the nail on the head when it comes to the decline in PC gaming. There is a HUGE divide between the low end systems and high end ones. It's much bigger than it used to be back in the day. A lot of blame has to be on Intel for pushing to keep their low end integrated GPU in low cost laptops and desktops. With the revised look at software rendering again, this may change (i.e. raytracing), but until then PC gaming will continue to decline with this large difference between systems. Why can't any new system, laptop or desktop, ship with a DX9 capable chip? It doesn't have to be the fastest or best one out there, but it could at least play UT3 at medium res, or even Crysis at lower res. You can even account for WoW's popularity since it can run on a DX7 based system.
Meh. Like or hate what he has to say, he does have a point. If your average person who bought say a new Dell desktop had a "low end" video card that could render DX9 decently as the base level, you'd have more people playing PC games.
really lol hdtvs are like 800 + dollars while a monitor with a similar resolution is like 200. But seriously, it depends on what you like to do. If your really good at gaming then a console generally isn't the way to go because its more about luck than skill... honestly it is... but every household has a computer, or should have a computer... most 600 dollar computers, which you need, come with the equipment to play most current gen games at low detail settings, now granted its not as "purty" as a console but you get to play generally better games and still have the ultimate multi-media platform.
or you could hack a xbox 360 and turn it into a normal comp =P get a 300 medium level computer lol (probably not even possible yet)
PC gaming is as expensive as you are willing to put out in upgrades. The games are allot cheaper then console games. and let's not forget that the pc is not only used for game eh!
PS3 and XBox are cheap because you got it at x-mas and using mom and dad's 52 inch plasma tv to play it on, because let me tell you that PS3 or Xbox looks like crap on the basement 1970's spare tv.
But it's ok the more kids that flock to consoles the better in my opinion leave the pc's to serious gamers
I priced out a 'decent' rig yesterday. Dual core processor, 2 Gigs of ram, ATI 3850, mATX motherboard and Case, dvd burner, mouse / keyboard, an OEM copy of Vista and a logitech gamepad ... everything except a monitor.
Came out to $750.
$750 - $400 (for a PS3) =$350. That's 350 for everything a console can't do. Email, Internet, PORN. 350 sounds reasonable for the added features.
First of all nowaday's, I decent gaming PC may only cost you slightly more than a console. Most people usually have a monitor keyboard mouse speakers etc.
in january I built this system for just over 700 dollars. What was a launch ps3? 599? now xbox and ps3 are hovering around 400. Dont get me started on the wii due to its availability.
MSI p6n platinum
c2d e6750
2gb ddr2 corsair
300gb seagate sata
eVGA 8800GT 512
Arctic cooler freezer pro 7
Everything (aside from crysis I assume, i dont even own it) runs smooth and the graphics are superior to consoles. It will not be a requirement for me to upgrade over the next 2-3 years, but if I want better graphics I will. If I dont mind adjusting the graphics level of future games to remain on par with what I am experiencing now, its not an issue. A consoles graphics level remains the same throughout its life span, where as pc gamers have the OPTION of making it better. Until this upgrade, I was rockin my p4 2.4ghz HT 1.5gb ddr gf4ti/6800gt(the only thing I upgraded in this system ever) for 4 strait years, with full enjoyment being able to play everything I got. Yes things get outdated quickly, but you dont NEED to upgrade just because its out dated, Ps3, xbox, wii are already outdated by computer capability, consoles just don't have the option to upgrade. PC gaming is only expensive if you make it so, by feeling you need to have the latest and greatest all the time.
As far as piracy is concerned (I still just own a PS2, I do intend on getting a PS3, primarily for blu ray and There will be a few console titles I want (SF4)) I dont know the current state of console piracy, but I recall it being a breeze with Playstation 1 and dreamcast(yes I owned one) I wasn't into Console gaming as much when i got my ps2, so i didnt care, and now adays I am an adult and can afford games so trying to stiff the man is a waste of time for me. Anyway when I was in highschool at the height of PS1, all it took was heading down to the local game shop, get it modded, rent a game, burn it, viola! I don't like navigating malware virus land to do whats necessary to aquire pirated pc software.
I think Mark Rein at Epic hit the nail on the head when it comes to the decline in PC gaming. There is a HUGE divide between the low end systems and high end ones. It's much bigger than it used to be back in the day. A lot of blame has to be on Intel for pushing to keep their low end integrated GPU in low cost laptops and desktops. With the revised look at software rendering again, this may change (i.e. raytracing), but until then PC gaming will continue to decline with this large difference between systems. Why can't any new system, laptop or desktop, ship with a DX9 capable chip? It doesn't have to be the fastest or best one out there, but it could at least play UT3 at medium res, or even Crysis at lower res. You can even account for WoW's popularity since it can run on a DX7 based system.
Brought up a good point, computer manufacturers and pc part manufacters are decieving to non techie consumers too. I mean 3-500 dollar basic PC's are a dime a dozen and dont inform people of what it is not capable of. Much like there was a topic earlier about sellers slapping titles like "EXTREME GRAPHICS" on a GF MX card.
Essentially spoiling people into thinking having to spend more than 500 dollars on a PC is ludicrous. IMO PC gaming is as cheap as its ever been before. I was wowed with how cheap i was able to construct a more than gaming worthy PC when I retired my 4 year old dinosaur that was still truckin along at the time. The first PC I personally bought (before I delved into building, so I guess my first and last preassembled pc) cost me 2100 dollars in 1999, that got me a 600 mhz AMD Athlon (I believe 1ghz had just hit the market) Voodoo 3 128 megs of ram, 20g hdd, cdrom, Soudblaster, 56k modem, floppy drive. That system would have been considered about mid range at the time, my current pc would qualify about mid range but cost me 1300 dollars less. that pc also experienced slow down in age of empires, and C&C: tiberian sun. I have yet to experience any slowdown in any new game i have purchased (I dont own crysis, but that doesnt count anyway)
Message edited by tsd16 on 03-26-2008 at 10:23:43 PM
), to dealing with SSI Baseball, Impossible Mission, Summer Games, Beachhead, and the like on a 5 1/4 floppy in the 1541 Drive for the C64, to Pirates and Tony LaRussa Baseball on 3.5" diskettes in my Gateway floppy drive, to Baldurs Gate and Dark Forces on CD for my Dell's, to Half-Life and Earth 2150 on CD for my home build with friend, to RTCW and HL2 (the latter on DVD-ROM) for my Alieanware (Sigh).
