5 Anti-Piracy Strategies That Screwed Over Regular Gamers

[Ironman273]

5 Anti-Piracy Strategies That Screwed Over Regular Gamers
By Andrew Heaton 
January 08, 2014


 
Since the dawn of the home gaming era, unscrupulous people have been pirating games, and unscrupulous companies have been trying to stop them. But just as video game graphics take a significant leap forward with every generation, so too does the increasingly inept technology behind copy protection. Only, you know, in the opposite direction.
 

We've talked before about some of the best ways developers have messed with pirates -- now let's look at the other end of the spectrum, in which developers aim for the pirates but instead screw over their paying customers in increasingly ridiculous ways.

#5. Lenslok Games Required a Little Plastic Decoder Gadget (That Didn't Work)

 

Nijmegen 2010, via MSX

 

A pioneer in the "only making things worse" approach to video game copy protection was the Lenslok: a little plastic contraption powered by tiny prisms that apparently sought to negate Atari-era piracy by making the simple act of playing a game so f***ing tedious that you'd end up throwing your primitive console out the window.

 

Via Wikipedia

Nearly 900 people were killed by a rain of Commodore 64s the first year it was out.

 

The way it "worked" was that at certain points in the game, the breathtaking 8-bit graphics you were previously enjoying would become scrambled into an unholy mess of pixels at the center of your television and could only be descrambled by holding the Lenslok up to that part of the screen. Simple, right? Oh, and first you had to calibrate it, adjust it to account for your screen's anti-glare or flatness, and hold the thing precisely at arm's length or else it would only show gibberish. You'd know it was working once you saw the letters "OK."

 

Lenslok, via Torrent Freak

Or, like, a gaping vagina and a K.

 

And you're done, right? Nope! At this point you had to reach for your keyboard (while still holding the Lenslok perfectly still with your other hand) and press a key to reveal a two-letter code on the screen. Enter the code and voila, you are now allowed to continue playing the game you bought, assuming you didn't break your arm performing that last move.

 

But wait, what if your TV was too big or too small for the code to be seen? Then the manufacturer's official solution was "Get f***ed," because the Lenslok was only compatible with the most medium-sized of televisions. Not that it said so anywhere: You had to assume as much after spending hours trying to get the thing to work to no avail. This is all, of course, assuming the packager bothered to put the "extremely easy to use" instructions in your box and that you didn't get the Lenslok intended for a different game (hundreds of people did).

 

Lenslok, via Torrent Freak
The game apologizes and wishes you luck, knowing that this may be the last time it sees you.

 

Right, so, anti-piracy efforts in games didn't get off to a good start. And somehow, they were about to get worse ...

 

Rest of the article at Source: Cracked

[Lovell]

Online only and install limits which had zero effect on pirates and only screwed over legit customers, good job.

[McKay]

Online only and install limits which had zero effect on pirates and only screwed over legit customers, good job.

 

Yeah, can't believe "always on" isn't on the list.

[timster]

have there been any anti-piracy measure that actually benefited those that aren't pirates?

[Ironman273]

Yeah, can't believe "always on" isn't on the list.

That was #1!

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

have there been any anti-piracy measure that actually benefited those that aren't pirates?

i have to say no. i remember the old days when pirating games was easy. Use the crack or provided code and away you go.

 

then i matured and got a real job so i could actually afford games. since then, these piracy protections have only inhibited gaming. i remember playing one of the Splinter Cell games a few years ago. the hoops you had to jump through just to play the game was staggering. Sign in w/ Uplay, activate w/ their servers, keep your internet connection running, sync w/ their servers, load your game, check your cd-key over and over. jesus.

[MillionVoltss]

Was spore any good ? Although its Still ?29.99 on Steam .... Really ?

[McKay]

i have to say no. i remember the old days when pirating games was easy. Use the crack or provided code and away you go.

 

then i matured and got a real job so i could actually afford games. since then, these piracy protections have only inhibited gaming. i remember playing one of the Splinter Cell games a few years ago. the hoops you had to jump through just to play the game was staggering. Sign in w/ Uplay, activate w/ their servers, keep your internet connection running, sync w/ their servers, load your game, check your cd-key over and over. jesus.

 

I have a gaming PC and consoles, normally I get multiplats on PC. My exception to this is any Ubisoft games, I will get it on Console because I refuse to use the Uplay game client, it's so horrible it makes Origin seem good.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

Was spore any good ? Although its Still ?29.99 on Steam .... Really ?

Spore was supposed to be the end-all game from God and turned out to be a turd. dont bother, but if you do, do it legally :P

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

Was spore any good ? Although its Still ?29.99 on Steam .... Really ?

 

The early stages of the game are really fun but it nose dives after that. Worst still, those early stages only last ~10 mins. The potential the game had was never realized, sadly. It drops to <?5 quite often on Origin, so if you're interested wait for a sale.

 

I have a gaming PC and consoles, normally I get multiplats on PC. My exception to this is any Ubisoft games, I will get it on Console because I refuse to use the Uplay game client, it's so horrible it makes Origin seem good.

 

I can't believe it doesn't even have a close to tray option.

 

I don't have an issue with the client itself though. It's barebones so doesn't cause any issues, but then doesn't really have any reason to exist either.

[Torolol]

the only known good anti-piracy that actually benefited legitimate/non-pirate gamer,

is when SNES cartridges was embedded with custom CPU which add functionality (graphics & sound) that normally not possible with standard SNES hardware.

As those CPU functionally are virtually un-duplicate-able, its also behave as anti-piracy measures because said games wont work without it.

 

Actually its take some years for the emulator developer to finally able to emulates such cpu.

[Eric Veteran]

Lenslok wasn't too bad for Elite. It only authenticated at startup.

[Max Norris]

Yea, they still haven't learned. Having to crack a few games that I own? Reeeealy wanting to keep me legit huh?

Was spore any good ? Although its Still ?29.99 on Steam .... Really ?

Eh wasn't for me, didn't hold my interest much -- my daughter likes it quite a bit though, still plays it semi-regularly.

[GotBored]

Yeah, can't believe "always on" isn't on the list.

 

Its under the #1 Anti-Piracy Strategies that screwed over gamers.

 

"Once you logged in to your game and it verified that you owned a legal copy, you had to remain online at all times so that it could constantly check back to make sure you didn't suddenly start using a pirated one. Because apparently you could be stealing and playing other copies of Spore, like, for the thrill of it, or something. It's as if the TSA didn't just check you before boarding the plane, but followed you all through your vacation and frisked you as you stood in line at Disney World."

[compl3x]

Anti-Piracy straegies are pointless. And there is no shortage of examples to prove it. I suppose investors won't take to kindly to publishers saying they aren't going to implement any system to combat piracy so they implement anything, even something that pisses off those of us who buy our games. Thanks, a--holes.

[Raa]

StarForce.

 

Need I say more? (N)

[123456789A]

have there been any anti-piracy measure that actually benefited those that aren't pirates?

 

The ones that told you to look in the manual and find word #3 in paragraph #2 on page #37 helped kids learn to count and read. Very good educational benefits.

[Torolol]

The ones that told you to look in the manual and find word #3 in paragraph #2 on page #37 helped kids learn to count and read. Very good educational benefits.

that was fine until they decided to ship the games with remodeled manual with different different layout to cut some cost.

 

i remember got hit by that, and i was forced to hunt for older manual, no internet at that time.

[Sir Topham Hatt]

While I understand anti-piracy junk is there to delay the pirate release, what I don't understand is why it's so difficult?

Why not tie a game to a motherboard (using a MAC code?) then if you upgrade your PC, you simply have to renew the licence to the new gear, where it stops working on the old stuff.

But then I am not a anti-piracy engineer!

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

The largest anti-piracy strategy that screws over regular gamers is:

 

0) The fact that companies expect you to pay for their stuff.

 

Pirates can't get it that way because the money is used as a deterrent for them getting the game. But, now I have to pay the money the pirates won't. :angry:

[riahc3]

Hello,

But then I am not a anti-piracy engineer!

No you are not.

While I understand anti-piracy junk is there to delay the pirate release, what I don't understand is why it's so difficult?

Why not tie a game to a motherboard (using a MAC code?) then if you upgrade your PC, you simply have to renew the licence to the new gear, where it stops working on the old stuff.

A MAC address can be easyly spoofed. What about if you have 10 network cards? Which would you assign it to?

Another thing, what if the license server for renewing got shut down?

The only way is the Xbox One way: Online always. Sorry army guys. A software constantly looking up a certified server cannot be cracked. No offline bypass, nothing. Its the only antipirate measure that can be done. And even then, legit customers will have problems with the server.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

While I understand anti-piracy junk is there to delay the pirate release, what I don't understand is why it's so difficult?

Why not tie a game to a motherboard (using a MAC code?) then if you upgrade your PC, you simply have to renew the licence to the new gear, where it stops working on the old stuff.

But then I am not a anti-piracy engineer!

It's easy for hackers to break simple mechanisms like that: It'd be single byte branch modification in the binary. That's why DRM schemes are so convoluted, because it has to be all kinds of convoluted to raise the bar for the hacker to break it.

 

 

The only way is the Xbox One way: Online always. Sorry army guys. A software constantly looking up a certified server cannot be cracked. No offline bypass, nothing. Its the only antipirate measure that can be done. And even then, legit customers will have problems with the server.

This assumes the software itself isn't modifiable to break online checks. It's generally a good assumption on restricted hardware that only runs signed code (until said mechanisms are broken either via hardware modifications or software hacks), but it doesn't work on open platforms.

 

I'd have to add to the requirement that the certified server be integral to playing the game in some form. That way a compromised and modified game still needs to access the server for gameplay features. This raises the bar quite a lot because it means hackers would be required to emulate the server functionality itself.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Sim City had a double barrelled DRM scheme, always online to ensure you couldn't play single player by yourself, and just bad gameplay to ensure you wouldn't want to pirate it.

...

The only way is the Xbox One way: Online always. Sorry army guys. A software constantly looking up a certified server cannot be cracked. No offline bypass, nothing. Its the only antipirate measure that can be done. And even then, legit customers will have problems with the server.

Well for starters it can totally be cracked, and the Xbone wasn't always online, it was a daily check.

[Osiris]

haha thanks for sharing the article, got a good laugh at this part
 

it could constantly check back to make sure you didn't suddenly start using a pirated one. Because apparently you could be stealing and playing other copies of Spore, like, for the thrill of it, or something. It's as if the TSA didn't just check you before boarding the plane, but followed you all through your vacation and frisked you as you stood in line at Disney World.

[Osiris]

Really the only successful anti piracy mechanism is tieing the game into a server like Diablo III, yes they can be emulated and cracked but its so much bother, buggy and you can't play with your friends that its just not worth it.