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Denver, 3:57 PM
Thu Nov 12
56 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/01/09
It helped with music pirating. Stores could still sell cards with codes to download.
I don't think a large majority of games are worth $60. To be worth that much you have to have at least Multiplayer and 15+ hours of gameplay. #xboxlive
11/01/09
10/31/09
I avoid piracy because I really don't want to be associated with these types. You can say, "oh, I'm just doing it because imports are too expensive", or, "I only go on XBL with legitimate games". But to me, that's standing too close to jerks that refuse to render ANY payment for their videogame goods.
And as far as XBL goes, there's practically no justification for having a modded system on there, for whatever reason you have one. It violates the TOS you agree to when you make an account.
And there's rarely a time when you can't legitimately acquire a game, especially for modern consoles. It might cost more than even I'd like, but rampant theft isn't going to change that. #xboxlive
11/01/09
The disc reader is on it's last legs so running ISOs is the only effective way to play at all...
I've got a few downloads from the store, and almost every ISO I have downloaded is a game I own the hard copy of (minus about 2-3 of them which I gave to family members)... so modification has effectively gave my PSP new lease of life.
This is far less justifiable on more recent consoles, though I must admit I'm tempted to mod my launch 360 merely to circumvent it's many flaws such as disc scratching (that it regularly commits, contrary to the misinformed belief that it only happens when the console is moved) and the heat issues. I don't see much use in the console any more and could care less about the live community, so modding the machine to play backups of the many games the console has destroyed without fear of it destroying repurchases would, again, give the console new lease on life.
I'm against piracy in general, but sometimes it serves a genuine purpose beyond being a douche! #xboxlive
11/01/09
I guess I'm a bit of a hypocrite, then.
But I think it evolves into a whole new discussion, as to why game companies should phase out content delivery mechanisms with lots of small moving parts that break, like optical disc drives. But at the same time, we at least want a way to transfer the license to someone else... it's annoying being stuck with an unwanted license for a downloadable game.
I think the way content licensing works in the next gen of systems will be a big, big deal. And I don't think the PSP Go model is the answer. The hard disk install option on the 360 and PS3 is a step in the right direction, but where to go from there?
Whatever it is, it's probably patented already. #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
or a job and disposable income #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
But frankly, feeling sorry for folks stealing games isn't going to happen for me. If you want a game, go buy the bloody thing, otherwise you get great games like World of Goo which was awesome and the publisher going bankrupt, causing MORE people to lose their jobs in an already bad economy. #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
yeah, because you could buy the foreign console, game and import
just because its expensive and difficult to do doesnt justify piracy
unless the game devs/producers/whoever say otherwise or give up their rights to the work....its still piracy #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
How is buying a foreign console and game a violation of copyright law? As long as you go through the proper channels of attaining them [taxes and such] from a country you are legally allowed to import from, the game isnt banned in the country, etc... then it would be totally legit. #xboxlive
10/31/09
It may be a violation because in different regions, licenses are sold to different companies. Like Demon's Souls was Sony in JP, but Atlus in NA. I could be wrong though.
Also, in many cases there is no copyright law made for a game that hasn't been released in another region. Copyright laws aren't always international, at least that's my understanding.
EDIT: The company was Lik-sang. See the link
[en.wikipedia.org]
3rd paragraph under history
10/31/09
Resellers are just limited by the local law and the exported market law.
10/31/09
But in the case of a game like, say, Mother 3, what can you do? Nintendo has no plans to release it, it's not legal for an importer to sell it (if Nintendo cared to challenge them), can't read Japanese anyhow, the internet seems to be the only way to get it for someone in NA. #xboxlive
10/31/09
get on a plane, go to japan and buy it
its not practical of course, but hey...put that on your todo list for when you go to Japan, which of course is the much nerdier version of the Hajj
or bug someone you know who goes there or something #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
My point is, in rare cases it IS just easier to pirate/import and nobody's going to be affected by your choice. You can argue legality all you want, but the truth of the matter is that copyright laws are hardly even reasonable in the first place. You're breaking copyright laws if you're on a car with friends and you're playing legally-bought songs from your iPod on it, but nobody's going to get an ulcer over that. Sometimes these laws just get too ridiculous/minor to follow, and at the end of the day not even the developer would care anyway. #xboxlive
10/31/09
11/01/09
then its not piracy...its taking advantage of a lack of a claim which is totally legit (maybe morally dubious, but legally legit) #xboxlive
11/01/09
and yeah, legality laws and copyright are weird...but to argue it, I just wanna point out that saying to play a song that you bought on your iTunes for your iPod in a car stereo is not breaking copyright laws because its still on the original medium that you bought it (all youre doing is playing it through a different sound system)
10/31/09
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating piracy- but I think that game companies need to recognize that pirates do spend money on games via LIVE purchases, and otherwise. Shutting pirates off from LIVE doesn't stop pirates from playing pirated games- it just stops them from paying for extra LIVE features (and if anything telling them to pirate even more- now that they can't play on LIVE). I think it only harms Microsoft's ability to make money off them.
10/31/09
of previous generations in terms of piracy and popularity
Dreamcast - you could burn games to a CDR and play without a mod
Gamecube - you can use the network adapter, a copy of PSO, some software and a PC and stream games to the console
Xbox - you can mod it with just a game save and a copy of a game [several games and respective saves]
P2S - involved extensive and skilled soldering to install a modchip, so it wasnt really easy
really Id say only the PSP and DS have gotten a lot of extra sales because of being easy to mod #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
I didnt even mention the Wii
I was just pointing out specific examples of where easy piracy didnt correlate to popularity and vice versa #xboxlive
10/31/09
Sorry. #xboxlive
10/31/09
If a console is banned, wouldn't that mean that any Xbox Live profiles originating on that console would also lose Live access? If not, what is "console banning" exactly? And if so, doesn't it punish other users? I've always thought the big draw of XBL was that users could access their saves, profiles, etc. from any console anywhere, meaning a pirate who has been identified as such would have his or her account banned -- or IP, or system, I guess, but what does this do to the other user profiles on that system, or to the other profiles of other systems if that pirate hops around often, sometimes between modded and standard Xbox 360s?
10/31/09
And enterprising hackers found a few loopholes, one of which was to downgrade the dashboard, switch a file and update again, unbanned.
Then they got smart and nulled the console id, preventing their system from being banned altogether.
So MS countered by switching tactics, opting to ban live accounts.
Also, MS falsely began banning consoles at one point, as they incorporated a firmware checker which turned out to have a mismatched checksum. Turns out that there was a lot of variance between the various drives released and their official firmwares. So they stopped that.
Now they're targeting idiots who are stupid enough to play prereleased games on Live. And heavily targeting cheaters using hacked saves/glitching on Live. #xboxlive
10/31/09
Because of Piracy.
Hell yeah, we can pla fo free with MA Eksbawaks Threesixty and Da Wee!1111OneOneOne I lUv Torrents i m smat! #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
10/31/09
The hacking of the system, if done right, is almost fool proof. Yes I do have a hacked system, (opened it up after RROD for the 4th time, Thanks M$, and heat gunned the solder on the board, at the same time I flashed the drive thinking what the hell, its out of warranty now anyway and this system is now the possession of a 4 yr old in his playroom who can leave mine alone) but I also have a non-hacked system that I use on Live, to play legitimately owned titles.
Bottom line: Dumb asses get caught. Good. I hope more of them do. #xboxlive
10/31/09
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10/31/09
Alright, I admit it - I loled. #xboxlive
10/31/09
"I love/hate MS!"
"Oh shut up."
10/31/09
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10/31/09
The problem for modders is when a release group puts out a non-retail or bad dump of a game, it's easy for Microsoft to tell that these discs could not be played on an unmodified XBox. Hence the ban.
Also the last couple of updates to the hacked 360 DVD drive firmware have been simply to alter restrictions put in place by the hackers to keep modded consoles from playing bad dumps. The method of detection is fairly well documented and circumvented, but a lot of people just fail.
10/31/09
10/31/09
Well that's a clever statement. May I ask why? #xboxlive
10/31/09
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10/31/09
10/31/09
*sees there could be some cheap hardware for media centers...* #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
Good to see some people got their comeuppance. #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
Doubtful. I work at Gamestop and it's company policy to check 360s (well, all systems) for a removed sticker voiding the warranty. With as bad as modding 360s has gotten, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of stores are really cracking down on their efforts to reduce it, too. #xboxlive
10/31/09
11/02/09
It's not the entire box, it's just the faceplate. Pops right off. And if there is no bright yellow sticker on the front I don't take it. A lot of people don't use the scrutiny that I do, I'm sure, but it's a relatively simple process and is something that is becoming more and more common to see. #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
Even BEFORE they smell your breath? #xboxlive
10/31/09
10/31/09
First, you better stop waving it around like a feather duster! #xboxlive
10/31/09
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10/31/09
Cant blame them though. It's their jobs. The editors must stay in the good graces of the hardware and software developers if they wish to reap the benefits that good relationships with them do bring. #xboxlive
10/31/09
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