It seems as though some stores in Australia have been selling advance copies of the game a few days before the official release date.

Over the weekend, a Warez group called “RELOADED” has managed to crack the copy protection on the game and now it is being downloaded by hundreds of cheapskates over bittorrent.

Spore Cracked by “RELOADED” Group [Game Viper]

“We commend the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of Virginia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work in bringing these criminals to justice,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA... “These decisions illustrate, once again, that game piracy will not be tolerated and the extent at which these criminals will be prosecuted. The ESA and its members will continue to support law enforcement’s efforts to protect the intellectual property of our industry.”

It's just another friendly way of saying don't f*** with the ESA.

ESA APPLAUDS PRISON SENTENCES FOR NEW YORK AND FLORIDA GAME PIRATES

August 28, 2008 – Washington, DC – The Entertainment Software Association today applauded the recent sentencings of two convicted pirates to significant prison time. These rulings send a clear message that intellectual property theft and game piracy are serious offenses. On August 20, 2008, U.S. District Judge Frank D. Whitney in the Western District of North Carolina sentenced Kevin Fuchs of West Amherst, NY, to eight months in prison, to be followed by eight months of home confinement during two years of court supervision. On August 15, 2008, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Kifah Maswadi of Oakland, FL, to fifteen months in prison, followed by three years’ supervised release and fifty hours of community service. Maswadi was also ordered to pay $415,900 in restitution.

“We commend the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of North Carolina and the Eastern District of Virginia and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work in bringing these criminals to justice,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, the trade group representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. “These decisions illustrate, once again, that game piracy will not be tolerated and the extent at which these criminals will be prosecuted. The ESA and its members will continue to support law enforcement’s efforts to protect the intellectual property of our industry.”

On January 3, 2007, Fuchs plead guilty to conspiring to reproduce and distribute copyrighted works, including entertainment software. Fuchs played a key role in the “warez scene” where he was a “supplier,” whose role was to obtain pre-release copies of copyrighted software, and a “tester” who checked the functionality of pirated software after the copy protection was removed or bypassed by other warez scene members. This case was part of Operations Fastlink and Site Down, two of the largest piracy investigations conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice. The operations targeted “warez groups,” which illegally distribute copyrighted movies, games, software and movies online.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation field office in Charlotte, NC, handled the investigation of defendant Fuch’s activities. Trial Attorneys Richard D. Green and John Zacharia of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Klumb, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Ellis of the Western District of North Carolina, handled the prosecution.

The Fuchs sentencing comes on the heels of a fifteen month sentence imposed on a Florida game pirate. On June 3, 2008, Kifah Maswadi pleaded guilty to one count of criminal copyright infringement. He admitted to selling “Power Players,” which are game systems that connect directly to a television and were pre-loaded with at least 76 pirated copies of video games. From 2006 to 2007, Maswadi sold these game systems containing illegal copies of games via the Internet and earned more than $390,000 through this illegal activity. Maswadi was facing up to three years in prison but received a reduced sentence for cooperating with the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation field offices in Washington, DC, Tampa, FL, and Jacksonville, FL, handled the investigation of defendant Maswadi’s activities. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay V. Prabhu and Trial Attorney Tyler G. Newby of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section handled the prosecution.

The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. The ESA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the E3 Media & Business Summit, business and consumer research, federal and state government relations, First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts. For more information, please visit www.theESA.com.

# # #

Rather than just a normal and a collectors edition, shouldn't we go further? The idea of being able to pay for gameplay advantage in an online game is hideous, but some Asian MMOs have done very well by charging players for cosmetic improvements. The idea of 'free game, charge people for hats' is much talked about in industry circles. There’s no reason why this can't be extended in a different way.

Take a game like Call of Duty 4. I loved it, and enjoyed it online and off. I'd have happily paid £50 rather than £30 for it. But some people ONLY wanted it for online play. Some of them might have used voice chat (I don't bother) and maybe some of them could only run it on low-resolution or detail. Why do we all pay the same price? Conversely I hate paying for the campaigns in Company of Heroes. I never play them, just skirmish and online.

I've found a lot of people to be suspicious of the microtransaction model in games, mostly for fear of poorer service and/or nickel and diming to death. I think the ability to pay for just what you want is nice — there are plenty of games floating around on my shelves with functionality I never use (or have used maybe once). It's an interesting article on potentials for more modular games in the future.

The Economy of Happiness [bit-tech.net via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Asked about it in an interview with Eurogamer, EA Sports boss Peter Moore called that practice a bad idea. "I'm not a huge fan of trying to punish your consumer," he said. "Albeit these people have clearly stolen intellectual property, I think there are better ways of resolving this within our power as developers and publishers."

Moore went on:

"Yes, we've got to find solutions," Moore continued. "We absolutely should crack down on piracy. People put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into their content and deserve to get paid for it. It's absolutely wrong, it is stealing.

"But at the same time I think there are better solutions than chasing people for money. I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games.

"If we learned anything from the music business, they just don't win any friends by suing their consumers. Speaking personally, I think our industry does not want to fall foul of what happened with music."

I'm sure it's a lot easier for Moore to say that when his bottom line is waaaaaaay better than Atari's, or these other five. Still, it stands to reason EA titles are swapped around too, although to what extent — and what EA's threshold of pain is — I don't know. Yet Moore says he's not aware of any EA plans to join these five and "chase down consumers."

Moore Warns Against Suing File-Sharers [Eurogamer]
Computer Games Industry Threat to Downloaders: "Pay Up or We'll Sue" [The Times of London via Eurogamer]

Doroshow, who start his new position at the ESA in September, replacing Gail Markels who was let go when the ESA's New York office was shuttered in March.

“The ESA continues to attract and recruit the brightest individuals. Ken has remarkable expertise in the protection of intellectual property and an excellent understanding of the increasingly connected, dynamic, and innovative entertainment environment we live in,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. “The computer and video game industry will be well-protected with Ken’s guidance and I know he will help facilitate our growth to even greater heights.”

One can't help but wonder if Doroshow's appointment, the announcement of which comes on the heels of some pretty draconian piracy enforcement in the UK, could signal a change in the approach the world's software associations, including the Entertainment Software Association, is taking in their anti-piracy efforts.

ESA TAPS FORMER RECORDING INDUSTRY EXECUTIVE, KENNETH DOROSHOW, AS NEW GENERAL COUNSEL

AUGUST 19, 2008 - WASHINGTON, DC – Kenneth Doroshow, former executive at the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and senior counsel to the United States Department of Justice, is the Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) new General Counsel, the association announced today. Doroshow will start his new position at the ESA in September.

“The ESA continues to attract and recruit the brightest individuals. Ken has remarkable expertise in the protection of intellectual property and an excellent understanding of the increasingly connected, dynamic, and innovative entertainment environment we live in,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. “The computer and video game industry will be well-protected with Ken’s guidance and I know he will help facilitate our growth to even greater heights.”

Doroshow served as Senior Vice President, Litigation and Legal Affairs for the RIAA, the trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry. As the head of the RIAA’s litigation department, he led efforts to protect the copyrighted works of recording artists and managed cutting-edge anti-piracy lawsuits against companies like LimeWire, Usenet.com and AllofMP3.com.

“Ken has been such a solid and dynamic leader at the RIAA. His spirit, diligence, intelligence and legal capacity made him a very special part of our team and we know he will be an outstanding addition to the ESA senior management,” said Mitch Bainwol, chairman and CEO of the RIAA. “We’ll miss Ken, but look forward to working together for years to come advancing the interests of content innovation.”

Before joining the RIAA, Doroshow was Senior Counsel with the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the United States Department of Justice. Charged with responsibility as a criminal prosecutor and manager of international criminal intellectual property enforcement policy, he played a key role in the largest-ever multinational criminal investigation of software piracy over the Internet.

“The copyright community is fortunate to have strong advocates in Washington at a number of trade associations who are working on their behalf, and I am so pleased to see one of these seasoned professionals continue this work to the benefit of the entire creative community. Ken brings a wealth of intellectual property knowledge and experience to the Entertainment Software Association,” said Patrick Ross, executive director of the Copyright Alliance. “He has worked in multiple facets of the copyright industries and will be a knowledgeable addition to the ESA. The Copyright Alliance looks forward to continuing to work with Ken in this new role.”

Doroshow graduated from Cornell Law School and clerked for the Honorable Joseph L. Tauro of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Prior to his service with the Department of Justice, Doroshow was with the litigation practices of the Washington, DC law firm Covington & Burling and the Washington office of New York firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

The Entertainment Software Association is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. The ESA offers services to interactive entertainment software publishers including a global anti-piracy program, owning the E3 Media & Business Summit, business and consumer research, federal and state government relations, First Amendment and intellectual property protection efforts. For more information, please visit www.theESA.com.

###

The reasons pirates traffic his games, Harris found, were roughly (list quoted from Ars Technica)
• The information wants to/free anarchists think copyright shouldn't exist.
• Games are too expensive.
• The quality of gaming is too uneven.
• DRM is hurting the legitimate customers.
• Going to the shops is annoying.
• Because piracy is easy to do with low risk for getting caught.

Harris' response:
• Zero DRM. He said he only used it in one game before. He sees it as counterproductive, giving honest gamers an experience that treats them like criminals while the pirates have a cleaner, superior version.
• Longer demo game experiences.
• Reduced pricing: He dropped the cost of Kudos to $9.95 and will consider selling its sequel for far less than he'd planned.
• Regarding quality:

I get the impression that if I make Kudos 2 not just lots better than the original, but hugely, overwhelmingly, massively better, well polished, designed and balanced, that a lot of would-be pirates will actually buy it. I've gone from being demoralized by pirates to actually inspired by them, and I'm working harder than ever before on making my games fun and polished.

It's an intriguing back-and-forth involving pirates who aren't treated like thieves, and a victim who won't portray himself as such.

Genuine Call for Emails from Pirates [Cliffski's Blog, Positech]
Talking to Pirates (Harris' reply) [via Arstechnica]

Steve Taylor's company, Wahoo Studios, alternates between contracting for publishers and producing self-published titles through their indie label, NinjaBee. He notes that working through online distribution portals is not much different from working with traditional publishers. "Portals and other distributions services impose their own rules and limitations. Supposedly indie-friendly distribution options like Steam and Instant Action still have subjective gatekeepers."

He maintains that the stark reality of remaining solvent often overshadows the dream of creative freedom. "If you want your game to make money, you have to consider what will sell, and this means adapting your pure creative vision to match the real world. Besides, do you really have the resources to achieve your ultimate creative vision? "

These fledgling entrepreneurs have also discovered their rebel status doesn't make them immune to piracy. With most indies struggling to make ends meet, they feel its impact directly in their own wallets. "Since we are a small developer that has a hard time getting attention, you would think we would have very little piracy," says Peeler. "Unfortunately, that's not the case at all. It's depressing how many sites are pirating Depths of Peril."

It's an interesting look at the transition and why people decide to make the leap (and sometimes do so unsuccessfully). Despite a look at some of the problems, the article is positive overall in terms of what these mainstream-to-indie 'rogues' are getting out of being their own masters.

Going Rogue [The Escapist]

I'm not sure about how Capcom in general feels but It's not doing as well as I would like in the US at retail. It's such a good version and it really deserves better sales. I know it's getting pirated to hell and back (it was up on torrents literally the day it shipped).

Leading Capcom to throw their hands up and complain about the state of piracy in the PC market, right? Nope! Svensson instead goes on in great detail about the company's big plans for future digital distribution on the platform, which is encouraging reading for the kind of people that think playing DMC4 on a PC is a good idea.

Are Capcom pleased with DMC4's PC sales? [Capcom]

Nintendo takes a global approach to piracy and has pursued the illegal game copying devices in 11 countries this past year.

Nintendo has worked with enforcement officials in Belgium, China, Denmark, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Korea, Netherlands, Spain, UK, and the US, seizing close to 30,000 infringing game copying products, as well as taking actions against those distributors and manufacturers.

Good for them! Problem is, this kind of approach is about as effective as those "police announce record drug bust" stories on TV. 30,000 "products"? That's not even a drop in the ocean. Issuing bold PR statements like that isn't showing us you're making progress. It's only drawing attention to the fact you're not.

Nintendo: 30,000 illegal pirate devices seized so far in '08 [GI.biz]

DS: The Shocking Truth [MCV]

MTV Multiplayer asked BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka, and he says the key is pretty simple: make it worth the customer's while to buy the product, with ongoing DLC releases, an enduring multiplayer experience and a good relationship with the players:

“We’re doing a lot of post-release downloadable content on all of our PC titles going forward,” said BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka to me last week. “We think it’s a good thing to encourage players to make them want to buy a PC title. That’s ultimately the best, most successful path to prevent piracy is to have players that want your games, want to believe in them and think they’re high-quality and realize they’re going to get a lot of value out of them as platforms for long time afterwards.”

Muzyka also told Multiplayer that we can expect Dragon Age to follow the same long-tail pattern as Mass Effect. Now that online play and downloadable content is such a huge part of gaming's business model, PC games seem to be leading the shift away from the idea of a game as a one-off retail product and more towards the idea of "software as a service," which is a win-win situation.

BioWare’s Answer To PC Piracy: DLC, Multiplayer, Loyal Fans [MTV Multiplayer]

There's a nice look back on various forms of copy protection and games. If you make it, they will pirate it - and it's an entertaining look back at some of the ways companies have tried to outsmart the piraters, sometimes somewhat successfully and sometimes not at all. But is there ever going to be an end in sight?:

With bandwidth expanding and more and more games publishers exploring digital distribution, there's little doubt that we're entering a new phase in the history of copy protection and those who would defeat it. What's more, the demand for games as a chosen form of entertainment has never been higher. All this considered, it's impossible to believe that the cat-and-mouse game of piracy and copy protection will not reach new levels of intensity, with new technologies deployed on each side, and that some of them will surely create new hurdles for even those who simply wish to purchase and play the newest games. Ah, for the heady days of the code wheel.

I'm always entertained to see what new forms of copy protection crop up in weird places, but when watching surreptitious deals going on in Taipei or even seeing the amount of odd stuff one can find on the internet, it does seem like something of a losing battle, no? At least the old school manuals and inbox extras required to complete a game were creative, if nothing else.

A History of Copy Protection [Next Generation via PlayNoEvil]

组装来袭——组装Wii遥控器和摇杆手柄评测 [YYJoy, via Wii Fanboy]

Gamasutra has a nice wrap up of an event held at Valve's Washington offices; the topic was (surprise!) PC gaming. On the question of whether PCs are really lagging behind:

"Is there a crisis in [PC] gaming?" asked [Gabe] Newell, who led the first segment of the talk. "You know, 'Piracy killed my game,' 'Console numbers are huge,' 'People don't want to play their PCs in the living room' - all these stories get written over and over again, and our view is that it's exactly the opposite. PC is where all the action is, and there's a perception problem."

Also on the agenda was a discussion of piracy (and indicator of "unserved customers"), the worldwide PC market, and how Steam and Valve fit into this whole PC new order.

PC Has 'Perception Problem,' Piracy Reflects 'Unserved Customers' [Gamasutra]

Especially funny are the pirate "mega-carts," which can contain up to 52 pirated games in on a single cartridge, giving you a hilarious label list of names like "Pokemon Snoopy," "Play Spider," "Man Spider," "Nice Castelan" "Mr. Dr. Mario" and "Robot Dr. Mario."

Apparently Pokemon games are a pirate fave - sadly "Diamond and Jade" is not canon. One knockoff even features Meowth singing an evil version of Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On". You can't make this stuff up:

The game revolves around beating enemy critters and collecting their phone number. The original idea from Telefang is a little bizarre as it stands, but the hackers decided to replace the call for aid with small talk between the protagonist and his collection of monsters.

The boxes were thrown together in typical pirate fashion with an image from Miyazaki’s anime “Princess Mononoke” as a sample monster. While a large number of the cartridges are filled with game crashing bugs, and despite the subpar translation, Pokemon Diamond and Jade are at least playable and the only way to play these Pseudomon clones in English.

Bizarre Bootlegs - The Lighter Side of Piracy [British Gaming Blog]

I think that we've arrived at a point now where I don't know how anyone could ever possibly justify pirating a game. I just don't know how anyone could consider that a cool thing to do - it's not. It sucks.

NVIDIA bombards PC game pirates [Eurogamer]

The official Mass Effect FAQ explains it all.

For instance, you can install your copy of Mass Effect on three separate machines, but all must be internet enabled if you expect to play the game you paid for, as SecuROM will check every time you run MassEffect.exe. This sort of overprotection is nothing new, as "Neverwinter Nights, Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Mass Effect all use SecuROM in some manner" says the FAQ.

Concerned? Pssh! Don't be! The Mass Effect PC FAQ says EA Support is ready for a beating.

EA is ready and we are confident there will be no server problems. EA has assured us that they have their authorization systems and customer support staff in place and ready for the launch of Mass Effect for PC. Anyone having issues with getting the game activated will be able to contact EA Support and get their problem resolved.

Spore is similarly planned to take advantage of the SecuROM copy protection system, one that we're sure is going to eliminate every illegitimate copy of the game from appearing on torrent trackers for at least 48 hours. Take that, piracy! RIP! Owned! Etc!

Mass Effect for PC System Specs, SecuROM and FAQ [Mass Effect Community via The Angry Pixel]

Piracy's a big issue on the PC. I can't turn a blind eye to the fact that it's very difficult for us...and we lose money making a game. At some point, I have an obligation not to bring out products that lose money.

Neither Rockstar nor Microsoft itself have yet responded to Kotaku's requests for comment. Neither has Sony commented on any action it might take regarding video of the game being played on its network — video that GameTrailers, for its part, has since pulled — so it's unclear yet how any of them plan to address the software pirates.

Xbox Live's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, did say, however, that he was unable to comment yet due to the "need to look into this further," so we can assume that Microsoft, at least, is investigating.

A UAE national said he was one of the people who was shocked to discover that the game was distributed in commercial areas, including the Central Souq, Al Rolla and sports shops in Nuammiya. "I knew that it was banned, but many of my friends were able to buy pirated copies from Dh5 to Dh10. I was shocked to see how much it contradicted Islamic values," said Khalid Bin Deemas, adding that it was dangerous as the video game was popular among children.

All concerned government departments are instructed to prohibit the sale of God of War and games like it, confiscating copies when they are found.

It's interesting to see how games are received in other countries. In the United States, the killing of ancient Greek gods is hardly a reason to try and get a game, though I am surprised the topless women and sex scenes didn't have people picketing in droves.

It's also refreshing to see that the mainstream media is the same no matter what beat they cover, as evidenced by the way the article was closed.

Have you noticed increased bad behaviour in a child that could be attributed to violent video games? Tell us about it. Are there enough regulations to check the sale of video games to minors?

Crackdown against banned videogame [Gulfnews]

Well Nintendo is on to them too.

In one case on March 26, law enforcement in New York raided seven stores that were known fronts for faux Pokemon cards, seizing thousands of cards and making several arrests. In another earlier this month a Chinese production facility was raided and nearly 1.2 million Pokecards seized.

Nintendo says that during the past 16 months alone more than 47 million counterfeit pokemon cards have been seized at facilities around the world. One seizure alone in China netted 26 million cards.

"Pokémon wants to send a message to importers and producers that we will not stand for the distribution of fraudulent Pokémon product," says Pokémon spokesperson, J.C. Smith. "Pokémon is committed to ensuring our fans receive the quality product they've come to expect."

Wait, hold the phone! Pokemon have a spokesperson? Where the hell have they been during the long plight of the caged Pokemon. Why haven't they had a word with Gabe?

Mexican Law Enforcement Raids Pirate Game Facilities in Mexico City ESA Applauds Protecting Legitimate Computer and Video Games Washington, DC - March 17, 2008 - The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) commended the Procuraduría General de la República (PGR) and the Agencia Federal de Investigacion (AFI) for their recent raids of four facilities involved in burning pirate copies of video games in the notorious Tepito area in Mexico City. Working with local representatives of the ESA, over 500 law enforcement officers raided the four pirate game duplication facilities and three other storage locations, seizing roughly 290 DVD/CD burners, 28,800 illegal copies of video games and more than 900,000 video game cover inserts. "Mexico is an important market for ESA members due to the enormous popularity of entertainment software," said Ric Hirsch, senior vice president for Intellectual Property Enforcement at the ESA, the trade association representing U.S. computer and video game publishers. "Unfortunately, Mexico also has an alarmingly high rate of game software piracy that by our estimates reaches 88%. We are very grateful for the efforts of PGR, its Specialized Unit on Investigation of Crimes Committed against Industrial Property and Copyrights (UEIDDAPI), the prosecutors that were assigned to this case, and AFI in attacking the sources of pirate video games circulating in Mexico City markets, as such enforcement actions are the best way to reduce high levels of game piracy." The Tepito market is one of the most popular shopping areas in Mexico City and is a local center of black market activity, including the manufacture and sale of pirated computer and video games. ESA and its local counsel have been investigating pirate game traffickers in Tepito for several months. The raids and seizures highlight the ready availability of pirated entertainment software product, making it extremely difficult for legitimate game retailers to earn a profit. The ESA is the U.S. association dedicated to serving the business and public affairs needs of the companies publishing interactive games for video game consoles, handheld devices, personal computers, and the Internet. ESA members collectively account for more than 90 percent of the $9.5 billion in entertainment software sales in the U.S. in 2007, and billions more in export sales of entertainment software. For more information about the ESA, please visit www.theESA.com.

1) Assassin's Creed - 25734
2) Frontlines: Fuel of War - 12688
3) Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat - 8792
4) Dark Messiah of Might and Magic - 8402
5) Lost: Via Domus - 5883
6) Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - 5183
7) Sims 2 - 4026
8 ) The Club - 3672
9) Bioshock - 3489
10) The Witcher - 3121
11) Need for Speed ProStreet - 3061
12) Crysis - 2847
13) Conflict: Denied Ops - 2085
14) Neverwinter Nights 2 - 1893
15) Hellgate: London - 1750
16) World in Conflict - 1531
17) Stranglehold - 1459
18) The Orange Box - 1341
19) Age of Empires - 1099
20) Flat Out 2 - 1074

Couple of things to note: first, the copy of Assassin's Creed is a preview build of the game that won't let you into Jerusalem. So it's more a demo than a game. Second, Gillen's maths skills show just why piracy makes Call of Duty 4 devs Infinity Ward so sad:

Thirdly, let's try a little really rough - if conservative - maths. Call of Duty 4 has been on sale for 113 days, assuming day zero piracy. A seven gig torrent, assuming a 100k download speed, takes just under a day to download. Assuming that the rate of downloads now is constant across those whole three and a bit months - which is incredibly conservative, of course, as it'd have been much higher upon release - that means 993496 copies will have been illegally downloaded via Mininova alone.

The 1000:1 ratio is really, I think, the key takeaway of the article. Several people have grasped that and started applying it to different numbers in the industry, and the results are very disappointing.

Clearly, if we could always have a big gain from a fix that maintains itself, it is worth spending the time to fight piracy. However, since that isn't always the case, it can sometimes (often?) be pretty discouraging to try and stop piracy.

One of my favorite blogs deals with the issue of piracy relatively frequently, and I'm interested in the pirated goods market in Asia - but Mainland bootleggers are the least of some companies' worries. I think as long as people are selling things, there are going to be people out there trying to figure out how to get it for free; but I'd be curious to know what companies have found to be most successful in terms of trying to stem the tide.

Piracy & Casual Games - The Follow-Up [GameSetWatch]

His targets? Piracy on the PC platform and dealing with hardware vendors, two factors which make developing for the platform "an uphill slog", are at least partially to blame.

Fitch says that Titan Quest actually did okay. But that's about as positive as his venting gets.

"We didn't lose money on it," he says. "But if even a tiny fraction of the people who pirated the game had actually spent some god-damn money for their 40+ hours of entertainment, things could have been very different today."

Fitch goes on to lament, "Some really good people made a seriously good game, and they might still be in business if piracy weren't so rampant on the PC. That's a fact." He also points to distressing data that "pegs the piracy rate at between 70-85% on PC in the US, 90%+ in Europe, off the charts in Asia."

The whole thing is at parts depressing and enraging, but also worth the read if you didn't catch the link to it in our comments section earlier.

Venting my frustrations with PC game-dev [Quarter To Three Forums]

"It inconveniences a little but now they know why. And then we can get the economics back in line and maybe we can actually start offering it up at a lower price point in the future. So it will come around full circle"

NINTENDO ASKS U.S. TO ADDRESS VIDEO GAME PIRACY PROBLEMS WORLDWIDE

Nintendo Calls Out China, Korea, Brazil, Hong Kong, Paraguay, Mexico

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 14, 2008 - Nintendo of America Inc. has asked the U.S. Trade Representative to encourage specific governments around the world to take a more aggressive stance to combat piracy of Nintendo video games and systems. Nintendo filed its comments under a "Special 301" process, in which the U.S. Trade Representative solicits input from the public to underscore specific areas of concern.

While China remains the primary source of manufacturing pirated Nintendo DS™ and Wii™ games, Korea has emerged as the leader in distributing illegal game files via the Internet. Despite aggressive anti-piracy actions taken by Nintendo, Brazil and Mexico remain saturated with counterfeit Nintendo software. Meanwhile, Paraguay and Hong Kong continue to serve as major transshipment points for global distribution of illegal goods.

"The unprecedented momentum enjoyed by Nintendo DS and Wii makes Nintendo an attractive target for counterfeiters," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's senior director of anti-piracy. "We estimate that in 2007, Nintendo, together with its publishers and developers, suffered nearly $975 million USD worldwide in lost sales as a result of piracy. Nintendo will continue to work with governments around the world to aggressively curtail this illegal activity."

Below is a summary of Nintendo's filing:

OVERALL: Nintendo recommends stronger laws in all countries against the circumvention of technological security measures. Video game pirates have developed DS game-copying devices and modification chips to target the security found in Nintendo's hardware systems and allow the play of counterfeit software or games illegally downloaded via the Internet.

CHINA: China must pursue criminal prosecutions against people involved in large-scale piracy operations. Nintendo works with Chinese authorities, who seized more than 1 million fake Nintendo products in China during the past year. But not one counterfeiter has been prosecuted.

KOREA: Nintendo supports the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, but suggests that it must be ratified immediately to address service providers who are profiting from the uploading and downloading of illegal Nintendo content. Korea is an important market for Nintendo, and Internet piracy is seriously affecting the growth of the video game industry in the country.

CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA: Latin America remains a haven for piracy. Evidence supporting this claim includes escalated violence in Mexico against police conducting anti-piracy raids, extraordinarily high tariffs and taxes placed on the sale of authentic video games in Brazil and widespread corruption in Paraguay. During the past year, Nintendo assisted local authorities with more than 65 actions that resulted in the seizure of approximately 230,000 counterfeit Nintendo games in Brazil, Mexico and Paraguay alone. Despite Nintendo's efforts, the piracy levels continued to rise. Nintendo is calling for significant changes to laws and to the enforcement regimes in those countries.

Squeenix's general counsel Yasuhiko Hasegawa offers an apology of sorts to fans who lived for this sort of crap.

While Square Enix appreciates the enthusiasm of its fans, and values its relationship with them, it is also obligated to protect its intellectual property rights or risk weakening or losing the very rights that enable the company to continue to provide its fans with an exciting entertainment experience.

SQUARE ENIX Files Federal Lawsuit Against Alleged Infringers of FINAL FANTASY Franchise

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ — SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD., a Tokyo-based leading digital entertainment content company (Square Enix), announced today that it had filed a federal lawsuit in the Central District of California against alleged infringers of Square Enix's intellectual property. The lawsuit names at least four wholesalers of unlicensed sword replicas and their principals, which have willfully infringed four videogames and one CG-animated film in Square Enix's FINAL FANTASY(R) franchise. Additional defendants may be added to this lawsuit. By filing this lawsuit, Square Enix is stepping up its anti-piracy enforcement with aggressive initiatives against individuals and organizations involved in the theft and unauthorized use of the company's intellectual properties. This lawsuit follows multiple confidential settlements with various retailers of similar infringing items, each of which involved the payment of a substantial financial penalty.

The current lawsuit is a result of cooperation with the United States Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Patrol, whose agents seized a crate of counterfeit replica swords. These seized swords had been designed to replicate the unique swords featured in Square Enix's FINAL FANTASY franchise. Square Enix conducted a thorough investigation to identify the primary wholesalers and retailers of these unauthorized products in the United States. The targets of the current lawsuit have refused to cooperate with Square Enix.

"We are actively pursuing those who commit intellectual property infringement against our company," said Yasuhiko Hasegawa, Square Enix's General Counsel. "Any illegal activities, including the sale and distribution of unauthorized replica merchandise and counterfeit jewelry, and the unauthorized copying of Square Enix games, music, movies, images, and other intellectual property, will be prosecuted. While Square Enix appreciates the enthusiasm of its fans, and values its relationship with them, it is also obligated to protect its intellectual property rights or risk weakening or losing the very rights that enable the company to continue to provide its fans with an exciting entertainment experience."

Thanks, Torokun!

For dramatic effect, we'll explain that 2.4 million discs is enough to give one pirated game to every person if you had a group of 2.4 million people.

Malaysian Authorities Shut Down Pirate Game Lab ESA Commends Malaysian Anti-Piracy Action February 7, 2008 - Washington, DC - The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) today applauded the Malaysian Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs' (MDTCA) raid this week of an illegal pirate game duplication lab in the southern Malaysian city of Johor Bahru, resulting in the arrest of seven individuals and confiscation of thousands of pirated computer and video games. The ESA's local anti-piracy representative, MFACT, provided support for the MDTCA's action. "Our industry stands ready to vigorously defend our rights and actively pursue and prosecute thieves like these that steal our industry's products," said Michael Gallagher, CEO of ESA, the U.S. trade association representing computer and video game publishers. "We commend the MDTCA and the enforcement team headed up by Fahmi Kassim for their swift and effective action against this pirate operation." MDCTA seized more than 110,000 pirated computer and video games, 46 DVD-R burners, as well as thousands of other infringing items. The 46 burners seized are, according to estimates, able to duplicate 2.4 million pirate discs per year. Among the game titles taken by MDTCA were pirate copies of FIFA Soccer 08, EA Sports Rugby 08, NBA Live 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08.

Several folks in the Chinese games industry stressed the ways that online gaming reflected the loneliness and isolation of single children who were forced to reach out beyond their own families or even local communities in search of playmates. Whether understood literally or metaphorically, this link between the one child family and the debates about games addiction helps to explain the intensity of this concern.

There are lots of interesting thoughts contained within if you keep an eye on the Chinese gaming scene - and several other entries relating to this Shanghai forum are worth taking a look see at.

Games and Social Responsibility — Perspectives from Shanghai [via CNET]

However it went down, we're happy to hear that the world hasn't gone crazy after all.

ELSPA distances itself from DS piracy report [Games Industry via Maxconsole]

They come in orders of 1,000 pieces minimum. Find some friends.

PX-3600 console fakes xbox, ps2, ps3, wtf? [technabob] [picture]

In America it's thought 90 percent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s...takings from Nintendo DS games in the US are lower than any other console...

Chips are down for Super Mario [TheSundayPost via CVG]

So what would it mean to build a game *for a specific customer*? I'm not sure. But I'm not talking about binding it to the user's machine with DRM. No, people will find a way to strip it out anyway. No, the personalization has to add value in some way. DRM doesn't add value for the customer, it adds inconvenience at best and outrage and resentment at worst (one need only to look as far as the numerous postings about the PC release of the otherwise-wonderful BioShock for an example).

It's an interesting thought. Clearly, it's just an idea and while I think the Build-A-Bear-esque customization idea is an interesting one, I'm at a loss as to how designers could implement such a thing in your average game of whatever stripe.

Can A Stuffed Bear Hold The Secret To Game Piracy? [Gamasutra]