<![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players? - Kotaku Comments]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players? - Kotaku Comments]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> just ban everyone that'l learn'em!!!!! OH WAIT......

freespeech

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @Jomolungma: Yea... at least I heard rumors about it... theres a horrible "sequel" coming to DVD in June though...

[www.worstpreviews.com]

GeeQnastie

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @Fireblast: Because Nintendo doesn't use such a method. They include updates on certain games for people without a wireless router/modem. The reason consoles were getting bricked is because people didn't have the latest firmware for their region (3.1, for example), they then went ahead and inserted a game from another region that had an updated patch (3.2).

I'm not very educated on the Xbox 360 front as there is no way to circumvent region protection, but the method you're describing is not possible.

Libo

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Why can't Microsoft use the Nintendo method and make mandatory updates that brick 360s instead of Wiis?

Fireblast

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> From what I hear, they can tell who is using a copy and who isn't by checking the serial number of the game - those who use downloaded copies tend to use masses of the same number as that version has had some security features ripped out prior to it being burnt.

What they cannot do is stop somebody dling a copy illegally and then creating an offline account and playing through SP with that. There is nothing they can do there.

Looks like PC piracy will soon become 360 piracy. :(

EdwinJ85

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @GeeQnastie:

Wha wha wha whaaattt?! They are remaking Wargames? WHY!!?!?!?! It's a perfect movie. Leave well enough alone. Mr. Potato Head. MR. POTATO HEAD!

Jomolungma

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @shufflemoomin: Damn straight. Anyone who downloads this is taking money out of the pockets of the devs and are nothing more than a common crook. No one likes people who do that shit, and that's why I'll be out on the street at the midnight launch.

McKenney

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @shufflemoomin: I download a few games all of them PC, but I end up buying them in the end. I downloaded Oblivion ages ago and liked it so much that I went and bought it 2 days later. Same with S.T.A.L.K.E.R... bought that after downloading it and trying it out.

I'm probably the only person that does this to be honest.

Lockenator

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> People who downloaded this and don't plan to buy it are simply sad little f**ks who deserve to be banned from LIVE and much more. Rockstar worked their asses off to create this game and these idiots are enjoying the fruits of that and are too shitty to pay 40 or 50 bucks for it. Rockstar are a business and deserve to earn the money for their product, just like all game developers. When people complain that new IPs don't get funding and are tired of poor quality titles being shipped, think how much more income developers would get if these little cockroaches ponied up the dough. I had a look at a torrent site. Seeders 1598 and leechers 1334 since it appeared earlier. If none of these little bollocks bought the game and you average about say 50 bucks a pop, you're looking at about 150k gone in sales. Even if half of them were brave enough to actually pay, Rockstar would still be out about 75k. And that's just what's being sucked through ONE torrent site. Rockstar could easily lose 1m in sales. I hope Microsoft or Rockstar do have a way to make sure every box playing this early gets bricked. Me? I'll be freezing my ass off at midnight like the other honest, grateful gamers.

shufflemoomin

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Well, pretty sure playing a downloaded copy of GTA4 would require a boot loader for the PS3, and their isn't one to my knowledge.

TheOtis

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @kevinl:

Who the hell chips their 360?

People dont realize chipping your 360 rather than just softmodding the DVD drive is how to get banned.

Altering/reading the systems electricals which most modchips do is detectable.

Changing a DVD drive's firmware to read burned disks(as it is capable of doing, but MS had turned off), then reporting the disk type as a normal 360 disk when a burned disk is put in is much much harder for them to detect.

arsenic0

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Also for those sleeping at the wheel most people who get a copy before the 29th are indirectly either not paying for the copy since i heard there is a copy on the torrents. So i don't think they care if joe blow plays 5 days in advance more than the $$$ they wont get.

Also for those impatient just don't go online aka unplug your network card.

gnudna

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @karasu is my homeboy: you can have both. just turn of the chip or whatever when you go online. the problem with this is: rockstar will see all of the achievements your criminal ass has unlocked before the 29th haha. that and you'd probably be pretty lonely in the multiplayer servers...

kevinl

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @dead_red_eyes: Ironically enough it was just on AMC last night.

oooh weee oooh....

TRT-X

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @munchausen: Considering how much work it would take to identify, suspend, contact, and recieve a proof of purchase from a user....it'll be 6-days later and then it's no longer an issue.

TRT-X

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> And with hundreds of online retailers shipping, some big, some small, i can guarantee that someone will get their UPS package a few days early.

arsenic0

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> But from what we know about LIVE and PSN, Rockstar will have no way of differentiating downloadable copies (that have just leaked) from retail discs actually being sold early. So it all becomes an exercise in futility.

You're assuming Rockstar is looking for people who downloaded the game. They're probably not.

Think about this, if 100 people all sign onto Live with GTAIV from the same town, it's a safe bet the Walmart near by broke street date.

Canadian Impostor

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @dowingba: Why else would people pirate media?

Most of the time I'm sure it comes down to either "I wanna see it before I buy it" or "I don't wanna pay for it."

Which almost 70-80% of the time I see that happen, they never end up buying it anyway, because why would they? They have a free copy already.

CitizenInsane27

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @karasu is my homeboy:

You are right that it requires a modded Xbox..

You are wrong that you get banned. Old Xbox's(non 360's) got banned instantly because they totally redid the front end dashboard.
360's do not do this, they only flash the system DVD drive to play burned games, no mod chips required. Microsoft cannot detect this at the moment it seems, as i know many people who use their modded 360's daily online and have for over a year.
Obviously you have to play it smart though...

arsenic0

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Maybe they're going to see EXACTLY how many people pirate 360 games.

mast3r_blast3r

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @Tetelestia: If you unlock an achievement when not connected to Live, next time you connect it'll update that you have the achievement, but not the date it was unlocked.
They're only dated if you're connected when you unlock them.

Blut-Royale

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @Chances: What does pirating a game have to do with sticking it to the man?

dowingba

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> what the hell? don't sign on people that's how to avoid the TRAP!

Akmed

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> I kinda' have a mixed reaction to GTA gettin' leaked. On the one hand it appeals to the whole power-to-the-individual stick-it-to-the-man side of me, on the other hand in this case The Man is Rockstar, whom I love and should be adored by any and all who think of themselves as gamers.

The second hand wins, I think. I hope Rockstar is able to track this shit down and cut off the financial balls of whoever leaked their game - at the very least maybe it'll make their next major release that much more secure.

I won't steal from you, R*! The music industry, sure. Hollywood? Definitely. An old SNES game I can't find anywhere? ...maybe, but I'll feel a little bad about it.

But never you, Rockstar. Never you. Or Atlus.

Chances

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> If I recall correctly, achievments are dated, so it'd show when they were earned once connected to Live after launch. If I had the opportunity to play this early and wanted to be completely safe I'd make a dummy account along with being disconnected from Live.

Tetelestia

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> whose to say they won't suspend an account until you can prove you legitimately bought the game?

munchausen

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> unplug your cat 5. problem solved.

Derigor

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Given some reviewers these days that may or may not actually play completely through a title before reviewing it (and claiming they've completed it), perhaps what they're really after is being able to see just how far someone has gone through the game by their gamertag / achievements, thus getting a bit of validation that they actually did what they're writing about.

Ishmae1

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Yea ok.. they always say that ... Just to give those early gamers some suspense!

ceokhan

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @dagnasty: Yeah im very surprised to see almost no pop ups in the background, and the cars shine real nice :)

CYG

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> While no Xbox 360 backup is 1:1, the backups with more errors are the ones that get banned.

The thing I hate about the GTA IV leak is the fact that it might mess up the Social Club that Rockstar has set up. Hopefully they'll find a way to work around those who downloaded or received the game early.

Alexander-The-Great

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @CYG:
I was worried about how the framrate was going to be, from the look of the trailers, but it looks pretty smooth

dagnasty

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> I don't know what Rockstar could do even if it knew the Gamertags of players playing early. So long as they bought the game legitimately (i.e. did not pirate it) then they've done nothing wrong. It's not the consumer's job to know or enforce a street date.

MSUSteve

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @jynxycat: they havent got me yet, and mines been modded for a while (drive flash).

TheHun

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @GeeQnastie:

REMAKE?! No way.

dead_red_eyes

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Just saw one of my friends drop from my list.Banned till 9999 I bet

NubornLord

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @GeeQnastie: hehe, i dont know why they claim no loading when ANY piece of software especially games NEED loadings, it may be short but there is a loading... and yeah it was probably longer than the original game since the 360 lens has trouble reading bootlegs..

@OGHowie: Your welcome :)

CYG

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> I would not count on that guess.

There just might very well be some way they can detect a pirate GTA disc. Want to take that chance?

It will be a great game. The developers deserve the money. Why not just buy it?

J449

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Wait a minute , pirated PS3 games? I didn't know such things existed.

Deflicted

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> What if they had the ability to check friend lists? They could do scans for the journalist's tag with the highest percentage of non-approved players on their friends list. That evidence while not concrete would be pretty damning. Enough to take action against if that was Rockstar's goal.

stephenzerotwo

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @CYG:

Nice link.

OGHowie

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @Eville1:

Well if one really wanted, wouldn't creating a seperate gamertag that you never use online, and playing the game there destroy the problem of the records achievements unlocked/whatever else make?

Or does all of the gamertag info get uploaded when any tag on the xbox connects?

karasu is my homeboy

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> My copy of GTA4 is showing up as packing on play.com. Assuming they send it out tomorrow and I get it on the Friday or Saturday will I run the risk of rockstar forcibly inserting a weapon somewhere?

SPni

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @CYG:
hahahah... i coulda sworn they said no load screens. after the idiot playing just got knocked out in a fist fight... it was on a load screen for oh.... 45 seconds.

coulda been cause its a bootleg, but ohwell... still hella funny


GeeQnastie

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> just burn play and stay offline till 29th

tounge73

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Doesn't matter if you're signed in unless you can erase the played games section or the ripped version specifically doesn't show up there. That'd be the easiest way to track people huh?

Eville1

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> I would suggest that even given the above it's not an exercise in futility. The number of people willing or able to play downloaded 360 or PS3 games will be far outstripped by the numbers who would buy and play it if it went on sale early.

Yes, the downloadable version will up the level of background noise somewhat, but the signal will still come through loud and clear... if that's what they're looking for.

sebFlyte

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @dead_red_eyes: Movie was on AMC last night. 25th Anniversary. Can't wait for the remake... although I'm sure the remake is gonna blow.

Anyway... what's to stop someone from getting an early release, playing offline single player, and just going online when the game is actually released. My 360 hasnt been online in oh... I think around 20 days... stupid emo 360 blog.

GeeQnastie

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Shall we play a nice game of chess?

ConfuciusMax

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @jynxycat: @aden.exe:

Oh, thanks for the info. I don't really keep up with the 360 mod scene. I had the impression people didn't bring their modded 360s online because Microsoft bans. Didn't know it's more of a back and forth situation.

karasu is my homeboy

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Before too long it'll be internet connection required to unlock.

X201

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> quick turn of the 360/PS3 Skynet is watching.

Raziel Dune

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @Darknight630: Would be if you're "non-approved," yes.

They might also be trying to make sure that journalists are actually going online and not just basing their reviews on the core single-player game. *shrug*

jallen

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Actually, microsoft only can tell if you're playing on a modded console if you burn a game that is not a perfect 1:1 rip from the xbox game.

However, I bet that GTA4 is so hot, that I wouldn't risk playing a bootlegged on while being connected to XBL.

I don't personally have a modded xbox--trust me, I have a gen1 and i had to have sex with a goat to get it for xmas, so I aint fucking with getting my shit banned--but a buddy I know does have his modded.

balls187 upside yo head

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> If you sign up for the social club and you show up on the completion page within the first hour of the games relesae...that might be a sign.

whiptcracker

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @karasu is my homeboy:

Microsoft uses method to find people, modders circumvent method, microsoft uses different method, modders circumvent again. and repeat.

aden.exe

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> @karasu is my homeboy: You can get banned pretty easy if you just update the firmware on your DVD-drive. But if it's modded internally, you're more likely to be able to play online.

jynxycat

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Well for anyone that wants it, here is a link with a live stream of someone playing GTA4.... [smotri.com]

CYG

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> Just dont sign on Live.

Wouldn't that be the loophole or am I mistaken?

The Rage

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> we found 'em! (launches missile)

SupaPhly

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> I haven't seen that movie in years!!! An excellent choice for the pic.

dead_red_eyes

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> I thought you had to have a modded 360 to play burnt games. As in, the ones Microsoft can tell are modded and kick off Live mega easily.

And I don't see how much this can actually matter. Are they going to ban people who are playing the game early just because a store broke street date? Didn't we just go through this with Halo 3?

karasu is my homeboy

]]> <![CDATA[Rockstar To Track Early GTA IV Players?]]> so they say every time a big game comes out.

Grumpz®

]]>