Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Game piracy will never end just like the piracy of movies, no matter how much money goes into it.

If it can be made to try and stop piracy it can be broken.

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Personally i think its a load of rubbish. What are the developers/publishers gonna blame then for poor sales? Perhaps they will finally look to them selves and see that releasing incomplete/inferior products is the problem?

If you ask me PC gamers are just more demanding than your average console gamer in virtually every aspect. Plus they tend to know a bit about the technical stuff. Another issue is that PC gamers have to be picky about what they buy and we all probably expect to try the demo first and read reviews. Console gamers on the other hand can try out a game than trade it in for something else this is often not possible with PC gamers hence we are a bit more careful about what we buy.

Make a good complete/innovative PC game and it will sell and be a success.

Make a rushed clone console port and release it too early and PC gamers wont accept it. The Developers/publishers will then more than likely blame piracy for poor sales rather than any issues with the game itself.LOL

Basically what i am getting at is they should look at their own product and decisions first before being to quick to blame everything on piracy - which is what they seem to do to often nowdays.

[Dairuka]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

If they can mandate that every new motherboard automatically comes with these chips - it'll be such a resounding success that the industry itself will change drastically. Most likely for the better.

[The_Eliminator]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Wouldn't video game companies just lose money by requiring the chip? I mean, who would want to go out and purchase a new motherboard because games are requiring? PC games already require enough with GFX cards and RAM.

Technically they would lose more money through piracy of the game.

[Fingulfin]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

I uninstall Punkbuster... Now what?

Thats 100% different. PB is something that comes with the game and is installed on your computer; there is no excuse not to have it running.

A chip does NOT necessarily come in every computer. If I were making my games "Chip Board Only", I would NOT be selling them to an audience anywhere even near what a normal company would be. How many Joe Shmoe gamers do you know who even know their system specs? The "casual" gamer wouldn't be going out looking at MoBos just to make sure he has a special anti-pirate chip, nor would he look on the game to see if it was chip-board only.

Honestly, I don't see this whole chip thing going anywhere.

[Dairuka]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

IIRC, the PS3 hasn't been hacked yet. Does it have something similar to that motherboard chip?

It has been hacked.

This just means that there would be a huge influx of motherboards from China and the like with fake chips on them that let people run the software. A hardware solution will ALWAYS have a hardware work-around created.

You mean Mod Chips such as the ones used on X-box 360, and the PS3?

Yet we all don't hear about console piracy. It's because piracy on a console is so painfully annoying to do that only the hard-core pirates would bother to do it. Casual pirates would just go without playing the game if they couldn't afford it. Just like they used to do back in the day before CD-burners and Bittorrent.

Then [MOD EDIT]ty developers would have no excuses left to explain why their [MOD EDIT]ty games didn't sell.

[Wizrdwarts]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

I unsolder chip from board... Now what?

I uninstall Punkbuster... Now what?

[imported_Whiskey]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Piracy is relatively easy when you only have (low level) software encryption to crack. When you add in hardware components, such as a chip, it's a different story. While still possible, it would not be easy from a technical standpoint. Again, pirates/crackers will always be there, the point is to drastically reduce that number by making it harder for the average person to do such a thing.

And as I wrote above, such a thing would not be put in overnight, but phased in over a period of time. Game makers aren't stupid when it comes to money, and recognizing what the install base is of things like OS's and mobo's like this one.

People underestimate just how addictive gaming is, and how much users will spend to continue playing. Just like buying the actual games themselves, tough talk about boycotts and such falls away every time when the newest version of a favourite game comes out. If this type of thing becomes standard, people will buy them.

[Fingulfin]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Games would probably be programmed to "look" for that chip, and if it wasn't there, they would not work (either they wouldn't install, or if you removed it later, would not start up again without it).

These chips would be a "requirement", listed clearly on the box just like certain min specs are, and as Dairuka said, they would probably require almost universal buy-in from all mobo manufacturers.

Game companies would then lose a HUGE amount of players - people who don't have said board. IMO this "solution" isn't a solution at all... I say give the crackers a week, Piracy will be as high as ever. I don't support pirates at all, but they aren't stupid... In fact, they are mostly the same people who make this type of thing in the first place.

[imported_Whiskey]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Wouldn't video game companies just lose money by requiring the chip? I mean, who would want to go out and purchase a new motherboard because games are requiring? PC games already require enough with GFX cards and RAM.

It wouldn't be rolled out overnight, but more gradually. As you say, PC gamers already spend a fair bit of $$$ and do upgrades periodically...if these were phased in over a period of yrs, it would be relatively painless. At one time, some games only worked on Vista...now Vista isn't the greatest example, because it had severe bugs that kept people away at first, but you get the idea. Today, a larger % of people have it. Remember, DX10 needs Vista to showcase all of its features. Game companies are currently losing a lot of money to piracy...it can be argued that even with these additional hoops for users to jump through, they would lose less than they are losing right now.

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

This just means that there would be a huge influx of motherboards from China and the like with fake chips on them that let people run the software. A hardware solution will ALWAYS have a hardware work-around created.

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

Games would probably be programmed to "look" for that chip, and if it wasn't there, they would not work (either they wouldn't install, or if you removed it later, would not start up again without it).

These chips would be a "requirement", listed clearly on the box just like certain min specs are, and as Dairuka said, they would probably require almost universal buy-in from all mobo manufacturers.

Wouldn't video game companies just lose money by requiring the chip? I mean, who would want to go out and purchase a new motherboard because games are requiring? PC games already require enough with GFX cards and RAM.

[imported_Whiskey]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

I unsolder chip from board... Now what?

Games would probably be programmed to "look" for that chip, and if it wasn't there, they would not work (either they wouldn't install, or if you removed it later, would not start up again without it).

These chips would be a "requirement", listed clearly on the box just like certain min specs are, and as Dairuka said, they would probably require almost universal buy-in from all mobo manufacturers.

[Fingulfin]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

I unsolder chip from board... Now what?

[jesus]

Re: Motherboard Chip = The End of Video Game Piracy?

IIRC, the PS3 hasn't been hacked yet. Does it have something similar to that motherboard chip?