10 unthinkable punishments given for video game piracy
video description
Since I had a Japanese region Dreamcast, but live in the US, I wound up having to download a program called Homebrew and burning it onto a CD, which I would then insert and spin up in the Dreamcast, and it would unlock the region so I could play US games. I wound up getting a couple ROM s off the same site to try out some games I was curious about, one of which happened to be GTA 2. I played that game a lot, and almost every GTA game since
As far as piracy goes, I think it s perfectly fine for developers to troll and make stolen game copies buggy as hell. A rational person would say, oh, my free/stolen game doesn t work right. Damn, and they would just take the L, and go on with their day. I think it s laughable when pirates will actually contact the devs to complain when the game is doing weird things. Very much a cherry on top when they get the reply, The game s not actually broken, but since you didn t pay for it at all, what right do you have to complain? .
Date: 2023-02-14
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Comments and reviews: 14
Daniel
other clever anti-piracy techniques for part 2:
Red Alert 2: Within 30 seconds of a new game beginning, those playing on pirated copies of could only watch as their base and units self-destructed causing the game to end instantly.
Arma II: The developers included an anti-piracy package called DEGRADE into the game. This causes it to change slightly over time until it is eventually rendered unplayable. The first change is that the accuracy of the player s weapons will begin to worsen. The game then begins causing the screen to become wavy; simulating the effect of playing while drunk. Finally, the game will begin filling the screen with Arma II logos.
The Witcher 2: Those playing on pirated copies of the game are in for a bit of a shock, though, with romanced NPCs replaced by a creepy old lady named Marietta Loredo.
The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: Normally when Link operates the train there are controls along the side of the screen that allow the player to speed up, slow down, and stop the train. Players of pirated copies have to play without these train controls though meaning the game is unplayable nearly from the start.
Alan Wake and Quantum Break: If the games caught any whiff of piracy, the game's protagonists would be shown wearing an eye patch throughout the game.
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other clever anti-piracy techniques for part 2:
Red Alert 2: Within 30 seconds of a new game beginning, those playing on pirated copies of could only watch as their base and units self-destructed causing the game to end instantly.
Arma II: The developers included an anti-piracy package called DEGRADE into the game. This causes it to change slightly over time until it is eventually rendered unplayable. The first change is that the accuracy of the player s weapons will begin to worsen. The game then begins causing the screen to become wavy; simulating the effect of playing while drunk. Finally, the game will begin filling the screen with Arma II logos.
The Witcher 2: Those playing on pirated copies of the game are in for a bit of a shock, though, with romanced NPCs replaced by a creepy old lady named Marietta Loredo.
The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks: Normally when Link operates the train there are controls along the side of the screen that allow the player to speed up, slow down, and stop the train. Players of pirated copies have to play without these train controls though meaning the game is unplayable nearly from the start.
Alan Wake and Quantum Break: If the games caught any whiff of piracy, the game's protagonists would be shown wearing an eye patch throughout the game.
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JiWiK
Well. Not only these things does not work - I had the drunken cam and Batman unable to do Batman things on regular steam version. but also killing the performance in case of Denuvo. Like Hogwarts Legacy for example. Game than runs on 60FPS on ultra does not drop to 8 FPS for no reason, let alone bad optimalisation. It is the f king denuvo. I don't get it why it even exists. On console you can buy and sell a game on second hand for a thousand times and publisher will not get a dime from any of these transactions but players have fully patched and full feature game they did not pay the devs for - compared to the PC pirates who risk getting a virus and their game will never be up to date and with all features as MP for example but publishers forcing this mess into the games and kills performance and sales on PC because people already know there is no reason to buy games day one because they does not work so they wait few months for sale. I own over 1500 games overall and 20+ is for console from second hand so devs have not got a single cent from me but i have the up to date version with multiplayer. wth.
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Well. Not only these things does not work - I had the drunken cam and Batman unable to do Batman things on regular steam version. but also killing the performance in case of Denuvo. Like Hogwarts Legacy for example. Game than runs on 60FPS on ultra does not drop to 8 FPS for no reason, let alone bad optimalisation. It is the f king denuvo. I don't get it why it even exists. On console you can buy and sell a game on second hand for a thousand times and publisher will not get a dime from any of these transactions but players have fully patched and full feature game they did not pay the devs for - compared to the PC pirates who risk getting a virus and their game will never be up to date and with all features as MP for example but publishers forcing this mess into the games and kills performance and sales on PC because people already know there is no reason to buy games day one because they does not work so they wait few months for sale. I own over 1500 games overall and 20+ is for console from second hand so devs have not got a single cent from me but i have the up to date version with multiplayer. wth.
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sophia
For the most part just making demos available would have largely reduced the number of games I've pirated.
Like most of the time I played the game for a bit and lost all interest. So most of these antipiracy measures would have just convinced me to avoid the game.
Like any game I pirated that I actually liked I've eventually purchased a legit copy.
Now I just watch let's plays of most games and don't bother buying them cause I find it's better to just assume I won't like it. Also we recently got game pass so I've gotten to try a bunch of games that I'd never be willing to play if I had to specifically buy them. And mostly. My hesitance to but them had been validated. But I have found a couple that were in the pretty sure I'd hate this that ended up being new favorites. Which sorta has replaced what I basically used piracy for.
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For the most part just making demos available would have largely reduced the number of games I've pirated.
Like most of the time I played the game for a bit and lost all interest. So most of these antipiracy measures would have just convinced me to avoid the game.
Like any game I pirated that I actually liked I've eventually purchased a legit copy.
Now I just watch let's plays of most games and don't bother buying them cause I find it's better to just assume I won't like it. Also we recently got game pass so I've gotten to try a bunch of games that I'd never be willing to play if I had to specifically buy them. And mostly. My hesitance to but them had been validated. But I have found a couple that were in the pretty sure I'd hate this that ended up being new favorites. Which sorta has replaced what I basically used piracy for.
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BlueKnight
Honestly the 1st thing that comes to mind would be the OG Spyro: Year of the dragon. I myself have only played legit, so the only way I've even heard about any of what Insomniac's Anti-Piracy tactics included was via the community.
Some of the things that can happen with pirated copy includes;
You cannot pause the game.
Sparx takes less hits for Spyro.
The other playable characters will not be playable, even after being freed.
Getting revenge on Moneybags won't give back the intended number of gems you would in a normal copy.
A lot more things happen, but those are just a few examples. Don't know if Insomniac started the trend, but it's still pretty impressive!
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Honestly the 1st thing that comes to mind would be the OG Spyro: Year of the dragon. I myself have only played legit, so the only way I've even heard about any of what Insomniac's Anti-Piracy tactics included was via the community.
Some of the things that can happen with pirated copy includes;
You cannot pause the game.
Sparx takes less hits for Spyro.
The other playable characters will not be playable, even after being freed.
Getting revenge on Moneybags won't give back the intended number of gems you would in a normal copy.
A lot more things happen, but those are just a few examples. Don't know if Insomniac started the trend, but it's still pretty impressive!
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Arthur
I basically pirated every Arkham game (before I had disposable income and they became dirt cheap to buy) and never came across these things. But I did have a glitch that probably would have been a great addition.
In Arkham City my PC struggled to run it and I forced DX9 mode. This caused the detective vision to not be able to see enemies unless you were standing still. It was a bit of a nuisance even if it didn't make the game unplayable.
Thinking now that be a cool pirate troll; esp as I posted in places about the issue. Though the game is so well designed, I still got through the whole thing with the limitation and it was still really fun.
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I basically pirated every Arkham game (before I had disposable income and they became dirt cheap to buy) and never came across these things. But I did have a glitch that probably would have been a great addition.
In Arkham City my PC struggled to run it and I forced DX9 mode. This caused the detective vision to not be able to see enemies unless you were standing still. It was a bit of a nuisance even if it didn't make the game unplayable.
Thinking now that be a cool pirate troll; esp as I posted in places about the issue. Though the game is so well designed, I still got through the whole thing with the limitation and it was still really fun.
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blak4052
like this you buy the game is a reallyyyyyyyyyy BAD Game you spend 60 or 70 sometime more with the Premium Bundle or Gold Bundle, season pass blablabla and that is call good but if you pirate the game is bad why. let go back and start doing demo of the games so we can decide if we want to buy the game or Not. let speak the true here game industry like piracy why i give you a example how many people pirate the game Skyrim and then they decide to buy the game to get the mods they cant run in a pirate game and there are other games like that where people get the game free and then decide to buy the game. in the end piracy and mods help the industry.
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like this you buy the game is a reallyyyyyyyyyy BAD Game you spend 60 or 70 sometime more with the Premium Bundle or Gold Bundle, season pass blablabla and that is call good but if you pirate the game is bad why. let go back and start doing demo of the games so we can decide if we want to buy the game or Not. let speak the true here game industry like piracy why i give you a example how many people pirate the game Skyrim and then they decide to buy the game to get the mods they cant run in a pirate game and there are other games like that where people get the game free and then decide to buy the game. in the end piracy and mods help the industry.
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Foxy
I admit I once had a pirated version of Five Night At Freddy's Sister Location on my phone and everything would be fine until the fifth night as soon as I pressed the green button for Baby to go on the conveyor belt to the Scooping Room she told me to follow her instructions but how angry she didn't give the instructions. I was wondering if it wasn't a bug of the game, I even sent an email to the creator of the pirated version and for a long time I didn't play this game, only after buying the original version of the game on the phone, I finally had the instructions but to this day I still can't pass Funtime Auditorium even with her instructions.
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I admit I once had a pirated version of Five Night At Freddy's Sister Location on my phone and everything would be fine until the fifth night as soon as I pressed the green button for Baby to go on the conveyor belt to the Scooping Room she told me to follow her instructions but how angry she didn't give the instructions. I was wondering if it wasn't a bug of the game, I even sent an email to the creator of the pirated version and for a long time I didn't play this game, only after buying the original version of the game on the phone, I finally had the instructions but to this day I still can't pass Funtime Auditorium even with her instructions.
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l3lue
Hopefully the piracy detection principles / algorithm are dependable, because accidentally trolling actual customers would backfire severely.
I like the Serious Sam scorpion, the drunken mode and the chicken mod best, though i would have like for them to be a bit more mature like the scorpion making surprise appearance, inflicting a drunk debuff if stung while attracting a horde, or the weapons to fire chickens only if you need bullets the most like being down to 10% health, possibly with them harassing you afterwards on top of it.
This way those become more of a laugh, which I believe to be better than just being crude or cruel.
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Hopefully the piracy detection principles / algorithm are dependable, because accidentally trolling actual customers would backfire severely.
I like the Serious Sam scorpion, the drunken mode and the chicken mod best, though i would have like for them to be a bit more mature like the scorpion making surprise appearance, inflicting a drunk debuff if stung while attracting a horde, or the weapons to fire chickens only if you need bullets the most like being down to 10% health, possibly with them harassing you afterwards on top of it.
This way those become more of a laugh, which I believe to be better than just being crude or cruel.
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Wickedtrooper88
all games mentioned in the video works just fine in pirated version some of these bugs mentioned were initially in the first version of the game unless the pirated version was released after the patch the game works with no problems.
I support piracy against all triple A studios that overcharges players or adds extra content for even more money like WB games or EA etc. so yeah don't feel bad if you download a pirated version from any of these greedy cash cow companies and only buy games from studios that has integrity and respect for players such as from software or pretty much most indie game studios.
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all games mentioned in the video works just fine in pirated version some of these bugs mentioned were initially in the first version of the game unless the pirated version was released after the patch the game works with no problems.
I support piracy against all triple A studios that overcharges players or adds extra content for even more money like WB games or EA etc. so yeah don't feel bad if you download a pirated version from any of these greedy cash cow companies and only buy games from studios that has integrity and respect for players such as from software or pretty much most indie game studios.
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Jonathan
A weird and annoying element of this is that I bought brand new copy of GTA IV a few months after it had been released, went through the multi-disc installation process and started playing only to have the drunk-cam anti-piracy feature still happen. While I understand the intent is to try to counteract piracy, it's not a great experience for anyone who actually purchased the game.
I also wish there as a way to specifically run games that have an offline feature completely offline rather than having to sign-in to an online account and then play the game in offline mode.
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A weird and annoying element of this is that I bought brand new copy of GTA IV a few months after it had been released, went through the multi-disc installation process and started playing only to have the drunk-cam anti-piracy feature still happen. While I understand the intent is to try to counteract piracy, it's not a great experience for anyone who actually purchased the game.
I also wish there as a way to specifically run games that have an offline feature completely offline rather than having to sign-in to an online account and then play the game in offline mode.
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Local
You've forgotten to include Spyro: Year of the Dragon in PS1.
If you are playing the pirated version, upon reaching the final boss of the game, it will restart itself, removing all your progress.
I thought this was a bug at first, what with me being a little kid at the time I was playing it (9 or 10yrs old iirc. I playes it again, I think for about 3 times. It happened all the time.
Upon researching, I found out that it was the anti piracy system. Took me long enough to figure that out, specially now that my age is outside of the calendar days already. Lol.
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You've forgotten to include Spyro: Year of the Dragon in PS1.
If you are playing the pirated version, upon reaching the final boss of the game, it will restart itself, removing all your progress.
I thought this was a bug at first, what with me being a little kid at the time I was playing it (9 or 10yrs old iirc. I playes it again, I think for about 3 times. It happened all the time.
Upon researching, I found out that it was the anti piracy system. Took me long enough to figure that out, specially now that my age is outside of the calendar days already. Lol.
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Marcos
I remember there was also an MMO game that made the headlines for people somehow got to play the game before its official launch, and so the Devs also put in a high level monster to spawn near the players who were playing before launch, don't remember the game's name tho. Also sometimes the community takes it upon themselves, Nier Automata famously look terrible while running extremely poorly, and soon after launch a modder made a tool to increase the game's performance but it would crash the game if you tried to use it in a pirated version.
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I remember there was also an MMO game that made the headlines for people somehow got to play the game before its official launch, and so the Devs also put in a high level monster to spawn near the players who were playing before launch, don't remember the game's name tho. Also sometimes the community takes it upon themselves, Nier Automata famously look terrible while running extremely poorly, and soon after launch a modder made a tool to increase the game's performance but it would crash the game if you tried to use it in a pirated version.
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Kahadi
Seeing some of these makes me wonder if there's some major, game breaking glitches for games that are actually anti-piracy measures that haven't been revealed as such yet. Sometimes you hear about such things, major glitches that are ruining the games for some people but a lot of people in the comments of videos and articles about it have never experienced it. What if they are anti-piracy measures and because people obviously aren't coming forward about it, they haven't figured it out yet while the devs haven't outright admitted it yet?
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Seeing some of these makes me wonder if there's some major, game breaking glitches for games that are actually anti-piracy measures that haven't been revealed as such yet. Sometimes you hear about such things, major glitches that are ruining the games for some people but a lot of people in the comments of videos and articles about it have never experienced it. What if they are anti-piracy measures and because people obviously aren't coming forward about it, they haven't figured it out yet while the devs haven't outright admitted it yet?
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Everything
Majority of games I play are pirated I only buy the games that are actually worth money, like Hogwarts Legacy. I pay for gamepass too and ubisoft and ea memberships. Problem we have is the games are sp expensive I couldn't imagine wasting money on a game like Gotham knights because I'd be pissed at how trash it is. So yeah I'm half a pirate and I don't even care, if developers put effort into games these days then I'd have effort to open my wallet. So make a great game and I'll buy it as I do for some that deserve it.
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Majority of games I play are pirated I only buy the games that are actually worth money, like Hogwarts Legacy. I pay for gamepass too and ubisoft and ea memberships. Problem we have is the games are sp expensive I couldn't imagine wasting money on a game like Gotham knights because I'd be pissed at how trash it is. So yeah I'm half a pirate and I don't even care, if developers put effort into games these days then I'd have effort to open my wallet. So make a great game and I'll buy it as I do for some that deserve it.
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