Jeff Tunnell @ Underdogs

#1 How messed up - they are "honoring" Jeff by hosting cracked copies of his games. Go Figure.

#2 Actually, I never had anything to do with Cinemaware or TV Sports Football. Pat Cook desiged that game before he came to Dynamix to design Front Page Sports Football.

Jeff Tunnell GG

#3 The games are abadonware...

#4 Copyrights last a lifetime, dude.

Last time I checked there isn't any software from the 1930+'s available at hose sites.

#5 Copyrights last a lifetime + 50 years, actually...

#6 I was thinking it was 70ish. Hehe.

Either way, as someone said. Abandonware is just a phrase used by the white-collar piraters.

"It's legal since we make it sound legal."

Like the "it's okay to have for 24 hours" notices on ROM sites. They sound nice, and make the user less paranoid that the FBI is going to come crashing through their living room window ready to arrest your Super Mario 2 pirating ass.

#7 you are judging everyone, some sites contain abandonware games which arent available anywhere else... some games aren't selled anymore and the only way to play them is to download it, also old games aren't bought either, they get played cause someone reads about the on a abandonware site... and no.. i dont run an abandoware site :P

#8 Yes, and some games are pirated. And some games are hacked.

#9 I know it is a copyright infringement, but abandonware sites really are the only way to get a lot of the old classic games. In fact, emulator sites are the only way to even run most old C64 or Apple games.

The disheartening part is that as soon as we release Chain Reaction from Monster Studios here on GarageGames, I know it will be on warez sites within hours (if they don't beat us to market from our beta test). This is self funded game with two and a helf years years of extremely hard work and stress. You all will be facing the same issues soon.

Copy protection or digital rights management is not really the answer, but we will be trying out a system anyway. At least it keeps the honest people honest. We'll see, the best way may still be the shareware method of building a good product, charging a fair price, applying the guilt trip, and expecting to mostly get ripped off.

Jeff Tunnell GG

#10 I honestly hope you don't get ripped off.

Like you said most people working on projects here will probably have to go through the same thing. I personally don't want my game to be cracked within a couple hours.

I'm guessing you'll be selling your game through GarageGames, right? Has GarageGames thought of any way to lower the rates of cracks? I personally was thinking of individual user keys, each time someone purchased the games. Of course, people seem to be very apt at quickly creating key generators. Another way would be to have a central server checking keys a la Tribes 2 and co. Of course if your game is a single player, that isn't really an option.

Any ideas?

#11 Hardware Dongle?

Hehe

#12 I used to do a little bit of warez (not in it for a while) but what I have realized is that copy protection only hurts the honest people. I don't mind paying for games when i have money but I hate when games make you play off the cd, and hell some "anti-pirate" software doesnt' work on some cd-burners, yet it's still pirated. I download cracks for my games because I dont' want to have to put in my cd for a check every time i want to play. and hell i don't want to buy a game and not have it work because of a anitpirate. Hackers hack, and they will hack through the best anti-hack. THE ONLY thing that I see doable is what Half-Life (or it seems liek ti was the first) to do a cdkey check for online. This has made many people buy ligitement software to play multiplayer. Other than that most things are a waste of time and resources imho.

my 2 cents

--KallDrexx

#13 Nah, Blizzard was the first with Starcraft.

Either way, I gotta agree. CD Keys paired with server authorization is going to be the only way.

Punks are going to figure out "vanilla" cd-key setups and abuse them. They'll figure out the formula and crank out 1000s of them.

The games that handle piraters the best are online-only games (MMORPGs are pretty much the only games that are online-only) Why?

Well, you steal the game... but you'll have to provide credit card info and pay to continue playing. Not a good "steal" if you have to pay to keep using your stolen goods.

Just take the aspects of MMORPG security (account-based playing) and mix it with authenticated cd-keys. If the user tries to use a fake cd key he can't play online. If the user is busted using hacks/cheats and is reported his account (linked to his cd-key) can be suspended or shut down.

Only problem is you'd have to come up with a reliable system that can be used to report cheaters!

#14 This should be a subject for the next newsletter..

Abandonware, emulation, and piracy go hand in hand. The only real differences are in your own set of moral rules I suppose, except in cases where the original copyright authors have allowed their games to be freely distributed.

I'm not going to come out and say that people who have unlicensed software are evil. Most everyone I know has downloaded mp3s or ROMs or games or applications, recorded TV shows, copied a CD to tape, and so on. In the eyes of the law, these are all wrong. But I personally don't feel contempt for such actions - until money starts changing hands, that is. Nothing annoys me more than seeing people sell burned CDs for 5 bucks a pop.

I think the games industry is a very peculiar place, especially with European development teams. I know for a fact that many talented people came out from the ranks of the software cracking scene, going from creating intros with a pirated copy of Devpac on the Amiga to writing fantastic games for mainstream publishers. Which then get cracked and warezed by another generation, and so the cycle goes. I see similar things in the graphics application industry.

I know I had a point when I started writing this, but I forget what it was.

#15 Actually that is a good idea.

Piracy is more of a PC Gamer kind of feature (for the gamer) but software security and piracy combined would suit an audience of game developers better.

I'll put this on my list of ever-shortening ideas for the next issue! I have a few surprises planned, so it should be pretty fun!

#16 I'm sure this is going to attract a lot of critisism but I just feel like people stereotype "warez" too much. A lot of people I know that "warez" will BUY the game if they consider it good enough. There have been times when I've purchased a game to be extremely annoyed at the lack of creativity or professionalism. The warez battle cannot be beaten and the old saying goes if you cant beat them, well join them. The warez distribution which is extremely fast at distributing software/movies/whatever should be embraced. I know some people like to buy a game with the box and manual but others dont and would be prepared to purchase a serial number online. Call me crazy but if people are going to warez a game I would rather give them an option to purchase a serial online rather than no option at all. I'm also a firm believer in try before you buy.:)

Edit: There are also lots of economic advantages to selling online without a box and purely by CD key. No middle man, no packing costs. Hell, maybe by using the warez distribution system the cost could be brought down to such a level where people would not feel the need to warez a game.

#17 I agree. How many times have you bought a game, only to find the system reqs, and/or the features printed on the box were wrong or misleading? Good luck getting a refund. I was into the warez scene myself for a while, and many times a game would be buggy or incomplete (missing movies, sounds etc). I believe that the warez scene is one of the biggest ways that games get advertised. Hell, if your game is in beta anyway, why not just hand over the beta to them on a silver platter? It's not finished anyway :)

People are always going to hack software, thats a given, but I believe that a good way to overcome it is by offering multiplayer (online) requiring the latest "patch" to be able to play. IMO multiplayer is the gaming of the future anyway, it is this reason that platform systems come with more than one joystick port. I would rather gloat to a person who can gloat back, than to beat down my computer.

#18 You could always attempt the Jay and Silent Bob approach to get people to stop what they are doing on the internet...those of you who have seen Jay and Silent Bob Strikes back should know what I am talking about. :)

-Tim aka Spock

#19 I have a valid copy of tribes, but I have to say that in tribes case, the cracked version ran better than the full store-bought version.

#20 Bleh.

So you're trying to claim that people who warez will buy a full version and uninstall the free version they have? Ha, people who warez probably wouldn't buy the games/software they illegally download in the firstplace. It's the same arguement with Napster and it's equivilant.

Speaking for myself, I download music and never buy Cds. No matter how good the cd is I just download a bunch of tracks and burn them on my own cd. I know the vast majority are either like this, or lean toward not purchasing cds if they can get it online for free. Some people just like the solid feeling of the cd in a case with a nice little label. They go purchase the cd and well... the distributor is happy (and the musician enjoys the $0.10 you gave him!)

Crackers are people who lead unfufilling lives. Like in Thelma and Louise, they see crime as a way to break free from their humdrum jobs at MegaJumbo software or McBurgers. The internet allows them to disassociate themselves from actual punishment (afterall, the FBI didn't kick in your door when you downloaded that Nintendo 64 emulator!) but it still allows them to lurk in an online seedy underworld that bolsters their self-worth. "I'm a software cracker who breaks international law! Oh, you play softball on your company's team? You suck!"

Some feel they are doing the world a service, "Here's Super Bean Blasters from some tiny company who is just about ready to file bankruptcy! RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE BABY!" and some just embrace the reason I mentioned earlier.

Folks who defend them I can understand. "Hey uh, I want free games." What I don't understand is why we'd be finding support in a place that is trying to breed the next generation of game developers. Last time I checked, game developers dislike some guy in Russia uploading their production to some porn/warez site.

Half-Life and Starcraft went in the right direction. Tribes 2 embraced it. Online play can almost be assured to the legitimate owners of these games. The next step would be to have "customer support" like in MMORPGs where cheaters or problem players get their accounts suspended or banned.