Piracy: Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

Cracked.com has a great piece posted called "5 Reasons It's Still Not Cool to Admit You're a Gamer." It's a funny article, but the number one point the author makes is actually an important and eloquently stated one regarding the way gamers' entitlement issues are preventing the industry from flourishing as much as it should. Here is the link to the article; I highly urge you to read it in its entirety as David Wong has managed to put to writing everything I believe about game pirates.

Pokewalker: Anti-piracy exercise at its finest

Amidst all the noise involving DRM and other anti-piracy measures, Nintendo has come up with a fun idea to prevent game piracy without angering gamers: the Pokewalker. Bundled with Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the Pokewalker is a pedometer that connects to the DS games via infrared signals and helps to level up the Pokemon you transfer to it by traveling along different routes. On each route there are different wild Pokemon and items to be found. At first only certain routes are available, but as the player uses the Pokewalker more, additional routes open up, allowing for more game options and keeping the Pokewalker accessory relevant and addictive.

How does this relate to piracy prevention? The Pokewalker can be thought of the same way as DLC - content that adds to the basic game. By introducing a fun new piece of hardware that greatly enhances the gaming experience, Nintendo has effectively deterred players from pirating this game, as software may be easily crackable but hardware is difficult to replicate. Although pirates could still most likely get their hands on an illegal basic copy of HeartGold or SoulSilver, they would be missing out on an integral and engaging part of the game, so it would be significantly less enticing to pirate a copy.

For many games, adding on hardware to enhance the in-game experience may not make sense. However, if an appropriate opportunity for such an add-on comes up, it seems to be a viable option to help deter piracy.

Ubisoft's DRM Cracked

Much to the glee of game pirates everywhere, Ubisoft's DRM has already been cracked for Silent Hunter 5 and Assassin's Creed 2, rendering the illegally downloaded versions of these games playable. When the new DRM was announced, the general response was righteous indignation, as new Ubisoft games would require gamers to maintain a contant connection to the internet lest their account be inauthenticated. This ridiculous (and French) idea did not take into account those of us on wireless connections that occasionally are reset, on wired connections with spotty providers, or even those of us with clumsy roommates or selves or cats. With the successful crack (despite Ubisoft's official statement claiming the downloadable versions are incomplete), the only gamers being punished by the DRM are those of us who legitimately bought the games. There has to be a better way to protect games that won't have the unintended consequence of encouraging pirates and punishing honest gamers. I've always been a big proponent of password + fingerprint authorization (like Bloomberg terminals use, for you I-bankers reading this). Enable each member of a household to use the game and maybe have temporary authorizations permitted for visiting friends. Something, anything, that is not so easy to crack so that pirates will actually be deterred and maybe prices could come down a bit (see, I'm an optimist).