New chip prevents PC game piracy(Hermits invincible?)

[QUOTE="mattbbpl"]it won't stop you from playing older games. The encryption has to be implemented into the game.

Otherwise, legacy programs such as Office 2003 would fail to function as well.

foxhound_fox

the old game will work fine, its an older game, so i doesn't have the code, this will basically make it so you can dl the game, but the codes wont match. rendering the file useless.

impossible? i thnk it's a bit early to say that. also to the persno who said that having to buy a new computaer made it a naff idea i think it's a gradual thnig, so like in 4-5 years nearly everyone will have the chip, eliminating a sizable portion (theoretically ;) ) of PC game pircay

This sounds so... totalitarian!

they will find a way round it, then make chips of their own (see the ps2 for chipping)

thegoldenpoo

It wont stop the hardcore hackers but it will deter the more mainstream ones like the ones who download. They will find that the work-around isn't worth the risk of botching their motherboard for a supplement.

Will this make them buy the game? Not sure but at least alot of them aren't stealing anymore, which was the point.

It still won't end PC piracy.ma7moud93

It wasn't meant to end PC piracy. There are still the hardcores that will figure something out...but I predict PC sales to skyrocket greatly.

I made a thread on Crysis online and people aren't too happy with this chip either.

Link

I refuse to have this trash inside my computer, IMHO, this is only going to hurt motherboard makers because people will simply refuse to buy the board.

-edit-

What the other guy said, motherboard makers who don't use this chip will probably see business from me.

HostileEffect

It really isn't any different from adapting some new technology like PCI-express x16 in 2003-2004. I don't see how its any less of a hassle when you have to have XP to play all your games.

good thing i upgraded recently :)anshul89

:P

'And no nerd shall play videogames or MAME on his PC without the mark of the anti-piracy chip on his MOBO. And they shall cry.'

'And no nerd shall play videogames or MAME on his PC without the mark of the anti-piracy chip on his MOBO. And they shall cry.'

Hoobinator

Even if this is implemented(which I highly doubt). It would be cracked in no time, which would make it a huge waste of money adding that chip on the board. PC is a open ended platform, if it was closed like consoles then it would probably work out well. What this chip is essentially doing is trying to add closed end platform features to a open ended one. Now ask yourself how well does that ever work? Ack cough, Windows Live Gaming comes to mind.Ramadear

Its already implemented..this is technology that they predicted would surface 3 years ago. Of course it will be cracked in no time but if you read the article I just posted it says that..:

..There will still be bad guys, of course, but they will have to work much harder and the reward for their criminal efforts may not be as great as it is today. A high level of security will be built into the systems and devices we use.Extremetech

Again, its not any different from adapting a standard. We have these for media, interfaces, displays, memory, hard drives..everything. Its not any different from the array of game developers making all their games for Windows, its their standard.

You can't have your cake and eat it too, so many people complain about Windows being inconsistant but your unwilling to accept standardization when in fact, you already have by using Windows to begin with. I think its time to wake up and smell the roses.

All that will make me do is stop buying motherboards fom vendors who use that chip which will be few I'm sure.PS2_ROCKS

I'll give it 3 hours tops, there's alway a way around everything when it comes to software.Click_Clock

Sure is, good thing this has mostly to do with hardware.

PS. Can you hack a software hack? Or would that defeat itself and become a DRM or would it still be called a hack?

If this new protection chip fails in both ways:

1. Fail to block out pirates

2. Cause major problems with games and other problems overall like Sony's rootkits

This is going be the REAL reason PC gaming may die, people won't be able to game safley on a brand name computer anymore. Looking back at starforce and Sony this is going crash and burn. Lets hope for a little fire.

ok....let's look at the current gen anti-piracy techniques.

copyright protection on discs(safedisc, starforce etc.): CRACKED

all the measures taken by game consoles(ps2,360,psp etc. not sure about the ps3 though): CRACKED

now they coming up with a new chip that they claim will be the solution: now im no cracker, but i can c various ways around this.

1)crackers could come up with a hardware mod chip, as with the 360.

2)the game is a piece of code that can be changed, and any security checks bypassed.

3)even if the software requires online activation, crackers can always emulate data to make the software seem as if it has recieved online verification.

at the very most, all that anti-piracy can really stop is pirated software to play online. It's hard to stop single-player material from getting pirated.

the only way around is to eliminate single player games and bring forward games that have to be played on online servers that the company owns(come to think of it, even that could be rounded off by making cracked servers:()....so..uh nope

even if the company were to make a game that required u to log in a secure online server, from which you will recieve all the data temporarily to go through single player missions ON the server, and even if the server would be programmed to delete all the data from your system as you completed the mission,

crackers would still find ways to somehow save that downloaded game data and a way to execute it.

i really dont see the end of piracy...it can be reduced and made difficult, but it's elimination is not as easy as it might not seem

[QUOTE="foxhound_fox"]That is probably the single worst possible DRM ever invented. Have to buy a new computer? Well, that means you have to buy new copies of all your games too!

Pirates can and always will surpass and crack anything while all the legitimate consumers will be stuck jumping through hoops to get their games to work.[/QUOTE]

^This. Perhaps they should focus on making good games and then people would be confident in their game purchases.

There's no end all solution to piracy, and this alone won't change things. It amuses me greatly when people talk about it being "hacked" - that's not how it works, unfortunately I am unable to go further into such things, because my knowledge could unwittingly provide some future no-goodnick with the know-how to steal.
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Within the realm of what I can say on GS, I shall simply say that systems such as STEAM and LIVE provide a more effective means of catching pirates, and a more effective deterrent than does a chip that aids online activation.

There's no end all solution to piracy, and this alone won't change things. It amuses me greatly when people talk about it being "hacked" - that's not how it works, unfortunately I am unable to go further into such things, because my knowledge could unwittingly provide some future no-goodnick with the know-how to steal.
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Within the realm of what I can say on GS, I shall simply say that systems such as STEAM and LIVE provide a more effective means of catching pirates, and a more effective deterrent than does a chip that aids online activation.

subrosian

You took the words right out of my mouth subrosian

Did you hear about the new Nicolas Cage movie?

Cracked in Sixty Seconds, reminds me of this chip

The only sure way to prevent piracy is a bullet to the head of the pirate. I'm all for it.travt-down

Or just wait for hell to freeze over.

I've heard this before but i doubt becoming as oppressive as possible will stop poeple pirating games. They are welcome to try as long as it doesn't get in the way and piss honest consumers off.

[QUOTE="Franko_3"]

nah, they will just buy motherboard from company that will not include this *chip*, why bother lol.

Pro_wrestler

They HAVE to include the chip if they want their MB to be considered for gaming. If not then everyone will just frenzy around the boards that do offer this chip, since it would be the only way to even play games.

You understanding of hardware is limited to say the least.

The only sure way to prevent piracy is a bullet to the head of the pirate. I'm all for it.travt-down

Ever copied a tape, made you own song mix, borrowed a game from a friend, bought a pre-owned game from a store, downloaded an mp3 or avi file?

Just point the gun at your own head.

[QUOTE="anshul89"]good thing i upgraded recently :)Hitman_887

:P

[quote="guru3d"]
Speaking at yesterday's Wedbush Morgan Securities annual Management Access Conference, the Atari founder suggested that game piracy will soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new chip.

"There is a stealth encryption chip called a TPM that is going on the motherboards of most of the computers that are coming out now," he pointed out.

"What that says is that in the games business we will be able to encrypt with an absolutely verifiable private key in the encryption world - which is uncrackable by people on the internet and by giving away passwords - which will allow for a huge market to develop in some of the areas where piracy has been a real problem."

Bushnell thinks that piracy of movies and music, however, is probably unstoppable because "if you can watch it and you can hear it, you can copy it."

"Games are a different thing, because games are so integrated with the code. The TPM will, in fact, absolutely stop piracy of gameplay.

"As soon as the installed base of the TPM hardware chip gets large enough, we will start to see revenues coming from Asia and India at a time when before it didn't make sense."Pro_wrestler

As long as it doesn't prevent the righteous buyers from enjoying the game then I don't see the problem if this works.

I wonder what other arguments you could make againts the hermits

Arguments that have fallen to the hermits:
Most AAAE/AAE- Check
Most reliable hardware- Check
Most sales- Check
Cheapest hardware for the money- Check
Most advance hardware- Check
And now, no piracy?

Hmmmm..... aslong as they invent a system where you can transfer your rights to a game from one computer to another (should you upgrade to a better PC), I don't think I would be too fussed. Oh, and aslong as it doesn't cause issues, like certain DRM kits have in the past.

cant stop the pirates

But more importantly, TCPA was designed to protect the user's data from external attack, not from attack by the owner. Defending against owner attack is a much harder problem in hardware tamper resistance. TCPA chips have not been designed to resist local hardware attack, such as power analysis, RF analysis, or timing analysis. This is one of the examples that show that TCPA was not intended for DRM, which requires much higher levels of tamper resistance, since you don't trust the owner.IBM

shiver me timbers :o

:twisted::P

[QUOTE="st1ka"]

no piracy? suuuuuuuuure...... im really going to believe that :roll:

it may diminuish it but it wont stop it

Franko_3

the way it seems to work, it would stop it for the future games. The main problem I see with this solution is that you need to make sure every company (gigabyte, nvidia...) install that chip on their motherboard.

Of course, if they can mod a bios they can mod almsot any accessable chip on a motherboard... so unless every future game's code is preprogrammed into the chip, then as soon as a chip editor is leaked, it will be a waste of time to have creted it in the first place.

"which is uncrackable by people on the internet"

hahahahahahahaha, good luck with that, id give it a week, a month tops.

warmaster670

Hackers will always find a way around it. When there's a will there's a way.