Xbox Piracy Effect on Sales

[d1abolic]

Out of curiosity, how many of you out there are waiting to see if you will be able to get free games on the Xbox before deciding to buy the system?

 

[kami]

I haven't decided between a GameCube or XBox yet...

 

[LiQiCE]

I'm buying one right away ... If there is a modchip, usually its first developed for the original motherboard, and then if the motherboard changes it takes a little while to them to find the new solder points for a new motherboard. Also, if there are any tricks like the PS2 Demo Disc swap trick with the original JAP PS2 they will exist on first generation consoles but not second generation ones. Plus ... I'd rather get the system now and buy some games to enjoy, and if they happen to come up with a method to copy games, then so be it! I still buy games for my PS2 even though its modded (Only the ones I actually like though). My guess is that Microsoft is banking on the fact that there are no dual-layered DVD burners yet, and that their lack of availability will prevent piracy at least in the short term. Who knows though, maybe they dont even have a copy protection scheme at all! ... Before XP and product activation there was really no true copy protection scheme on any of Microsoft's products!

GameCube will be very difficult to pirate because of the proprietary format it uses. The only possible method I forsee is using the Panasonic GameCube which will play DVDs and getting it to read DVD-ROM discs to play games. In any case, it will definitely be an interesting next year for consoles with 3 major players in the video game scene.

 

I was all set to buy one until I saw the latest screen shots and movies and realized it's really not that great. Perhaps I will buy one next year when the games get better.

 

[Electrode]

If there are any really good Xbox-exclusive games (and I doubt there will be) I'll get them free and play them with an emulator written in 200 lines of C++.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

while im not waiting on piracy, im waiting to see what the system can be hacked to do, much like the dreamcast. if they can make it into a cheap pc, web server, progressive scan dvd, tivo, etc. it's all the possible hacks for it that will get me to buy it, not the games, that's what the gamecube is for

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

and msft may have made the same mistake the dreamcast did. it can read regular cd's. so what if the game comes on a 8.5 gig dvd. some group ripped emperorune from 4 cds down to 212 megs. or they just stream them across multiple cds, or across multiple single layer cds. i dont know anything about that stuff, but i do know that there are many more people attempting to break it, than there was to encode it. it's just a matter of time, and im going to guess that eventually (may be a year or 2), but cds will be usuable just like in the dreamcast.

 

[polotek147]

I'd buy it. I passed up on the PS2. This is the next newest system that's out there.

 

[Daniel]

I'm not a big console player but if the game cube comes out and I can find that and a new zelda game I may be in nirvana.

 

[mflacy]

Guess what! Microsoft designed the XBox so the motherboard will crack in half if the unit is opened without the correct tools.. It will make it much harder for anyone to use a mod-chip without having the proper tools to open the XBox up.

 

[polotek147]

The only thing(s) that I don't like about the GameCube are (1) the color, and (2) the fact that it doesn't play dvds (as in movies). The games are dvd-roms, but the console itself doesn't play dvd movies because Nintendo didn't want to pay royalties to all those companies.

 

[Ryan]

<< Guess what! Microsoft designed the XBox so the motherboard will crack in half if the unit is opened without the correct tools.. It will make it much harder for anyone to use a mod-chip without having the proper tools to open the XBox up. >>



MS is smart!

 

[kami]

<< The only thing(s) that I don't like about the GameCube are (1) the color, and (2) the fact that it doesn't play dvds (as in movies). The games are dvd-roms, but the console itself doesn't play dvd movies because Nintendo didn't want to pay royalties to all those companies. >>



You can get the gamecube in black

 

[MrBond]

<< Who knows though, maybe they dont even have a copy protection scheme at all! >>

I read somewhere (I think teamxbox.com) that MS licensed the copyprotection scheme used on many of today's PC games for use on the Xbox.

 

[Cooltech2k]

If Pirated games are easyily available I Will But One... Otherwise There had better be some killer titles that I Really want to play or I WIll pass.

 

[LiQiCE]

GameCube doesn't use a DVD-ROM format, it uses a proprietary format which stores games on small discs which hold 1.5 Gigs per disc (I don't remember the exact diameter of the disc right now, but I think it is 3.5") ... The discs may use a DVD type laser, but they aren't a normal DVD-ROM disc.

The rumor that the X-Box's motherboard will crack in half when you try to open it is just that. Its a rumor, and I don't think its a true one.

If it is true that Microsoft is using PC copy protection schemes to prevent copying, then copying games using a program like CloneCD should be possible.

 

[ElPool]

<< and msft may have made the same mistake the dreamcast did. it can read regular cd's. so what if the game comes on a 8.5 gig dvd. some group ripped emperorune from 4 cds down to 212 megs. or they just stream them across multiple cds, or across multiple single layer cds. i dont know anything about that stuff, but i do know that there are many more people attempting to break it, than there was to encode it. it's just a matter of time, and im going to guess that eventually (may be a year or 2), but cds will be usuable just like in the dreamcast. >>



doesnt xbox come with a hard drive? maybe theyl find a way to play pirated games right off the HD.

 

[Aihyah]

off the hd? hds only 10gb.. anyhow, all games will be dvds, so harder to copy

 

[Sugadaddy]

If I get a console, it'll be XBOX. PS2 is a year older, and it'll really show in the long run. Gamecube will be a success because of its price and because it has "Nintendo" on it , but the launch titles suck, and I want to be able to watch DVDs. What would be even better is if it could play VCD/SVCD.

I don't care that much about pirated games. It would be nice, but with the losses they're taking with the hardware, if nobody buys games it'll be gone very fast just like Dreamcast...

 

[MrBond]

<< The rumor that the X-Box's motherboard will crack in half when you try to open it is just that. Its a rumor, and I don't think its a true one. >>

I think you're right here. I've heard that opening the xbox requires a unique tool, which seems like the most obvious thing to do. Someone will make one third party though, so that's a small hurdle to clear.

<< If it is true that Microsoft is using PC copy protection schemes to prevent copying, then copying games using a program like CloneCD should be possible. >>

Ahh yes, but the burners to copy such games are very expensive to obtain. And we know how early builds of CloneCD were with burner support

 

[LiQiCE]

MrBond - Just have to cross our fingers and wait for a Plextor DVD-R