We already established that the DS has next to no protection, though. ;)

Seil, a couple of things:

First, yes, "flashcarts" exist. Not all of them can run every single game though, and there're games that work on some but not on others. There's a pretty good chance your friend can't play Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, for example.

Second, yes, there are games with little to no protection, but then there's stuff that takes months - like Chrono Trigger DS, for example.

Dragon Quest V locks you into an unending sea trip, Chrono Trigger DS locks you every time you enter a portal, Zelda Spirit Tracks doesn't let you control the train, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates shows you a "Thank you for playing!" screen at random...I could go on, I think. Yes, most games have no protection, but some have some good protection that takes weeks~months. Companies are finally catching on and putting things that take way too long to be patched without a firmware update and since some flashcart companies don't update their firmware anymore...

I was speaking more in terms of quantity, but very interesting info. :3nod:

Honestly, I don't see the point of copy protection in general. It's not like the bigger and more elaborate your DRM the more you limit pirated copies to only the most cunning and ruthless hackers.

I mean, look at Oblivion. All they had for copy protection was a CD Key and still sold a bamillion copies and it was a horrible game!

Really the entire point behind DRM is just a way to make some executives who are displeased with the sales results feel good about themselves. It's been established that a company going "piracy is the cause of our loss in profits" is their way of saying "We needed a scapegoat."

It isn't that their game isn't good - it's those damn hackers and crackers causing all the problems. And that mangy dog!

I've always said low-tech is the way to go. Spend less money making games and you don't have to gamble the gross national product of Burma on its success. That'll make it easier both on piracy management and on the basic quality of the game since we'll see less designed by committee to appeal to the lowest possible denominator franchieses. Maybe you can't justify taking 50 bucks for it, and maybe it won't sell thirteen million copies because it has no flashy front, and you'll have to scale back your business model, but that's a good thing. No one likes huge money-hungry corporations, especially huge money-hungry corporations making things of supposedly artistic merit.

You don't need expensive technologies to make a good game anyway, in fact it seems more like a hindrance. Most people I know agree gaming quality peaked with the SNES.

Yeah, that too. Man, it'd be sweet to see less sequels and more creative work.

This is totally true, though I find myself in a unique position. I have a friend who is a video game hoarder. So I do end up buying any of the PC games I want to own anyway for cheaper, but for games where I range from "Enngh" to "I'd never pay money for this ever, not even for $2 in a bargain bin" I can usually just borrow it from him.

Man, it is sad to see PC gaming on a bit of a decline. I'm hoping it'll open up again from WoW dies, and the world is re-consumed back into SC2 and D3. I think I would blame economics more than DRM or anything else, but still. Blah.

I think the only way to really send a message about piracy and DRM is to boycott games with awful DRM schemes. Not play them, not pirate them, boycott them. If publishers see that a lot of people have pirated a game, and fewer have paid for it, all that says is that "we're pirates!" which gives them their justification for draconian DRM schemes. If they see that few people have both bought or pirated a game, perhaps that would make them think. But sadly a lot of people are too weak-willed or just don't care enough to not buy that triple A game they want, so the cycle continues.

What about shareholders too? Most major devs and publishers will most likely have shareholders to answer to, and they won't be happy when they hear news of, say, Assassin's Creed 102 having no DRM, and thus will seemingly be saying "pirate me, please!"

On AC2, I could see EA possibly backing down a bit. I dunno, backlash seems significant.

If you want to send messages to companies there is only way to do it: corporate terrorism. Otherwise you are a pussy.