From the early days of video games, game developers have fought to prevent piracy. If a game receives any kind of praise or hype, more often than not an illegal copy will float around. Even in the days before the internet, this was an issue, as bootleg cartridges found themselves at various conventions or in friend circles.
When it became apparent this was an issue, some Devs found ways to not only prevent piracy but punish those who practiced it. From humiliation to game crashing, here are 10 ways Devs have prevented their games from being pirated.
Mirror's Edge
Mirror's Edge is a great game to play if one loves parkour mechanics in games. This is because freerunning and parkour are key game mechanics and are required to master to play the game. If a is playing a pirated version of the game, then they will encounter some issues.
In the game, a player must run before reaching a ledge or jump. This allows them to build up enough momentum in order to clear the gap. In a pirated copy of the game, the player actually slows down as they reach an edge as opposed to speeding up which causes them to lose momentum and fail to make the leap. This prevents pirates from even completing the tutorial.
Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
To many, The DS title The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is one of the best titles in the Legend of Zelda series. One of the key game mechanics is trains and at various points, Link must control a train. The controls for the train are found on the right-hand side of the screen.
Controlling trains are simple enough, but many fans had trouble when they first began playing. This is because, in all likelihood, they were playing pirated copies. If the game is an illegal copy, the train controls do not appear, effectively stonewalling the game and making it unplayable.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
The developers of the Nintendo DS Final Fantasy game not only deterred pirates, but they also mocked them. The game starts like normal, and everything seems to be going smoothly. That is until the game has been played for twenty minutes. Pirated copies have a timer, and once it hits 20 minutes the game ends.
At this point, a screen appears saying "Thank you for playing!" featuring some of the game's characters. This not only stopped the player from progressing but also gave the pirates a backhanded compliment. Pirated copies are essentially demos, giving pirates a brief taste of what could have had, had they bought the game. The series is filled with great characters, so its too bad pirates won't experience the ones in this game.
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
This classic PS1 game was hotly anticipated, meaning pirated copies were practically guaranteed. Pirated copies of the game gave pirates every chance to quit while they were ahead. They are warned right from the beginning that an illegal copy has been identified, and that problems may arise. Arise they do, as there are several issues that could appear. Several key items such as gems and even characters do not appear.
If a player does get the items, there is a good chance they will disappear from the inventory. Other issues include Spyro randomly teleporting to the beginning of a level, the pause function being removed, and Sparx will being unable to retrieve health. There are tons of game-breaking annoyances that could happen. And if the player somehow manages to make it near the end, all of their save data will be wiped.
Game Dev Tycoon
As the title suggests, Game Dev Tycoon allows the player to simulate being a game developer. The game goes through several eras of gaming history, and the player must design consoles and games to make a profit. Pirated copies of the game show players exactly how it feels. After a certain point, the player will stop making profits and lose money.
The beautiful irony is, the reason given is because the player's games are being pirated. This pirating mechanic is totally absent from legal copies and ensures the pirates will have no chance to win the game. They can continue to play, but it will ultimately be for nothing.
Grand Theft Auto 4
The Grand Theft Auto franchise is among the most popular gaming franchises of all time. Rockstar has always had problems with the games being pirated, and with the fourth installment, they looked to stop this. There are a handful of glitches in place that make illegal copies of the game unplayable. The most obvious and most annoying is the camera. From the very beginning, the camera shakes around as if the character is drunk, making it very difficult to see.
The vehicles are also rigged. Each vehicle is nearly destroyed when the character enters. This, mixed with the fact all vehicles rocket forward on their own, means they will surely explode before the player can react. These are just a few examples of game-breaking glitches pirates have encountered.
Gary's Mod
Gary's Mod remains one of the best games available on Steam. The popular sandbox game allows players to do virtually whatever they want, with whatever character they want. Right from the beginning, the game had a subtle anti-piracy measure to ensure pirates not only can't play the game but also out themselves as thieves.
Pirated copies of the game contain an error message stating "Unable to shade polygon normals". The message also contains the 's Steam ID and asks them to post the error message on the official forums along with their ID in an attempt to receive help. Not only does this out the player as a pirate to all forum s, but it also lets Steam devs ban their Steam ID, which they willingly gave out.
The Secret of Monkey Island
In the days before the internet, PC games were actually much easier to pirate. All one needs to do is copy game data onto a blank disc. The Secret of Monkey Island is one of the best Lucasfilm adventure games from the 90s, partly due to the anti-piracy measures. The game included a wheel called Dial-A-Pirate.
When prompted, all the player has to do is spin the wheel and match the pirate faces to reveal numbers. The game wouldn't start until the correct numbers were entered. This wheel was only available with copies of the game, and the answers could not be looked up on the internet.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The Arkham games are among the Arkham Asylum, put in a subtle anti-piracy measure that isn't noticeable at first. In the game, Batman has a gliding ability that allows him to clear large gaps.
While making traversing much easier, there are a few parts where the gliding ability is absolutely necessary to progress. In pirated copies, these areas are inaccessible due to the lack of gliding ability. This makes the game unbeatable. This also led to players asking on forums what to do next, outing themselves as pirates.
Earthbound
While Earthbound is simple to play today, back when it was released the only way to play it was on an official SNES cart. Nintendo is well known for protecting its IPs, and this has always been the case. Pirated copies of Earthbound run just as well as legal copies. In fact, the game is totally playable. No glitches, missing items, or error messages.
The game is rather large, and after many hours the final boss is satisfying to get to. Those with legal copies just continue to beat Giygas and beat the game. Pirated copies, however, finally mess with the player. After all this progress and hard work, the game freezes right before the final fight. The game prompts the player to reset the console. When booted back up, all of their progress has been deleted.
