New ROM Anti-Piracy Software

[Another World]

New ROM Anti-Piracy Software
Out by December 2009

Andrew Mclennan, CEO of U.K.-based Metaforic, has announced a new anti-piracy measure for flash linkers. Specifically engineered for ROMs, and not homebrew, this new bit of software can be injected into code and will cause the corruption of ROM files which are pre-patched before launching. The code is currently specifically targeted to the R4 patching routines, due to its popularity. Nintendo is behind this anti-piracy software 100% as are 6 leading third party NDS software publishers.

It will remain to be seen what hackers can do with the anti-piracy measure when it begins to ship, injected into retail carts, as soon as December of this year. The code can be altered to change its signature for each retail cart, potentially preventing an automated fix from being developed.

Metaforic’s goal is to “annoy the hackers” as much as possible. They admit that the solution is not fool proof but it should require a fresh hack on a per-ROM basis. Thus allowing software a longer shelf life before it is pirated.

Please view the source link for the full article and then post your comments here.

Source

Discuss

 

[Frederica Bernkastel]

Doesn't this mean that only R4 users are affected?
Also, reguarly updated firmware shouldn't be affected too much...
Unless this protection changes for every game...

 

[hacker07]

The Guy in the interview said that the code detects the type of flashcart and kills the rom. So it has something to do with dldi.

 

[Trolly]

Unless this protection changes for every game...

DING, DING, DING! 5 points to Antiology

. Yeah, that's kinda the whole problem here, it's making it as time-consuming as possible for hackers to crack.

 

[Another World]

i wish flash linkers still cost $150+. the drop below the $65 line made them accessible to more children and the current generation of drag/drop usage makes them more appealing. the problem now is that raising the cost would kill your company because these chinese companies have fine tuned the building process to the $2-4 range. you would have to offer something the other companies don't in order to sell kits at such a high price. but in the end, the higher price kits might be the ones that survive if this turns into an anti-piracy war between the software devs and the hackers.

-another world

 

[DeadLocked]

December of this year.

Maybe there is hope, Kingdom Hearts and Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver may be saved!!!!!! I just hope they don't delay them both now just for ths stupid measure to be put in LOL I'll kill someone if they do.

 

[Another World]

The Guy in the interview said that the code detects the type of flashcart and kills the rom. So it has something to do with dldi.

its just checking the rom to see if it has been patched, each flash linker uses its own patching routines. roms need to be patched for a variety of reasons, i do believe even the rpg nand has dma patching involved.

-another world

 

[Maz7006]

frivolous, but ingenious attempts to prevent piracy, i agree with another world on this, the problem is that it's so easy and so cheap to pirate DS games

if you ask me, the people to blame are the game developers, who don't even try to do anything to prevent it...

 

[Sp33der]

Doesn't this mean that only R4 users are affected?
Also, reguarly updated firmware shouldn't be affected too much...
Unless this protection changes for every game...

Well they mention R4-style cards, and with that I think they don't mean the fakes but cards like TTDS, m3real, cyclo etc.

And: "We add so much security to it that it will take a very long time to hack," so they want it to be time consuming rather than be a indestructible security wall.

 

[mysticstryk]

So does this mean nintendo is having problems blocking the current flash cards? They have to put it in upcoming software? If so, this could be a relief to everyone buying the dsi flash cards, they'll just have to be careful from december 09 on...

 

[bowlofspiders]

If the attempts are as cheap as the DSi security, it wont take long to hack.

 

[hacker07]

The Guy in the interview said that the code detects the type of flashcart and kills the rom. So it has something to do with dldi.

its just checking the rom to see if it has been patched, each flash linker uses its own patching routines. roms need to be patched for a variety of reasons, i do believe even the rpg nand has dma patching involved.

-another world

Oh yeah. But can't they just change the patching routines.

 

[Another World]

no, because patching is patching. the rom is now altered and new code is attached to it. it is very easy to see if this has been done regardless of the way in which it was done.

does that make sense?

-another world

 

[TheDarkSeed]

Well everyone gear up for this war. I'm not into developing, but I'm willing to jump in and program 'til my fingers are bloody.

 

[GeekyGuy]

Sounds like politics to me. Reading that report, this is what came immediately to my mind:

Nintendo, under heavy and regular request from third parties -- likely with big shoutouts from Square Enix, EA and Activision -- have partnered with a third-party company to develop this anti-piracy measure as pacification for publishers. I don't glean anything that suggests Nintendo is on a crusade. They just need to present the appearance of making an effort to combat piracy on behalf of third-party publishers who make games on their platforms.

 

[xDlmaoxD]

If the attempts are as cheap as the DSi security, it wont take long to hack.

No one has soft modded the DSi yet, so your answer is irrelevant.
Also I doubt this would even matter, people usually find a fix either the same day or a few days later.
It even encourages people to find it first and release it before anyone.
So its a FAIL!

 

[DeadLocked]

Nah if you ask me Nintendo and the game companies problem, is they sell too high. I can get Great xbox games for half the price of an imagine game.
If games were like... hmm £10 each then there would be no problem, want a game, I'll buy it. nowadays I only get maybe one rom from every 100 dumps, mainly because they're imagine and learn to speak and let's paint your house purple and how to walk correctly by Nintendo.

 

[Rayder]

I guess we'll all find out how tough this protection will be around the holidays, won't we? Doesn't worry me too much to be honest, the DS hasn't impressed me in a long time anyway. Seriously, it's not like I'm going to buy some DS game just because it's not instantly playable on a flashcart.

 

[faceless]

this gamasutra story is just an open advertisement for some company trying to sell their anti-piracy technology to ds game publishera.

 

[arctic_flame]

This will stop the pirates as much as the carts that didn't reset on insert did.