Square Enix hates us

[Maikel Steneker]

Source: http://www.ndomain.nl/text.php?id=9555

Ontwikkelaars komen er dagelijks mee in aanraking; piraterij, oftewel: het illegaal verspreiden van beschermd materiaal. De gekraakte versie van Square Enix' onlangs in Japan verschenen DS-titel, Chrono Trigger, zou volgens hen een flinke klap kunnen krijgen in de verkoopcijfers.

Recentelijk lanceerde Square Enix de Japanse editie van Chrono Trigger op de markt, met de Amerikaanse versie gepland voor een uitgave aankomende week. De dringende vraag naar de game werd door de ontwikkelaar beantwoord met een heruitgave voor de Nintendo DS, hopende dat elke fan (of consument die de game nooit heeft mogen spelen) voor deze titel rap de dichtsbijzijnde game-winkel zou opzoeken.

Met de redelijk simpel te verkrijgen illegale software van tegenwoordig, en de hardware die dit nog makkelijker maakt, nam Square Enix het zekere voor het onzekere. Chrono Trigger DS zou gebruik maken van een ingebouwd stukje software waardoor de game - bij gebruik via illegale wegen - vastloopt en de speler weerhoudt van verdere voortgang. Kort na de publicatie op het internet zijn 'hackers' er tóch in geslaagd de protectie te omzeilen.

Square Enix reageerde woedend op dit probleem en ziet de bui voor de verkoopcijfers van Chrono Trigger nu al hangen. Het is niet bekend of de protectie voor de Japanse en Amerikaanse versie van elkaar verschilt, maar duidelijk is wel dat Square Enix een flink aantal exemplaren kan wegstrepen van de uiteindelijke verkooptotalen. Chrono Trigger DS staat gepland voor een Europese lancering in het eerste kwartaal van 2009

Short summary / translation:
Recently, Square Enix launched the Japanese version of Chrono Trigger. Before the game was even launched in the United States, hackers succeeded in hacking the game to work on flashcarts.
Illegal software is pretty easy to get nowadays, and Square Enix knew about that. They built in a little peace of software to prevent the game from running certain parts of the game. They think that their software sales will become significantly lower now.

 

[Noitora]

Normatt and co. are famous now I guess

 

[CockroachMan]

Of course they hate, what was you expecting?

 

[granville]

I don't mind being hated by a company who repackages an almost exact replica of a 13 year old game for $10 more than any other game of the same system.

Was that too harsh? And for the record, I actually BOUGHT the original SNES game for $75 when it first released. Later got the PS1 game at Funcoland (now Gamestop) second hand for $20. That was before my piracy days. I just think that at least in regards to this game, I've spent enough.

 

[CockroachMan]

I don't mind being hated by a company who repackages an almost exact replica of a 13 year old game for $10 more than any other game of the same system.

Was that too harsh? And for the record, I actually BOUGHT the original SNES game for $75 when it first released. Later got the PS1 game at Funcoland (now Gamestop) second hand for $20. That was before my piracy days. I just think that at least in regards to this game, I've spent enough.

I bought the SNES game when it was released too.. $75 USD. RPGs weren't very popular by that time.. was hard to find a store that had it.

 

[Killermech]

It changes nothing. Those that intended to buy it in the first place, will most likely still buy it and those that were gonna pirate it are still pirating it.
What they are really mad about is that they hired a super coder to implent these pirate check points for 20k and it got hacked in one day.

 

[da_head]

Of course they hate, what was you expecting?

 

[granville]

I wonder if there's any such thing as "hacker insurance" for those companies who DO hire someone to code in copy protection and it's broken. Probably not as no coder would be foolish enough to offer a guarantee with us around!

 

[Toni Plutonij]

It changes nothing. Those that intended to buy it in the first place, will most likely still buy it and those that were gonna pirate it are still pirating it.
What they are really mad about is that they hired a super coder to implent these pirate check points for 20k and it got hacked in one day.

I'm guessing that this is the case, more than then "loosing" the sales!

 

[Anakir]

I honestly think that people should buy the game if they like it that much. Whether you have little money or not, just save up. Some companies try to satisfy customer's needs yet they still get stabbed in the back because of piracy.

I buy whatever I like. It shouldn't be that hard.

 

[HBK]

They must think that the pirate community are dumb. Truth is, even if you have the strongest/best anti-piracy check in a game or a piece of software, there's always gonna be someone who will be able to crack it.

And that's what you get for implementing dumb piracy checks in CT, Square Enix. Hope you're happy.

 

[thedicemaster]

they shouldn't complain.
knowing the popularity of the game i'm quite certain it will still be one of the best selling DS games.

 

[Satangel]

they shouldn't complain.
knowing the popularity of the game i'm quite certain it will still be one of the best selling DS games.

Let's hope so

I would love to see some more Square Enix on the DS, yes even more then now.

 

[Sevael]

What they are really mad about is that they hired a super coder to implent these pirate check points for 20k and it got hacked in one day.

I sure hope said coder doesn't put this on his/her resume.

 

[UltraMagnus]

I honestly think that people should buy the game if they like it that much. Whether you have little money or not, just save up. Some companies try to satisfy customer's needs yet they still get stabbed in the back because of piracy.

I buy whatever I like. It shouldn't be that hard.

well, Chrono Trigger has never been released in PAL regions (read UK and a lot of europe) and i doubt it will this time round either. so they won't even give me the chance to buy it legally?

QUOTE(HBK @ Nov 20 2008, 08:20 PM) They must think that the pirate community are dumb. Truth is, even if you have the strongest/best anti-piracy check in a game or a piece of software, there's always gonna be someone who will be able to crack it.

And that's what you get for implementing dumb piracy checks in CT, Square Enix. Hope you're happy.

the basic fact is that pirates are pretty much always more intelligent than the anti pirates.

 

[xalphax]

games (even 2nd hand) are too expensive and flashcarts are too cheap.

 

[Anakir]

I honestly think that people should buy the game if they like it that much. Whether you have little money or not, just save up. Some companies try to satisfy customer's needs yet they still get stabbed in the back because of piracy.

I buy whatever I like. It shouldn't be that hard.

well, Chrono Trigger has never been released in PAL regions (read UK and a lot of europe) and i doubt it will this time round either. so they won't even give me the chance to buy it legally?

You can import it. It may cost a bit more, but it shows appreciation for their work. The fact that E versions getting released a lot later can't be helped, because that's how they've been releasing most of the games. They have a certain routine I guess, they can be blamed for that since they could always choose to release them all on the same day, but they don't. I guess its some kind of marketing strategy they have?

 

[Law]

I honestly think that people should buy the game if they like it that much. Whether you have little money or not, just save up. Some companies try to satisfy customer's needs yet they still get stabbed in the back because of piracy.

I buy whatever I like. It shouldn't be that hard.

well, Chrono Trigger has never been released in PAL regions (read UK and a lot of europe) and i doubt it will this time round either. so they won't even give me the chance to buy it legally?

You can import it. It may cost a bit more, but it shows appreciation for their work. The fact that E versions getting released a lot later can't be helped, because that's how they've been releasing most of the games. They have a certain routine I guess, they can be blamed for that since they could always choose to release them all on the same day, but they don't. I guess its some kind of marketing strategy they have?

I guess it's because they have to translate it into 5 different languages because of all the European countries?

Or perhaps it's because they think the games won't sell well here, since Europe is full of casual gaming fagets.

 

[hellohey]

It changes nothing. Those that intended to buy it in the first place, will most likely still buy it and those that were gonna pirate it are still pirating it.
What they are really mad about is that they hired a super coder to implent these pirate check points for 20k and it got hacked in one day.

owned....
i think squareenix tries too much on hacking prevention

 

[thedicemaster]

I honestly think that people should buy the game if they like it that much. Whether you have little money or not, just save up. Some companies try to satisfy customer's needs yet they still get stabbed in the back because of piracy.

I buy whatever I like. It shouldn't be that hard.

well, Chrono Trigger has never been released in PAL regions (read UK and a lot of europe) and i doubt it will this time round either. so they won't even give me the chance to buy it legally?

a european release appears to be planned for next year.