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Fade software slowly, so slowly, makes copied games unusable. Counts on gamer's frustration to spur sales of the legal code.
Macrovision, the anti-piracy company whose video-protection software has frustrated movie-dubbers for years, is now turning its sights toward gaming. According to an article on New Scientist's Web site, the company's new Fade protection system takes a unique approach to foiling illegal copying.
Instead of ruining the games outright, Fade installs a program that disables the game's functions over time. For example, an illegal copy of Codemasters' Operation Flashpoint, the first title to feature Fade protection, would play fine--at first. Eventually, though, the player would be unable to reload his guns or target opponents accurately, rendering the bootlegged game unplayable.
Ironically, Fade-protected games act much like a demo, giving players a taste of the action and then taking it away. By whetting the appetite of pirates, Macrovision is hoping Fade will help boost sales of its customers' legal copies.
Codemasters' Bruce Everiss seems pleased. "The beauty of this is that the degrading copy becomes a sales promotion tool," he is quoted as saying. "People [will then] go out and buy an original version."
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Source: http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6076592.htm
How interesting, but I think it's naive to believe that a bunch of "educated" programmers are going to outwit the hacking scene. Does this mean though that software companies are actually giving up on traditional methods of cracking down on distribution of pirated games? Also, it seems inevitable that the fadeware is going to affect legitimate players too. This will cause backlash against fadeware and lead to confusion on the hotline as to who has a "legit' game and who doesn't.
Macrovision, the anti-piracy company whose video-protection software has frustrated movie-dubbers for years, is now turning its sights toward gaming. According to an article on New Scientist's Web site, the company's new Fade protection system takes a unique approach to foiling illegal copying.
Instead of ruining the games outright, Fade installs a program that disables the game's functions over time. For example, an illegal copy of Codemasters' Operation Flashpoint, the first title to feature Fade protection, would play fine--at first. Eventually, though, the player would be unable to reload his guns or target opponents accurately, rendering the bootlegged game unplayable.
Ironically, Fade-protected games act much like a demo, giving players a taste of the action and then taking it away. By whetting the appetite of pirates, Macrovision is hoping Fade will help boost sales of its customers' legal copies.
Codemasters' Bruce Everiss seems pleased. "The beauty of this is that the degrading copy becomes a sales promotion tool," he is quoted as saying. "People [will then] go out and buy an original version."
========================================
Source: http://www.gamespot.com/all/news/news_6076592.htm
How interesting, but I think it's naive to believe that a bunch of "educated" programmers are going to outwit the hacking scene. Does this mean though that software companies are actually giving up on traditional methods of cracking down on distribution of pirated games? Also, it seems inevitable that the fadeware is going to affect legitimate players too. This will cause backlash against fadeware and lead to confusion on the hotline as to who has a "legit' game and who doesn't.
I thought this was about Pirates 2
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