Network now...NEWS
The Sims 3 Leaked Online
The Sims 3, one of EA’s major 2009 releases, has seemingly been leaked online two weeks before its official US launch on June 2.
Torrent tracking site The Pirate Bay is currently carrying a number of Sims 3 files weighing in at around 5GB. Numerous users claim to have downloaded the files and have vouched for their authenticity.
The news comes shortly after Sims Division head Rod Humble said that the game wouldn’t require online activation to play.
"The game will have disc-based copy protection - there is a Serial Code just like The Sims 2. To play the game there will not be any online authentication needed," he noted back in March.
"We feel like this is a good, time-proven solution that makes it easy for you to play the game without DRM methods that feel overly invasive or leave you concerned about authorisation server access in the distant future."
Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey said recently that he thinks the game could sell four million copies this year, although the emergence of the title on torrent sites could potentially damage sales.
It wouldn’t be the first time EA has run into such troubles. Spore was reportedly illegally downloaded some 1.7 million times during the last three months of 2008, making it the most pirated title of last year.
We’ve contacted EA about this report and are awaiting an official comment.
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Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court 30 Monmouth Street Bath, UK BA1 2BW
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
looks like pirates live right in pubishers and game devs back yard as for drm this guy says it real well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umnvziIZFNU&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.socross...
this what 2 dboy had to say about drm
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23570
oh by the way is game devs want to about pircay they should include consoles too. Yea them consoles get pirated. I would like to add the wii and dsi gets pirated alot more than pc games do. Pirates don't make money off of pc games but they make money on console games. When money is a driven factor for consoles games I am sure the pircay rates are real high.
That's true. Wii & DS games are pirated more than any other platform. I think that proves what dictates piracy - accessabilty. When you try to hock 10 year old hardware, current network technologies can share that easily.
At 50GB+, I bet not a lot of people pirate MGS4. You can prevent piracy by making a huge game; deep, developed, & long, with lots of models, textures, & music. Basically, by working hard & earning your $60+ asking price. Maybe that's too much to ask.
Besides, how do companies expect consumers to have enough emotional stake in the company NOT to pirate the game if the employees don't even stand behind its integrity.
it's been said before. Pirates are hackers, not ninjas. Early release leaks have nothing to do with DRM's, or lack therof. I don't even why it was mentioned. I'd like to see sales numbers on the Sims 3 once it's released.
Oftentimes, DRM enhances piracy. I downloaded a "cracked" version of Cold War after purchasing the game, having its DRM actually prevent me from running the game, & getting NO support from the company to fix it.
I don't feel bad for people who download cracked versions of the game or anything illegal about it. I still remember talking in the Impulse Demigod chat room and some ass came in asking for help on why he can't go online. I asked him if he bought the game and he said no, by which then he got left and then effectively got banned by Kryo.
I have no remorse for any malfunction on the software or the hardware of those who do illegal activities.
You realize I was revering to a malfuntion on software & hardware due to LEGAL activities, right?
I'd be the ass who jumps on the forums & says - "Why can't I get online". Forum members would ask if I'd bought the game. I'd say "Yes" & the response would be, "There's your problem."
I actually lol'd. "yeh you made the newb mistake of actually buying the game, sorry"
It's still the right thing to do, buying instead of stealing it. And no, I didn't realise you were talking about a legal one.
This is depressing.
I think the only way you'll be able to fight piracy is a full worldwide police state -
By definition, any kind of protection is imperfect and can be cracked, broken or bypassed.
Personally, i've used cracks and illegal games before, mainly to test them, since they either did not have demos, or the demo was just a "video", which does not show the game as such (like controls and so on).
People also blamed torrents and equivalent for piracy... i was using cracked games when I was 15, in the 1990's, when the cracks were much harder to find... and just about everyone I knew back then, was doing the samething. I don't think piracy "increased" as such... but now, we're more able to track down how many time a file was downloaded.
The other way you could see a pirate increase would be from 3rd world countries in the 80's/90's, now able to have most people with a computer and internet access, hence increasing the amount of people able to get a cracked game, rather than buying it...
I think of pirates as two categories:
1- the ones that will crack a game to try it for free (especially on pc, since now it's nearly impossible to return a game you've bought).
2- the ones that wouldn't pay for it anyway.
I think it is very wrong from companies to assume everyone downloading a crack game would have bought it...
Wonderful. Someone within the industry (either an employee of EA or someone where the place is being printed) leaked it? Just like the movie industry :P
Exactly. I don't care too much for EA (Still short on creativity), but I hate when this happens...