Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:17 this Wednesday (GMT):

On Wed, 3 Apr 2024 11:22:18 +0200, H1MEM <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:

Ok, CPS1 had a bootleg problem, as the Street Fighter II clones are
proof of it,You only needed to bootleg one cart and the base board
would still be the same. With CPS2 They added one of the worst
encryptions ever, the "suicide battery". A non replaceable battery that >>kept the decryption algorythm in RAM. This was not a problem since an >>arcade could send the game back and get one with a newer battery, but a >>nightmare for collectors until someone was able to resurrect CPS2 boards.

And I thought Pokemon 2nd Gen was bad..

But I managed to find somebody worse than Capcom: Gaelco. This spanish >>arcade company managed to be Worst than Bobby Kotick (Worse than Hitler
is overused).

By the time they started developing their own games (which were still >>ripoffs of existing games), they added an antitampering protection that >>makes Capcom look consumer friendly: If it detected the memory was being >>read, the game would self destruct and be lost forever.

To some degree, I can almost emphasize with these tactics. There was
SO MUCH HACKING of arcade machines back then, and not only were people pirating arcade machine ROMS, but then turning around and using them
to counterfeit the machines. If it wasn't outright counterfeits
(copying the ROMs into a third-party arcade machine and selling it as legitmate), then they'd just make some minor changes to the visuals
and suddenly "Street Fighter" became "Road Rumble". Same game, just
with slightly altered sprites and a new title screen.

And since the arcade manufacturers made bank on the sale of the
hardware, it was no wonder they tried to lock it down as tightly as
they could. Especially since they often had to provide after-market
support as well. So - even if I don't agree with it - I understand
their motivations.

I guess. I think some games only protected the copyright text (for
obvious reasons) though..

But there's a significant difference between arcade cabinets and home
sales, and the attitude that is acceptable with the one is not
necessarily the same with the other.

There's also an issue of cultural and legal differences. Many arcade manufacturers were based in Japan, where IP laws (and general attitude towards copyrights) are far stricter and more protective than
elsewhere. It is no coincidence that some of the most egregiously
litagious and anti-user video game corporations (Capcom being one,
obviously, but Nintendo is another) are based in Japan.

Makes sense, but still sucks for all the Nintendo fans.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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