Halo 2 Leaked Online
The hotly anticipated sequel to Microsoft’s hit Xbox game Halo has been leaked onto the Internet with only weeks to go before its release.
The leaked version appears to be a PAL copy with French text, leading to speculation that the pirated version of the game was stolen during the localization and internationalization process. The pirated version of the game — a three gigabyte download — won’t be playable on US, Canadian, and other NSTC Xboxes. It also won’t be playable over Microsoft’s Xbox Live online service. All things considered, it isn’t expected to make a substantial dent in Halo 2’s expected sales.
Microsoft says that the game’s November 9th release date will not be pushed back as a result of the theft.
See also GamesIndustry.biz, Slashdot, and GameSpot stories on the theft.
The pirated version of the game — a three gigabyte download — won’t be playable on US, Canadian, and other NSTC Xboxes.
wrong moron
if you have a modded xbox, which you need to play a copied game anyways you probably know how to play a pal game on an ntsc xbox/tv. there are programs out there that you can install on your xbox to convert pal to ntsc in realtime
do some research next time
Comment by squirrel — October 20, 2004 @ 7:10 pm
Yeah, squirrel. If you want to be an asshole and a thief, taking money out of the hands of the hard-working and relatively cool developers at Bungie Studios (not synonymous with Microsoft, so don’t even go there), you can probably find a way to play the pirated game.
You can download a 3 gigabyte file, void the warranty on your Xbox by modding it, break the law, and play a game which — if you speak English (questionable, based on your shitty grammar) — isn’t even in your language.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just plunk down $50 on November 9th and buy the game honestly?
Comment by Adam M. — October 20, 2004 @ 8:37 pm
The french version will play on a modded ntsc XBOX. Oh, and its 4.2GB . All of the subtitles are in perfect english, all of the spoken word in split screen multiplayer is perfect english.
The only crap you cant understand are the covenant yelling out stuff during battle, and the soldiers… Not a big deal.
But, the lack of the xbox live content is a bummer. I wasnt even going to buy the game when it came out because I really didnt care, but after seeing it with my own eyes and playing it ( not being able to stop).. it’s so good that on NOV 9th , im buying a copy for me, one for my cousin , one for my girlfriends XBOX, and one for her brother.
Bungee is one of the greatest game software developers on the planet and they deserve my $200 bucks. I personally think that this whole situation is going to make them more money.
Comment by Hackderp — October 21, 2004 @ 12:46 am
Hackderp: I may not necessarily agree with the way you went about things, but I think you’ve at least done it in the right spirit. When a game (or any piece of software) is really great, it’s worth your money. And you’re right about Bungie; I don’t know how they do it, but they consistently turn out games that play like electronic crack.
You may be on to something with the notion that this will ultimately net Bungie more cash. With no Live support it may end up being something akin to an extended crippleware game demo, just whetting your appetite for the real thing.
I’ve played a lot of mediocre first-person shooters, and I think it’s probably an easy genre to screw up. Bungie consistently gets it right by putting in a lot of thought, care, and hard work. For that, if nothing else, they definitely deserve my money.
Comment by Adam M. — October 21, 2004 @ 11:10 am
I don’t see how this would effect bungie frankly, because anyone obsessed enough with a game to illegally download it and modify their xbox, is probably obsessed enough the buy the game, and acquire online play. I don’t know, maybe my common sense fails me, but thats just my opinion.
Comment by Patrick C — October 22, 2004 @ 9:55 am
yea
Comment by Hackderp — October 22, 2004 @ 7:43 pm
You make a good point, Patrick, especially given how much harder it is (relatively speaking) to crack an Xbox and play a pirated game than to crack / pirate a PC game. The nature of the Xbox as a more closed, single-purpose system automatically makes piracy harder and less attractive, which of course is the whole point of DRM.
From the business perspective I understand the need for these measures, but in some ways I still think MS went overboard on the Xbox. What the hell is the reasoning behind keeping me from playing mix CDs that I burned on my PC from music I purchased legally? What happened to my fair use rights? Microsoft needs to draw a reasonable line between protecting its investment and those of third party developers in the Xbox platform versus locking down the console too hard and caving in to the tech-phobic music industry.
I’d like to thank everyone for the great comments. You’ve given me some ideas for a new post about how open source software may have a role to play in the future of video game consoles. Stay tuned.
Comment by Adam M. — October 23, 2004 @ 1:40 pm