New Xbox 360 Anti-Piracy Measures?

[Michael Grimm]

New Xbox 360 Anti-Piracy Measures?

New information suggests that Microsoft may have unveiled a new disc type that verifies authenticity online.

A tech blogger recently noticed that after updating his copy of FIFA'09, the game had altered "[...]the flags that specify what media the game is allowed to run[...]" He continutes:

"Originally it was allowed to boot from a standard original Xbox 360 disc, however now it is only allowed to boot from a new media type which is basically an updated version of the original Xbox 360 disc type."

This implies that Microsoft has unveiled a new DVD disc type for current games in order to prevent game piracy. The blog hints that these new discs will connect to a Microsoft server, where they'll be given a security check to prove they're authentic discs and not pirated copies. The blog author continues:

"Current Xbox 360 dvd-drive hacks work since the challenge/response pairs are stored in the security sector on the disc, meaning that all possible challenge/responses are known in advance. The best way for MS to solve this problem is to use challenge/response pairs that are not known in advance to the dvd-drive. So if a hacked dvd-drive receives an unknown challenge it will not have the correct repsonse [sic] to send back, therefore the authentication will fail and the copied game will not boot."

Given that many Xbox 360 games require system updates to play, avoiding these server side security checks by refusing to connect the 360 to the internet will be difficult. This certainly seems like it will make things much more difficult for pirates, who will now have to interrupt the communication between Microsoft servers and the system to play pirated games. Whether or not Microsoft will be handing out bans or punishment for accounts using pirated discs that fail the security check remains to be seen.

Source: <a href="http://xorloser.com/blog/?p=9"
target="_blank">Xorloser.com (Via N4G)


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[uppitycracker]

This'll work great for any attempts at playing the multiplayer aspect of these games, but seems beyond useless for any games that people just wanna enjoy the singleplayer aspects of.

 

[scarbunny]

So what happens if I dont have my xbox connected to the internet?

My dad is still runnning the original dashboard becuase he dosnt have/want/need a router. Still plays new games though.

I cant see how this can work in reality, even if the amount of people who dont have connections is minimal it still means a section of xbox owners will be unable to play newer games. Which inturn will either drive them to the PS3 or into piracy.

 

[fix-the-spade]

So, after seeing that music, film and PCsoftware DRM has either little, no or a counter productive effect on piracy, Microsoft is increasing it's DRM on console games.

Bravo Bill Gates, bravo.

 

[Doug]

I think this is a mad idea. Not everyone has an internet connection into there XBox - hell, I only got mine because it was half price with an game.

 

[sunami88]

I wonder what the false positive rate will be...

 

[Reaperman Wompa]

So what happens if I dont have my xbox connected to the internet?

My dad is still runnning the original dashboard becuase he dosnt have/want/need a router. Still plays new games though.

I cant see how this can work in reality, even if the amount of people who dont have connections is minimal it still means a section of xbox owners will be unable to play newer games. Which inturn will either drive them to the PS3 or into piracy.

Yeah I'm worried about this too. I don't have xbox live, and have little intention of getting it. I do however want to be able to play new games, they have to make it so that those of us who don't have live can still play games.

 

[scotth266]

So what happens if I dont have my xbox connected to the internet?

My dad is still runnning the original dashboard becuase he dosnt have/want/need a router. Still plays new games though.

I cant see how this can work in reality, even if the amount of people who dont have connections is minimal it still means a section of xbox owners will be unable to play newer games. Which inturn will either drive them to the PS3 or into piracy.

Yeah I'm worried about this too. I don't have xbox live, and have little intention of getting it. I do however want to be able to play new games, they have to make it so that those of us who don't have live can still play games.

I'm pretty sure that this only applies for updates/multiplayer/people who have their boxes plugged in to the 'Net. Otherwise it would be just plain silly, as not everyone who has a box has a connection.

As long as it doesn't slow down game time, I'm fine with that.

 

[John Funk]

I think this is a mad idea. Not everyone has an internet connection into there XBox - hell, I only got mine because it was half price with an game.

Agreed. That's the part that potentially worries me. If, say, it detected that the Xbox was not connected to the internet and just booted up anyway, then that'd be fine - and it'd work for multiplayer games almost perfectly, which is pretty cool. But if it means certain games can't be played on consoles not plugged into the internet, then that's lame.

Still, from what I understand, you just need to have the basic Silver membership, not the Gold - you won't need to PAY anything. I'm more concerned about people who simply don't have their console hooked up to the internet.

 

[scarbunny]

I think this is a mad idea. Not everyone has an internet connection into there XBox - hell, I only got mine because it was half price with an game.

Agreed. That's the part that potentially worries me. If, say, it detected that the Xbox was not connected to the internet and just booted up anyway, then that'd be fine - and it'd work for multiplayer games almost perfectly, which is pretty cool. But if it means certain games can't be played on consoles not plugged into the internet, then that's lame.

Still, from what I understand, you just need to have the basic Silver membership, not the Gold - you won't need to PAY anything. I'm more concerned about people who simply don't have their console hooked up to the internet.

Im not sure how clear cut this is going to be.

From the article it seems to be a brand new disk type not just a line of code, so if Microsoft force all companies to release on the new disk then wouldnt it mean all games would need online verification?

I guess there is nothing but speculation until an offical press release but this is a serious pain, and to be honest if it becomes the case that you need to be online then I think Ill be buying a PS3

 

[Sir Ollie]

I just can't see this working

 

[johnman]

Anyone up for taking bets on how long it takes hackers to find a work around? I have my money on less than a week

 

[Rad_Brad]

I don't have XBL, so I miss out on everything. =[

 

[scarbunny]

Anyone up for taking bets on how long it takes hackers to find a work around? I have my money on less than a week

0 day

 

[mykalwane]

Why is it that Microsoft doing this. I though it was pretty clear on what cheeks if it is pirated game or not. The part that works for achivements, you can only get that with the game. So if you are online and the achivement part doesn't work the disk doesn't work. That is my understanding of it, so why the hell deal with this?

 

[Baby Tea]

I'm more concerned about people who simply don't have their console hooked up to the internet.

I can't imagine Microsoft being so stupid as to alienate all of their off-line customers.
Then again, I might eat those words as stranger things have happened.

But still, I'm skeptical it'll harm off-line players.
Very skeptical.

 

[sheic99]

Anyone up for taking bets on how long it takes hackers to find a work around? I have my money on less than a week

3 days before release, just like Spore.