10 Anti-Piracy Measures In Video Games That Were Total Genius
1. Earthbound/Spyro 2: Year If The Dragon – Deleting Saved Games
The cruellest of the cruel and the nastiest of vendettas; it is both Earthbound and Spyro 2: Year of the Dragon that share first place on this list. However, while the execution is the same, the build-up to each differs.
Spyro 2, for starters, will alert the player whether they are playing a hacked or illegal version of the game. “You may experience problems that would not occur on a legal copy,” warns Zoe the fairy. That's the kid-friendly way of her saying: “We're going to make your life a living hell, you filthy pirate.”
When you try and swipe gems and eggs, there's a chance that they might get removed randomly from your inventory. Some special characters can never be unlocked. There's also a very high chance that it will crash. A lot.
And to top it all off, attempting to beat the final boss will delete your precious save game. The ultimate slap-in-the-face for any gamer.
On the other hand, Earthbound catches pirates out with the false notion that everything's fine and they've won. Nothing really happens for the duration of the game, right up to the final boss. At that point, say bye-bye to your save games! It will crash, and when you reboot it, you'll realize your games have disappeared into thin air.
Which is the cruellest of the two? Spyro's anti-piracy curves ruins
the experience all the way through, though conversely it's Earthbound
that crushes hopes and dreams with the ultimate counter-attack.
Either way, these games have the nastiest, funniest anti-piracy
programming in gaming.
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Let us know any other anti-piracy measures you've come across or heard about in the comments!