Pirates raid Xbox release calendar, leak Gears 2 & Fallout 3 among others

by Xav de Matos { Oct 22nd 2008 at 11:30AM }

It looks like the Xbox 360 is trying to take the piracy crown from PC gaming. Dirty, filthy pirates have leaked copies of the Xbox 360's recently released Fable II and upcoming Fallout 3, Gears of War 2 and even more titles we don't care to list. We're bringing it up because it's news -- and we keep getting a pile of tips about the leaks -- but know that we're just as mad!

All we can do is sit back and hope that they'll trip up and attempt to connect to live and Microsoft initiates "Operation Red Ring of Death" on their disrespectful butts. But, it's cool. We'll buy it and play it legit because we're real gamers and real gamers respect the games we want by throwing down hard earned cash. So, what does that make pirates? Infinitely worse than ninjas. It's a loser by association thing.

Note: We will not post links to these available downloads and any user who attempts to in the comments (or post spoilers) will have their comment deleted and find themselves served with a hefty banhammer.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Tags: fable-2, fallout-3, gears-of-war-2, piracy

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

wargamer17 @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:38AM

I don't see why people have to pirate games. Expecially on the 360. If you don't want to buy the game, but want to play it, well, rent it, borrow it from a friend, or wait till it becomes cheaper.

Max @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:48AM

You really don't see ???

OK, I'll give you a few clues...

1-Free
2-Weeks earlier
3-Bragging about playing before everybody
4-Free

I use gamefly, and sometimes buy when the game is worth the money, but even then, i understand why download, instead of buying.

wargamer17 @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:04PM

Well, I see why,just why you HAVE to, rather than at least rent or borrowing is different. They can at least rent instead of download.

erivera3 @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:36PM

I see WHY thugs rob liquor stores, but it doesn't make it right.

Max @ Oct 24th 2008 1:45PM

Honestly, Piracy does not hurt the game industry.

This is a link about piracy effecting Spore sales:http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10054438-62.html

The short version of the link is- The people who pirate games weren't going to buy them anyway.

This might be for a number of reasons, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's all about the money. Think about it. 10 Xbox 360 games is $600 before tax. At that rate, I'd probably only buy 5 games a year, as I'm a poor college student. And I know there are way more than 5 good releases a year that I'd like to play.

It's really offensive how 360fanboy portrays game pirates as 'not real gamers' or 'the most wretched type of scum and villainy'. Just because most pirates can't afford games, doesn't mean they're less enthusiastic about gaming than people who pay for them. In fact, I know many people where it's exactly the opposite; the pirates know more, play more, and have completed the game where the paying customer has not.

This reminds me of when I saw American HiFi in concert when I was 12. They called everyone in the lawn seating (essentially a general admission ticket as opposed to reserved seats) not real fans and that shouldn't even be at the concert. Case in point, a gamer should not be judged by who spends the most money.

I hope Xav reads this. Maybe he might find himself a bit enlightened- at least to the opposing argument.

DBoyFlex @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:40AM

I am excited for these games and support them and by paying for them at an authorized retailer I am telling Bethesda and Epic, etc, to keep on making sweet games rather than not. Keep paying for them, or we may sacrifice getting these good games, or they will up the anticts in terms of DRM. It can only get worse if we push hard enough.

Tony @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:42AM

I can't remember many games (and the more popular they'll be, the more incentive for the person ripping it) that haven't hit some random torrent or file sharing community site before release. Same with music.

FF Origins way back on the PS1 was on those DC hub programs more than 3 months in advance and in English at that.

It's definitely a big problem, but I've been seeing this stuff posted all over the place lately... At this rate every single game might as well be discussed. It's not just limited to these, it happens to pretty much anything even the garbage most of us wouldn't even consider paying $10 for.

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:46AM

Agreed. Almost every single game is getting ripped and uploaded now. But the demand for big name titles is overwhelming.

mattclarkie @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:42AM

I have pre-ordered GoW2, Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, Dead Space, and all the big releases over the last year and although I get sad that the prices go down over a few months, I don't mind paying £40 to £50 for a good game.

These people that want everything for nothing really piss me off. If nobody paid for the games there wouldn't be a game to pirate.

Alex @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:47PM

I don't like paying £50 for a game. But I do. And what annoys me most is that in America new games are approx. $60. That equals about £35-40.* That is why I think that the UK should get rid of crappy taxes and be equal to the US prices.

* Also, Fable II is out in the US now, even though Lionhead is an English developer. What's up with that? WE should get it first.

mattclarkie @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:53PM

I don't understand the delay in UK releases, maybe 24hours, but sometimes we have to wait a week or sometimes even months. What is up with that.

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:44AM

With the amount of games that come out it gets pricey keeping up with all of the new releases. Its arguably reasonable that the amount of games being pirated is justified. Personally I have a numerous pirated games but I also own a lot more legitimately purchased games. I have even burnt games just to try them out and then gone out and bought the actual copy. I do understand how the leaks are hurting the industry but with the way the economy and game prices are, you're gonna have a lot of people stealing.

Macroy @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:52AM

"Games are expensive" isn't justification, it's an excuse.

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:54AM

@Macroy
Are you going to buy the games for me?

drWaLLs @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:01PM

You could always get a job :)

DudeRed @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:39PM

If you don't have the money to buy the games you want...guess what...

YOU CAN'T HAVE THEM ALL!!

Is that really hard to understand?

Leathersoup @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:02PM

@Josh:

If you can't afford to purchase games, don't play them.

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:02PM

Im a full time student. Ill get a job soon. Then I'll buy games. For now I pirate.

E.J. @ Oct 22nd 2008 3:45PM

Tough shit if you can't buy games because you don't have the money. Your sad excuse to pirate games is not justifiable, because there is not justification. Games are a luxury, not a necessity. You don't need video games to live.

Jason @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:49AM

I'm guilty of playing early on my friends xbox. I will still buy the game. In fact after playing the game, it made me run even faster to Gamestop to pay off remaining balance on my pre-order. Looking forward to use my gold lancer & hammerburst. But the game is amazing!!!!!!!!!!

diamondxp @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:45AM

I recently scored an early copy of Little Big Planet. I did not burn it or pirate it I was thankful and played it. Game Piracy sucks.

SithLarry @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:50PM

That's good and all but it's not like you could've pirated ps3 games like LBP anyway. I don't think hackers have figured that out yet which is good.

Devin @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:56PM

Just like SithLarry said,

Even if you did decide to somehow pirate LBP (or any PS3 game for that matter), hardware costs alone (BR-burner, BR-discs) would force you to actually buy the game legitamitely......

skfireboy @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:55AM

Game pirateers are the biggest of D-bags. They lie somewhere between child predators and the white stuff that forms in the corner of your mouth when you're really thirsty........

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:59AM

Im sure all of the digital music your listening to is all legal.

Big Bird @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:06PM

Yes Josh it sure is. But then again I have a job and live in the strange world of working for a living. Its not for everyone I know that. Those of you that do work, keep working millions depend on you.....

Max @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:07PM

Hypocrisy check please...

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:08PM

@Max
Amen.
@Big Bird
I'm a full time student. My wallet isn't exactly thick.

Crackrjakk @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:04PM

I think "shelling out hard cash" for used games at Gamestop is equally as bad as piracy. The devs are still kept out of any revenue.

I understand it's not the same as piracy - but I think it's equally as bad.

yost @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:46PM

you could argue that the gamestop plan still drives more sales because people can sell it back there plus if you want to go against that you also would have to ga against used movies ...

NumbN8 @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:04PM

I am laughing my ass off about this. Why you ask?

http://xbox.joystiq.com/2008/09/29/bleszinski-definitely-no-gears-of-war-2-on-the-pc/

I said it in my comment on that story I will say it again.... Idiot.

Vcize @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:16PM

Compare the number of times this torrent has been downloaded to the number of times a big PC game like Spore or Crysis did, then reconsider who you're calling an idiot.

NumbN8 @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:53PM

Currently on a torrent site there are 2981 people seeding gears 2 with 3291 leechers. Thats only one 2 trackers..... I've never seen any pc game with that many seeds or leechers.

Compare any multiplatform release, there will be more 360 pirates then pc.

I know i was correct naming the idiot. I've compared,,, I suggest you do the same.

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:05PM

Its not even a matter of installing a mod chip anymore. Its a very simple procedure that took me about an hour. No physical modification whatsoever is required; other than opening the console.

Vcize @ Oct 22nd 2008 4:08PM

Never? Weird, because there are more people seeding Spore, RIGHT NOW, than there are Gears 2.

And that's for a game that has already been released for over a month. Gears 2 has extra incentive for pirates because they can't even buy it legally for another 3 months. Back when Spore was new, there were far more people downloading/seeding than there are now, even though now there are still more than Gears 2. Given that the biggest part of Gears 2 is online co-op and multiplayer, I'm guessing a MUCH huger percentage of those downloading the Gears 2 torrent 3 weeks before release will be actually buying the game than those that are downloading Spore when they can walk into their store and pick it up.

Besides, as you go out there throwing around the word "idiot" you couldn't even figure out what Bleszinski was saying in that article. He never said that there are more PC pirates than 360 pirates (though there certainly are, by a longshot), he said that someone savvy enough to build a gaming rig is probably savvy enough to use bittorrent. On the flipside, someone "savvy" enough to walk into Best Buy and buy a 360 in no way indicates that they're savvy enough to open up said 360, plug the drive into their computer, flash it, and then use bittorrent.

Think about it, what percentage of people with high end gaming rigs do you think know how to use bittorrent? 90%? Higher?

Now, what percentage of people that walk into Best Buy and buy a 360 know how to open it up, open up their PC, hook the 360 drive up to their PC, create a bootable floppy, flash the firmware, and then use bittorrent? 5%? Less?

I won't even go on, you're so ridiculously jaded it's not even worth bickering about anymore.

NumbN8 @ Oct 23rd 2008 8:26AM

I understood completely what he was saying, if you read my comment in the original article.

I'm saying that the same people that are "savvy" enough to build a gaming rig are savvy enough to mod or flash a 360. The people that drop $1500 to 2g on a gaming rig will drop $250 on a 360 to do the same thing.

By comparison Pirating on the 360 is a lot easier than PC. Back when I pirated you needed to get the right crack for your version if it wasn't included, even after applying the crack you needed to have the iso mounting, depending on what type of protection it was you needed different program for each type to hide the mount. Each version of protection you had to update everything. I used to run 3 different mounting programs and countless programs to hide it..... 360 you flash it once you are done.

I do apologize on the spore, yesterday when i checked the numbers, (won't say actual name) the "bay" tracker was down the had 2600 seeds.

You are also not considering spore was a pc only release. If there was a PC and 360 release how much different would those number be. I would say close to equal. The most difference would be 60% pc and 40% 360. That is still a lot of 360's pirating. Saying only 5% of 360 pirate is very naive. I would put it more around 20%, if not higher.... Look at some forums and see how popular it is.

For the record I used to pirate on PC, but don't anymore. I don't have a modded 360 but easily could, so could anyone that knows how to get to Google.. However I do plan on modding a wii eventually....

ZEBRA NINER @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:04PM

I think it's funny how carefully Xav wrote this story. He had to reiterate the fact that X3F is against this sort of thing, but was forced to report on it because it's news. Flashbacks from the last time you reported something of this nature? :)

Loban @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:06PM

Agreed, it's easy to understand why people pirate, even if you don't do it yourself. Once you pirate one game and realize how easy it was and how unlikely it is you'll be caught, you'll wonder "Why have I been paying $60 for a game I'll play for 2 weeks and then never touch again?" Plus piracy allows you to play games that you normally wouldn't play just because you don't wanna front the cash to buy or rent it.

Once you see the hundreds of dollars you can save over just the course of a few months, piracy is an easy trap to fall into.

By the way, I DON'T pirate games, I do Gamefly. I actually do Gamefly for all the same reasons I stated above for piracy. I can play games I normally wouldn't play just because I don't wanna $60 for a game I may or may not like. And I don't wanna pay $60 for a game I'll play through once and never touch again.

JH @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:08PM

While I understand the articles mention of people not posting the links, I don't however see why people can't comment or even put spoilers here. To me that is called censorship. sure, I believe in obtaining the games legally, always have, but if someone doesn't want to read a thread about the game, they can simply skip over it.

Anyone can post a spoiler, the question is weather or not you want to believe if that information is true. People do it all the time, acting like they are in the know, or have already played game, and post their "spoilers" if you will, that have turned out to be completely false. If someone wants to believe everything they read, then those are the same type of people who fall for Craigs List scams, and think they really can buy a bridge in Brooklyn.

Having the "ban-hammer" come down on those who comment or post spoilers, is called censorship. Simply put, if you don't want people doing so, then maybe then, don't post an article about the games leaking out.

Vcize @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:19PM

Anyone that posts spoilers for a new game (even if it just came out legitimately) without a warning to tell people that don't want it spoiled to avert their eyes is the ultimate kind of douchebag.

DudeRed @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:46PM

HA! People always twist the meaning of free speech. Yes you can say what you want to but you can't go around screaming "FIRE!" in a movie theater or start yelling "BOMB!" in a public place. It endangers people's safety.

And in this case, you would be endangering others gaming safety! :P

gundamxzero @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:16PM

I think its hilarious that people get mad about pirating games, when im sure more than half of them pirate music, litter, speed, hell break the law in some sort of way. And honestly, is all your anger really going to make a difference?

Protip:No

Fundi @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:44PM

It's not always a question of the law sometimes it's a question of morals. I would personally say that pirating a game is worse than a song as more work goes into a game and alot of the money from a purchase from a song does go to the artist.

gundamxzero @ Oct 22nd 2008 3:17PM

Its ALWAYS a question of the law.

todd @ Oct 22nd 2008 12:59PM

You got their pictures figure it out.

Skyfire360 @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:01PM

If Microsoft had put in an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray drive, there'd be a lot less piracy considering each disk would be 22+gb...

JOSH @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:09PM

Somewhat true.
there would still be piracy though.

joeybeast @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:02PM

Gear 2 early?
Dustin is modding his Xbox as we speak.

Moosey @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:23PM

M$ could quite easily deal with piracy. The fact is the choose not to.

I can only remember 2 or 3 ban waves since the 360 came out.

Perhaps they are waiting for the dashboard update?

I know piracy is wrong and all that but answer me this? Have Epic games made a loss on the GoW franchise?
Not a chance...GoW 1 made so much cash they made a 2nd one.

Its got to the point that its cheaper to absorb the losses from piracy than it is to devise a mechanism to defeat it.

And in any case, most people who pirate games would not have bought them anyway.

The issue isnt financial, its ethical. And when you have companies like EA, Bethesda and Namco (Vader anyone?) ripping off the consumers with questionable DLC then the argument goes both ways.

Knight Marquise @ Oct 22nd 2008 1:46PM

Right off the bat, you loose all credibility by using M"$".

"I know piracy is wrong and all that but answer me this? Have Epic games made a loss on the GoW franchise? Not a chance...GoW 1 made so much cash they made a 2nd one."

What is this, morel equivalence day? How does a company doing something successful somehow justify anyone to break the law and steal from them later on on future products?

"Its got to the point that its cheaper to absorb the losses from piracy than it is to devise a mechanism to defeat it."

Hardly, the douchebaggery of pirating will continue to evolve the necessary evil of DRM.

"And in any case, most people who pirate games would not have bought them anyway."

WTF? So this makes it ok to steal? That's as intellectually bankrupt as me stating: since I'm not going to purchase that Ferrari anyways, it's ok for me to steal it.

"ripping off the consumers with questionable DLC then the argument goes both ways."

Another "wizard of smart moment" from you. NO ONE FORCES YOU TO PURCHASE DLC!!!! It's not ripping the consumer off if the choice to purchase is left to the CONSUMERS.

My gawd, you people amaze me.