Ben-DutkaBy now, most of you know that Crysis 2 will be available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 as well as the PC. But in addition to having the potential for more sales, there's another pressing reason Crytek went this direction.
In a recent PC Play interview with Crytek Director of Business Development and Engine Licensing, Carl Jones, we learn a few things about the process of delivering Crysis 2 to console owners. When asked about the CryEngine 2 and the licensing that went along with it, Jones said:
"Licensing a PC-only engine was made difficult in the last few years due to the changing nature of the games market itself. Piracy hurt PC-only games in terms of sales figures, so publishers and developers moved away from making such titles. As a result, console middleware was more widespread than PC focused technology such as CryENGINE® 1 and 2, but we have had some great successes and developers are working on great looking games that will launch soon, that started out on earlier versions of CryENGINE®. We’re happy with the quality we achieved, but circumstances limited the quantity of licensees we signed up. That won’t be an issue with CryENGINE® 3!"
Well, that's good to know; piracy is something that has plagued the PC world for years. They also continue to look forward to the CryEngine 3, which already has plenty of hype behind it. For our part, while we certainly understand the reasons for Crysis 2 to come to the PS3, we've always said to play a game based on the platform it was initially designed for. I.e., play Final Fantasy XIII on the PS3, play Bayonetta on the Xbox 360…play Crysis 2 on the PC. When a game is made with multiple platforms in mind – like most titles are – that's a whole different story. But in this case… Well, we'll just have to wait and see.
Related Game(s): Crysis 2
Geobaldi,
Unless it's simply not being talked about online, there is no PS3 custom firmware. The closest I have ever found is an ISO loader for ISO images of a BluRay that works on old phat PS3 models because of their ability to run Linux, but the new slims don't have that capability.
However to make it work, you have to essentially brick your system which isn't a very convenient hack.
There was rumored to be a mod chip, but it involved something like 13 solder points on the motherboard which of course means disassembling your PS3. Not to mention that the first firmware update from Sony that followed would be incompatible. I also note that the device has not been mentioned since I first read about it months ago.
The PS3 uses encryption and system security built into the hardware, it actively senses for tampering. When they brought the Slim to market, the ability to run more than one OS was removed. This was supposedly for cost reasons – the hypervisor costs a license fee. But the ability to run Linux was a security risk for the PS3 – it was used in the exploit allowing an ISO image placed on the HDD to boot.
PlayTV is a USB add on that is treated like a combination of controller and data source for an application running on the PS3. I don't think that it represents a chink in the security armor of the PS3 at all.
you mean to make less money?
it costs more to make games exclusive for the PS3 since most programmers are not inclined with the hardware.
and lets face it ps3 exclusives sales are less than respectable.
O and TheHighlander
give them a few weeks.
i know a guy in the city who is working on this and has been for the last 2 years.
it will take them a while but he says there dam close.
than sony will release a FW update and set them back to square one 😉
but seriously, i dont think the ps3 will stay hack free for too much longer.
Last edited by ___________ on 12/22/2009 12:12:41 AM
@Anon
Folks have been saying that for two years now. Still haven't seen anything close to a boot loader.
Either way, CFW on a PS3 is an easy ticket to a bricked system that's permabanned from the PSN along with your PSN ID. That's not an attractive package.
yea i know its taken them a while.
but who cares if you get your PSN ID banned?
you get to play free games, obit not online but so what?
why do you think 360 piracy is so popular?
free games may not sound that appealing but when your buying roughly 1 game per week and each game costs 120 bucks that adds up too over 5 freaking grand a year.
do you have 5K to spend on games alone?
i sure dont.
I see, so basically you're saying that it's OK to steal the games because you can and they're too expensive. It almost sounds like you feel you are entitled to have the games for a price of your own making. You're upset that they (games) cost money and that appears to justify the act of theft that game piracy is.
Sorry, I just don't get that.
Games are not a right or an entitlement, they are a luxury item that you pay for. And no, I don't have $5K to spend on games each year, but I don't smoke and rarely drink, so I do have some money to spend on hobbies and leisure activities.
ahh where did i say that?
i hate piracy because of it there are no longer PC games like crysis.
if there was not piracy on PC crytek, ID, valve, DICE and most other previous PC exclusive developers would of stayed exclusive to the PC.
You said it in different words, but the meaning is the same.
Quoted from your comment…
"but who cares if you get your PSN ID banned?
you get to play free games, obit not online but so what?
why do you think 360 piracy is so popular?
free games may not sound that appealing but when your buying roughly 1 game per week and each game costs 120 bucks that adds up too over 5 freaking grand a year."
no im saying i can understand why people do it im not approving of it.
if it was not for pirates RAGE, wolfenstine, crysis 2 and many other games would of been exclusive to the PC.
and probably would of been better because coding for 3 systems you have to take 3 weaknesses into account.
now instead of coding to PCs strong points they have to take all 3 into account.
thats why i was on the front line with flaming torch and pitchfork when they announced crysis 2 for consoles.
Most of the time people choose to buy pirated games is simply because they cant afford it. For example, in my country (Malaysia), piracy is f**king everywhere, and you can get almost any entertainment software pirated from blu-ray movies to computer software programs. The biggest reason why people in my country choose to pirate is because firstly, original stuff are just too damn expensive here and most people in my country cant afford to fork out so much money for one game. Not to mention, that there are really alot of gamers in my country, but a majority of them simply dont have the money to afford original, therefore, the way to go is to pirate so that they can enjoy gaming. Secondly, people pirate is because everyone here has been doing since they were young because piracy in Malaysia well simply put it this way, almost every household in Malaysia has a pirated stuff, or almost everyone in this country bought a pirated stuff before. Its just in our culture to do that now. However, the main reason of piracy has always been because people simply could not afford it.
Then again, since ps3 is unhackable at the moment and the playstation brand is very strong in my country, people still find ways to purchase ps3 games even though its original. Quite proud that theres a strong ps3 community in my country.
"Everybody is doing it" doesn't make it right.
I understand the disparity between countries like Malaysia and the US. I'm not about to feel guilty for being born here and not there, but really, the economics isn't a good reason, and neither is "everybody is doing it". If everybody did it and no one could make a sufficient return on the cost of production, no one would be in the business of making games, music, movies or TV. It's simply not sustainable.
And as annoying and paradoxical as it is, piracy raises the prices because game developers have to cover their costs and so charge more for a product that they know will sell to a smaller audience. Sure it's not a great idea, but are they supposed to just eat the losses?
I'm sorry, I don't have an answer to the disparity between economies, no one does. But you know what, as an analogy, I would love to drive a Rolls Royce or a BMW, but instead I drive a 15 year old Nisan. The reason is pure economics. I don't like it, but it's just the way it is.
Yes, I understand that "everyone doing it" is not a good reason, but its just how the way thing works in my country at the moment, sadly. Besides that, people in my country are pretty cheap to be honest lol. I mean seriously.
Anyway, what IF theres a pirated version of a Rolls Royce or a Beamer. A complete replica of the original, everything is the same from the perfomance and technical aspects but the cost is way way cheaper, and you could afford it. I know it won't happen but what IF? Would you purchase it? Come on, it is extremely tempting, don't you think?
Tell you what, if Kia can produce a reasonable facsimile of a BMW for a reasonable price, I'll be in the line to buy one, would that count? 😉
I understand. Like I said, I don't have an answer, and I really don't know how anyone can really address that problem, because as you point out, culturally, there is no stigma or shame attached to it, and economically speaking, there's no alternative.
The problem for me is that people here in the 'rich' countries who can afford it, justify piracy on the basis that everyone does it, and actually reference countries like Malaysia to support their case.
Last edited by TheHighlander on 12/22/2009 12:51:00 AM
Yea I guess you can count that as well if KIA were to produce one. lol.
Anyway, yea its not right for those 'rich' people to use the justification of 'everyone is doing it' as their reason for piracy. However, its just the mentality of people in my country even for the rich ones. Our mentality has always been 'If I can get this product for just $3, why the hell would I want to pay $60 for exactly the same product'. People here just don't see beyond the consequences of buying pirated like what will happen to game companies if people don't buy their original games. Guess people are just selfish. Well I have to admit that all of my PS2 games were pirated, shame on me, they were like US$1.50 per game though. However, now I've got a library of over 20+ PS3 games now (obviously original). Honestly, I really hope that the PS3 will remain unhackable, simply because I really support game developers that produce PS3 exclusives liek Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Guerilla and many others, and I want people to actually buy their games originally to support them for all their hardwork they put into so that they get the return/rewards that they deserved.
@saint,
Long term if systems like the PS3 remain pretty much unhackable, it will have a far reaching impact, because it will force people to take more notice of copyrighted goods. Perhaps companies like Sony could look more closely at markets like Malaysia and other countries to see if there is a way to sell their products in those markets that works better for those markets. Even so, as long as it takes $XYZ million to make a game, games will have to cost $50-$60 (USD) to allow developers to make enough money to stay in business.
Yea well at the moment Sony Malaysia hasn't been doing much to promote the PS3 or do anything to discourage piracy or anything at the moment. If only I could get a job there, then things would have been different hahahaa 😛
Anyway, in Malaysia, we don't have any retail shops like Gamestop that sells original games. Even supermarkets here don't sell any games, for example like in the US, where walmart, or bestbuy do sell games. That could be a reason why people never thought of buying original because its actually more difficult to find shops that sell original games. lol. Heck, we don't even have a ratings boards to rate games over here. Well thankgod for that, if theres actually a ratings board here, then I would say almost all games would be banned here in this country because of certain extremely "conservative" group of people here. Well if you live in my country, then you would understand what I mean.
Anyway, games sold in my country are basically by people or shall I say vendors who purchase them from two Big suppliers who supplies games to all the shops in Malaysia. That is why when purchasing games here, we can choose games from other regions. Each region are priced differently. At the moment, Region 1 games, which is the US are priced more expensive. Not sure the reason though. Maybe because region 1 games have more DLC or something like that. However, most people still purchase region 3 for online purposes.
Last edited by SaintX on 12/22/2009 5:39:01 AM
I won't pretend to understand the political and religious landscape in Malaysia, but I will say that we have our fair share of overly conservative people in the US, we're just fortunate that none of them are currently terribly close to the seat of power.
Well good for you and your country. These 'conservative' people are pretty close to the seat of power. Well some are pretty close and some are actually sitting on the seat of power. So thats why good thing we don't have a retail shop for games or else you would probably only get Wii games on store shelves Lol, while the rest gets banned.
To provide a better insight on how conservative my country can be is by taking an example of watching movie in a theatre. Even though the movie is rated 18-sx, which means only 18 and above. The show still gets censored, even kissing scenes get cut off. Kissing man!! kissing!!! why the f*** would they still rate the movie if the whole f***king show were to be censored. After censoring scenes in the movie, the movie is basically suitable for general audience, and yet they would not allow people below 18 to watch. Saying that these people who rates the movie are dumb is an understatement. That is why these 'conservative' people are actually sitting on the seat of power. So sad 🙁
My apologies, I meant no disrespect. I sympathize with your situation.
Lol, dont worry about it. Used to these sort of stuff happening already. So as everyone else. Best solution to enjoy these entertainments is to torrent it. In this case, we don't have much choice. Can't even get original dvds or blu-rays if a particular movie is banned in my country. Can only blame those 'conservative' people who decides on what to ban. As a result, these are the people who leaves us no choice but to pirate in order to enjoy those things that are banned in the country.
Last edited by SaintX on 12/22/2009 2:30:49 PM
ahhhh ben isent that the same reason?
there both relating to sales no?
anyway.
crytek better not dumb down the PC version for consoles otherwise im going to be seriously PISSED!
its really disappointing this is why the PC industry has gone down the sh*tter.
because developers are no longer creating exclusives for the PC, so now there limited to what they can do and now because of that the quality of PC games is sinking.
hey crytek gave us crysis on old crappy 9800GTX video cards, imagine what they could give us today.
crysis 2 on PC better make me crap my pants the way the original did otherwise crytek is getting some angry phone calls and letters.
same goes to valve, ID, basically all previous PC exclusive developers who have now sold their soul to the devil.
I just played Team Fortress 2 for the first time at my mate's place today.
😉