What are the possible consequences for downloading retail pc games for free?
I have never downloaded any ps3 games for fear of being banned from playstation network. i was wondering if there are there any similar (or worse) consequences for downloading pc games for free (other than the risks of getting a virus on torrents)
thanks!
3 Responses to “What are the possible consequences for downloading retail pc games for free?”
By Ichwan M on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply
As far as I know, besides getting virus, getting an illegal PC game can cause consequences as follows:
1. You won’t be eligible to game updates and downloadable contents. Some games asked for serial numbers to be able to download updates and things. Cracked games (what else free download retail games could be?) usually shared same serial numbers (one serial number for virtually all users). Because serial number is made unique per owner on purpose, your serial will be automatically rejected, most likely because it was already submitted by the ‘original’ owner
2. You couldn’t play it online. Mostly because game servers usually recognize illegal game and they will kick it (ban) out of the arena
3. Your game isn’t playable, and this is the most common case today. Modern games tend to apply stronger anti-piracy policy than before. You just could not download and play it without hassles. Some games (e.g. Bioshock) require to be activated directly from the server before it can run – theoritically, being a pirated game, it will be rejected to activate and you couldn’t play.
And even if it is playable, the game could not play normal. This is the case of GTA IV for PC. Rockstar had applied an unique protection scheme that illegal game will get ‘drunken camera’. You can play it, but after a while your camera will start shaking non-stop for the rest of the game – quite dizzy, right?
Particularly in case number 3, the ‘solution’ is to apply the appropriate crack. But simple plain crack (replace the original .exe file with the cracked one), which had been successful for pirated games for years, won’t do much more since modern games have been programmed to be harder to crack. You often have to do more than that (providing you got the right crack). And BEWARE! Though a lot of cracks in the internet have claimed to be ‘WORKING 100%’ with particular games, it is not rare that they are actually fake or just viruses disguised as cracks. You have to be extra careful with that. A few games are left uncracked until today, the known example is Cities Xl, a city simulation a la Sim City from Monte Cristo. But since it just obtained mediocre reviews, may be it is not too important for crackers.
But here is the fact: most modern pirated games are working flawlessly . There are genious crackers out there who had been successfully crack the games that were initially considered impossible or very hard to crack. Just like GTA IV, there is already a successful crack which had been able to eliminate the aforementioned ‘drunken camera’ effect. No matter how crackproof games are intended to be, in fact most of them are conquerable at last. Bioshock 2, The Sims 3, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, The Saboteur, to name a few newly released games…. they all have been succesfully cracked…As the old saying goes, ‘the thief is usually one step ahead of the police’…
Bear in mind that I do not by all means endorse or encourage you to download and play illegal games. I just speak out the plain facts. No matter how awful it turns out to be, it’s what is happening in this very world. So, in my personal opinion, the consequences you mean may be insignificant (ask avid gamers in countries with highest piracy rate like China and Eastern European countries), but it is all back to you….the rest is up to you whether you want to try it or not…
By PristineTone on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply
Other than the risks of unwanted things on your computer, there are some downsides to illegally downloading PC Games.
First, and the most rarest of all occasions, you are caught and fined for piracy of copyrighted content. This however, is near to almost impossible, cause it’s very hard for someone to track you. IP Addresses don’t give away your location, so they cannot find you, sometimes they can contact your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and they can sell you out, basically give out your information if the FBI and or Police are involved, they would need warrants and that would probably violate Privacy rights with your ISP. Again, this is highly unlikely, and they would not go so far for a $50 game downloaded illegally, this is mainly with mass pirating and fraud.
Besides that, the only other consequences, besides viruses as you said, would be maybe taking too much memory on your hard drive. Legally and Illegally downloaded games are usually large in file size and it could be a bother if you have a hairline of memory left on your hard drive, this isn’t really a consequence though, just a factor to keep in mind.
That being said, have fun.
P.S. I am in no way encouraging you to pirate / download illegal software, just informing you. (;
By wetnap on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply
once you run any unknown executable on your pc you have opened your pc to attacks, from simple botnet use to key logging and other theft. once on it has control and can bring its friends along. believe me, malware writers are always one step ahead of anti virus folks.