You don't hear as much about games piracy as you used to. It's still a thing, probably, but the industry certainly doesn't bang on about it as much as it did back in the 80s and 90s. Back then, we were informed that the scale of piracy was such that it added 50p to the price of every game, and that software pirates were worse than murderers.
Consequently, publishers experimented with ways to make life difficult for these social degenerates, coming up with ingenious and increasingly desperate solutions. Here are just a few of them.
Consequently, publishers experimented with ways to make life difficult for these social degenerates, coming up with ingenious and increasingly desperate solutions. Here are just a few of them.
JET SET WILLY - a code card
Matthew Smith's follow-up to Manic Miner - the iconic Jet Set Willy - was one of the first games to come with a crude form of copyright protection.
A card featuring 180 coloured codes was included; after loading, players were confronted with a screen requiring them to pluck the correct code from the grid.
Astonishingly, Your Computer magazine published a letter in its June 1984 issue, which showed a way to get around it, by using a "poke". That's like Hello! magazine printing an article about the best way to garrotte Peter Andre.
A card featuring 180 coloured codes was included; after loading, players were confronted with a screen requiring them to pluck the correct code from the grid.
Astonishingly, Your Computer magazine published a letter in its June 1984 issue, which showed a way to get around it, by using a "poke". That's like Hello! magazine printing an article about the best way to garrotte Peter Andre.
PRINCE OF PERSIA - code hidden in manual
Other games utilised the Willy method (ha ha), occasionally concealing the code within the words of a hefty manual - such as here, in the original Prince of Persia. To copy the code along with the game, pirates would need to copy the entire text of the literature, which would've potentially overwhelmed them with photocopier "fumes".
ZAK MCKRAKEN AND THE ALIEN MINDBENDERS - in-game visa security system
LucasArts' Zak McKracken attempted to make its code-inputting system part of the "fun" of the game; whenever its characters travelled around the world, they were required to input a "Visa Code", which could be found in a bundled "Exit Visa Security System" booklet. The text was printed on deep red paper, which made it both difficult to read, and impossible to photocopy.
Failure to input the correct code would lead to your character's arrest, and a lengthy lecture about the evils of computer game piracy: "I hope you ROT!" said the arresting officer, memorably. Which seemed a bit much.
Failure to input the correct code would lead to your character's arrest, and a lengthy lecture about the evils of computer game piracy: "I hope you ROT!" said the arresting officer, memorably. Which seemed a bit much.
LEATHER GODDESSES OF PHOBOS - scratch n' sniff
Text adventure specialists Infocom came up with a novel way of combatting piracy: stuffing a load of extras in their boxes, which were essentially impossible to pirate. Saucy romp Leather Goddesses of Phobos came with a scratch n' sniff card, featuring scents such as chocolate, pizza and "weird bum smell".
HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - feelies
Infocom's extras were known as "feelies", and became ever more extravagant. The game version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy included "peril-sensitive sunglasses", fluff, and "no tea". Other games included clues printed in the manual using invisible ink, which were only revealed when scrubbed with a "special" pen.
ELITE - Lenslok
One of the most notorious methods of copy protection was Lenslok. A number of games utilised the system - most famously Elite - which came in the form of a plastic device containing a prism.
At the start of a game, a two-letter code was displayed, but would be scrambled into vertical bands. The code could only be read by first calibrating the screen to account for its size, and then viewing it through the prism. Lenslok was ultimately discontinued, when some games shipped with faulty prisms, leading to the widespread gnashing of teeth.
At the start of a game, a two-letter code was displayed, but would be scrambled into vertical bands. The code could only be read by first calibrating the screen to account for its size, and then viewing it through the prism. Lenslok was ultimately discontinued, when some games shipped with faulty prisms, leading to the widespread gnashing of teeth.
ELITE - The Dark Wheel novella
Elite had another method of combating piracy - luring players to it by including a sci-fi novella, The Dark Wheel, written by noted sci-fi and fantasy author Robert Holdstock. And speaking of wheels...
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND - Code wheel
Several games came with code wheels - including The Secret of Monkey Island, Pool of Radiance, and Zool. We could insult your intelligence by explaining what a code wheel is, but it'll save us all a lot of time and unnecessary effort if we just move on.
ROBOCOP 3 - A disk defender dongle
Other games shipped bits of actual hardware with the games, such as this "special dongle", which shipped with Ocean's Robocop 3, and plugged into the Amiga's mouse port. Famously, many of the dongles didn't work at all - rendering the game unplayable - and it proved to be relatively easy for dirty pirates to "crack it".
NINTENDO FAMICOM DISK SYSTEM - Logo lock system
Nintendo's Japan-only Famicom Disk System (an add-on for the NES/Famicom) used another method entirely to combat piracy - its games shipped on custom floppy disks, which featured a raised Nintendo logo. It acted as a sort of key; any disks inserted in the system which didn't have the Nintendo logo would cause the device to burst into flames (not work).
F.A.S.T. - horrible comic strips
Formed in 1984, the Federation Against Software Theft tried to appeal to the morals of gamers in the 80s, by running a series of patronising comic strips in games magazines. The above features a horrible boy called John, who probably went on holiday with his dog Silver to his Aunt Meg's farm in the countryside, and grew up to be a Neo-Nazi.
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