[Asanab76]

.....And a certain publisher is going to be losing a lot of money if I am correct.


I have not seen this posted anywhere, so I think I may be the first person to notice this (but if I am wrong please disregard). I have played the leaked version of SA and as I was walking around I could not help but notice this strange white thing on the main characters nose. It did not bother me much at first, but then I was like that has to be something. I zoomed the camera around to the front of the player and noticed that it was a space alien from space invaders. Anybody who reads any gaming magazines knows that a certain publication uses those aliens everywhere in their magazine, and having a copy of their GTA exclusive issue available to me I checked the pics, and lo and behold their is a space invader right on CJ's nose. It seems to me that it was not Rockstar who had their game leaked, but it was E6M. From what I understand major publications must sign intellectual property agreements saying that their copies of games will remain secure, and from what I understand if they are responsible, then they have to fork out a lot of cash.

 

[Komoto]

Way to admit to possessing stolen property, publicly! I wonder if you received any of that leak across state lines, meaning you just publicly admitted to a felony? Ahh...the criminal mind never ceases to entertain.

 

[Mr.Poindexter]

Yes, I am sure federal agents will be busting down your door any minute now and will placing you under arrest, charging you with a felony and sending you to camp cupcake to be Martha Stewart's prison b!+

 

[Swat_R2]

Mental Note: Please refrain from bong usage before posting on AVS

 

[Asanab76]

I never said I possesed anything. There is a big difference between possesing a copied game and playing a copied game. If you would have read the post I said I played.
Quote:

"I have played the leaked version of SA "

-just for those not smart enough to read. Just because I play something does not mean I have any entitlement to it. When you see a space invader alien on a characters nose it sticks in your head, its not a common occurence. Next time before you make an A$$ out of yourself read the post before you infer something.

 

[reaper]

Interesting catch. But if it is EGM who stole it, why would they acknowledge the fact plain as day... plain as the nose on his face? You think it was a problematic employee trying to get the company in trouble? Very interesting. BTW, I can't stand EGM, so it wouldn't bother me to see them get in trouble haha.. That's not a very Christian thing to say is it?


reap

 

[Asanab76]

Thanks Reap, I think you get the importance of what this could mean. It could potentially sink the gaming magazine industry. If a company can't trust a magazine to keep a game secret, then they can no longer give a game to a magazine to preview. Remember print media lead time is like 6 months, and online sources, ie Gamespot, IGN, have much shorter lead times. This could be devastating to the gaming print media.

 

[Swat_R2]

It's kind of like wandering over to a forum that specializes in botany and saying the following:


I have a "friend" who says that this "miracle grow" is good for.. uh, growing bigger "tomatoes". Can I.. er I mean can he get a bigger yield by using this "miracle grow"?


I mean, I'm not implying that you did, but dude.. cmon


The EGM bit is interesting though..

 

[ChrisFB]

Well there is never a company incentive for something like this (rather a huge disincentive). I just don't see the execs sitting around a table talking about the merits of leaking it and how they won't get any revenue but expose themselves and the company to substantial legal risk and reputational risk. It's always an employee who does stuff like this on his own (a la Halo 2).

 

[Javaman]

I wonder if Rockstar programmed in slightly different textures like that for each of the game magazines' or other reviewers copies so that they can track the source of the leak should one occur? It probably doesn't take a whole lot of work to do and would greatly simplify finding the culprit.


Nice catch man!

 

[Asanab76]

Chris-I didn't mean that an executive had leaked the game that would be suicide for that mag. What I meant was that it was probably a disgruntled employee, or an employee who wanted to take it home early, and then publicly posted it, but I will say that if this is the case then EGM definitely dropped the ball.


Javaman- I think that is exactly what rockstar did, If they can put something in the game ala a space alien on the nose, then they can easily target the leak. The magazine probably thinks that they are just paying homage to the mag with the alien, but in reality they are tracking their product. If you guys have been checking the gaming websites both gamespot,and IGN I believe had stories about the leak, but from what I remember 1up.com (A division of ziff davis) did not have anything posted (I could be wrong about this).

 

[Darknight]

This thread is amusing. Not true, but definitely amusing =)

 

[reaper]

"It could potentially sink the gaming magazine industry."


Javaman, that's a good theory. Asanab76, I doubt it'd sink the mag industry. Games depend on good previews and reviews to survive. If no one talked about Halo2, do you think it would have sole 1 million pre-orders? Surely many based on Halo, but probably not 1 million.


Similar stuff happens in the music and DVD industry. One way they have tried to fix the problem is by sending sealed DVD players or CD players with the media inside. Any attempt to get at it destroys the media. Maybe they could do something similar with the games. Or, perhaps they've already found a way... put something obvious in the code to make it obvious who stole it. Severely punish responsible company. Company becomes much more stringent about usage model of early game code.


reap

 

[EGMShoe]

Quote:

Originally posted by Asanab76 .....And a certain publisher is going to be losing a lot of money if I am correct. I have not seen this posted anywhere, so I think I may be the first person to notice this (but if I am wrong please disregard). I have played the leaked version of SA and as I was walking around I could not help but notice this strange white thing on the main characters nose. It did not bother me much at first, but then I was like that has to be something. I zoomed the camera around to the front of the player and noticed that it was a space alien from space invaders. Anybody who reads any gaming magazines knows that a certain publication uses those aliens everywhere in their magazine, and having a copy of their GTA exclusive issue available to me I checked the pics, and lo and behold their is a space invader right on CJ's nose. It seems to me that it was not Rockstar who had their game leaked, but it was E6M. From what I understand major publications must sign intellectual property agreements saying that their copies of games will remain secure, and from what I understand if they are responsible, then they have to fork out a lot of cash.

Ah, I love message boards. People just post whatever nonsense they want, and everyone else listens, giving more benefit of the doubt than skepticism. Anyway...


1. What space invader are you talking about? On the versions that we have from Rockstar, there are no space invaders on the main character's nose.


2. I looked through that issue, and can't find a space invader (or anything even remotely resembling a space invader) on any character's nose in any art, screenshot, etc. Can you point this image out to me? Give me an issue and page #...


(I'm now wondering if this is all a joke...I mean...a space invader on the nose of the character? In screenshots? That the programmers would make a special "space invader on nose" version of GTA to give to EGM? If this is a joke...I'm sorry for this response, but I still had to come in here and clear everything up.)


I even pointed this thread out to Rockstar, so they can look into it themselves...or have a good laugh at the "space invader GTA." We have nothing to hide. And for the record, the only two people on EGM who have had access to pre-release GTA: SA have been employeed for several years and still are (I'm one of the two). No disgruntled employees here.


-shoe

Editor in Chief, Electronic Gaming Monthly

 

[EGMShoe]

Oh, and here's the 1UP story that's so "mysteriously" missing:

(search "San Andreas leak" on 1UP.com -- I'm not allowed to post URLs yet)


And I called it out in my blog, too, to help spread the word to catch the people responsible:

egmshoe.1up.com


But then again, conspiracy theorists may just consider these actions to be smart on EGM's part...being so proactive about talking about the piracy, to help cover our own tracks?


In any case, if you want to report EGM, send an email to that address at the bottom of that news story. Let Rockstar sort this out!


-shoe

 

[reaper]

So, that was an interesting post as well. But somehow, I am reluctant to believe that it was actually posted by the real Editor in Chief of EGM. It does sound far fetched to believe the idea of the alien on the nose of the guy, and it would warrant some images as proof. Unfortunately, images prove nothing either. So, I think this thread is a fun speculation thread.


And even if you are the editor in chief of EGM, I still say your rag is pretty sad. Why do I need 3 reviews for every game that each provide less information than the first which also provided insufficient information? I'll stick to IGN.



reaper

 

[EGMShoe]

Quote:

Originally posted by reaper So, that was an interesting post as well. But somehow, I am reluctant to believe that it was actually posted by the real Editor in Chief of EGM. It does sound far fetched to believe the idea of the alien on the nose of the guy, and it would warrant some images as proof. Unfortunately, images prove nothing either. So, I think this thread is a fun speculation thread. And even if you are the editor in chief of EGM, I still say your rag is pretty sad. Why do I need 3 reviews for every game that each provide less information than the first which also provided insufficient information? I'll stick to IGN. reaper

Umm...OK. A bit immature and off-topic, but whatever. I didn't come here to get into any flame wars...just addressing the hinted-at accusation up top. That's fine if you like IGN and hate EGM...that wasn't the point but whatever.

 

[Buji]

Quote:

Originally posted by reaper Similar stuff happens in the music and DVD industry. One way they have tried to fix the problem is by sending sealed DVD players or CD players with the media inside. Any attempt to get at it destroys the media. Maybe they could do something similar with the games...

That's how MS released early copies of Halo2 to various media stars:

 

[king747224]

Hey Shoe how did you find out about this thread? I think this will make a good topic for your editorials.

 

[Tabasco]

So again we have someone who says they are in the industry. Whenever I read these type of posts, I of course am somewhat reluctant to believe them. However, I don't understand the insulting of these folks. Maybe they are who they say they are. Insulting a fake poster accomplishes nothing. Insulting a person who is who they say they are accomplishes alienation of a potentially valued forum member. In my opinion, fake posts generally occur on more juvenile forums, not this one. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't take these posts with a grain of salt. Just hoping to keep it clean.


As far as reviewable copies, I think for exclusives, don't they just bring the magazine people to the game studio. That's what Bungie did with OXM. They locked them in a room with Halo 2 loaded on a dedicated system, and made sure they left empty handed.


Anyway, just my opinion on civility and what not.