Piracy is cool; at least as long as it is within a limit. Some people will definitely hate me for making such a statement, but without piracy, games won’t have a bigger degree of exposure. However, in a sense that piracy eats through a gaming company’s profit – so much so that everyone is leeching the game to a point that there’s 0% of profits.

In fact, this shit does happen. A popular game that’s been anticipated for a long time eventually comes out. People love it like it’s the end of the world. But then again, there are pirated copies of the same title floating all over the internet. We download them; we enjoy the full benefits and it occurs without paying the developers a cent.

Anti-piracy measures in the gaming industry date back to the time when the piracy trend started getting viral. Let’s take a look at some of the funniest, illogical and creative piracy campaigns against popular titles.

Michael Jackson – The Experience DS:

You don’t know what a Vuvuzela is, right? Neither do I. However, gamers, who have played the pirated copy of Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson – The Experience DS, know what a Vuvuzela is; they know how irritating it sounds.

The first few minutes as soon as Michael Jackson sniffs out pirates, the Vuvuzela sound starts playing over and over again. You cannot hear the original sound track that was played initially. Kudos to Ubisoft for implementing this measure. 

Operation Flashpoint:

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis was not a popular game, but I must admit that its Anti-piracy method was quite effective. Over the time, levels become a little hard to play. Your weapons will wear off quickly, as in the bullets won’t do much damage and your player’s health will deplete quickly over time. To overcome this situation, you are better off with an Operation Flashpoint trainer.

EA Games – Mirror’s Edge:

By all means, Mirror’s Edge was a loveable title. Back when it was released, it came off as an original concept. I loved the vibrant visuals, but I hated the fact that EA implemented a nice but completely useless Anti-piracy measure.

The moment you are about to jump, or are nearing jump spots, your character’s movement speed slows down. What happens next is that you fall down without any warning. I did encounter this irritating issue, but thanks to people who released cracked updates, Mirror’s Edge didn’t cause any trouble on my PC afterwards.

Batman Arkham Asylum – The Gliding Glitch:

Anti-piracy in Batman Arkham Asylum starts as a gliding glitch. The game detects a pirated copy and therefore prevents Batman from gliding off certain important areas in the game. Later, if by some means, you have cleared the level, the gliding issue is joined by grapple/ jump glitch; you are not able to do that either.

Thanks to some people who released the Batman Arkham Asylum PC trainer, I was able to glide and perform a teleport jump to anywhere I wanted. Ending the game was a no biggie. Good job Rocksteady Studios, but you’re gonna have to try harder next time.

GTA 4 – The Wobble Camera Bullshit:

Rockstar Games also implemented an effective Anti-piracy stuff in Grand Theft Auto 4. After a few minutes of steady gameplay, the camera starts to wobble around like WHAAAAAAA. The damn camera angles go crazy until you are forced to quit and restart the game.

Once again, cracked updates fixed this issue for me. I don’t know about the rest of the people. If you somehow cleared a couple of levels on Wobble Cam glitch, and that too with a drunk Niko at your disposal, hats off to you.

Alan Wake – Aaaarrrr It’s a Pirate:

Alan Wake’s Anti piracy measure does not affect the gameplay. The game devs’ politely remind pirates about purchasing a legit copy. This only happened during loading screen transitions. In addition, Alan gets an eye patch that covers his right eye. It was a perfect move to stick a proverbial thumb in Alan’s eye.

So there you have it, some of the most interesting anti-piracy steps taken against pirates. Videogames are still being pirated like clockwork. To be honest, I do feel bad for game developers. They spend a lot of money into creating the game; the guys do deserve to get paid. Your money helps game creators create better games, so do purchase your favorite game’s copy, just to show your appreciation and support.