Tecmo Tackles Dead or Alive Nudists

[Bond]

TECMO TACKLES DEAD OR ALIVE NUDISTS

Beach Volleyball developer clamps down on mod community

18:52 Dead Or Alive and in the buff...An Xbox hack allowing you to play DOAXBV with ladies in their birthday suits has appeared. The shock of it! Needless to say, Tecmo is wringing its hands over the affair.
Tecmo isn't the slightest bit happy about the "naked" DOAXBV modification that's materialised on various websites, and doesn't think it's fun at all.

On its own game forum it has laid down the law. According to 'Brian' that is, an administrator on the Tecmo User Forums, who posted a topic titled: "We're watching you!"

Tecmo is seriously clamping down on people creating game modifications (mods) and game hacks to adjust the way the games play and looks.

According to their User Forum, Brian from Tecmo raised the stakes by bringing in legal issues. He has stated that if anyone posts anything about "Nude Patches" or any other "hacked information" on the Tecmo website they will be "punished to the fullest extent of the law." Ouch!

This sounds awfully strong, but could Tecmo have a strong legal position? Should they win a court case to this effect it could have serious repercussions in the gamming community. No new maps, no new levels, no new skins in games? In the PC FPS world, this could (purely technically) mean no Counter-Strike.

Counter Strike is a modification of the PC shooter Half-Life, adapting the code, characters and levels of the original FPS - and improving on it. Is this considered a breach of copyright?

This week CNN Money talked about how a group of modders changed the code for Electronic Arts' Battleground 1942 to create a modern day version. This includes the current Iraq crisis and the fans creating the mod have actually been approached by publishers to sell it in-store as an expansion pack. Hardly on a par with threats of legal action.

The launch of Xbox Live could potentially open up the option of game modifications for Xbox, letting tech-savvy fans of the games update them for their consoles, creating new levels and adaptions, then sharing these with friends around the world.

Surely, if Tecmo's clamp down lead becomes concrete then the case for the 'bedroom programmer' level designer wouldn't even be allowed out from under the quilt for console games.

This puts Microsoft in a bit of a pickle, especially regarding downloads and modifications. It desires community and the online aspects of Xbox Live, and needs specific downloadable code, levels and 'additional extras' but maybe the mention of 'hacks' and piracy may spook them. At the time of press, we couldn't get an official Microsoft comment.

It's a bit worrying when Brian on the Tecmo Forums states: "We're watching you very closely! Please do not post things that infringe copyrights and legal issues. So far we're tracking one suspect, anybody care to be the second?"

They may be looking closely, but they're certainly not listening. After two days of extreme 'telephone' beach volleyball, we couldn't get any official comment from Tecmo.

We can comment though. Of course, a nude patch is a bit naughty, but it seems ridiculous for Tecmo to protect DOAXBV from being seen in a negative light, as the game isn't best known for its gameplay. However, the major marketing push behind the game seems to be 'hey! It's young ladies in skimpy bikinis.'

Is Tecmo telling us it's to protect either the modesty of their characters or our sinful eyes, or maybe protect their rightful copyright? We wanted to ask them but they weren't available - anybody - maybe next week?

At least the DOAXBV characters look familiar but it gets a bit blurry copyright-wise when you compare 'trims' as the latest hack gives the ladies a bit of a wax...

We don't condone adapting Tecmo code, but gaming modifications are surely a healthy way of building gaming and interest, one only has to look at the success of the FPS genre to see the importance.

Although near-pornographic skins for DOAXBV is an extreme example, it's generating even more interest for the game that originally earned its reputation from young things with a pair of wobbly things. That's all a bit fresh. Or is it?

Source: ComputerandVideogames

[Perfect Stu]

How stupid (or smart, depends on how you look at it).

Tecmo did this (at least partly) to boost sales. Any mention of a nude mode in DOAX will attract consumers...guarunteed. And since when did the consumer sign a contract not to tamper with the game once they bought it?

and to 'Brian': Ooooooh, I'm soooo scared. What are you gonna do, program me to death?

*cough*subliminalsalespitch*cough*

[gekko]

And what legal case do they have again? I'd like for Tecmo to point out one law these guys are breaking.

[Perfect Stu]

Originally posted by gekko
And what legal case do they have again? I'd like for Tecmo to point out one law these guys are breaking.

exactly. which further feeds to my 'sales pitch' theory. and they can't get any hell from disgruntled parents/polititions...they made the game free of nudity, did they not?

[Mechadragon]

Tecmo is strange: "Oh no, don't make a mod. Please don't increase our sales!"

And this thread has the best title ever. It creates a very funny picture.

[Bond]

Originally posted by gekko
And what legal case do they have again? I'd like for Tecmo to point out one law these guys are breaking.

Well, they are using a mod chip to do what they are doing.

And I guess that's illegal...

[DarkMaster]

It's perfectly legal to modify your own property, isn't it?

[Bond]

Originally posted by DarkMaster
It's perfectly legal to modify your own property, isn't it?

I think so.

But whoever is doing this is taking pictures of his 'products' and posting them on websites. That's what I think is illegal.

[Seven7]

They are a bunch of cry babies If they are serious and not really doing the legal action thing as a way to get more sales.

male gamers hear naked code, DOAX ..next thing you know they are buying it just because of the possibility of seeing them in their birthday suits.

[Mechadragon]

Originally posted by DarkMaster
It's perfectly legal to modify your own property, isn't it?

Yes, the only problem is it voids your warranty and I don't think they can sue you for that.

Originally posted by DarkMaster
It's perfectly legal to modify your own property, isn't it?

Actually...

There's a thing called intellectual property licences, they're unbelievably complicated (it takes a lawyer to understand them completly) but they're always mentioned in those 50 page long licences that you never read before you click accept when you install a new program. It's kind of like a copyright law, but kind of not (I'm not a lawyer so I dont even know what the difference is) but it's what makes it illegal to mod the xbox. Since there is a windows bios in the xbox OS, and windows wrote the code, if you **** with the code, you're ****ing with MS's licence. That's different than just prying out those little plastic tabs (N64) or putting a mod chip in the psx that doesnt actually change the programing.

[gekko]

Those licenses are a joke. Look, if you registered or subscribed to anything and you don't follow the terms of service, they can cancel your account, or whatever. If you buy software and hack it, they can't come and take it from you. Get where I'm going with this?

It would never hold up in court. Even on the issues of the BIOS, you can't edit existing code and redistribute it, but you can edit it all you want. And you could legally tell someone else how to do the exact same thing.

Those software licenses more or less cover their ass, you paid for the software, do what you want with it.

Oh, of course.

Those licences are just like copying a VHS tape, Stealing cable, gambling on sports, or smoking pot. It's not really illegal, but it's illegal to the point where if there was something that seriously threatended MS *read "was going to cost them a TON of money" then they can use it against you. Somebody at Tecmo just got pissed and whiped out the licences just to wave their prick around, that's all.

[Dyne]

So, let me get this straight. People are ignoring the ****ing long licence agreement at the beginning of the game?

You have to be kidding me. It was torture watching that.