Sickly screen glow held Salvatore's features in sharp relief as he waited for GTA to download
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Following on from the news that Halo 2 code had been leaked onto the Internet, comes widespread talk of the same fate befalling Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PlayStation 2.
File sharing sites have the game listed for download, with one version weighing in at a whopping, not to mention credible, 3.95GB currently seeing a lot of activity. If this proves to be the game, it marks a worrying turn of events for Rockstar and the industry in general.
Clearly, publishers sometimes create mules and honeypots to try and encourage downloaders to waste time and bandwidth in the hope of discouraging them. We asked Rockstar for a response to this news, but they were unwilling to make comment at this time. SPOnG expects the beleaguered company to make an official statement in the coming days.
We’ll keep you updated.
File sharing sites have the game listed for download, with one version weighing in at a whopping, not to mention credible, 3.95GB currently seeing a lot of activity. If this proves to be the game, it marks a worrying turn of events for Rockstar and the industry in general.
Clearly, publishers sometimes create mules and honeypots to try and encourage downloaders to waste time and bandwidth in the hope of discouraging them. We asked Rockstar for a response to this news, but they were unwilling to make comment at this time. SPOnG expects the beleaguered company to make an official statement in the coming days.
We’ll keep you updated.
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Comments
SPInGSPOnG 15 Oct 2004 16:48
1/12
Dude! It's listed on eMule/Donkey (which I use for purely legal reasons - of course)!
PresidentEvil 15 Oct 2004 16:52
2/12
This is what the free market is all about. Products and services find their own price due to competition.
You see the enterprising gentlemen at the download organisations (and I assume that's one of them expressing his constitutional right to bear fire arms in the picture) manage to cut their costs by not sticking loads of very expensive colombian marching powder up their noses. Thus they can "sell" their products at a much lower price than the software publishers, who have the most incredibly high "refreshment" bills.
The only enemy of the free market is a free press.
You see the enterprising gentlemen at the download organisations (and I assume that's one of them expressing his constitutional right to bear fire arms in the picture) manage to cut their costs by not sticking loads of very expensive colombian marching powder up their noses. Thus they can "sell" their products at a much lower price than the software publishers, who have the most incredibly high "refreshment" bills.
The only enemy of the free market is a free press.
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scanman 15 Oct 2004 17:21
3/12
i think this is a ruze by rockstar to get (even) more attention
in the next few days i'll bet they say that it was a hoax
anyone actually downloaded this thing and proved it to be the real thing? if they have id like to see some screenshots as evidence
in the next few days i'll bet they say that it was a hoax
anyone actually downloaded this thing and proved it to be the real thing? if they have id like to see some screenshots as evidence
Joji 15 Oct 2004 18:32
4/12
Catch 22. You can't tell if it's a real download unless you download it, and if you do you are breaking laws.
This would have happened anyway like most games these days, it's just another problem that's not gonna leave the net anytime soon.
I'll be buying it anyway.
This would have happened anyway like most games these days, it's just another problem that's not gonna leave the net anytime soon.
I'll be buying it anyway.
mudbeed 16 Oct 2004 12:35
5/12
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT SPONG!
By the the way people, GTA:VC was a "whopping" 3.95GB
Anotherwords....well do I need to say it?
GTA:SA will be about twice that size after compression.
Plus there is alway garbage going around Kazaa and eMule. Why post this under your news section without looking further into this pretty important story. Especially if you are calling it embarressing for R*. This has actually become pretty embarressing for you at Spong!
By the the way people, GTA:VC was a "whopping" 3.95GB
Anotherwords....well do I need to say it?
GTA:SA will be about twice that size after compression.
Plus there is alway garbage going around Kazaa and eMule. Why post this under your news section without looking further into this pretty important story. Especially if you are calling it embarressing for R*. This has actually become pretty embarressing for you at Spong!
Mecha Ghandi 16 Oct 2004 14:28
6/12
mudbeed wrote:
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT SPONG!
By the the way people, GTA:VC was a "whopping" 3.95GB
By the the way people, GTA:VC was a "whopping" 3.95GB
I've heard that working versions of VC weigh in about the 2.5 GB mark...
mudbeed wrote:
GTA:SA will be about twice that size after compression.
Plus there is alway garbage going around Kazaa and eMule.
Plus there is alway garbage going around Kazaa and eMule.
And there's the rub... Dem pesky pirates are always ripping stuff out of games to fit them into easily downloadable and burnable packages. If it is a bonafide copy of SA out on the loose, it could well be minus the soundtrack or something...
mudbeed wrote:
Why post this under your news section without looking further into this pretty important story. Especially if you are calling it embarressing for R*. This has actually become pretty embarressing for you at Spong!
I think it's very interesting news, and it is an important story, for the 2 biggest games of this year (SA and Halo 2) to be in the hands of pirates before consumers is a ridiculous state of affairs.
I wouldn't necessarily say its an embarrAssment for Rockstar, but it's certainly a shame.
And as the ubiquitous and invariably correct Joji said...
Joji wrote:
Catch 22. You can't tell if it's a real download unless you download it, and if you do you are breaking laws.
So I can understand why none of the various reports of this leak have been officially verified.
I hope that the larger issue of piracy is tackled properly with the next generation of consoles. I'm sure that the inclusion of online play would contribute in some way: and that might be something that MS notice with Halo 2. None of the cheapskates with downloaded copies of the game will be able to take it online without being detected, and that should, to an extent, lessen the damage caused by the leak.
And I reckon Nintendo has got it pretty much spot on with the Gamecube and its midget discs. From what I've heard, playing pirated GC games is an incredibly complicated process, and therefore unworkable for the average swine who wants something for nothing. If everyone had just made stupid shaped discs or cartridge/Minidisc style cases it would be significantly more difficult for a chump with a DVD writer to just download and burn stolen material. Similarly, when the next lot of formats is revealed, be it Blu-ray based or whatever, it should be a format that can't be written with hardware that's easily and legally available on the high street.
auzdafluff 16 Oct 2004 18:55
7/12
Two probelms with what you said though.
1. Sony have already said Blu-ray burners will be out at the same time as the format is released.
2. Part of the reason why the Xbox and PS2 have done so well in the west is because of the ability to play DVD's on them.
1. Sony have already said Blu-ray burners will be out at the same time as the format is released.
2. Part of the reason why the Xbox and PS2 have done so well in the west is because of the ability to play DVD's on them.
auslander 17 Oct 2004 12:03
8/12
The 3.95 Gb version on emule is a renamed version of America's 10 most wanted. If you look at the file details you can see this.
liam 25 Apr 2007 17:16
9/12
auslander wrote:
The 3.95 Gb version on emule is a renamed version of America's 10 most wanted. If you look at the file details you can see this.
can u plz send me it plz
gagaga 27 Apr 2007 20:18
10/12
ds
marinos 24 Jun 2007 09:01
11/12
I WANT THE SAN ANDREAS
mara 9 May 2008 13:30
12/12
asasdasdasss