3DS is Watching You: Activity-Logging and Anti-Piracy Features

[Fawcks]

If you want to tell Nintendo what games you are playing, how far you walk and how often you eat at McDonalds be my guest but don't condemn others who don't want to share that information. Do you care that the information you freely give is very valuable? Do you care that if Nintendo takes it without an opt-out it could be considered theft given the value of the information and it is most certainly a privacy concern? If theft by corporations is ok with you then you can't possibly be taken seriously complaining about piracy. If Nintendo breaks a persons 3DS, haven't they effectively stolen $250 from them?

This is one of the least intrusive DRMs I have seen. You can turn off the always on wifi feature, it won't be a problem. I know I will. This is one of the good ways to implement DRM: Do it in a way that does not hamper your user experience. Want to pirate? Have the good sense not to enjoy Nintendo's free Wifi service. Simple.

As for the privacy issues... What are you so worried about? What are you doing on your DS you don't want others to know about? My DS, playing Pokemon Black right now, that's pretty much all I have been doing. They want to know how many steps I've been taking? FINE. I don't care. Here's what I do with my DS: Play games, and nothing else. It's not like you have to attach your NAME to the console. They know that SOMEONE owns console #22341, and that that person is walking a little more than average and plays Pokemon Black. Big whoop. My ISP provider has a link to every porn site I have ever touched, AND my name address and phone number to boot.

 

[Fawcks]

Least intrusive?

You can turn Wi-Fi off (are you sure?) but can you stop it from logging this information in the first place in the event wi-fi accidently gets turned back on (the defaults get reset for some reason)? See with the always on wi-fi it will connect anytime it detects a signal and a signal without security will likely connect without your knowledge.

Yeah, DRM that can (and has been threatened to) brick your hardware is the least intrusive you've seen....LOL.

This really is just a form of spyware.

The Wifi on the Wii is easy to turn off, and it implements a similar system.

No, you can't stop the logging. And if you ever try to firmware update or access a game online, yes, it will get a copy of the log.

When I say least intrusive, I mean to my gaming experience. Unlike Steam, I don't have to be online to verify and access my games. I don't have to enter in a key code. An honest player will never even notice this feature is there.

Again, I ask, what is it you're doing with your DS?

 

[Double A]

I'm not a pirate, but this is just crazy. I don't want people to know what games I play, or anything like that. I don't care if it's meaningless dribble, it's still private information, and personally, I like not making that privy to other people.

Yeah, it's not like Steam, XBox Live, or the PS3 do the same thing or anything...

Sorry for the double quote, but I realized the word I was looking for was creepy. It's stalkerish of Nintendo to do this. They are way to obsessed that people are doing piratey things on consoles they make. Consoles are, in a way, like computers, and you should be able to do whatever you want on them (within the law) when you get them. I'd be perfectly fine if I thought this was just to fight piracy, but game publishers and console makers have proven repeatedly that they don't like modifying consoles. For example, if someone wanted to install Linux on their Mac, Apple wouldn't care, but if they did it on their Wii, they've suddenly broken some law that Nintendo thinks exists.

Piracy is only a small part of the reason for this. The main one is marketing. As I said in an earlier post in this thread, it will help Nintendo know what games people are enjoying, so we can get more of them. I wish my DS had that function, actually, as then Nintendo could see that I use the GBA slot quite a bit on it, and thus it might not have been removed for the DSi and 3DS.

Okay, that's different, but the article did seem like it was to combat piracy more than anything else.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Of course it did. Piracy is a hotbutton issue online in general. So an article about fighting piracy will get people talking. An article about how they use the play stats for marketing will be read (maybe) and forgotten a few minutes later.

 

[ckam]

Well, that just sucks. I just don't really see much of a reason to buy the 3DS anymore.

 

[Aris Khandr]

Of course it did. Piracy is a hotbutton issue online in general. So an article about fighting piracy will get people talking. An article about how they use the play stats for marketing will be read (maybe) and forgotten a few minutes later.

It's free market research and the information they get from you (involuntarily perhaps) they could sell to other game companies and of course, they don't need to buy it from survey companies so that saves them a fortune. They could also charge a fee to third party publishers to get access to the information as it pertains to their game. There is a lot of business potential here but are you going to see any financial benefit for your participation? No.

In fact, the more you like a game, the slower the price will drop. The Wii has this feature (though it is voluntary and needs you to manually connect it to a network) but how has it helped you? Have the prices of Nintendo published Wii games gone down or is TP and SMG still selling for full price?

I hate captcha!

Yes, I am going to see benefit from my participation. In Nintendo and other companies releasing more games I enjoy. I don't care how fast a game's price drops. I care about them using that information to release more games that I will actually want to play.

 

[Illyasviel]

Escapist really needs to stop hiring / allowing contributors who are so ready to completely spin an article.

Present all sides of the case please.

But yeah, invasion of privacy... in ways we brought it upon ourselves. Let's give each other a pat on the back for being so absolutely unworthy of trust. Normally I would just use some script blocker to protect myself from the prying eyes of marketers, but I guess Ad Block Plus can't save me this time...

 

[DustyDrB]

Escapist really needs to stop hiring / allowing contributors who are so ready to completely spin an article.

Present all sides of the case please.

But yeah, invasion of privacy... in ways we brought it upon ourselves. Let's give each other a pat on the back for being so absolutely unworthy of trust. Normally I would just use some script blocker to protect myself from the prying eyes of marketers, but I guess Ad Block Plus can't save me this time...

I'm just a regular user...
I just read an article while browsing around Destructoid, and shared it here since I hadn't seen it brought up here (though there has been a News post here since I started this thread).

 

[jpoon]

I'm going to pass on this system entirely... Not that I had originally planned on it but man I really don't like this "big brother" attitude that corporations are using, I just won't support that kind of shit with my wallet.

 

[No_Remainders]

I have been reading about this, I don't think they can legally brick your property.

Depends on the agreement under which you purchase the 3DS.

If it states that you must use it under their conditions (no use of unofficial games, etc), and then you use an R4 card, then yeah, they can brick it.

 

[Illyasviel]

What does adblock plus have to do with Nintendo's spyware?

The paying customer is unworthy of trust (the paying customer is the majority, not the pirates)???

You statement reads like this: It's my fault my husband beat me, I am unworthy of trust.

Chill out mang.

What I meant is normally, when I browse the Internet, I use a variety of tools to block tracking scripts ( spyware ) like Google Analytics.

A popular tool to block unwanted scripts from running is Ad Block Plus.

Therefore, I was joking that I can't use Ad Block Plus on a 3DS, if I were to buy one.

And... a few bad apples ruins the bunch. Even if you are 200% innocent, pirates have fucked
up business consumer relations to this point, and now we all get to suffer.

I'm just a regular user...
I just read an article while browsing around Destructoid, and shared it here since I hadn't seen it brought up here (though there has been a News post here since I started this thread).

Oh, sorry about that then. I'm just upset that so many stories featured on Escapist are so obviously and so completely spun in favour of one side. For example, all the stories relating to GeoHot. No context provided, no alternative viewpoints offered. All just "THE MAN IS EVIL."

Hopefully, we're still cool then?

 

[No_Remainders]

I have been reading about this, I don't think they can legally brick your property.

Depends on the agreement under which you purchase the 3DS.

If it states that you must use it under their conditions (no use of unofficial games, etc), and then you use an R4 card, then yeah, they can brick it.

Uh no, the EULA is not legally binding. The law trumps the EULA.

Now consider this, if you sold a DVD Player to your friend and then made him agree that if he watched backup DVD's on it, you could smash it. Would that make it legal for you smash his property even if he did watch backup DVD's?

Didn't Blizzard win some court case against the auto-botters citing the EULA as their reason for it?

 

[ActionDan]

Well I wasn't going to buy it in the first place, but now it's an absolute, definate 100% no.