Month: August 2018

GoldenEye 007 gets quite the 21st-birthday present: An oral history

Three devs offer stories, call Oddjob “part of the culture and folklore of the game .”

The Nintendo 64, known before launch as the "Ultra 64." (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Many monumental video games have reached their 20th, 30th, and even 40th anniversaries at this point, and fans can be forgiven for missing a milestone or two. But in the case of GoldenEye 007's 21st birthday, the N64 classic received quite the treat this week: an oral history starring a few of the game's original developers.

This feature comes from an unexpected source: MEL Magazine, an online-only outlet operated by Dollar Shave Club with only one other gaming oral history under its belt. But MEL picked up where 2015's Rare Replay dropped off. That Microsoft-published collection of classic Rare games, complete with detail-loaded mini-documentaries, had to skip GoldenEye for licensing reasons.

MEL's feature sums up quite a few details that have appeared in various behind-the-scenes stories over the years, though it does so with the assistance of three of that game's artists and programmers: Karl Hilton, Mark Edmonds, and David Doak. As a result, the game's history is retold in appreciably chronological order, and fans get one of the deepest looks yet at details including: Rare's visits to the original MGM sets while the source film was being made; Rare's use of a "hacked-together" Sega Saturn controller to test pre-release code, since the N64 controller wasn't yet finalized; the "cheaty" holes tucked into the popular Complex multiplayer map, which its designer added just so he could beat his colleagues in matches; and the exact reasons that the game didn't include certain famous Bond actors or real-life gun names.

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Xperia XZ2 Premium im Test: Was lange währt, wird nicht zwingend gut

Lange hat Sony bei seinen Smartphones mit der Veröffentlichung seiner ersten dualen Hauptkamera gewartet, das Xperia XZ2 Premium hat nun endlich eine. Sie soll besonders lichtempfindlich sein, im Test finden wir aber schnell Schwächen. Ein Test von Tob…

Lange hat Sony bei seinen Smartphones mit der Veröffentlichung seiner ersten dualen Hauptkamera gewartet, das Xperia XZ2 Premium hat nun endlich eine. Sie soll besonders lichtempfindlich sein, im Test finden wir aber schnell Schwächen. Ein Test von Tobias Költzsch (Sony, Smartphone)

A64FX: Fujitsu erläutert ARM-Chip für Japans Supercomputer

Der A64FX ist die erste CPU mit ARMs Vector-Erweiterung für Supercomputer. Laut Fujitsu rechnet der wassergekühlte Chip schnell und effizient. Er treibt das neue Post-K-System in Japan an. (ARM-Server, Prozessor)

Der A64FX ist die erste CPU mit ARMs Vector-Erweiterung für Supercomputer. Laut Fujitsu rechnet der wassergekühlte Chip schnell und effizient. Er treibt das neue Post-K-System in Japan an. (ARM-Server, Prozessor)

Z6 und Z7: Nikon stellt spiegellose Kameras mit neuem Z-Bajonett vor

Mit den Kameras Z7 und Z6 hat Nikon das neue Z-Bajonett vorgestellt: Es soll dank seiner flachen und großen Bauweise besonders lichtstarke Objektive ermöglichen und ist dank eines Adapters voll mit den F-Bajonett-Objektiven kompatibel. Videofreunde dür…

Mit den Kameras Z7 und Z6 hat Nikon das neue Z-Bajonett vorgestellt: Es soll dank seiner flachen und großen Bauweise besonders lichtstarke Objektive ermöglichen und ist dank eines Adapters voll mit den F-Bajonett-Objektiven kompatibel. Videofreunde dürften mit den neuen Kameras nur bedingt glücklich sein. (Nikon, OLED)

Onavo Protect: Facebook muss fragwürdige App aus Apples Store entfernen

Die vermeintliche VPN-App Onavo Protect ist nicht länger in Apples App Store zu bekommen. Auf Wunsch von Apple hat Facebook die App entfernt. Die Onavo-App wird als fragwürdig eingestuft, weil sie alle Daten auswertet, die über die VPN-App geleitet wer…

Die vermeintliche VPN-App Onavo Protect ist nicht länger in Apples App Store zu bekommen. Auf Wunsch von Apple hat Facebook die App entfernt. Die Onavo-App wird als fragwürdig eingestuft, weil sie alle Daten auswertet, die über die VPN-App geleitet werden. (Apple App Store, Apple)

Cern: Ein Teilchenbeschleuniger als Vorbild für die Politik

Das Forschungszentrum Cern soll als Modell dienen, wie Europa wieder Anschluss an die technologische Weltspitze findet. Aber kann das klappen? Einblicke in die Geheimnisse eines Wunderlabors. Eine Reportage von Konrad Fischer (Cern, LHC)

Das Forschungszentrum Cern soll als Modell dienen, wie Europa wieder Anschluss an die technologische Weltspitze findet. Aber kann das klappen? Einblicke in die Geheimnisse eines Wunderlabors. Eine Reportage von Konrad Fischer (Cern, LHC)

Nintendo Plugs Leak That Provided Free 3DS Game Downloads

Nintendo has finally taken action to stop users from downloading free 3DS games from its own servers. People have always been able to download games they had previously purchased but due to the 3DS being compromised by hackers, anyone was able to grab whatever they liked using tools like Freeshop. That free ride has now come to an end.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

While more recent generations of gaming devices offer some exceptions, the majority of platforms have fallen to pirates over the years.

From the earliest home computers to devices such as the NES, Genesis/MegaDrive, PlayStation and XBoX, all have experienced piracy problems to a greater or lesser extent.

It’s something that manufacturers and developers alike have been keen to stamp out. Interestingly, however, Nintendo itself has been contributing to 3DS piracy for some time now.

The problem began with the eShop, Nintendo’s digital distribution service for the 3DS, Wii U, and more recently, Switch. Among other things, the eShop allows users to download games, demos and other applications. However, when the 3DS was hacked, the store’s servers could be exploited to allow anyone to download games, whether they had previously bought them or not.

Enter ‘Freeshop‘, an open-source homebrew eShop alternative for the Nintendo 3DS which allows users to browse and install titles “they own” utilizing title keys/tickets. While this isn’t much a problem in its own right, Freeshop users (if they’re that way inclined) are able to exploit a weakness in the Nintendo authentication system.

After users have bought content, they’re able to use the eShop to re-download that content when required. This is made possible by the eShop keeping records of who bought what while placing the necessary credentials (a ticket/key) on the user’s machine. Freeshop, however, only looks for tickets on a user’s machine, which is a huge problem when tickets are freely available online for anyone to install.

The bottom line is that Freeshop (and other similar tools) allowed users to fool Nintendo’s system into believing that they had already purchased games, which then allowed them to download perfect copies directly from Nintendo’s own servers. In basic terms, Nintendo has been fueling piracy of its own games, and for some time now.

Yesterday, however, all that came to an end. On Twitter, ‘Matt’ (aka CheatFreak47) revealed that Nintendo had finally pulled the plug on the free-for-all.

“For those seeking some elaboration, at around 1AM EST or so, Nintendo updated over 2800 3DS software titles on their CDN to require a valid ticket be received to download. Otherwise, the server will return a 403 (Forbidden) error when requesting downloads,” he added.

In a follow-up discussion on Reddit, CheatFreak47 put yet more meat on the bones.

“The system they had in place relied on the contents on the eShop server being encrypted with a key that they would send only to consoles that had purchased the software – however, once the 3DS was completely hacked, this system made widespread piracy easy, since people would simply share the keys,” he said.

“With this new download authentication system, once you have been issued a ticket, your console must send the eShop server an encrypted copy of it to have it validated before you are authenticated to download.”

Quite why it has taken Nintendo so long to plug this gaping hole isn’t clear. The gaming giant has been aware of the problem for years and in 2016 took direct action against Freeshop by targeting its Github repository with a DMCA takedown.

“The FreeShop application provided at infringes Nintendo’s copyrights, because the application circumvents Nintendo’s technological protection measures in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” the original notice read.

The developer of Freeshop, known as TheCruel, wasn’t impressed with the takedown, noting that his software would only infringe if users chose to introduce their own tickets/keys.

“Fuck Nintendo,” he wrote.

“[Freeshop] only circumvents protections if people utilize title keys they did not purchase or obtain legally. If people illegally obtain the password/PINs of a person’s bank account, you can’t criticize the banking website for facilitating theft.”

Finally, while Nintendo has now fixed its own issues, that doesn’t mean that 3DS piracy has been brought to an end. The titles are readily available from many other sources, albeit with a slightly more difficult installation process.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

CJG50: Samsungs 32-Zoll-Gaming-Monitor kostet 430 Euro

144 Hz, WQHD-Auflösung und 31,5-Zoll-Bildschirmdiagonale: Samsungs Gaming-Monitor hat erst einmal alle primären Merkmale, die sich Gamer für wenig Geld erhoffen. Gleichzeitig ist der Preis noch einmal geringer. Die Abstriche liegen im Detail. (Display…

144 Hz, WQHD-Auflösung und 31,5-Zoll-Bildschirmdiagonale: Samsungs Gaming-Monitor hat erst einmal alle primären Merkmale, die sich Gamer für wenig Geld erhoffen. Gleichzeitig ist der Preis noch einmal geringer. Die Abstriche liegen im Detail. (Display, Samsung)

Egosoft: Weltraumspiel X4 ist in der galaktischen Beta

Riesige Flotten durchs All schicken und Raumstationen bauen: Das Weltraumspiel X4 hat enorm viel vor. Entwicklungschef Bernd Lehahn hat sich bei der Präsentation auch zum Debakel mit dem Vorgänger geäußert. (Gamescom 2018, Games)

Riesige Flotten durchs All schicken und Raumstationen bauen: Das Weltraumspiel X4 hat enorm viel vor. Entwicklungschef Bernd Lehahn hat sich bei der Präsentation auch zum Debakel mit dem Vorgänger geäußert. (Gamescom 2018, Games)