I am pouring one out to this little champ. Stripping HDCP and letting me... archive streaming services from 2016-2023 RIP
What killed it, well after reviewing some PS4 gameplay I noticed that it was having audio issues, like it would allow some sounds but not all. It was almost as if it was receiving a 5.1 audio output but was missing the centre channel. Even though the PS4 was set to stereo.
After trying various cables, configs, and boxes. I narrowed it down to this box. Not sure what killed it, whether it's just old, or that it's been powered on for over 5 years straight. But its long service will never be forgotten in the hours of Netflix and Disney Plus it passed through to my recorder.
I get and like HDCP. Mostly because of how easy it can be to bypass. I'd rather have a universal "we tried" standard, than an honest attempt to stop this. With today's tech and online focused DRM, HDCP could be a lot worse, and I am happy where it is right now.
Like Adobe Digital Editions or Kindle for eBook DRM.
Biggest evidence of that is Epic will give away games for free, but there will be people who prefer to pay for the Steam version over the free version.
That's the biggest evidence that piracy is a problem of distribution and goes against the idea that those who pirates are against paying for a product.
Seconded. I like having all my games in one place, on all my devices, with Linux support out-of-the-box thanks to Proton. Also, Steam DRM is easy to bypass with code available on GitHub if you really wanted to.
Epic does none of this for me, and I won't support a company that called all gamers "shmucks" or whatever that C suite said
Yup, outside of legacy PC titles which will never get a re-release, a 1-2 combo shot of GOG and Steam, I don't pirate games. I even took the time to find way to backup my games so I can get legal ROMs too.
I even took the time to find way to backup my games so I can get legal ROMs too.
I have a FHDB PS2 and soooo many games to back up 😭 ughhh.
I have a few titles that I "backed up" 🏴☠️ already, but i'm not looking forward to ripping my physical disks... my PS1 library took the entire day and two cd drives, sadly most of those disks were partially unreadable
Same, I have never pirated any game since the day I installed steam for the first time. It just makes buying games so much easier, and I don’t have to worry about drm or malware at all.
In my case, I rather pay a one-stop reasonable price for content than deal with the hassle of piracy.
Especially with music and video. At some point it has to enter your eyes/ears, and even if HDCP wasn't shit, you could always just record what was on your screen or coming out of your speakers.
Ah yes, the classic analog hole. Next thing you know, "premium" content will need Premium Certified custom eyes and ears, only for the small installation fee of $59.99/month.
The only legit media service I pay for now is YouTube. Before I get Amy lectures I am well aware of the issues with it, but also people still keep paying for Netflix as it cancels shows just as they start to grow, so...
I'm a legacy google music sub, so moving over for me was a tiny cost increase to no longer mess with adblock on the site, though recently I do feel the YTM 'radio' algo is not as good as legacy google music. Self employed manufacturing stuff in my workshop all day either video or music is always on so its a bargain to me.
My point being, that's the only streaming sub I find worth paying for, out of everything. Maybe I'm an edge case but I just don't see 4/5 of these services still existing in 5 years, its too much. Unless they can all survive on people subbing for 2-3 months a year
I fly a giant fucking pirate flag with skull and crossbones and no one ever stops me. All they do is say "Are you a pirate?" or "Say Jack Sparrow". Tcchh bitch please, I'll torrent your mom's prom night.
On my desktop pc I have almost every file I’ve downloaded since 1998. Seriously.
Want that old specific version of Nero to burn CDs, I probably have you. Looking for abandonware? Yeah, that was my thing for awhile.
I used to have operating systems I can’t find any record of existing these days (mostly front ends for DOS made to seem more modern in the early 00s). I had something that made Windows 3.1 look like Windows 95, I even had something that made Windows 98 look just like Mac OS 8 (no shit, it layered over windows and everything flawlessly).
I had every version of Mandrake Linux and several versions after the rename.
Tonnns of software to extend the life of 16 bit hardware.
I still have several screeners in 240p from the early 2000s with the audience moving around and laughing in them.
I have a decent collection of Nirvana bootlegs I downloaded from FTP servers way back in the day.
Man I miss the old internet. I’m getting old and that’s part of it I guess.
I find myself hoarding on the Steam Deck desktop too. Something about having a wide open file system just brings that impulse out in me.
I don’t have that one. I remember my cousin using it to animate dolls she drew on paint shop pro though. I don’t specifically remember it being animation shop, but I remember the name Jasc when she was showing me her work.
Companies that sell these DRM schemes, or the groups of companies that come up with the "standards" and ask for a licensing fee, don't actually believe the solution works to prevent piracy - the investors also do not believe this. They're just happy to get a tiny fee whenever somebody in the world buys a CD, DVD, streams on Netflix, buys a monitor, a cable, a console, etc.
It's like creating a closed source media codec, but even easier because you can justify it's cost with fear.
I use an Dell docking station with my laptop. Any webpage with Spotify embed turns off my external displays because somewhere along the line the video signal loses the DRM certification. It's infuriating.