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Don't buy a fake Apple Watch on eBay
Only Apple knows exactly when the Apple Watch will hit the market, but that doesn't mean scam artists care. Today marks the first sale of a fake Apple Watch on eBay, so it's probably time to remind readers and their friend -- you will not find a real Apple Watch prototype or a real Apple Watch on eBay before you find it in stores. If things seem too good to be true, they most likely are. While this seems like obvious advice, some brilliant schemer out there is now $260 richer from the rube who purchased this fake off of eBay. It must be real. Look at the picture above, after all, and this one right here. That looks real enough, right? You know better. Until the device hits stores, keep your money safe and don't buy one of these fakes off of eBay. After the device makes it to retail stores, keep your money safe and don't risk buying a fake off eBay. We're honestly not worried about our everyday readers, we're worried about your family that might not know any better. Knowledge is power. This is just a rip-off smartwatch.
Hearthstone in real life is beautiful, but complicated
Ever wonder what it would be like to feel the virtual cards from Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft in your hands? Well, Chinese bootleggers have you covered, friend. Website Games in Asia recently discovered and played a physical version of Blizzard's digital card game, and the results were ... well, let's just say that being a digital game has its advantages. "What would be a thirty-second turn in the digital game took up the better part of five minutes here. But most heinous was the set-up time," Games in Asia reports. "Thankfully the bulk of the work doesn't need to be repeated once you've set the game up once, but it still took close to two hours the first time before we could even start playing." The reason for such lengthy playtime seems to be that the physcial version has far more moving parts, icons and tokens to keep track of. Games in Asia called it a "fun novelty." We don't know about that, but those cards sure do look nice in the real world. [Image: Blizzard]
China bootlegs Hearthstone cards into the real world
Blizzard has yet to release Hearthstone cards outside of their native virtual playground, but where American corporations fail, Chinese bootleggers are more than happy to step in. Games In Asia has a lengthy report on a knock-off Chinese Hearthstone game, though "knock-off" doesn't properly describe the item. It would be more accurate to say that the bootleggers took the basic tenets of the Hearthstone virtual game then did their best to translate those ideas to a more traditional board game environment. As you'd expect, the artwork and most of the gameplay is swiped directly from Blizzard, but Games In Asia claims that legit assets can't save bootleg Hearthstone from the pitfalls of having so much cardboard to manage. "If playing this physical version (and watching it be played) taught me one thing, it's this: the digital game is incredibly good at streamlining." We aren't about to link to a site selling counterfeit goods, but Games In Asia claims that those of you willing to track down this weird piece of pop cultural ephemera should expect to pay about $50 for the game. Alternately, you can play the original version of Hearthstone on an iPad, PC or Mac at no cost. [Image: Activision Blizzard]
Editorial: Legal torrent sites are innovators of media consumption
Torrent. In the context of consuming mainstream music and movies, the word reverberates with illegitimacy. The Bittorrent protocol, however, is neutral -- a disinterested technology specification. The same is true for all peer-to-peer platforms, and that essential neutrality has been a pillar argument in lawsuit defenses of P2P companies over the last decade.
Keepin' it real fake: a Nintendo DS Lite that gets it (mostly) DS right
The death of Nintendo's DS Lite getting you down? Good news: it may have long ago been eclipsed by the DSi and 3DS, but the svelte portable system is still being made -- by someone, somewhere. And you can get a pretty good price on the thing, if you don't mind a few flaws -- like the above bootleg picked up a 1UP editor who though he was getting the real deal from eBay. As soon as the thing arrived in a corrugated cardboard box with pixelated text, it was clear that he had been KIRFed -- hardcore. On top of the aforementioned packaging red flags, the portable has some minor cosmetic flaws, like discoloration, a pockmarked surface, and uneven rubber pads. What's really amazing about this DS, however, is what its manufacturers got right -- it plays DS and GBA games, including, fittingly, pirated titles. The police have reportedly called Wario in for questioning.
Toys R Us action set features bootleg Kratos
Click to embiggen. Are you ready for something "ridiculously awesome"? Reader Brett P. was shopping at a local Toys R Us when he spotted Tech Deck Dude's Serpent of Doom Action Set. Over four feet long, this toy features a rather familiar character riding a skateboard. The dual blades, goatee and red tattoo are distinctly Kratos-like, don't you think?The toy launches pseudo-Kratos across a gap, featuring a large biting serpent. "Don't get caught!" We're not sure how well bootleg Kratos would fare in a fight against the serpent, but we know the PlayStation original would use a few QTEs and shred the beast in half.%Gallery-47883%
Final Fantasy VII ported to the Famicom. Finally!
Remember back in the late '90s, when Square was so frustrated trying to fit their opus Final Fantasy VII onto the cartridge-based Nintendo 64 that they made their famous defection to Sony? Well, just a short decade later, China's Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co, Ltd has apparently done what Square couldn't, squeezing the PlayStation epic onto a cartridge. And not just any cartridge .. a Famicom cartridge. How's it feel to be shown up, Square?Of course, the conversion isn't perfect. According to a write-up from intrepid blogger CinnamonPirate (who unearthed the 2MB ROM from a Chinese blog) the polygonal graphics and cut scenes are gone, replaced with an impressively wide array of sprites, many stolen from other Final Fantasy games. The story remains surprisingly authentic, though, encompassing the entire three-disc epic while only leaving out a few optional side stories (bye bye, Yuffie and Vincent). The wide array of weapons, magic and materia from the original is a bit restricted in the port, but frankly, we're impressed that features like materia-leveling made it on to the 20+ year old hardware in any form.The company behind the cart is apparently now primarily makes MP3 players, so our hopes for a Colecovision version of Final Fantasy XII will probably remain unfulfilled.
Pirates rule the Philippine seas
After a tour of the country last year, Indian President Abdul Kalam described the Philippines as a "smiling republic." Wherever he went, Kalam was met with smiling faces. Well, you'd be grinning too if you saw how cheap their games are. Thanks to the black market, popular Nintendo Wii titles are priced as low as $5 in some shops. Piracy has become so widespread in the Southeast Asian country, even Sony admits that most of its Playstation software sold in the Philippines are bootlegged copies.Filipino site GameOPS found that many stores also offer modchip installations. For about $51, you can have your system hacked to play these counterfeit games at the local mall or market. Furthermore, some shops advertise console bundles, selling imported and modded US Wiis with five copied games of your choice for around $450. Similar deals for chipped Xbox 360 systems with 10 pirated titles are actually cheaper at $388.With such a high level of piracy already in place, Nintendo will have a lot to work against when -- or if -- it decides to finally launch the Wii in the Philippines.
DVD pirates put out hits on Lucky and Flo the crime dogs
If you thought that IP piracy was all fun and games (and cheap movies and software), think again, because the war on counterfeiting just got a lot more dangerous, with Malaysian "syndicate bosses" today announcing a reward for the heads of two real-life McGruff's. You probably remember black labs Lucky and Flo as the Federation Against Copyright Theft's latest weapons in tracking down bogus discs -- they're trained to sit when they smell plastic -- and their careers were apparently going pretty well until they helped bust a $3 million bootleg ring this week only to draw the ire of whomever just lost a major source of shady income. With an undisclosed contract now threatening their very lives, the two canine Columbos have reportedly been moved to a Cheney-like undisclosed location where security has been "beefed up" to ensure their safety as well as future contributions to Team MPAA. Because, as we all know, police dogs do have a tendency to keel over just days shy of retirement, and these hits sure aren't gonna help that much.
Video Sandwich: December 10, 2006
Slow news day? Yeah. Even our Joystiq sister site hasn't really updated today! Well, hopefully these two videos can entertain you while you wait for that Loco Roco demo that's supposed to come out tomorrow. The first video is submitted by Daylon Schindler. Cheap PSP knockoff + Christmas = hilarity. Hopefully, we'll have a follow-up after Christmas to write about!Secondly, you'll see Sony's latest ad in Asia, trying to promote all things Sony. I think the message is: buy Sony products, don't get turned into a Borg. (Oh, and in passing, I'll make note that my PS3 is officially broken. Damn. I guess I have to send it back in.)
Real products seen as fakes in counterfeit-laden China
Remember when we showed you the V191 PSP-knockoff phone? The Electric New Paper reports that in China, counterfeit products such as the phone pictured above do better than the original counterparts. In fact, bootleggers come out with products before the originals ever reach the country, making consumers believe the genuine products are actually the counterfeited products.It appears that rumors of a cell phone enhanced PSP made their way on the internet. Before Sony could even possibly announce such a product, developers were hard at work in China making a prototype. The Chinese company then marketed the device for a whopping US $650.With the homebrew community making their own PSone emulators, it goes to show you that if Sony doesn't add the features people want in the PSP... someone else will.
Video Sandwich: November 9, 2006
The above PSP has all the bells and whistles. And by that, I mean it has crazy LED lights, joysticks and an Xbox jewel. MAXCONSOLE called it the "pimped PSP." That sounds about right. The below PSP seems to be afflicted by a mysterious condition. Watch carefully, and then be shocked! It seems like this person received one of those bootleg Memory Sticks we warned about earlier.
PSP phone becomes a reality, in cheap Chinese knock-off form
Our sister-site, Engadget, has a knack for finding weird PSP knock-offs. They found another one, which makes the oft-rumored PSP phone a reality... sort of. The V191 phone has a 1.3Mpix camera, MP3 music player, and an MP4 video player. Sounds familiar? It also has a gaming feature, which seems to readily allow illegally emulated games to play on the phone. Hmm.This sounds very cool and all, but we can't help but be discouraged by the phone's clear lack of creativity in the design department. The back of the phone features the PSP's unique metallic circle, and it also has the word "FUN" written in the PSP's font. Check out more pictures at Akihabara, where you can how this bootleg phone stole the PSP's D-Pad, and face buttons as well. Even though it's not original, it does seem pretty cool.See also:PSP phone resurfaces in design contest[Via Engadget]
Memory Stick bootleggers caught
You've probably seen them before: suspiciously cheap Memory Sticks on eBay that are "too good to be true." Some of you may have even purchased one, only to find out that they simply don't work. It looks like a bootlegger was recently arrested: a Kyoto University student was caught with about twenty fake Memory Sticks in his home. He sold the Memory Sticks throughout Japan and overseas, and is believed to have sold at least 400 fraudulent sticks.The bootlegger now faces fines as high as 2.5 million yen (about $25,000 US).[Via PSP3D]
Homebrew PlayStation emulator reaches beta
PS1 emulation is one of the most anticipated features for the PSP at the moment. You'll be able to download Riiiiidge Racer, and other PS1 classics to your PSP and play them on the go. Sony has been taking their time, and we've been waiting for any new information on things like price, available games, and interface. It appears that the homebrew community is sick of waiting-- it has just released its own emulator. Yoshihiro's PSX-P emulator will let you play bootleg PS1 games on the go, although the code is somewhat rough at the moment. To run it, you'll need an eLoader, which now supports firmware as high as 2.71.While we don't support downloading illegal games, hopefully this new revelation will make Sony wake up and get the PS1 emulation to us now. I really want to get my hands on Castlevania: Symphony of the Night some time soon, damn it![Via DCemu]
Engadget China's ultimate fake PSP collection
They say that imitation is the best form of flattery. Well, Sony should be incredibly flattered by the endless amounts of cheap PSP knock-offs there are on the market. While the bootlegs that we unearthed earlier could do only the most primitive of things, it appears that the latest batch discovered by Engadget China take a lot of Sony's functionality as well. For example, the system pictured above features a 16:9 screen and can play MP3 and WMA music files, and play MP4 movies. Sounds vaguely familiar... Check out Endadget to see the rest of their finds.
Warhawk, MotorStorm, & other bootleg GDC PS3 videos
So, are you tired of bootleg stills from the upcoming PS3 titles featured at GDC? (Or bootleg videos from current-gen titles like God of War 2?) Well, it looks like you're in luck, as we've got a few fuzzy PS3 videos from Phil Harrison's speech, courtesy of the embargo-ignorin' folks at Multiplayer.it.What we have above is a clip from the developer demo of Warhawk for the PS3. A voiceover describes the "ambient warfare" to be used in the air-combat simulation game, as well as the innovative mix of "Cell-based software rendering with RSX-based hardware rendering" to produce the graphics. For all you coders out there, it was also interesting to note that the programs running on the Cell's SPUs were not written in low-level assembly (easing development, but possibly degrading performance).While we wait until E3, when a playable version of Warhawk was promised to be delivered, here are a few more PS3 videos from GDC that you might find interesting (with a few unfortunately quite incomplete): Streamed video of MotorStorm GDC footage, also with a voiceover. Streamed speeded-up video clips (no audio) of Warhawk, Getaway 3, Lair, the Havoc physics demo from Heavenly Sword, the bullet-ridden car model demo, and even that video concerning Rachet & Clank. Streamed (basically) audio-only video from Resistance: Fall of Man. [Thanks, Reaktorleak89, Fan, & Da'Cheez; via PS3 Fanboy & QJ.net]See also: MotorStorm, Resistance and more: pictures from Sony's GDC keynote God of War 2 GDC video leaked online Multiplayer.it's report on Phil Harrison's GDC keynote (in Italian)
