CPS2 Suicide - reasons?

[MikeB]

What was the main reason that Capcom implemented the suicide battery in its CPS2 games?

Mike B (having just found out his 19XX board has died )

[GaijinPunch]

B/c Capcom sucks massive cock.

[Ed Oscuro]

B/c Capcom sucks massive cock.

pretty much yeah

Ed H (needing to sell his Vamp. Sav. before the battery gets old and it dies)

[MikeB]

apart from that

[GaijinPunch]

I assume they disillusioned themselves into thinking it would curb piracy or some bullshit. Of course, all it does is invite people hack it to keep it suicide free.

[MikeB]

Bunch of muppets eh? My impression is that it may have been to do with curbing arcade operator profits from older games and getting them to buy new ones, if that would work. And I think it might.

Mike B (wishing 1944 could have died instead)

[incognoscente]

The intent of the suicide battery system was to prevent bootlegging.

The idea for the CPS2 protection was to have a large decryption key stored in RAM be required for the hardware to make sense of the encrypted program code in the ROM chips. Most types of RAM will lose their data in a power loss situation, so Capcom banked on bootleggers attempting to remove the battery, short the battery's circuit, or remove the RAM for examination. Any of these situations would cause the RAM to lose the decryption key. Without knowing the exact size of the key, any part of the key (which varied from game to game and region to region), or even necessarily how the decryption process worked, would-be pirates would face a formidable defense.


Notes and discoveries from Nicola and Andrea's work on properly decrypting CPS2 for MAME are available through Nicola Salmoria's blog starting here.

Previously, MAME and other emulators relied on XOR tables created by Razoola. Part of Razoola's way into the CPS2 was noting that Capcom had relied on a well-known and easily reprogrammed Motorolla 68000 as the main processor. He was able to make a program that would cause the CPS2 to display the unencrypted data while running. Using this information against an encrypted dump of the game, he was able to make tables of data that would allow the games to work, even if this was not the actual decryption process used by the hardware.

[MikeB]

Ahh.. I see, thanks for that.

So I guess that also explains why Capcom started using suicide bateries later on the CPS1 system as well, seeing as it was so mercilessly bootlegged.

While I'm on the subject, can anyone tell me what the heck Q-sound is, and how it should make me happy that it's on CPS-2?

[incognoscente]

QSound is a company that licensed a 2-channel positional audio technology to Capcom for the CPS2 architecture. All it should mean to you is that the game's in stereo.

[Ed Oscuro]

The intent of the suicide battery system was to prevent bootlegging.

No doubt, but I think they had to have considered that the effect on arcade operators would be much greater.

Of course, none of it was skin off their backs, and at the time arcades were pretty healthy so I imagine they thought operators would be able to swallow the expense of having their boards serviced.

[elvis]

I assume they disillusioned themselves into thinking it would curb piracy or some bullshit. Of course, all it does is invite people hack it to keep it suicide free.

I think you all are a bit black and white on the issue.

No encryption scheme is unbreakable. Capcom certainly know it, and so does anyone with even a semester's learning worth of cryptography under their belt.

the CPS2 suicide was never intended to remain unbroken. All it was intended to do was to put a few years between when games where released on CPS2 hardware, and when the rampant whining gamerz kiddiez started bawling on forums that they wanted links to CPS2 games without paying a cent.

CPS2 suicide put a dent in the number of backyard operators or far-east Asian bootleggers with a ROM dumper who thought they'd take to their several hundred dollar CPS2 kit with a soldering iron and have a go and doing ROM hacks, bootlegs, emulation and whatnot. And it worked. CPS2 hardware appeared in 1993 and was considered active/current by Capcom until 2004. Actual successful/playable emulation didn't occur until 2000/2001. There's 7 years of bootleg/warez-free operation for Capcom.

Like it or not, Capcom run a business. Yes, suiciding hardware is a pain for collectors and home hobbiests. Even to a point it hurt a lot of legitimate arcade operators. But lets face it, there was a method to the madness. When the success of your company is bound by arcade operators buying legitimate gameboards at full price (rather than largely similar bootlegs at 1/10th the price), what would you do?

I don't envy Capcom. Make good games on non-suicide hardware, and they lose money. Make good games on suicide hardware, and there's forums full of comments like these saying that they "Suck massive cock". Riiight.

Some of you should perhaps spend a little time in the real world where money talks and profit means living another day to write another game.

You want to see suicide-free hardware on the market? Then get on your bike and hunt down every bootlegger, warez group and ROM dumper out there distributing unlicensed games minutes after they are released. The MAME team claims some sort of moral high ground where games are not emulated for 3 years post release, but even that is a joke (SF3 on CPS3 is still pulling arcade profits 10 years after release, yet is is today emulated for all to use, and the arcade ops are the ones who suffer).

I don't want to sound like a raving Capcom fanboi. Yes, I love their arcade games, but it's a side issue all together. As much as suicide boards affect collectors like me negatively, calling them all childish names from the safe confines of an internet forum is immature at best. These people make a living making games. If money doesn't pass hands when these games are made due to piracy and bootlegging, then the games stop being made. On a forum that deals with the tiniest of niche markets such as shmups, you would think there would be some understanding here. Not so it seems.

If anyone has an issue with any of the above, please by all means suggest a way in which Capcom could have better dealt with the problem. I'm busting to hear what the engineering peanut gallery of shmups.com can come up with as a superior method of bootlegging protection where the pirates lose, and everyone else wins.

Once again: it was never intended to be bullet-proof. Only to slow down the breakneck speed at which bootlegging occured in that era (and still does today).

[MikeB]

Agree with you what your saying in principle but that doesn't mean I'm not going to feel entitled to question their Henson-esque-ness after spending a heck of a lot of hard-earned cash on their products over the years, or when one of my favourite games commits suicide. It's human nature.

Personally I'm happy that the CPS2 encryption remained unbroken for so long, it meant a lot of excellent games were developed which, as an arcade colector, I was able to obtain in PCB form and play exclusively away from the involvement of the warez-hungry plebs.

But are you really saying that, given the already notoriously difficult to decipher ROM encryption, the implementation of suiciding boards was also necessary? Do you really think it added to the length of of CPS-2 life-span? Remember, when the encryption was finally bypassed by CPS2 shock it was achieved using data tables derived from already dead boards..

Mike B

[Ed Oscuro]

In GP's defense, curb doesn't necessarily mean completely eliminate.

I imagine they would've said "hey arcade operators only run boards for a few years before moving them out," although the number of SFII machines lingering about throughout the years might've been an indication that wasn't necessarily the case.

Basically Capcom played a game with percentages, hoping that they'd get a lot of sales and that only a small number of operators would be affected by downtime. Hope they caught hell for it.

[zinger]

The intent of the suicide battery system was to prevent bootlegging.

No doubt, but I think they had to have considered that the effect on arcade operators would be much greater.

Of course, none of it was skin off their backs, and at the time arcades were pretty healthy so I imagine they thought operators would be able to swallow the expense of having their boards serviced.

But that service was and still is free, no?

[MikeB]

Suicided boards cost $90 to revive through Capcom's service centre..

Dunno about battery replacement but I can't imagine it's gratis.

Mike B

[Ghegs]

Moved to Hardware.

[Ganelon]

Yeah, you actually sort of have to admire Capcom. Before suicide batteries, there were clones left and right coming out for SFII. After suicide batteries, absolutely nothing. A bad tactic used to fight off bad people.

[Specineff]

The MAME team claims some sort of moral high ground where games are not emulated for 3 years post release, but even that is a joke (SF3 on CPS3 is still pulling arcade profits 10 years after release, yet is is today emulated for all to use, and the arcade ops are the ones who suffer).

Agreed, though home consoles that can recreate the arcade experience at home (SFA3 on PS1 or DC anyone?) are more detrimental to operators than piracy, IMHO.

[elvis]

But are you really saying that, given the already notoriously difficult to decipher ROM encryption, the implementation of suiciding boards was also necessary? Do you really think it added to the length of of CPS-2 life-span? Remember, when the encryption was finally bypassed by CPS2 shock it was achieved using data tables derived from already dead boards..

The suicide aspect meant that fewer people actually attempted to brute-force the data. Without it, every joe who owned a ROM dumper would have been into the project, and decryption results would have occurred much faster.

The suicide aspect was merely a deterrent. Again, if you paid $500+ for a CPS2 board back in the day, and knew that mucking around with it meant potentially destroying your investment, the temptation to tinker is taken away quite quickly.

Once again, Capcom aren't stupid. This was never an attempt to STOP people decrypting the information. It was merely put in place to slow down the progress. Given that the number of people in the world who were cluey and/or motivated enough to even attempt to break it in a serious manner was in the single digits, I think it was mission accomplished for Capcom.

There are plenty of non-suiciding systems out there with encryption, and most of them were decrypted LONG before CPS2, thanks to the fact that people could dump/probe the information even in an encrypted state without risk to their hardware. When you all of a sudden force financial risk into the picture, you can see pretty quickly how the average punter is quickly deterred.

This wasn't a technological battle Capcom were fighting. It was a psychological one. Once again, while I hate suiciding hardware as much as the next guy, I can't help but walk a mile in Capcom's shoes and understand why the decision was ultimately made.

If everyone did the right thing, paid for legitimate hardware, and rejected bootleggers, it never would have happened.

[God]

Resorting to intentionally selling defective/malicious hardware sucks massive cock any way you slice it. As for being morally black and white, copyright itself is very questionable ethically.

[bigbadboaz]

copyright itself is very questionable ethically

Oh, boy. I can't wait to hear the elaboration on this.

Elvis - Love your passionate argument, but I'm a tad curious how you reconcile your massive MAME habit with that ethical stance.

[neorichieb1971]

The time has passed to worry about MAME now.. MAME is immortal, arcade operators are extinct. Free digital media is becoming a bit of a fashion accessory to life now, everyone is doing it.

You are always going to have your MAMErs and your always going to have those people who want to pay lots of money for the real deal.

[powerfuran]

Speaking of MAME...It would be nice to know exactly why Capcom isn't worried at all about the nearly-perfect emulation of Street Fighter III and the other cps3 games, while everyone of us knows what happened with Ketsui...

[neorichieb1971]

Capcom have moved on. Caves bread and butter is still dependant heavily on software which is MAMEable.

[powerfuran]

Capcom have moved on. Caves bread and butter is still dependant heavily on software which is MAMEable.

Yes, I agree. However, the hardware should be considered "dead" (but maybe it is not), nonetheless SFIII3rd is still selling in ps2 conversions. That's what I'm thinking about. Is the matter related only to actual business (money from selling the game) or to the "hardware" thing? Sorry if I can't be that clear, must improve my english.

[neorichieb1971]

I think in the early days of MAME some of the companies came down on websites supporting MAME and roms. What in turn has happened since is that quite a few of those companies have benefitted greatly by adapting those roms into sellable products on consoles.

Hardware isn't dead until the company that conceived it and marketted it has left it for dead. CPS3 is dead, SH2 Cave hardware is not.

[nZero]

CPS3 is dead, SH2 Cave hardware is not.

No one has attempted emulating the Cave SH3 hardware to my knowledge. I thought we were talking about Ketsui (and DOJ), on the PGM hardware, which Arika specifically requested not be added to MAME. They'd previously done the same with Tetris the Grandmaster 2.

[elvis]

Elvis - Love your passionate argument, but I'm a tad curious how you reconcile your massive MAME habit with that ethical stance.

I have some severely conflicting views within myself on MAME usage and seond/third hand PCBs.

Copyright is a touchy subject. At the end of the day it's about the guy who wrote the software getting the money he deserves for it. I've elaborated on this before, but I'll just skim the core points/questions that I've been pondering for some years now:

1) Does buying a second/third hand PCB deliver money into the hands of the person who wrote the software?

2) Does playing a game in MAME (or any emulator) that is not available by any other first-hand purchasable means constitute theft?

3) If a game is not available for sale by any means, do I have the "right" to download it? Or am I just being petulant and demanding as gaming is not a "need"?

I love gaming. All of my disposable income (which is not a lot to be honest) is spent on it, both hardware and software. I buy retro console ports of games constantly. Some are still shrink-wrapped and unplayed because I prefer to play them on my MAME cabinet. But when given the opportunity, I will "put my money where my mouth is" and buy re-releases of old games.

My PCB collection is small and unimpressive, and to be honest I wonder sometimes if I should continue with it. Every PCB I've ever bought has come from some second hand PCB dealer or eBayer who is typically just profiteering off someone else's hard work. Knowing my dollars go to some PCB-butcher and not the people who actually made the games brings me no joy whatsoever.

With that said, the second hand market is important. Operators buy expensive arcade PCBs new with the knowledge that in a few months/years they can on-sell the board and recoup some cash. I'm all for this, as again it plays a direct part in the arcade gaming cycle. Living where I do (Australia), this isn't so common. Most arcades here already stock PCBs that have been through dozens of US or Japanese arcades. I feel buying PCBs here has far less impact on the "arcade circle of life" than elsewhere in the world.

I play and enjoy emulators. On the flipside, I make sure that whenever possible I pay for first-hand software. While certainly not legal by the steadfast definitions of the law, I'd hope that my "gaming karma" is leaning towards the positive side.

Again, this isn't a black and white issue. I can't say for certain what is right and what is wrong. Gaming is a want, not a need, so trying to say I "deserve" games is certainly not correct. But with that said, I still desire to play many MAME games that are unavailable to me through regular retail channels.

Back on the original topic: Capcom invented the suicide board to protect their investments during the early years of their life. When releasing an arcade game, the first 2-3 years of sales are crucial. 10 years later bootlegging and emulation of your game is slightly less critical. It would migrate from "profit destroying" to "annoying".

I don't like suicide boards, but I can understand why Capcom made the decision from a business point of view. I think anyone who can't understand it merely lacks the real life experience of being utterly ripped off (I ran an IT company some years ago that started a software project that got ripped off, and I can empathise with anyone who desires to protect themselves from such things).

What most also don't realise is that Capcom didn't invent suicide boards to stop emulation. That's a popular topic today, but at the birth of CPS2 was not really an issue. Far-east bootleggers were the bigger issue. Consider if you ran a company that live and breathed from PCB sales, and after years of hardware and software development costing you millions of dollars, you had your hard work copied, reproduced, and offered to the public at 1/10th the price you could offer it. Once again, it was a temporary stopgap to ensure the first couple of years saw money come in where it needed to. If CPS2 was cracked and broken weeks after release, we simply wouldn't have the library of games we have today. SNK suffered a similar issue with NeoGeo MVS/AES, but despite not moving to encrypted/suicide hardware (much to the pleasure of collectors), suffered financial death (much to the displeasure of gamers).

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Wow... that was supposed to be a short post. End rant.

[cody]

1) Does buying a second/third hand PCB deliver money into the hands of the person who wrote the software?

2) Does playing a game in MAME (or any emulator) that is not available by any other first-hand purchasable means constitute theft?

3) If a game is not available for sale by any means, do I have the "right" to download it? Or am I just being petulant and demanding as gaming is not a "need"?

This stuff really isn't grey at all . .. .

1) Yes, as long as the first sale was legitimate.

2) Theft? No. A crime? Yes. Civil liability to the author? Yes.

3) No you don't have the right, as long as it is still in its copyright term.

I try to do the right thing most of the time, and not delude myself that there's any moral grey issue when I'm doing the wrong thing.

[elvis]

This stuff really isn't grey at all . .. .

1) Yes, as long as the first sale was legitimate.

2) Theft? No. A crime? Yes. Civil liability to the author? Yes.

3) No you don't have the right, as long as it is still in its copyright term.

I try to do the right thing most of the time, and not delude myself that there's any moral grey issue when I'm doing the wrong thing.

Your three answers are wonderful and succinct if you subscribe to the idea that modern copyright law is the best possible implementation of the idea of copyright.

I'm certainly not delusional, and I certainly am not hunting for an excuse to justify my use of unlicensed ROMs. But in the same breath, I also refuse to blindly lie down and accept a copyright system that was designed around the era of the printing press, long before the idea of costless international digital reproduction ever occurred.

Laws govern human behaviour. As humans evolve, so does their behaviour, and so should laws change to accommodate them. Once again, your three points are straight out of "copyright law 101". And that's fine. I won't (and can't) argue with them, nor their correctness with respect to modern law. What I will do however is question whether the laws we have today are apt to cover a technology that's moving away from said laws at lightspeed.

Again, this is no attempt to absolve myself of guilt (and trust me, I do honestly feel guilty). But I think that there are improvements that can and should be made to these laws to see that the current issues of supply and demand are better met, and at the same time the copyright holders don't lose out financially.

The three questions I asked above concern a much deeper level than merely what laws are in place today. Remembering that these laws weren't in place forever. They had a beginning, and they will evolve, like all laws do.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there are days when I feel like ringing Cave and saying "look, can I just send you a cheque in the mail and we'll call it even?". I'm willing to pay, but unable to deliver directly to the people I want the money to arrive at all of the time. There are times when capitalism has it's fundamental flaws.