Zardon

To be fair hornet, almost everytime you post I get complaints so there are some grounds to his comments. Seems you are a popular guy around here ...... Incidentally if you had read the review you would see the game got a high mark because the reviewer thought it was an extremely playable game, for you to assume because its an old game its rubbish without clearly reading the review, does lend itself to a little open season, right?

However, I would like this thread to get back on track please, its going off topic a little.

REGENERATION

Sense or not. Let me to ask you this question: Are you a lawyer? If you are, you should be aware of the United States Antitrust Laws. When Microsoft is using this known game as a tool to promote Vista despite the fact it can technically it can run on Windows XP, and maybe Windows 2000 as well.

Technically, it can run on Windows XP and the reason it does not, is because Microsoft has probably included some Anti-XP code. So if you’re a Halo fan boy, you must to upgrade to Vista if you want to play/run this application. My point here is the ‘vista-required thing’ without any reason but marketing, and it’s the fact they used a computer game as a tool for promoting their OS. Yes, there are many similar things like with Apple, but still, it does not make right. I suggest you will check out the US Antitrust Law books, I'm sure its there somewhere.

They can’t come out with these nasty tricks, and claim this game requires Vista when it does not, because they blocked Windows XP. They can’t use this computer game for kids as a tool to promote their operation system. Not because it is unfair and unethical, but because it may violate the US laws. If nobody sues them or doing something against it, it still does not make it right.

So before you’re trying to make fun out of me and my views, I suggest you will call some US lawyer and ask him. When they said ‘you must have Vista’ in-order to play this game, they must have a reason for this requirement (DirectX 10, API calls or anything like that), when they don’t have a reason, and their only reason is some software trick that preventing this game from running on XP, then it is wrong, and they are using this game as a tool to promote their OS sales, they are exploiting their position and that’s unfair business practices against consumers.

I’d like to mention that I don’t care about Microsoft and Halo, all I care about are the consumer’s rights. Maybe Zardon can get some lawyer to post information about this issue, and I think he will cover me up, but who knows. Microsoft claims that Halo 2 is only compatible with Windows Vista, while it is not truly correct. With some modification, you can make it run perfectly on XP as well, so that shows us that Microsoft is making false claims to promote Vista and using this game as a marketing tool. They must have reasons (like DX10 for example) for marketing purposes.

BlueMak

Who cares?

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The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others(Bertrand Russell)"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil,You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them." - Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis
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brutusmaximus

Yes I am a lawyer (incidentally why are you questioning your own question? don't you mean "let me ask this question?"). The united states antitrust laws is a body of laws which prohibit anti-competitive behavior (monopoly) and unfair business practices. These competition laws make illegal certain practices deemed to hurt businesses or consumers or both, or generally to violate standards of ethical behavior. Selling a game for the public to run on a specific operating system is not falling under this umbrella. If this was true, then many things people take for granted in the USA would fall under your version of this law. For example, if a woman was to walk into a store and liked a pair of underwear that were made for a man, she could effectively sue the company involved for creating a product she wanted that would not fit her. She might even love them and want them so much she wants a sex change to wear them - costing her more money, this could be classed as promoting the male species. Your interpretation of Microsoft releasing a game to "promote" an operating system also falls into a very grey area. After all this is a game they publish, and they are releasing to run on one of their operating systems, it clearly states this in the marketing information so it is neither misleading or illegal. You "cracking" the game to run on an operating system it was not intented to do so outside their EULA is actually under some guidelines falling under piracy. Going from a prior article on your website you actually seem to condone and support piracy when it suits you so I can't say im that surprised. You are aware that when a product is released, it is filed under copyright by the owners/creators, and there are terms and conditions to using and distributing this, as well as modifying and changing it on various levels.

The world "probably" means nothing in the court of law, regardless of which section of law you are dealing with. The court deals only with facts, not guesswork. However you said you could modify it to work under XP so again you are "cracking" this protection, even if you don't apparently seem to know what exactly you are doing.

Again, as a company they are fully entitled to release a product under these terms, there is no law to state that microsoft must release products which should run on a specific operating system, regardless of whether it is created in 1998 or 2005. If it is clearly marketed and published with the terms and conditions of the EULA, stating for example it is created to run on xxx operating system, this is all they need to do on that legal level. You cannot mix your own interpretation of ethics with law and cold hard facts.

A company like Apple is well aware of their rights and legalities, they have a team of legal consultants who advise and instruct them on terms and conditions and all manner of legalities in this regard. Are you asking me to check the US antitrust laws as to whether they are allowed to release a new operating system and programs specifically to run on them? This is nothing out of the ordinary, its standard business practice for companies such as this and has been for decades, if you attempted to take this to court under some thinned veiled reason to them manipulating the public you wouldn't even be taken semi seriously. You would actually look rather silly (to say the least).

They have not stated anywhere that the game "technically cannot run on Windows XP so you MUST go out now and purchase Windows Vista". They could argue that the game was developed and created for Windows Vista, which could incorporate all the updated API's and dll's within the operating system. They could also state that the game was never tested and originally designed for XP because they wanted to bring it out for Windows Vista and nothing else. This is not against any law and is in fact their perogative as a company. They are well within their rights to release any software for any operating system they want..... whether it is for educational purposes, recreational purposes or business purposes, if it is clearly stated when the public or businesses bought it. If however they released "Halo 2 for XP", and it didn't run (as it wouldn't out of the box), then they would be in a position to come under the juristication of the law as they are selling a product that doesn't work and does not in fact do the purpose it was created for.

You are again mixing your perception of ethics with law and the facts. Subjectively someone in Turkey could feel that a game such as motorstorm "should" work on the Xbox 360 as they want it, and don't want to pay xx for another console. This is not so far fetched in the realms of your lateral thinking. You are claiming that Microsoft are open for legal action because they are releasing a game called "halo 2 for vista" when you want it to be "halo 2 for Vista/XP/*insert OS here*". They didn't. If a product is clearly marked and does the job it is meant to do, its perfectly fine.

The only correct thing you state in this paragraph is "may" - in all actuality it doesn't breach anything. Apart from your rather dubious moral code, which states a company simply cannot release a game for a single operating system but in fact should support all their operating system regardless of age. Yet on the other hand you are quite morally comfortable in modifying this game outside their EULA and probably warezing their operating system.

Unfair? who said business was fair? are you living in Alice in Wonderland?? This is not damaging the consumers. If consumers don't want the game they don't have to buy it, in fact they can quite comfortably ignore it and move on.

I doubt any administrator on this site will defend your standing on this game or anything else you said, you have clearly no idea on US law, and your ethics are quite honestly no more advanced than the kid who sits in his bedroom and feels its perfectly fine to hack into a corporation and hose their files "because they are evil and have too much money". It all sounds like bitterness to me, and another one of the many people who hate microsoft because they have so much money and have been successful in business. These same people however don't have the conviction to stand by their ethical viewpoints and normally warez and steal as much as possible saying something like "its ok if I warez or hack their stuff cause they have so much money anyway they won't miss it".

You can't quote law and claim to be an ethical person then in another breath publish articles claiming warez is fine and that cracking a game to do something clearly not within the publisher/owners guidelines is morally and ethically fine.

Point 1: The game as released for Vista, nothing else. There is no law against this as I described in detail earlier. Again you are claiming its fine to modify it outside their EULA. They are making no claims such as "Halo 2 for Vista, it will probably work on XP if you hack it, but we want you all to buy Vista to make us more money so don't". The game has been developed for Vista, there is nothing unethical about it. When you buy a product such as an air filter for your car, you check out the model its for and buy it. You can't return it later and say "Hey I just noticed on your website that the air filter for the other model is cheaper and would cost me less, im suing you cause I want that one." Its a ridiculous and childish notion.

They certainly don't need Halo 2 to sell vista, and they don't claim it demands DX10 drivers or a DX10 video card. There are already things out to sell DX10, such as the forthcoming Alan Wake (to name one of many coming this year and next), and with demos already out such as Lost Planet which fully supports DX10 why on earth would they promote a game with a publically documented outdated engine to solely sell the DX10 capabilities of Vista?

Wake up.

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REGENERATION

Reading one page in Wikipedia and posting it here IS NOT making you a lawyer.

Bad example.

The state law is above to Microsoft's EULA. I can write in my EULA in small letters that users must pay me ten million bucks, so what?

Cracking is allowed to prove crime and for official press purposes. Why do you make things up? condone and support piracy? Writing and investigating the reasons for piracy is not supporting piracy. Don't make things up, that's a slander FYI.

If I will have to check and crack illegal Antitrust protections, then I'm allowed to due to the press immunity in my country, helping me to deal with these manners. It may violate the US laws, but Israel is not another country in the US, Israel is its own country based in the middle east, we have our own laws here.

The US Law.

Again you're making things up. Read the US Antitrust laws before you're making any claims. And for your information, I'm a Laws student and we have the same Antitrust laws like the US.

Yet again, you're making things up. In that article, we never said Warez is fine.

If they don't need Halo 2 to sell Vista, why are they using it as a marketing tool? Microsoft is already known for these kind of crimes, and they are already known as Antitrust violater.

brutusmaximus

well at least we see your true colors in big red neon letters. the same guy who threatens people in their own forums. Yes I was here when you threatened the DH administrators with legal action for letting one of your staff members post something against you on DH. Weren't you actually banned on DH for being aggressive and a bit of an idiot before? you are the guy who runs NGOHQ right?

This is about the limits of the communication people will have with you. schoolyard politics and ethics and morals based on comic book realities were bad guys run around in black clothes and hide in alleys, and you are some back street hero of the people, out to right the wrongs all these huge corporations are doing. One day you will wake up and see just how insignificant you really are, its sad but true man. your site is a bit of a joke in the eyes of most, just like your views.

I suggest someone closes this thread because there is clearly nothing to say here, I just wish you would devote more time to your drivers because the last few sets really should have you on the end of a court case they were that bad. That's your own logic of course, sue for everything right?

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REGENERATION

No Personal attacks please. Are you insulting me, and all this arguement is my nickname is 'Regeneration'?

WhO_KnOwS

Ok, this thread has gone 100% off-topic. If you two guys want to continue this debate, take it to PM or open a thread in the flame-zone.
For those of you who would like to discuss this game feel free to start a thread in our gaming forum.

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