Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect 2 leaked a week before release.

[Jason]

Yes, that's right. The X360 version of Mass Effect 2 has been spotted on several well-known torrent sites, weighing in at a hefty 13GB. Nothing further about where the leak has come from is known at this time, but I imagine Microsoft are going to be pretty unhappy about this, especially after the exact same thing happened with Left 4 Dead 2 last year.

It begs the question - assuming this is a review copy that has been leaked rather than an actual developer releasing it, how long before developers/publishers/manufacturers stop dishing out review copies before the game is released? There's clearly a MAJOR piracy issue with the Xbox 360, and you can be assured that sooner or later there are going to be steps taken to prevent this kind of thing happening one way or another.

[Knighto]

Well, those piracy issues have been around for a very long time, almost since the 360 debut. If Microsoft were really serious about stopping it they wouldn't have waited until their console passed two thirds of its life span, would they?

I don't know why they're letting it happen. It seems to me that Microsoft doesn't care a bit about the third party publishers as long as they're getting their main profet from the sales of their console. My 360 is the love of my life, but I have to admit it, Microsoft is almost as evil as EA, who's in turn is even more evil than Doctor Doom. :p

[Konrad]

The PC version leaked a few days ago as well. But we're not pointing fingers are we? Eh, I'm waiting for my "activate" message to show up on Steam. Those that are playing it now are most likely getting an incomplete or glitchy experience.

[MyNameDidntFit]

I doubt that, actually, Konnie. With a leak this close to release I'd suspect it's a case of a GameSpot (or other) employee taking the game home and uploading it.

Not that I'm encouraging piracy >.>

[Konrad]

That's not necessarily true. Several large "recent" releases that were leaked early were flawed in some major way. Arkham Asylum for example was ridden with glitches that prevented you from advancing past a certain point, similar story with Assasin's Creed which leaked way early, but crashed after you left the first city or something. Some even say it's a marketing scheme... A viral demo. Though quite frankly I doubt Bioware even needs to do that.

[MyNameDidntFit]

I heard the rumour of the B:AA glitch (from Jason, as it happens) but saw no evidence of it. The only 'evidence' is a witty developer commenting on some utter idiot's forum post. The evidence against it is... well... all the pirates playing, and completing, the game.

What I'm saying is that if a leak appeared this close to release -- a time when many stores already have the full version under their grubby little fingertips -- it is highly possible that one such employee simply took home a copy, uploaded it, and took it back. And, if what several US-based acquaintances of mine say is correct, they know people who have done exactly that.

*shrug* I don't much care either way, though.

[Konrad]

A friend told me that it's true. He was playing his game, and when he got to the part with Ivy it wouldn't let him go on. Also something about grappling spots. I completed the game with the retail release and everything was fine, so it seems like the bug only applied to the leaked version. But it was there.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Because one person's issue makes for a solid argument ;)

[Konrad]

It's not really an argument as much as it's me telling you about a fact. The leaked copy of Batman Arkham Asylum did not include PhysX support, and came with a pretty major glitch. It would be against our rules to start showing you solid proof of this, so I just ask that you take my word for it, I'm already treading the line.

[MyNameDidntFit]

Then we'll agree to disagree as any proof I provide otherwise would also break the rules ;)

[Konrad]

Glorious!

[Rob]

Piracy is directly linked to the cost of consoles and software. If Microsoft wanted to prevent piracy then they should have simply licensed bluray and in turn discouraged anyone who wishes to pirate software. Bluray is still too expensive to duplicate. People will always find a way to crack firmware to exploit a consoles weakness but a simple investment into the 360's hardware could have minimized the fallout from it.

edit:
Piracy is not something that I encourage or even tolerate. BUT I have no issues with modifying hardware to legally expand its functionality. (xbmc) That's no joke!