For as long as there’s been video games, it seems like there’s been video game piracy. It’s sadly become a commonplace occurrence, with deserving developers and publishers becoming victims of disrespectful players who would rather steal than pay for a quality game.

Some developers and publishers attempt to strike back. Anti-piracy measures are designed, created and implemented in the hopes of thwarting the game pirates. Unfortunately, these measures are typically no match for determined pirates with plenty of free time on their hands.

This constant struggle between companies and thieves has lead to some memorable, and occasionally funny, piracy protection measures. Today, Gamertell takes a look back at the anti-piracy included in Spore, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and Earthbound…

Get out your DS and start painting your Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates moogles, because Square Enix is going to be holding a “Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates Moogle Paint Contest” from April 4, 2008 until May 5, 2008. The official contest rules haven’t been released yet, but will appear on the official Ring of Fates website tomorrow morning. Since the point of the contest is to submit painted moogles, I’m going to guess that you’ll need to have a DS, a copy of the game and the ability to log on to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to enter.

Title: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of FatesPrice: $39.99System(s): Nintendo DSRelease Date: 3/11/08Publisher (Developer): Square Enix (Square Enix)ESRB Rating: “E10+”Pros: Easy to attack, cute characters, no chalice this time around, good voice acting, great graphicsCons: Fixed cameras, fixed save points, friends required to enjoy the multiplayer mode, bad ally AI, no Wi-Fi multiplayer, local multiplayer lag, short story mode, no real classesOverall Score: 7.5/10

I really wanted to get excited about Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. I swear that I did. I have every reason to. I have friends nearby who also have DS Lites and the game to capitalize on the local multiplayer. I’m an avowed Final Fantasy fan. It is clearly a well made, quality game with great visuals, vocals and controls. Yet despite all this, I am not excited. In fact, I almost have to force myself to play the game.

Many know that video game pirates roam the internet, dumping roms of games shortly after they are released. Those who unwittingly downloaded the rom of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates encountered an unexpected surprise. After a short period of play, the screen depicted at the right, with two moogles saying “Thanks for playing!!” appears and the game ends. Game pirates have reported that only some flash carts encounter the problem. Also reports at GBA Temp state that the screen will pop up randomly at latter points throughout the pirated copy of the game. This is a phenomenal measure on Square Enix’s part to deter illegal distribution of a quality game.

Square Enix has just opened a new site specifically for its forthcoming DS game Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. The site was officially opened December 13, 2007 and is designed to act more as a blog than a traditional game site. Rather than presenting only initial screens or game information, the site will more »

In a recent press release, Square Enix confirmed the release of four new games which will be available in the first quarter of 2008. The forthcoming titles are Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii), Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS), Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) and more »