BEWARE: Pirate games from Ebay :(

[jubigala]

Hi all,

I just received my 'copy' of NBA Live 06 for PC from Ebay. It has been posted from Canada, when i was told it was in London and i have no manual or box with the game, but do have a keycode with it.

These games are hard to find in the UK shops, you have to order them and you'll be lucky to get a copy.

I just want to warn anyone who might be using ebay and buying NBA Live games for PC that they may be copied. These disks look copied to me and obviously piracy is a real problem.

Would you install this on your PC, seeing as it looks like a fake? It might play ok but has NLSC got any views on this?

My CD has got Dwyane Wade on the fronts, and is two disk.

Has anyone got any pics of the actual CD so i can compare?

If so, i will report the pirate to ebay.

[Andrew]

NBA Live 06 was released on two discs, both of which had a picture of Dwyane Wade printed on them. Sounds like it's a legit copy but without a box or manual. As long as it came with the CD key you should be alright, though that's still pretty dodgy if they advertised it as coming in a box and with a manual.

[jubigala]

Well, it installed ok.. what made me think it was copied and printed was that some of the writing around the disk edges seems to be very slightly smudged, which is typical of a printed copy. I got the cd-key and all seems ok though.

Thanks for the help. You can delete this thread or perhaps leave it open, it might help anyone looking to buy it for NBA Live PC Project, like i did.

[Andrew]

I suppose it could be pirated but if so they have gone to a fair amount of trouble to make it look authentic.

[jubigala]

Well, considering it came from Canada, and i paid standard UK postage, not shipping and also that it cost in total about £6.00, i don't see how they could afford to sell them that cheap, brand new.

When it all crashes and goes horribly wrong, i'll know lol

[Andrew]

It's a few years old so you never know. Most people probably wouldn't pay much more than that for an old game, even new and in the box.

[joejam999]

These disks look copied to me and obviously piracy is a real problem.

My copy is legit as I bought it at gamestop. I know what your talking about though. That is just what the discs look like.

[JWL3]

Well, considering it came from Canada, and i paid standard UK postage, not shipping and also that it cost in total about £6.00, i don't see how they could afford to sell them that cheap, brand new.

When it all crashes and goes horribly wrong, i'll know lol

Good on you for being such a conscientious buyer. EA certainly deserves it, being such an upstanding company and treating its loyal customers with respect and consideration.

/end sarcasm

[shadowgrin]

OMG, what quick wit you have replying to an old and settled post.

/end sarcasm

[JaoSming]

its not christmas time yet puta

[shadowgrin]

The "-ber" months are the start of countdown to Christmas.

[JaoSming]

it should be illegal to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving

[shadowgrin]

We don't have Thanksgiving here.

[JaoSming]

Nazi

[dwayne2005]

I'm about to look into mine, but I didn' t think either were pirated. On eBay people go to great length, for instance, to pirate Disney vaulted DVDs, but they're easy to spot. The file dates dated from 2007 or some other newer date than the DVD was last released, plus the back of the discs was not silver (bronze, blue). Often times with pirated DVDs it's suppose to be fairly transparent from the back. On one movie I bought, they printed out the booklet, identical cover, etc, but the back of the disc was gold, transparent (or translucent) and the file dates were dated several years after it was released. To make matters worse, it also had a playback glitch.

Despite these obvious flaws, 99.9% of eBayer's were none-the-wiser so feedback isn't something you can absolutely trust, either. But even when they charge you $40 for a bootleg DVD (I saw one obvious bootleg that was selling for $80), they didn't go to the effort to hide these blemishes or seal it in plastic. A smudge wouldn't be enough to convince me.

NBAL2k3: Came in a single ordinary width DVD case, no player on the cover just a NBA Live 2003 logo. The game surprisingly came with a very weighty booklet (I never pay attention to these things). Country manufactured: didn't check, the rating classification is ages 3+ so wherever that is. I think I may have imported it from the UK. Judgement: Good.

NBAL2k5: Imported from Canada, item said it was located in Australia
but I doubt this one was pirated. It's in a box... a BOX!! The discs are contained in a double CD case. There is a small manual.

NBAL2k6: Bought from an EBay Australia seller (local). The game is in a very thick width DVD case, two discs on separate sides of the cover and a thick manual which I didn't bother to look at. Also has the Australian parental guidance emblem, which is very obtrusive and annoying!

[Andrew]

That sounds about right for NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06's packaging.

[dwayne2005]

I couldn't find the packaging of the 2003 one on the internet just now, but I saw the same minimal coverart on an Amazon ('those who do not sell games' internationally) webpage before, wasn't sure whether it was .co.uk or .com. Although that says nothing about what merchants were selling, they do sell bootleg stuff on Amazon.

I just dug it out. I don't think the logo art at the front is particularly suspicious looking, but it doesn't feature a player which is a bit suspicious. That said, I took a look at the back and it links to a uk-ea web site. The date is 2001-02. It was still plastic sealed, has a large booklet (printed on nice paper) with serial number printed in on the back (not a sticker). It could have been an early version of the UK release?

[Andrew]

I guess it's possible though as far as I know the cover for all regions of NBA Live 2003 featured Jason Kidd.

[dwayne2005]

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[Andrew]

Could be, like other companies EA has been known to re-release games under such branding.

[dwayne2005]

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[Andrew]

I would say so. A bit unusual as they usually include the original cover in the design of the Classics cover but I'd agree that it's legit.

[dwayne2005]

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[Andrew]

Perhaps, or maybe they just decided to do something a little different with their packaging on that particular re-release. Either way, looks pretty legit and as you said, it seems unlikely they'd go to the trouble of replicating a serial code printed on the disc if it were a bootleg.