CPS2 arcade encryption smashed

Morality debate ensues

By Lucy Sherriff • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 8th January 2001 19:44 GMT

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A group of gaming enthusiasts called the CPS-2 Shock Team claims to have broken the encryption on the CPS-2 arcade board from Capcom.

While the algorithm itself has not been compromised, the group has managed to extract unencrypted data from the board using the 68k code on the hardware itself, according to a poster on SlashDot. Whether this actually constitutes a break of encryption is a subject under discussion at the aforementioned geek site.

The morality and legality of the break are also up for debate. Members of the team which extracted the data have said that they will not use their new-found knowledge to pirate new releases, and have posted the following on their site:

"CPS2shock will no longer release any information that can be used to break CPS-2 encryption until such times as Capcom no longer release new titles on the system. CPS2shock will work of dumping older CPS-2 games and releasing them for your enjoyment to play in emulators."

This sentiment has been both applauded for being responsible and slammed for being hypocritical, and has sparked an interesting conversation.

The news seems to have taken Capcom by surprise, and it could not comment today. More on that as and when it arrives. ®

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