Macrovision, the antipiracy company whose video-protection software has frustrated movie-dubbers for years, is now turning its sights toward gaming. According to an article on New Scientist's Web site, the company's new Fade protection system takes a unique approach to foiling illegal copying.

　　Instead of ruining the games outright, Fade installs a program that disables the game's functions over time. For example, an illegal copy of Codemasters' Operation Flashpoint, the first title to feature Fade protection, would play fine--at first. Eventually, though, the player would be unable to reload his guns or target opponents accurately, rendering the bootlegged game unplayable.

　　Ironically, Fade-protected games act much like a demo, giving players a taste of the action and then taking it away. By whetting the appetites of pirates, Macrovision is hoping Fade will help boost sales of its customers' legal copies.

　　Codemasters' Bruce Everiss seems pleased. "The beauty of this is that the degrading copy becomes a sales promotion tool," he is quoted as saying. "People [will then] go out and buy an original version."