Standard (warez)
Encyclopedia
Standards in the warez scene are defined by groups
of people who have been involved in its activities for several years and have established connections to large groups. These people form a committee, which creates drafts for approval of the large groups. The first ruleset for the DivX
/Xvid
scene. Coordination done by iSONEWS.
In warez distribution, all releases must follow these predefined standards to become accepted material.
The standards committee usually cycles several drafts and finally decides which is best suited for the purpose, and then releases the draft for approval.
Once the draft has been e-signed by several bigger groups, it becomes ratified and accepted as the current standard.
There are separate standards for each category of releases.
When choosing filesize, the limiting factor is the size of the media to be used (such as 700MB for CD-R
). The standards are designed such that a certain amount of content will fit on each piece of media, with a specific quality. If more discs are required for sufficient quality, the standard will define the circumstances where it is acceptable to expand to a second or third disc.
New codec
s are usually tested annually to check if any offer any conclusive enhancement in quality or compression time. In general, quality is not sacrificed for speed, and the standards will usually opt for the highest quality possible, even if this takes much longer. For example, releases using the Xvid
encoder must use the two-pass encoding method, which takes twice as long as a single pass, but achieves much higher quality; similarly, DVD-R
releases that must be re-encoded often use 6 or 8 passes to get the best quality.
When choosing the file format, platform compatibility is important. Formats are chosen such that they can be used on any major platform with little hassle. Some formats such as CloneCD
can only be used on Windows
computers, and these formats are generally not chosen for use in the standards. Some newer formats, while offering much more advanced compression than the popular Xvid, are rarely used because decoders are not widespread.
and ZIP
, of which the latter is used only in 0-day releases.
The sizes of the archives within the distributed file vary from the traditional 3½" floppy disk
(1.44 MB
) or extended density disk (2.88 MB) to 5 MB, 15 MB (typical for CD images) or 20MB (typical for CD images of console releases), 50 MB files (typical for DVD images), and 100MB (for dual-layer DVD images). These measurements are not equivalent to traditional measurement of file size (which is 1024 KB
to a MB, 1024 MB to a GB); in a typical DVD release, each RAR file is exactly 50,000,000 byte
s, not 52,428,800 bytes. In binary prefix
that's 50 megabyte
s.
Formerly, the size of volumes were limited by the RAR file naming scheme, which produced extensions .rar, .r00 and so on through .r99. This allowed for 101 volumes in a single release. For example, a DVD-R
image (4.37 GiB), split into 101 pieces, produces approximately 50 MB volumes. The new RAR naming format, name.part001.rar, removes the limit, although the individual split archives continue to be 50 MB for historical reasons. For dual-layer discs, the limit is avoided by using 100 MB RAR parts.
Different compression levels are used for each type of material being distributed. The reason for this is that some material compresses much better than others, movies and MP3
files are already compressed with near maximum capacity, and repacking them would just create larger files and increase decompression time. Ripped movies are still packaged due to the large file size, but compression is disallowed and the RAR format is used only as a container. Because of this, modern playback software can easily play a release directly from the packaged files, and even stream it as the release is downloaded (if the network is fast enough).
MP3 and music video releases are an exception in that they are not packaged into a single archive like almost all other sections. These releases have content that is not compressible, but also have small enough files that they can be transferred reliably without breaking them up. Since these releases rarely have large numbers of files, leaving them unpackaged is more convenient and allows for easier scripting (scripts can read ID3
information and sort releases based on it, for example).
servers, operating systems or file systems may not allow special characters in file or directory names, only a small set of characters is allowed. Substitutions are made where special characters would normally be used (e.g. ç replaced by c) or these characters are omitted, such as an apostrophe
. As a note, spaces are explicitly disallowed in all current standards, and are substituted with underscores or full-stops: "NO spaces or double dots - single dots or underscores ONLY"
The ubiquitous character set includes the upper- and lower-case English alphabet, numerals, and several basic punctuation marks. It is outlined below:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789-._
A typical example of the folder name of a movie release would be:
Title.Of.The.Movie.YEAR
.Source.Codec
-GROUP
The Xvid scene does not allow the use of "", the bdr scene also doesn't allow the use of an underscore
, while those are common with music releases. "[]" isn't defined in any ruleset, however it is used by p2p
groups that do not follow these rules. The best known example is aXXo
.
. Another group will often proper the release. This proper usually requires a sample or a detailed explanation to prove the flaw in the material, unless the flaw was clear enough for the release to be nuked at releasing time. Flaws that aren't immediately visible can be found during testing of the material, such as a broken crack or a bad serial.
releases use the much more efficient MPEG-4 standards. However, generally only middle to top-end DVD player
s can play back DivX or Xvid files, with hardly any able to handle H.264 files so far.
VCD
Scene rules require the releasing group to spread theatrical VCDs in .bin/.cue files that can be burned on a CD. Although often the CD size is dictated by the length of the movie or video. One movie typically uses two CDs, although length may force the release to be a 3 or 4 CD release. The source of these theatrical releases is typically analog, such as CAM
, telecine or telesync
releases (movies recorded by a camera in theatres, often with external audio sources). VCDs from other sources such as DVD, VHS, TV, Pay-Per-View specials, Porn or Anime may also be released in the .mpg or .asf format. DVD and VHS rips are only allowed if there was no screener released before. The first VCDs popped up early 1999.
Because of its low quality, VCD releases declined in favor of SVCD and XviD. VCDs are often larger than these higher quality files, making VCDs even less attractive. VCDs once used for music videos got their own set of standards on October 1, 2002.
or telesync
releases. Also R5
, DVDSCR or retail DVD is used as SVCD source. The advantage of SVCD is that it can be played on any standalone DVD player, but when DivX-capable players are taking over the market and more bandwidth becomes available to download DVDRs, SVCD became obsolete. Around 2007, the stream of SVCD releases from the scene dropped.
DivX
MPEG-4 release standards are set in the so-called TDX rules.The DivX releasing standards 2002 aka TDX 2002 Releasing Standards or TDX2K2 The once generally accepted TDX2002 ruleset requires movie releases to contain a DivX
3.11 or Xvid
encoded video stream with an MP3
or AC3 encoded audio stream in an AVI
container file. Movies are released in one, two or more 700 MiB files, so that they can be easily stored on CD-R. Two or four TV show episodes usually share one CD, hence 175 or 350 MiB releases are common. 233 MiB (three episodes per CD) are more rare but not forbidden, and are often used for full 30-minute programs with no adverts. 233 MiB is more used on whole season rips from retail sources or on single episodes that have a longer runtime.
The TDX2002 ruleset was followed by TXD2005.The XviD Releasing Standards 2005 - The.XviD.Releasing.Standarts-2005 Because all DivX codecs are banned in this new ruleset, TDX became TXD: The XviD Releasing Standards. There is a rebuttal against this revision, proving it to be flawed in several aspects. Higher resolutions are not allowed. More efficient formats such as AVC
and AAC
have not been adopted yet, but are still being pushed by some release groups. There are also considerations to replace the old proprietary AVI file format with a modern container such as MP4
or MKV
that can include multiple audio streams, subtitles and DVD-like menus. However, few standalone DVD players support these formats yet, and cross-platform playback is an important consideration. Nonetheless the introduction of MPEG-4 playback capabilities in standalone DVD players was a result of the huge amount of TDX-compliant movie material available on the internet.
The latest TXD revision is TXD2009. Like with each revision, there are some major changes. Multiple CD releases aren't necessary anymore, but most release groups keep following the tradition. The maximum width of a rip is lowered back to 640px for WS
releases, the movie length versus file size rules and many other sections of the ruleset are redefined or extended. 91 releasegroups have signed the rules. Like with the 2005 standards, there is a rebuttal that aims to allow "SOME of the fuckups and insanity in the 2009 ruleset". While the 2005 rebuttal made some valid points, this one is regarded as being pointless by other sceners. The reason for lowering the resolution is that some cheap Xvid players don't fully support resolutions above 640px. The pixel aspect ratio
goes bad and makes the movie unwatchable. Other points made in the rebuttal are too hard to enforce, while still being backed by the releasing groups
, or that the TXD is mainly meant for retail sources. Not all rules can be enforced on non-retail sources.
The introduction of HDTV and the availability of high-definition source material has recently resulted in the release of video files that exceed the maximum allowed resolution by the TDX rules (which anticipated DVD-Video rips as the ultimate source). Due to a missing standard these releases follow different rules. They are usually tagged as HR HDTV and use half the resolution of 1080i (960 × 540 px, vertically cropped to 528 or 544 px). Some releases also use a resolution of 1024 × 576 px to provide a proper aspect ratio of 16:9. Occasionally, shows (usually animated shows) aired in Standard Definition (PDTV) are often uploaded as HR (high resolution) PDTV using the H264 codec which offers much better compression than XviD, allowing a higher resolution and bitrate in a file the same size as an XviD encoded video using a Standard Definition source.
x264
The latest High Definition x264 Standard is Revision 4.0 from 2011. This ruleset targets HD DVD
and Blu-ray sourced 720p
and 1080p
movie and TV-show rips. The releases are made available in a Matroska .mkv
container, using the x264
encoder. The file size must be a multiple of 1120 MiB.
There is a second ruleset for x264 releases that has many similarities to the previous one, but it concentrates on BD5 and BD9 releases. The purpose of these releases is that the initial mkv
file can be burned as a Blu-ray image to a single or double-layer DVD-R
. The mkv file accompanying this kind of release is some hundred megabytes smaller than a similar release following the other ruleset due to the overhead of the Blu-ray image that will be created.
sport releases. The idea was that the x264 encoder would be more suitable than Xvid
.
Some days after preing the rule set, a rebuttal was released with concerns about the decisions made and the conflicting with the TV-X264 rule set. aAF called the rules unofficial nonsense and said that respected groups would not be following them.
The following year, a rule set for Xvid sports releases appeared: TXSRS10. Its aim is to improve the overall quality of sports releases while retaining the compatibility that Xvid provides. It should bring standardization and get rid of restrictions applicable to the ruleless world of TV-XVID.
Twelve groups signed TXSRS10, including two of the original five of the x264 rule set.
DVD-R
The scene requires DVD-Video
releases to fit on a 4.7 GB DVD-R.The 2002 DVDR releasing standards. First DVDR ruleset. Hence many released movies are not 1:1 copies of the retail DVDs. The latest standards revision is TDRS2K10.
This ruleset appeared only two months after the 2009 ruleset,
which has an addendum released to clarify a rule because of some confusion. The 2010 ruleset seems to have more similarities with TDRS2K5
than with the previous TDRS2K9 ruleset. According to the first nuke, the signing groups are crap. This resulted in a nukewar. Few days later, an addendum was released.
releases to fit on a 25 GB single-layer Blu-ray Disc.
Hence not all released movies are 1:1 copies of the retail Blu-rays, although those releases exist and are tagged COMPLETE.BLURAY. The first and also last standards revision is from 2009.
Music video
The current Music Video Council standard is version 5.0.
X264 must be used in an mkv container in combination with an MP2
, MP3
, AC3, or DTS audio track.
or Vorbis
are currently not allowed.
In 2009, new rules were introduced. Homemade releases are forbidden. Every release needs an ID3 v1.1 AND ID3 v2.0 tag. Extra material that is available on the source material is allowed to be released. Flash storage mediums are allowed as sources to accommodate some retail releases made exclusively in those formats.
rules require folder naming to define which application and version the release contains.The PDA releasing standards Also required are CPU type, operating system and cracktype. Optional information such as language is expected, if the release is non-English. Packaging follows 0day guidelines.
, Xbox360 and the Wii
was released. It's remarkable that a release must be pred no later then 30 days after retail date. Besides the 0-day standards, most other rulesets nowadays don't have such limitations. An example of a ruleset that did have such a limitation would be the deprecated TDX 2000 ruleset, but in the subsequent ruleset (TDX2k1) this limitation was removed. The second ruleset for the DivX
/Xvid
scene. Contains iSONEWS ASCII art
. There are no written standards for the other console scenes. The first games released on a certain platform are often not playable because the console isn't cracked at the time.
was Super Mario 64
by the group Anthrox and the console division of Swat. The latest game released was Ogre Battle 64
by the group Wario
on July 25, 2009. The games are released as one zipfile following the old traditional 8.3 naming convention. No folders were used. The ROM extensions ".v64
" and ".z64
" were used as naming conventions. As at March 2011, there are 877 releases numbered on 64dd.net.
, was released by Utopia., this was a CDRWIN
ISO image (bin/cue) like in the PC game ISO scene. The day before, Utopia released a Dreamcast BootCD that was capable of booting copies and imports on a non-chipped standard consumer model. Less than two months later, when Kalisto
released the first self bootable game, Dynamite Cop
, the game was a Padus
DiscJuggler
(CDI) image. Later that month, the first copy protected game, Ultimate Fighting Championship
, was released by Kalisto. Almost all releases that followed were released as a CDI image and thus became the de facto
standard. When Kalisto announced their retirement in the DC scene, they had released more than 66% of all Dreamcast releases. Two days later, a new group called Echelon
picked up where Kalisto left off. This group released Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles
their 188th and last Dreamcast game release on April 30, 2002. On October 12, 2000, PARADOX
, another big and respected scene group, released the first trainer
for the Dreamcast. Two weeks after that, they released their first game, Shadowman
, for the Dreamcast console with an intro
just to prove that we can do neat DC releases as well. Besides games and dox, also emulators and Linux distros
were released in the DC scene.
However, a lot of complete copies of those games were released apart from those game rips, commonly known as GDI DUMPS. In 2008, an individual called TuxTheWise took advantage of these dumps. He started releasing his own rips as DCRES, short for Dream Resurrection, the original name of his project. Those releases have been created using better ripping techniques and downsampling
methods than those which were available at the beginning of the 21st century.
releases are by convention in the XISO format, a slight modification of the DVD ISO format. DVDRips
of Xbox games were released so they could fit on a single CD. A lot of the first Xbox games were released by the group ProjectX on May 3, 2002. These first releases worked on a developer Xbox, but if it would be playable on retail versions was unknown at the time because no modchip
s existed yet.
There are more than 4300 Xbox releases released in the scene according to.
releases must be in standard DVD ISO
format. PARADOX
was the first group to do PS2 and PS2 DVD rips
, but later on they were the ones motivating the scene to release full DVD ISOs
.
, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
, was released by STARCUBE.
There are more than 2500 NGC releases released in the scene according to.
was released in the scene by the warez group PI. Need for Speed: Most Wanted
was the first of a batch of three games released that day by PI. A couple of minutes before that, they released an open source tool to extract Xbox 360 dumps.
There are more than 2800 Xbox 360 releases released in the scene.
The image of the Xbox 360 game is a .iso
with a .dvd
file. The rars are split to volumes of 50 MB for DVD5 disks or 100 MB for DVD9 disks and must use compression.
released the first PS3 ISO. The PS3 ISOs are now fully playable on a jailbroken PS3. There are more than 2000 PS3 releases released in the scene.
releases must be in standard DVD ISO
format. The rar archives must use compression. PARADOX
released the first Wii image on December 12, 2006. The game was Red Steel
.
On April 14, 2008, BlaZe
was the first group to release an old game that can be used on Virtual Console
. This SNES game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
finally had a proper dump after its fourth release more than a year later. These DLC
releases are tagged VC
or WiiWare
and exist of a packed WAD
file. A large amount of these first releases were nuked
. The main nuke reason was modified.ticket.info. Example:. Dupe or bad dump are other common reasons to receive a nuke. Another reason would be not.trucha.signed resulting not to be able to install.
In January 2010, more than 5000 releases for the Wii were released in the scene.
releases are in their native ROM
format (.gba). However, like the 0day releases, due to their small size, these are often compressed into RAR
files and then compressed into ZIP
format; otherwise, they are simply compressed into ZIP format. See also GBA Scene and GBA Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.
releases are in their native ROM
format (.neo or .nds). The releases need to be compressed into 5 MB
split RAR
volumes. On June 1, 2006, a ruleset was published and signed by 18 different groups. See also DS Scene and DS Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.
releases are by convention specified as FULL UMD
or UMD RIP, meaning some parts were removed either out of non-necessity, or to fit it to a certain-sized memory stick. You can play an ISO
with custom firmware or an emulator such as devhook. PARADOX
released the first retail PSP game on May 4, 2005. In December 2006, the scene started releasing old PSX games that can be played with the official emulator
on the PSP. These games are bought from the PlayStation Store
with a PS3. Depending on the releasegroup, they are tagged PSXPSP, PSX_PSP, PSX.To.PSP, PSX.FOR.PSP or PS1_For_PSP. On May 19, 2006, PARADOX returned to the PSP scene to release a +9 trainer just to prove that trainers for Sony's handheld are possible. Since then, no other group or person has publicly released any trainers. See also PSP Scene and PSP Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.
Unlike the games, there are standards for how to release movies for the PSP. All the releases must be in the MP4/THM format. Retail movies released for the PSP are tagged UMDMovie. When the first UMDMovie
was released in September 2005, there wasn't a way to play it yet. Because Sony
killed the format, the latest release tagged UMDMovie was released in May 2007.
, Neo Geo Pocket Color
, WonderSwan
, WonderSwan Color, Tapwave Zodiac
, Gizmondo
, Game Boy
, Game Boy Color
, Game Boy Advance
and N-Gage
.
Warez group
There are many types of groups such as release groups and courier groups. Groups often compete about being the first out with a new quality release. Being the first to release a new quality release brings status and respect....
of people who have been involved in its activities for several years and have established connections to large groups. These people form a committee, which creates drafts for approval of the large groups. The first ruleset for the DivX
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
/Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
scene. Coordination done by iSONEWS.
In warez distribution, all releases must follow these predefined standards to become accepted material.
The standards committee usually cycles several drafts and finally decides which is best suited for the purpose, and then releases the draft for approval.
Once the draft has been e-signed by several bigger groups, it becomes ratified and accepted as the current standard.
There are separate standards for each category of releases.
Format
The first part of a standards document usually defines the format properties for the material, like codec, bitrate, resolution, filetype and filesize. Creators of the standard usually do comprehensive testing to find optimal codecs and settings for sound and video to maximize image quality in the selected file size.When choosing filesize, the limiting factor is the size of the media to be used (such as 700MB for CD-R
CD-R
A CD-R is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session....
). The standards are designed such that a certain amount of content will fit on each piece of media, with a specific quality. If more discs are required for sufficient quality, the standard will define the circumstances where it is acceptable to expand to a second or third disc.
New codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
s are usually tested annually to check if any offer any conclusive enhancement in quality or compression time. In general, quality is not sacrificed for speed, and the standards will usually opt for the highest quality possible, even if this takes much longer. For example, releases using the Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
encoder must use the two-pass encoding method, which takes twice as long as a single pass, but achieves much higher quality; similarly, DVD-R
DVD-R
DVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
releases that must be re-encoded often use 6 or 8 passes to get the best quality.
When choosing the file format, platform compatibility is important. Formats are chosen such that they can be used on any major platform with little hassle. Some formats such as CloneCD
CloneCD
CloneCD is proprietary optical disc authoring software that makes exact, 1:1 copies of music and data CDs and DVDs, regardless of any Digital Rights Management restrictions. It was originally written by Oliver Kastl and offered by Swiss company Elaborate Bytes, but due to changes in European...
can only be used on Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
computers, and these formats are generally not chosen for use in the standards. Some newer formats, while offering much more advanced compression than the popular Xvid, are rarely used because decoders are not widespread.
Packaging
Next, the standard usually talks about how to package the material. Allowed package formats today are limited to RARRAR (file format)
RAR stands for Roshal ARchive. It is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning...
and ZIP
ZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
, of which the latter is used only in 0-day releases.
The sizes of the archives within the distributed file vary from the traditional 3½" floppy disk
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
(1.44 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
) or extended density disk (2.88 MB) to 5 MB, 15 MB (typical for CD images) or 20MB (typical for CD images of console releases), 50 MB files (typical for DVD images), and 100MB (for dual-layer DVD images). These measurements are not equivalent to traditional measurement of file size (which is 1024 KB
Kilobyte
The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo- means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol KB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information...
to a MB, 1024 MB to a GB); in a typical DVD release, each RAR file is exactly 50,000,000 byte
Byte
The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer...
s, not 52,428,800 bytes. In binary prefix
Binary prefix
In computing, a binary prefix is a specifier or mnemonic that is prepended to the units of digital information, the bit and the byte, to indicate multiplication by a power of 2...
that's 50 megabyte
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
s.
Formerly, the size of volumes were limited by the RAR file naming scheme, which produced extensions .rar, .r00 and so on through .r99. This allowed for 101 volumes in a single release. For example, a DVD-R
DVD-R
DVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
image (4.37 GiB), split into 101 pieces, produces approximately 50 MB volumes. The new RAR naming format, name.part001.rar, removes the limit, although the individual split archives continue to be 50 MB for historical reasons. For dual-layer discs, the limit is avoided by using 100 MB RAR parts.
Different compression levels are used for each type of material being distributed. The reason for this is that some material compresses much better than others, movies and MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
files are already compressed with near maximum capacity, and repacking them would just create larger files and increase decompression time. Ripped movies are still packaged due to the large file size, but compression is disallowed and the RAR format is used only as a container. Because of this, modern playback software can easily play a release directly from the packaged files, and even stream it as the release is downloaded (if the network is fast enough).
MP3 and music video releases are an exception in that they are not packaged into a single archive like almost all other sections. These releases have content that is not compressible, but also have small enough files that they can be transferred reliably without breaking them up. Since these releases rarely have large numbers of files, leaving them unpackaged is more convenient and allows for easier scripting (scripts can read ID3
ID3
ID3 is a metadata container most often used in conjunction with the MP3 audio file format. It allows information such as the title, artist, album, track number, and other information about the file to be stored in the file itself....
information and sort releases based on it, for example).
Naming
Rules for naming files and folders are an important part of the standards. Correctly named folders make it easier to maintain clean archives and unique filenames allow dupecheck to work properly. There's a defined character set which can be used in naming of the folders. The selected character set is chosen to minimize problems due to the many platforms a release may encounter during its distribution. Since FTPFile Transfer Protocol
File Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
servers, operating systems or file systems may not allow special characters in file or directory names, only a small set of characters is allowed. Substitutions are made where special characters would normally be used (e.g. ç replaced by c) or these characters are omitted, such as an apostrophe
Apostrophe
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritic mark, in languages that use the Latin alphabet or certain other alphabets...
. As a note, spaces are explicitly disallowed in all current standards, and are substituted with underscores or full-stops: "NO spaces or double dots - single dots or underscores ONLY"
The ubiquitous character set includes the upper- and lower-case English alphabet, numerals, and several basic punctuation marks. It is outlined below:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
0123456789-._
A typical example of the folder name of a movie release would be:
Title.Of.The.Movie.YEAR
Year
A year is the orbital period of the Earth moving around the Sun. For an observer on Earth, this corresponds to the period it takes the Sun to complete one course throughout the zodiac along the ecliptic....
.Source.Codec
Codec
A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...
-GROUP
Warez group
There are many types of groups such as release groups and courier groups. Groups often compete about being the first out with a new quality release. Being the first to release a new quality release brings status and respect....
The Xvid scene does not allow the use of "", the bdr scene also doesn't allow the use of an underscore
Underscore
The underscore [ _ ] is a character that originally appeared on the typewriter and was primarily used to underline words...
, while those are common with music releases. "[]" isn't defined in any ruleset, however it is used by p2p
Peer-to-peer file sharing
P2P or Peer-to-peer file sharing allows users to download files such as music, movies, and games using a P2P software client that searches for other connected computers. The "peers" are computer systems connected to each other through internet. Thus, the only requirements for a computer to join...
groups that do not follow these rules. The best known example is aXXo
AXXo
aXXo is the Internet alias of an individual who became popular for releasing commercial DVD movies on the Internet as free downloads. The resulting files can in turn be easily distributed through the internet and be viewed instantly on a computer....
.
Consequences
If a group violates a standard, the release will be nukedNuke (warez)
In the warez scene, nuke refers to labeling content as "bad", for reasons which might include unusable software, bad video/audio quality, virus-infected content, deceptively labeled content or not following the rules. Also duplicates and stolen releases from other pirates that do not attribute the...
. Another group will often proper the release. This proper usually requires a sample or a detailed explanation to prove the flaw in the material, unless the flaw was clear enough for the release to be nuked at releasing time. Flaws that aren't immediately visible can be found during testing of the material, such as a broken crack or a bad serial.
Video standards
There are several standards to release movies, TV show episodes and other video material to the scene. VCD releases use the less efficient MPEG-1 format, are low quality, but can be played back on most standalone DVD players. SVCD releases use MPEG-2 encoding, have half the video resolution of DVDs and can also be played back on most DVD players. DVD-R releases use the same format as retail DVD-Videos, and are therefore larger in size. Finally DivX, Xvid and recently H.264/MPEG-4 AVCH.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
releases use the much more efficient MPEG-4 standards. However, generally only middle to top-end DVD player
DVD player
A DVD player is a device that plays discs produced under both the DVD-Video and DVD-Audio technical standards, two different and incompatible standards. These devices were invented in 1997 and continue to thrive...
s can play back DivX or Xvid files, with hardly any able to handle H.264 files so far.
VCDVCDVCD is a three-letter abbreviation with multiple meanings, as described below:* VCD Athletic, semi-professional football team* Video CD* Voice command device* Value change dump * Vocal cord dysfunction* Visual Communication and Design...
Scene rules require the releasing group to spread theatrical VCDs in .bin/.cue files that can be burned on a CD. Although often the CD size is dictated by the length of the movie or video. One movie typically uses two CDs, although length may force the release to be a 3 or 4 CD release. The source of these theatrical releases is typically analog, such as CAMCam (bootleg)
A cam is a bootleg recording of a film. Unlike the more common DVD rip or screener recording methods which involve the duplication of officially distributed media, cam versions are original clandestine recordings made in movie theaters.Typically, the person filming the movie will smuggle a compact...
, telecine or telesync
Telesync
A telesync is a bootleg recording of a film recorded in a movie theater, often with a professional camera on a tripod in the projection booth , with a direct connection to the sound source...
releases (movies recorded by a camera in theatres, often with external audio sources). VCDs from other sources such as DVD, VHS, TV, Pay-Per-View specials, Porn or Anime may also be released in the .mpg or .asf format. DVD and VHS rips are only allowed if there was no screener released before. The first VCDs popped up early 1999.
Because of its low quality, VCD releases declined in favor of SVCD and XviD. VCDs are often larger than these higher quality files, making VCDs even less attractive. VCDs once used for music videos got their own set of standards on October 1, 2002.
SVCD
Scene rules require the releasing group to spread SVCDs in .bin/.cue files, that fit on 700 MiB CDs.The SVCD releasing standards 2002 One movie typically uses two CDs, although length may force the release to be a 3 or 4 CD release. Content source is sometimes analog, such as Cam, TelecineTelecine (piracy)
The term telecine refers both to a film-to-tape transferring machine, as well as the process by which film is transferred to tape...
or telesync
Telesync
A telesync is a bootleg recording of a film recorded in a movie theater, often with a professional camera on a tripod in the projection booth , with a direct connection to the sound source...
releases. Also R5
R5 (bootleg)
R5, in the film business, is a copy of a movie made with a telecine machine from an analog source and is typically of a lower quality than other region releases....
, DVDSCR or retail DVD is used as SVCD source. The advantage of SVCD is that it can be played on any standalone DVD player, but when DivX-capable players are taking over the market and more bandwidth becomes available to download DVDRs, SVCD became obsolete. Around 2007, the stream of SVCD releases from the scene dropped.
DivXDivXDivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
and XvidXviDXvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
- standard definition rips
MPEG-4 release standards are set in the so-called TDX rules.The DivX releasing standards 2002 aka TDX 2002 Releasing Standards or TDX2K2 The once generally accepted TDX2002 ruleset requires movie releases to contain a DivXDivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
3.11 or Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
encoded video stream with an MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
or AC3 encoded audio stream in an AVI
Audio Video Interleave
Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...
container file. Movies are released in one, two or more 700 MiB files, so that they can be easily stored on CD-R. Two or four TV show episodes usually share one CD, hence 175 or 350 MiB releases are common. 233 MiB (three episodes per CD) are more rare but not forbidden, and are often used for full 30-minute programs with no adverts. 233 MiB is more used on whole season rips from retail sources or on single episodes that have a longer runtime.
The TDX2002 ruleset was followed by TXD2005.The XviD Releasing Standards 2005 - The.XviD.Releasing.Standarts-2005 Because all DivX codecs are banned in this new ruleset, TDX became TXD: The XviD Releasing Standards. There is a rebuttal against this revision, proving it to be flawed in several aspects. Higher resolutions are not allowed. More efficient formats such as AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC
H.264/MPEG-4 Part 10 or AVC is a standard for video compression, and is currently one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression, and distribution of high definition video...
and AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
have not been adopted yet, but are still being pushed by some release groups. There are also considerations to replace the old proprietary AVI file format with a modern container such as MP4
MPEG-4 Part 14
MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 is a multimedia container format standard specified as a part of MPEG-4. It is most commonly used to store digital video and digital audio streams, especially those defined by MPEG, but can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images...
or MKV
Matroska
The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows...
that can include multiple audio streams, subtitles and DVD-like menus. However, few standalone DVD players support these formats yet, and cross-platform playback is an important consideration. Nonetheless the introduction of MPEG-4 playback capabilities in standalone DVD players was a result of the huge amount of TDX-compliant movie material available on the internet.
The latest TXD revision is TXD2009. Like with each revision, there are some major changes. Multiple CD releases aren't necessary anymore, but most release groups keep following the tradition. The maximum width of a rip is lowered back to 640px for WS
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
releases, the movie length versus file size rules and many other sections of the ruleset are redefined or extended. 91 releasegroups have signed the rules. Like with the 2005 standards, there is a rebuttal that aims to allow "SOME of the fuckups and insanity in the 2009 ruleset". While the 2005 rebuttal made some valid points, this one is regarded as being pointless by other sceners. The reason for lowering the resolution is that some cheap Xvid players don't fully support resolutions above 640px. The pixel aspect ratio
Pixel aspect ratio
Pixel aspect ratio is a mathematical ratio that describes how the width of a pixel in a digital image compares to the height of that pixel....
goes bad and makes the movie unwatchable. Other points made in the rebuttal are too hard to enforce, while still being backed by the releasing groups
Warez group
There are many types of groups such as release groups and courier groups. Groups often compete about being the first out with a new quality release. Being the first to release a new quality release brings status and respect....
, or that the TXD is mainly meant for retail sources. Not all rules can be enforced on non-retail sources.
The introduction of HDTV and the availability of high-definition source material has recently resulted in the release of video files that exceed the maximum allowed resolution by the TDX rules (which anticipated DVD-Video rips as the ultimate source). Due to a missing standard these releases follow different rules. They are usually tagged as HR HDTV and use half the resolution of 1080i (960 × 540 px, vertically cropped to 528 or 544 px). Some releases also use a resolution of 1024 × 576 px to provide a proper aspect ratio of 16:9. Occasionally, shows (usually animated shows) aired in Standard Definition (PDTV) are often uploaded as HR (high resolution) PDTV using the H264 codec which offers much better compression than XviD, allowing a higher resolution and bitrate in a file the same size as an XviD encoded video using a Standard Definition source.
x264X264x264 is a free software library for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.-History:...
- high definitionHigh-definition videoHigh-definition video or HD video refers to any video system of higher resolution than standard-definition video, and most commonly involves display resolutions of 1,280×720 pixels or 1,920×1,080 pixels...
rips
The latest High Definition x264 Standard is Revision 4.0 from 2011. This ruleset targets HD DVDHD DVD
HD DVD is a discontinued high-density optical disc format for storing data and high-definition video.Supported principally by Toshiba, HD DVD was envisioned to be the successor to the standard DVD format...
and Blu-ray sourced 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
and 1080p
1080p
1080p is the shorthand identification for a set of HDTV high-definition video modes that are characterized by 1080 horizontal lines of resolution and progressive scan, meaning the image is not interlaced as is the case with the 1080i display standard....
movie and TV-show rips. The releases are made available in a Matroska .mkv
MKV
MKV may stand for:* Matroska, a video and audio container format* Mittelschüler-Kartellverband* Multiple Kill Vehicle...
container, using the x264
X264
x264 is a free software library for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.-History:...
encoder. The file size must be a multiple of 1120 MiB.
There is a second ruleset for x264 releases that has many similarities to the previous one, but it concentrates on BD5 and BD9 releases. The purpose of these releases is that the initial mkv
MKV
MKV may stand for:* Matroska, a video and audio container format* Mittelschüler-Kartellverband* Multiple Kill Vehicle...
file can be burned as a Blu-ray image to a single or double-layer DVD-R
DVD-R
DVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
. The mkv file accompanying this kind of release is some hundred megabytes smaller than a similar release following the other ruleset due to the overhead of the Blu-ray image that will be created.
Xvid and x264 - sport rips
On June 24, 2009, five groups released the first rule set specifically designed for x264X264
x264 is a free software library for encoding video streams into the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License.-History:...
sport releases. The idea was that the x264 encoder would be more suitable than Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
.
Some days after preing the rule set, a rebuttal was released with concerns about the decisions made and the conflicting with the TV-X264 rule set. aAF called the rules unofficial nonsense and said that respected groups would not be following them.
The following year, a rule set for Xvid sports releases appeared: TXSRS10. Its aim is to improve the overall quality of sports releases while retaining the compatibility that Xvid provides. It should bring standardization and get rid of restrictions applicable to the ruleless world of TV-XVID.
Twelve groups signed TXSRS10, including two of the original five of the x264 rule set.
DVD-RDVD-RDVD-R is a DVD recordable format. A DVD-R typically has a storage capacity of 4.71 GB. Pioneer has also developed an 8.5 GB dual layer version, DVD-R DL, which appeared on the market in 2005....
The scene requires DVD-VideoDVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
releases to fit on a 4.7 GB DVD-R.The 2002 DVDR releasing standards. First DVDR ruleset. Hence many released movies are not 1:1 copies of the retail DVDs. The latest standards revision is TDRS2K10.
This ruleset appeared only two months after the 2009 ruleset,
which has an addendum released to clarify a rule because of some confusion. The 2010 ruleset seems to have more similarities with TDRS2K5
than with the previous TDRS2K9 ruleset. According to the first nuke, the signing groups are crap. This resulted in a nukewar. Few days later, an addendum was released.
BD-R
The scene requires Blu-ray DiscBlu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
releases to fit on a 25 GB single-layer Blu-ray Disc.
Hence not all released movies are 1:1 copies of the retail Blu-rays, although those releases exist and are tagged COMPLETE.BLURAY. The first and also last standards revision is from 2009.
Music videoMusic videoA music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
The current Music Video Council standard is version 5.0.X264 must be used in an mkv container in combination with an MP2
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II
MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II is a lossy audio compression format defined by ISO/IEC 11172-3 alongside MPEG-1 Audio Layer I and MPEG-1 Audio Layer III...
, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, AC3, or DTS audio track.
Audio standards
Due to broad support in hardware devices, pirated audio material is usually released in MP3 files at VBR quality. In 2007, new rules put forth that it is recommended to encode all files with Lame 3.97, using the "-V2 --vbr-new" switch. Other formats such as AACAdvanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
or Vorbis
Vorbis
Vorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
are currently not allowed.
In 2009, new rules were introduced. Homemade releases are forbidden. Every release needs an ID3 v1.1 AND ID3 v2.0 tag. Extra material that is available on the source material is allowed to be released. Flash storage mediums are allowed as sources to accommodate some retail releases made exclusively in those formats.
Applications
Application releases are usually split in two different categories, 0day and ISO apps.The 0-day releasing standards- 0day applications are usually 150MB or smaller, but can be 5GB or larger as long as they are not CD/DVD images. The release format allows almost anything in 0day section, but often 0day releases are cracksSoftware crackingSoftware cracking is the modification of software to remove or disable features which are considered undesirable by the person cracking the software, usually related to protection methods: copy protection, trial/demo version, serial number, hardware key, date checks, CD check or software annoyances...
or keygenKeygenA license or product key generator is a computer program that generates a product licensing key, serial number, or some other registration information necessary to activate for use a software application.-Software licensing:...
s for different applications or small games with size varying from 1-50MB. Sometimes e-bookE-bookAn electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
s, imagesets, fonts or mobile software are released as 0day. - ISO applications are usually either in BIN/CUE or ISOISO imageAn ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
format. Allowed media is CD and DVD, but release can be smaller than the media size. Applications are required to contain working key or keygen to generate valid serial. Patch cracking is also required, which is used to bypass hardware protection, such as serial or USB dongleDongleA software protection dongle is a small piece of hardware that plugs into an electrical connector on a computer and serves as an electronic "key" for a piece of software; the program will only run when the dongle is plugged in...
.
Games
The game must fit on CDs or DVDs, and the format should be either BIN/CUE, or ISO, respectively. Some sites allow CCD images too, as defined in the site's rules. Media descriptor files (MDF/MDS) seem to be permitted now as well.The game releasing standards, signed by "Leaders, Council Members, and Seniors of Class, Myth & Divine", 2000-04-06, it updates the information document that was prepared in 1998.PDA
PDAPersonal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
rules require folder naming to define which application and version the release contains.The PDA releasing standards Also required are CPU type, operating system and cracktype. Optional information such as language is expected, if the release is non-English. Packaging follows 0day guidelines.
Console standards
In 2009, a first set of rules for the PS2PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, Xbox360 and the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
was released. It's remarkable that a release must be pred no later then 30 days after retail date. Besides the 0-day standards, most other rulesets nowadays don't have such limitations. An example of a ruleset that did have such a limitation would be the deprecated TDX 2000 ruleset, but in the subsequent ruleset (TDX2k1) this limitation was removed. The second ruleset for the DivX
DivX
DivX is a brand name of products created by DivX, Inc. , including the DivX Codec which has become popular due to its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes while maintaining relatively high visual quality.There are two DivX codecs; the regular MPEG-4 Part 2 DivX codec and the...
/Xvid
XviD
Xvid is a video codec library following the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile . It uses ASP features such as b-frames, global and quarter pixel motion compensation, lumi masking, trellis quantization, and H.263, MPEG and custom quantization matrices.Xvid is a...
scene. Contains iSONEWS ASCII art
ASCII art
ASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses computers for presentation and consists of pictures pieced together from the 95 printable characters defined by the ASCII Standard from 1963 and ASCII compliant character sets with proprietary extended characters...
. There are no written standards for the other console scenes. The first games released on a certain platform are often not playable because the console isn't cracked at the time.
Nintendo 64
On January 25, 1997, the first game released for the N64Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
was Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
by the group Anthrox and the console division of Swat. The latest game released was Ogre Battle 64
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
, sequel to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen, is a real-time strategy role-playing video game developed by Quest and published by Atlus for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Though basically similar to the original Ogre Battle, it has borne some notoriety for significant game play tweaks that...
by the group Wario
Wario
is a fictional character in Nintendo's Mario series. The character was designed as another antagonist to Mario , and first appeared in the 1992 Game Boy title Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins as the main antagonist and final boss...
on July 25, 2009. The games are released as one zipfile following the old traditional 8.3 naming convention. No folders were used. The ROM extensions ".v64
Doctor V64
The Doctor V64 is a development and backup device made by Bung Enterprises Ltd that is used in conjunction with the Nintendo 64. The Doctor V64 also had the ability to play Video CDs, audio CDs and had an option for applying stereo 3D effects to the audio.- History :The Doctor V64 came out in 1996...
" and ".z64
Z64
The Mr. Backup Z64 is a game backup device designed by Harrison Electronics, Inc., able to store Nintendo 64 games as ROM images on Zip Diskettes.Units such as this can make copies of a game which can be played in a Nintendo 64 emulator.- Design :...
" were used as naming conventions. As at March 2011, there are 877 releases numbered on 64dd.net.
Dreamcast
On June 23, 2000, the first ripped Dreamcast game, Dead or Alive 2Dead or Alive 2
Dead or Alive 2 is a fighting game in the Dead or Alive series. It debuted in arcades in October 1999 and was released on February 29, 2000 for the Dreamcast....
, was released by Utopia., this was a CDRWIN
CDRWIN
CDRWIN is a CD/DVD burning software for Microsoft Windows developed by Golden Hawk Technology company.Once popular, CDRWIN's usage has diminished due to the bundling of limited versions of other software packages, such as Nero Burning ROM and Roxio Easy CD Creator, with new computers and optical...
ISO image (bin/cue) like in the PC game ISO scene. The day before, Utopia released a Dreamcast BootCD that was capable of booting copies and imports on a non-chipped standard consumer model. Less than two months later, when Kalisto
Kalisto
Kalisto is a console warez group established in March 1998 which specializes in the release and distribution of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 ISO images, briefly moonlighting on the Dreamcast platform in mid to late 2000....
released the first self bootable game, Dynamite Cop
Dynamite Cop
Dynamite Cop is a video game published by Sega and initially released in arcades on Sega Model 2 hardware. The game was then ported to the Sega Dreamcast console and released in Japan, North America and Europe...
, the game was a Padus
Padus (disambiguation)
Padus can refer to:*Po River *Padus, Wisconsin*Padus, a synonym of the plant genus Prunus**Bird cherry *Padus Vallis, a geographical feature on the planet Mars-See also:...
DiscJuggler
DiscJuggler
DiscJuggler is a professional CD/DVD recording software program, able to duplicate multiple CDs at once with its ability to simultaneously drive multiple CD recorders and replicate virtually any existing standard CD...
(CDI) image. Later that month, the first copy protected game, Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship (video game)
Ultimate Fighting Championship is the first video game based on the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts tournament.- Fighters :* Mikey Burnett* Mark Coleman* Gary Goodridge* Jeremy Horn* Matt Hughes* Eugene Jackson* Tsuyoshi Kosaka...
, was released by Kalisto. Almost all releases that followed were released as a CDI image and thus became the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
standard. When Kalisto announced their retirement in the DC scene, they had released more than 66% of all Dreamcast releases. Two days later, a new group called Echelon
Echelon (warez)
Echelon is a warez group which specializes in the illegal release and distribution of copyrighted console games, such as Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 ISO images...
picked up where Kalisto left off. This group released Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles
Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles
Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles is a platform game developed by Ubisoft and In Utero for the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Windows.-Gameplay:...
their 188th and last Dreamcast game release on April 30, 2002. On October 12, 2000, PARADOX
PARADOX (warez)
PARADOX is a warez–demo group; an anonymous group of software engineers that devise ways to defeat software and video game licensing protections, a process known as cracking, which is illegal in most jurisdictions. They distribute cracks , keygens , and pre-cracked versions of entire programs...
, another big and respected scene group, released the first trainer
Cheating (video games)
Cheating in video games involves a video game player using non-standard methods for creating an advantage beyond normal gameplay, usually to make the game easier, or may also create unusual effects which do not necessarily make the game easier to play, such as giving characters different...
for the Dreamcast. Two weeks after that, they released their first game, Shadowman
Shadow Man (video game)
Shadow Man is a video game developed by Acclaim Studios Teesside and published by Acclaim Entertainment. It was designed by Guy Miller and Simon Phipps and is loosely based on the Shadowman comic book series published by Valiant Comics. The game was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64,...
, for the Dreamcast console with an intro
Crack intro
A crack intro, also known as a cracktro, loader, or just intro, is a small introduction sequence added to cracked software, designed to inform the user of which "cracking crew" or individual cracker was responsible for removing the software's copy protection and distributing the crack...
just to prove that we can do neat DC releases as well. Besides games and dox, also emulators and Linux distros
Linux distribution
A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
were released in the DC scene.
However, a lot of complete copies of those games were released apart from those game rips, commonly known as GDI DUMPS. In 2008, an individual called TuxTheWise took advantage of these dumps. He started releasing his own rips as DCRES, short for Dream Resurrection, the original name of his project. Those releases have been created using better ripping techniques and downsampling
Downsampling
In signal processing, downsampling is the process of reducing the sampling rate of a signal. This is usually done to reduce the data rate or the size of the data....
methods than those which were available at the beginning of the 21st century.
Xbox
XboxXbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
releases are by convention in the XISO format, a slight modification of the DVD ISO format. DVDRips
Game rip
A game rip refers to a pirated version of a game that was stripped down in order to fit under scene rules. This is largely a historical artifact of The Scene since no size limits exist today and releases are generally made in their entirety as disc images.-History:Game ripping reached its zenith...
of Xbox games were released so they could fit on a single CD. A lot of the first Xbox games were released by the group ProjectX on May 3, 2002. These first releases worked on a developer Xbox, but if it would be playable on retail versions was unknown at the time because no modchip
Modchip
A modchip is a small electronic device used to modify or disable built-in restrictions and limitations of computers, specifically videogame consoles...
s existed yet.
There are more than 4300 Xbox releases released in the scene according to.
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
releases must be in standard DVD ISO
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
format. PARADOX
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
was the first group to do PS2 and PS2 DVD rips
Game rip
A game rip refers to a pirated version of a game that was stripped down in order to fit under scene rules. This is largely a historical artifact of The Scene since no size limits exist today and releases are generally made in their entirety as disc images.-History:Game ripping reached its zenith...
, but later on they were the ones motivating the scene to release full DVD ISOs
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
.
GameCube
On June 12, 2003, the first game for the Nintendo GameCubeNintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, released as in Japan, is an action-adventure game and the tenth installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on December 13, 2002, in North America on March 24, 2003, in Europe on May 2, 2003, and in Australia on...
, was released by STARCUBE.
There are more than 2500 NGC releases released in the scene according to.
Xbox 360
On December 8, 2005, the first full game for the Xbox 360Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
was released in the scene by the warez group PI. Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a racing video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It is the tenth installment in the Need for Speed series. The game features street racing-oriented game play, with certain customization options from the Need for Speed: Underground series...
was the first of a batch of three games released that day by PI. A couple of minutes before that, they released an open source tool to extract Xbox 360 dumps.
There are more than 2800 Xbox 360 releases released in the scene.
The image of the Xbox 360 game is a .iso
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
with a .dvd
CloneDVD
CloneDVD is a proprietary DVD cloning software, developed by Elaborate Bytes, that can be used to make backup copies of any DVD movie not copy-protected . The program is able to transcode a dual layer DVD movie to fit it onto a DVD-R, DVD+R or DVD+R DL disc...
file. The rars are split to volumes of 50 MB for DVD5 disks or 100 MB for DVD9 disks and must use compression.
PlayStation 3
On November 25, 2006, PARADOXPARADOX (warez)
PARADOX is a warez–demo group; an anonymous group of software engineers that devise ways to defeat software and video game licensing protections, a process known as cracking, which is illegal in most jurisdictions. They distribute cracks , keygens , and pre-cracked versions of entire programs...
released the first PS3 ISO. The PS3 ISOs are now fully playable on a jailbroken PS3. There are more than 2000 PS3 releases released in the scene.
Wii
WiiWii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
releases must be in standard DVD ISO
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
format. The rar archives must use compression. PARADOX
PARADOX (warez)
PARADOX is a warez–demo group; an anonymous group of software engineers that devise ways to defeat software and video game licensing protections, a process known as cracking, which is illegal in most jurisdictions. They distribute cracks , keygens , and pre-cracked versions of entire programs...
released the first Wii image on December 12, 2006. The game was Red Steel
Red Steel
Red Steel is a first person shooter video game published by Ubisoft for Nintendo's Wii console. It was developed by the Ubisoft Paris studio and was unveiled in the May 2006 issue of Game Informer. It was released on November 19, 2006 in North America, the date of the first Wii launch...
.
On April 14, 2008, BlaZe
Blaze
- Music :* Blaze Bayley, former Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden vocalist** Blaze Bayley , his current band, formerly known as Blaze* Blaze , an electronica band formed in 1984 in New Jersey, USA...
was the first group to release an old game that can be used on Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
. This SNES game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is an adventure platform game developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System produced by Rareware and published by Nintendo. It stars Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong...
finally had a proper dump after its fourth release more than a year later. These DLC
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
releases are tagged VC
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
or WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
and exist of a packed WAD
Wii WAD
A WAD file is a file archive containing .APP files, which can be extracted and installed on a Wii gaming console. They often contain information for the Wii, such as System Menu, IOS, Channels etc. Although they are mainly used to install custom channels and IOS, they have also been linked to...
file. A large amount of these first releases were nuked
Nuke (warez)
In the warez scene, nuke refers to labeling content as "bad", for reasons which might include unusable software, bad video/audio quality, virus-infected content, deceptively labeled content or not following the rules. Also duplicates and stolen releases from other pirates that do not attribute the...
. The main nuke reason was modified.ticket.info. Example:. Dupe or bad dump are other common reasons to receive a nuke. Another reason would be not.trucha.signed resulting not to be able to install.
In January 2010, more than 5000 releases for the Wii were released in the scene.
Game Boy Advance
Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
releases are in their native ROM
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
format (.gba). However, like the 0day releases, due to their small size, these are often compressed into RAR
RAR (file format)
RAR stands for Roshal ARchive. It is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning...
files and then compressed into ZIP
ZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
format; otherwise, they are simply compressed into ZIP format. See also GBA Scene and GBA Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.
Nintendo DS
Nintendo DSNintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
releases are in their native ROM
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
format (.neo or .nds). The releases need to be compressed into 5 MB
Megabyte
The megabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage or transmission with two different values depending on context: bytes generally for computer memory; and one million bytes generally for computer storage. The IEEE Standards Board has decided that "Mega will mean 1 000...
split RAR
RAR (file format)
RAR stands for Roshal ARchive. It is a proprietary archive file format that supports data compression, error recovery, and file spanning...
volumes. On June 1, 2006, a ruleset was published and signed by 18 different groups. See also DS Scene and DS Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.
PSP
Sony PSPPlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
releases are by convention specified as FULL UMD
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
or UMD RIP, meaning some parts were removed either out of non-necessity, or to fit it to a certain-sized memory stick. You can play an ISO
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
with custom firmware or an emulator such as devhook. PARADOX
PARADOX (warez)
PARADOX is a warez–demo group; an anonymous group of software engineers that devise ways to defeat software and video game licensing protections, a process known as cracking, which is illegal in most jurisdictions. They distribute cracks , keygens , and pre-cracked versions of entire programs...
released the first retail PSP game on May 4, 2005. In December 2006, the scene started releasing old PSX games that can be played with the official emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
on the PSP. These games are bought from the PlayStation Store
PlayStation Store
The PlayStation Store is an online virtual market available to users of Sony's PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable game consoles via the PlayStation Network. The Store offers a range of downloadable content both for purchase and available free of charge. Available content includes full games,...
with a PS3. Depending on the releasegroup, they are tagged PSXPSP, PSX_PSP, PSX.To.PSP, PSX.FOR.PSP or PS1_For_PSP. On May 19, 2006, PARADOX returned to the PSP scene to release a +9 trainer just to prove that trainers for Sony's handheld are possible. Since then, no other group or person has publicly released any trainers. See also PSP Scene and PSP Piracy on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.
Unlike the games, there are standards for how to release movies for the PSP. All the releases must be in the MP4/THM format. Retail movies released for the PSP are tagged UMDMovie. When the first UMDMovie
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
was released in September 2005, there wasn't a way to play it yet. Because Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
killed the format, the latest release tagged UMDMovie was released in May 2007.
Other
Other handheld platforms that had games released by the scene include Neo Geo PocketNeo Geo Pocket
The Neo Geo Pocket was SNK's first hand held video game system, released in Japan in late 1998; however, lower than expected sales resulted in its discontinuation in 1999, and was immediately succeeded by the Neo Geo Pocket Color. The system only had a retail release within the Japan and Hong Kong...
, Neo Geo Pocket Color
Neo Geo Pocket Color
The Neo Geo Pocket Color , is a 16-bit colour handheld game console by SNK. It was the last console they produced in the Neo Geo family...
, WonderSwan
WonderSwan
was a line of handheld game consoles produced in Japan by Bandai between 1999 and 2003. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai...
, WonderSwan Color, Tapwave Zodiac
Tapwave Zodiac
The Zodiac is a mobile entertainment console, launched on 5 May 2003, and released in October 2003 by Tapwave, a former private company that was based in Mountain View, California....
, Gizmondo
Gizmondo
The Gizmondo is a handheld gaming console which was released by Tiger Telematics in March 2005. The electronics design was undertaken by Plextek Limited and the industrial design by Rick Dickinson....
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
and N-Gage
N-Gage
The N-Gage is a mobile telephone and handheld game system by Nokia, based on the Nokia Series 60 platform, released in October 2003. It began sales on October 7, 2003. The N-Gage QD replaced the original N-Gage in 2004....
.
See also
- Warez scene
- Warez groupWarez groupThere are many types of groups such as release groups and courier groups. Groups often compete about being the first out with a new quality release. Being the first to release a new quality release brings status and respect....
- Nuke (warez)Nuke (warez)In the warez scene, nuke refers to labeling content as "bad", for reasons which might include unusable software, bad video/audio quality, virus-infected content, deceptively labeled content or not following the rules. Also duplicates and stolen releases from other pirates that do not attribute the...
- Topsite (warez)Topsite (warez)Topsite is a term used by the warez scene to refer to high-speed FTP servers used by release groups and couriers for distribution, storage and archiving of warez releases....
- Pirated movie release types