Standard (warez)#Dreamcast

There are rules of naming and organizing files, rules that dictate how a file must be packaged and an nfo file, that contains required information, must be added with the content.

The first part of a standards document usually defines the format properties for the material, like codec, bitrate, resolution, file type and file size. 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 file size, the limiting factor is the size of the media to be used (such as 700 MB for CD-R). The standards are designed such that a certain amount of content will fit on each piece of media, with the best possible quality in terms of size. 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. Newer video standards moved away from the size constraints and replaced them with a quality based alternative such as the use of CRF.

New codecs 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.

Next, the standard usually talks about how to package the material. Allowed package formats today are limited to RAR 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 extra-high density disk (2.88 MB) to 5 MB, 15 MB (typical for CD images) or 20 MB (typical for CD images of console releases), 50 MB files (typical for DVD images), and 100 MB (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 bytes, not 52,428,800 bytes (50 megabytes in binary prefix).{{Cite journal | last1 = Hawa | first1 = M. | last2 = Rahhal | first2 = J. S. | last3 = Abu-Al-Nadi | first3 = D. I. | doi = 10.1007/s12083-011-0122-6 | title = File size models for shared content over the BitTorrent Peer-to-Peer network | journal = Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications | volume = 5 | issue = 3 | pages = 279 | year = 2012 | s2cid = 27267564 }}

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 before the naming switched to s00, s01 and so on. For example, a DVD-R image (4.37 GiB), split into 101 pieces, produces volumes smaller than 50 MB. The new RAR naming format, name.part001.rar, removes the limit, although the individual split archives continue to be 50 MB for historical reasons and because the old RAR naming format is still being widely used.

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. 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,

{{cite web |title=How to play RAR files without unpacking them? |url=https://scenelingo.wordpress.com/2012/04/22/play-rar/ |work=SceneLingo |date=2012-04-22 |access-date=2012-05-20}} 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 further compressible without loss of quality, 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. For example, scripts can read ID3 information from MP3s and sort releases based on those contents.

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 exists 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 FTP servers, operating systems or file systems may not allow special characters in file or directory names, only a small set of characters is allowed.

{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ps2&sysid=932 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714002327/http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ps2&sysid=932 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-14 |title=Dragon_Quest_VIII_USA_PS2-ECHELON |date=2005-11-16 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Stop using those absurd file names like blah-gamename.part01.rar, how hard is it to use an 8.3 name really-g.uys Maybe not everyone wants to burn RARs onto joilet filesystems, but aside from that, its just tradition. Once upon a time, you'd be nuked for these kinds of offenses, and just because the scenes become much more public [...] doesn't mean it has to keep on this downward spiral. }}

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. This can happen automatically by site scripts.{{cite web |title=Samurai_Shodown_IV_-_Amakusas_Revenge_USA_REPACK_VC_NEOGEO_Wii-OneUp nfo file |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Samurai_Shodown_IV_-_Amakusas_Revenge_USA_REPACK_VC_NEOGEO_Wii-OneUp |date=2012-05-03 |author=OneUp |quote=nuke both one is an auto rename because of the '}} As a note, spaces are explicitly disallowed in current standards and are substituted with underscores or periods (full stops)

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 parentheses; the BDR scene also disallows the use of an underscore, while those are common with music releases. Periods (full stops) are not used in the required naming scheme for music videos. Square brackets are not defined in any ruleset, however they are used by p2p groups that do not follow these rules. The best known example is aXXo.

Standards documents have often a date defined when the rules take effect. The warez scene typically follows the UTC time standard.

{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/showfile.php?release=MasterChef.US.S02E04.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION&file=masterchef.us.204.720p-dimension.nfo |title=MasterChef.US.S02E04.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION |date=2011-06-15 |work=srrDB |quote=Someone forgot to actually specify a timezone[sic] for when the new rules come in to play, but the scene typically follows UTC, so... away we go.}}

There is no formal record documenting correct times for all releases. Depending on geographical location and the timing of releases, release sites receive software releases at slightly different times. Release times in any single source may vary by as much as two weeks.

{{further|Nuke (warez)}}

If a group violates a standard, the release will be nuked. 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. These sanctions are social in nature and can be initiated by anyone within the community.{{cite book|last1=Chandra|first1=Priyank|title=Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '16|chapter=Order in the Warez Scene|year=2016|pages=372–383|doi=10.1145/2858036.2858341|isbn=9781450333627|s2cid=15919355}}

{{further|Pirated movie release types}}

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, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC and recently HEVC releases use the much more efficient MPEG standards. Generally, only middle to top-end DVD players can play back DivX or Xvid files, while Blu-ray players are required to handle H.264 files.

There are many different formats because the whole thing was always a function of players, codec development and the pursuit of the best possible quality in terms of size. This results in a series of evolutionary stages and improvements that have been introduced gradually. The only film format that hasn't changed since the early days is the DVDR. The Scene still holds on to this format but it's becoming less important due to Blu-rays being the main source for retail releases.{{cite web |title=Das Ende der DVD? |language=de |trans-title=The end of the DVD? |date=2014-03-11 |author=vote |url=http://www.xrel.to/2014-03-11/5332/Das-Ende-der-DVD.html}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=vcd.nfo |title=VCD Guidelines}} The scene VCDs popped up in 1998,{{cite web|url=http://www.defacto2.net/file/detail/9d226/the-net-monkey-weekly-report/ |title=Edition 33: Introduces a VCD section. |author=Bud |author2=Lester |author3=Ndetroit |author4=Prozac |work=The Net Monkey Weekly Report |date=1999-02-02 |access-date=2012-02-23}} but digital unlicensed versions of films already appeared in early 1997 on private FTP networks. Eviliso, VCD-Europe, FTF and Immortal VCD are groups that have released VCD movies.{{cite web |title=Pirates on the Web, Spoils on the Street |first=Jennifer |last=Lee |date=2002-07-11 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/technology/pirates-on-the-web-spoils-on-the-street.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm |work=The New York Times |access-date=2012-06-16}} In 1999 there were 15 to 20 groups.{{cite web |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/circuits/articles/29pira.html |title=Online Piracy: From Music to Film |date=1999-07-29 |first=Steve |last=Wilson |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191119/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/07/circuits/articles/29pira.html |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2003_MViD.nfo |title=Music.Video.Council.2.0.FINAL-MVID_RuLES |date=2005-11-15}}

Scene rules require the releasing group to spread SVCDs in .bin/.cue files, that fit on 700 MiB CDs.

{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2002_SVCD.nfo |title=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, Telecine or telesync releases. Also R5, DVDSCR or retail DVD is used as SVCD source.{{cite web|url=http://www.vcdq.com/browse/0/0/12/0/0/0/0/0/0/0 |title=VCDQuality.com - SVCD releases |work=Vcdq.com |access-date=2012-02-23}} 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 died out.

Standard definition rips have a resolution that is lower than high-definition video.

MPEG-4 release standards are set in the so-called TDX rules. The DivX codec originally gained popularity because it provided a good compromise between film quality and file size. Approximately 25% of the space occupied by DVD is enough for a DivX encode to have DVD quality output.{{cite journal |title=DivX: DVD quality movies on a CD-R? |first=Andrew |last=Hawkesworth |journal=Department of Electronics & Computer Science, University of Southampton |year=2001 |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.12.2040&rep=rep1&type=pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927050355/http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.12.2040&rep=rep1&type=pdf |archive-date=2018-09-27 |format=PDF |citeseerx=10.1.1.12.2040 }} The first standards were created by meetings and debates of Team DivX (TDX) in 2000. This group consisted of the leaders of the top 5 DivX releasing groups, topsite operators along with rippers and encoders. It was formed because they thought "the new Div/X scene was a bit unmoderated, sloppy and pretty much a free-for-all." iSONEWS published the first standards on April 26. Earlier, on March 16, the database started to carry a DivX section on their website.{{cite web |url=http://www.theisonews.com/forums/index.php/topic,28408.msg538963.html#msg538963 |title=A look into the past |author=((azrael69)) |date=2001-05-15 |website=The iSONEWS}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20010722231917/http://205.134.182.35:80/news.php3?section=general&endon=954565200&view=month] A week later Betanews noticed the popularity of the then recently released DivX codec throughout IRC channels and asked whether this was a new threat to DVD after the DeCSS utility.{{cite web |title=New Threat to DVD? |first=Nate |last=Mook |url=https://betanews.com/2000/03/22/new-threat-to-dvd/ |date=2000-03-22 |website=Efronts Betanews}} The 2001 revision of the standards were organized by different people from iSONEWS. It consisted of 15 groups and signed by 18.{{cite web |url=http://www.isonews.com:80/news.php3?section=general&endon=986101200&view=month |title=News Archive: April 2001 |author=((Puzz13)) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010503092242/http://www.isonews.com/news.php3?section=general&endon=986101200&view=month |archive-date=2001-05-03 |url-status=dead }} This was the last one of the listed rulesets covering pornography.

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.

{{cite web|url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Weeds.S07E11.INTERNAL.READNFO.BDRip.XviD-CLUE |title=Weeds.S07E11.INTERNAL.READNFO.BDRip.XviD-CLUE |quote=Technically speaking, under txd2k9 this release had to be a maximum of 175 MB. Here it is at 233 MB for those who want some conformity |date=2012-02-09}} In July 2002, around the release of the new TDX2K2 ruleset, Xvid releases started to pop up. DivX with SBC was retired. VCDVaULT was the pioneer in promoting Xvid to the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Apollo.13.1995.INTERNaL.DVDRip.XviD-VCDVaULT |title=Apollo.13.1995.INTERNaL.DVDRip.XviD-VCDVaULT |date=2002-07-14 |author=VCDVaULT |website=srrDB |quote=It is with a tear in our eye that we announce the retirement of Smart Bitrate Control, and its encoding program, known as Nandub.}}{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Clockstoppers.DVDRip.XViD-ViTE |title=Clockstoppers.DVDRip.XViD-ViTE |date=2002-07-25 |author=ViTE |website=srrDB |quote=VCDVaULT, as commonly seen throughout developments in the scene, has become a pioneer once again and has led a valiant effort to promote the widespread use of XViD instead of DivX 3.11 Alpha.}} In 2003, TheWretched believed it was time to update the standards again and a few tweaks were in order. Thereafter they found the lack of info groups put into the NFO inexcusable: It isn't only about the flashy ASCII art, the content matters.{{cite web |url=https://predb.net/rls/Doctor.Zhivago.2002.SHITFIX.DVDRip.XviD-TheWretched |title=Doctor.Zhivago.2002.SHITFIX.DVDRip.XviD-TheWretched |date=2003-10-21 |author=TheWretched |work=predb.net}}

The TDX2002 ruleset was followed by TXD2005. Because all DivX codecs are banned in this new ruleset, TDX became TXD: The XviD Releasing Standards.{{cite journal |first1=Hendrik |last1=Spilker |first2=Svein |last2=Hoier |title=Technologies of Piracy? Exploring the Interplay between Commercialism and Idealism in the Development of MP3 and DivX |journal=International Journal of Communication |year=2013 |volume=7 |issn=1932-8036 |url=http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/1765/989 |format=PDF}} There is a rebuttal

{{cite web|url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1330 |title=THE.XVID.RELEASING.STANDARDS.2005.REBUTTAL |date=2005-09-25 |work=SceneNotice.org

}} 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. As such the h.263 quantization matrix is a must to avoid seeing macroblocks, pixelation or other artifacts on stand alone players if they do not crash and show video.

{{cite web |url=https://predb.net/rls/Children.of.Men.2006.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-HAGGiS |title=Children.of.Men.2006.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-HAGGiS |author=HAGGiS |date=2007-01-15 |website=predb.net}} 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.

{{cite web|url=http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=55458 |title=A word on DivX / XviD capable DVD Players |first=Darrius |last=Thompson |date=2003-06-16 |quote=We are requiring that for products to be DivX Certified that they have the ability to decode DivX3 since there is so much legacy content in this format.}}{{cite web|url=http://torrentfreak.com/lg-shows-how-to-play-pirated-movies-on-tv-100205/ |title=LG Shows How To Play Pirated Movies On TV |author=Ernesto |date=2010-02-05 |quote=In the packaged English language manual, LG does not try to obfuscate the true purpose of this nifty USB feature – playing pirated movies. |work=TorrentFreak}}

The latest TXD revision is TXD2009.{{cite web |url=http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2009/03/scene-xvid-release-standards-2009_02.html |title=Scene XviD Release Standards 2009 (TXD2K9) |date=2009-03-02 |work=FileNetworks}} As with each revision, there are some major changes. Multiple CD releases are not 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. A total of 91 release groups have signed the rules. As with the 2005 standards, there is a rebuttal

{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=655 |title=The.XviD.Releasing.Standards.2009.REBUTTAL-CantBelieveTheMess |date=2009-03-05 |work=SceneNotice.org}} Nuked: nfos.from.turn.from.NOsegmenT.make.ppl.laugh 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 do not fully support resolutions above 640px.

{{cite web|url=http://www.srrdb.com/details.php?release=Law.and.Order.SVU.S08E16.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-NODLABS# |title=Law.and.Order.SVU.S08E16.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-NODLABS |author=NODLABS |quote=We also decided to follow their specs to maintain consistency even though the new xvid rules contain a gay clause not allowing a resolution above 640x due to some piece of shit $20 Philips divx player that is apparently popular and is unable to display the correct aspect ratio on a WS tv (or some other bullshit) when the res is over 640. |work=srrDB.com

}} 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.

XviD used for standard definition English television releases has been a ruleless world. However, in 2002 a ruleset for VCD, SVCD and DivX/Xvid tries to cover up the mess a little. SDTV, PDTV, HDTV and their dupe rules were being defined. Nuking had always been an issue in the TV scene.

{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2002_TV.nfo |title=TV__The.2003.TV.Releasing.Standards

}} In 2007, a document was released that "intended to bring a level playing field to the TV-XviD scene and attempt to put down some rules to end some of the controversy that has plagued us in recent years", but it was only a draft.

{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2007_TV.nfo |title=The.TV-XviD.Release.Standards.2007 |date=2007-10-24

}} On January 1, 2011, a rule set written specifically for UK TV was released, taking into consideration various factors which differ from other regions.{{cite web |url=http://www.xrel.to/nfo-nfo/424173/UK-TV-XviD-Rules-2011-UKTVSCENE.html |title=UK.TV.XviD.Rules.2011-UKTVSCENE |date=2011-01-01}}

The introduction of HDTV and the availability of high-definition source material has 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 in a file the same size as an XviD encoded video using a standard definition source.{{cite web |title=Lost.S02E04.HR.HDTV.AC3.5.1.XviD-CTU |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Lost.S02E04.HR.HDTV.AC3.5.1.XviD-CTU |website=srrDB |author=CTU |date=2005-10-13 |quote=HR HDTV is a format originated by us in 2003, under our former group name of FUA.}}

On October 17, 2013, the first standard definition ruleset for retail sources was released.{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2181 |title=The.Retail.SD.x264.Releasing.Standards.2013-SDx264 |date=2013-10-17}} A day later there was a revision that fixed some examples.{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2187 |title=The.Retail.SD.x264.Releasing.Standards.2013.Rev1.1-SDx264 |date=2013-10-18}} The MKV container must be used. It is mandatory to support file streaming and playing from RARs. CRF must be used. A photograph as proof must be included. A total of 81 groups signed the document.

On February 20, 2012, more than a year after the appearance of the first draft, the SD x264 TV Release Standards document was released with the goal to bring quality control back to the SD releases. According to the document x264 has become the most advanced H264 video encoder and compared to XviD it is able to provide higher quality and compression at greater SD resolutions. It also allows better control and transparency over encoding settings. With CRF (constant rate factor) in the mix it can be ensured that a diverse array of material will get the most appropriate bitrate and not arbitrary fixed file sizes. The video container must be MP4 and AAC is used for the audio. Thirteen groups, ASAP, BAJSKORV, C4TV, D2V, DiVERGE, FTP, KYR, LMAO, LOL, MOMENTUM, SYS, TLA and YesTV signed the document and began releasing TV shows in the new format.

{{cite web |url=http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/03/superior-h-264-codec-gains-traction-among-tv-torrent-groups-is-now-the-official-standard/ |title=Superior H.264 Codec Now The 'Official' Standard Among Popular Piracy Groups |date=2012-03-04 |first=Logan |last=Booker |work=Gizmondo |access-date=2012-03-11

}}

FQM and 2HD indicated they will keep releasing XviD.{{cite web |url=http://support.tvshowsapp.com/discussions/questions/119-avi-vs-mp4-please-give-us-the-choice |title=AVi vs MP4 - Please give us the choice |date=2012-03-01 |author=BigFanIsSad |work=TVShowsApp.com |access-date=2012-03-11}} FQM said it's pointless losing a lot of standalone compatibility for slightly higher quality when there's already even better quality available. 2HD agrees and a vocal minority of the torrent community is quite upset because the MP4 container isn't compatible with many DVD players and other devices, but most scene groups don't really care about BitTorrent.

{{cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/3/4/2843937/torrent-user-controversy-format-x264-xvid |title=Torrent users freak out over shift from Xvid to x264, threaten to pirate elsewhere |date=2012-03-04 |first=Andrew |last=Webster |work=The Verge|access-date=2012-03-11}}

{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-03/05/pirates-switch-xvid-x264 |title=Elite piracy groups agree to drop Xvid video codec, swap to x264 |magazine=Wired |date=2012-03-05 |first=Duncan |last=Geere |access-date=2012-03-11}}

Softpedia writer Lucian Parfeni called this interesting phenomenon the angry pirate and wrote that a lot of BitTorrent users are very disappointed about the move, though quite a few have no idea why it happened.

{{cite web |url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/BitTorrent-Pirates-Angry-over-Switch-from-Xvid-to-x264-Have-No-Idea-Who-to-Blame-256666.shtml |title=BitTorrent Pirates Angry over Switch from Xvid to x264, Have No Idea Who to Blame |date=2012-03-05 |first=Lucian |last=Parfeni |work=Softpedia |access-date=2012-03-11}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/03/torrent-users-upsetover-changing-file-types/ |title=Torrent Users Upset Over Changing File Types |date=2012-03-05 |first=Jamie |last=Condliffe |work=Gizmondo |access-date=2012-03-11}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.neowin.net/news/pirates-of-p2p-ditch-xvid-in-favor-of-x264 |title=Pirates of P2P ditch Xvid in favor of x264 |date=2012-03-08 |first=Alfonso |last=Maruccia |work=Neowin |access-date=2012-03-11}}

A second reason FQM provided was that partial files can't be played back but LOL wrote the next day that the streaming issues were solved. On March 29, an updated version of the rules were released. This time 22 groups supported the document. MP4Box became the recommended muxer because it has support for file streaming and playing from RARs. For encoding audio, FFmpeg and FAAC encoders are banned. 2HD announced on April 15, 2012, that they would be abandoning XviD as show seasons end, but later this changed to only the seasons of the bigger shows.{{cite web |url=http://thefiveeight.com/2012/05/04/2hd-quits-xvid/ |title=2HD Quits XviD |date=2012-05-04 |author=Jessica |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718104417/http://thefiveeight.com/2012/05/04/2hd-quits-xvid/ |archive-date=2012-07-18}} A month after 2HD's first announcement FQM released their first x264 rip.

On April 3, 2016, the SD x264 TV Release Standard was updated with a new revision that "aims to update the standards from 2012 to standards suitable for 2016 and the future. Adding clarity and patching loopholes to once again allow for consistent and quality releases, which was the aim of this standard back in 2012." The video container in this revision was changed from mp4 to mkv which frustrated many users.{{cite web |url=https://torrentfreak.com/pirates-frustrated-after-tv-release-groups-swap-mp4-for-mkv-160408/ |title=Pirates Frustrated After TV Release Groups Swap .MP4 for .MKV |author=Ernesto |date=2016-04-08 |website=TorrentFreak}}

On June 24, 2009, five groups released the first rule set specifically designed for x264 sport releases: TXSRS2K9. The idea was that the x264 encoder would be more suitable than Xvid.

{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2009_X264_SPORTS.nfo |title=The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009 |date=2009-06-21 |quote=x264 dupes xvid, use internal. Xvid doesn't dupe x264, hopefully all groups will move to x264 for sports then we can ban xvid for sports as it cannot cope with high motion sports, however better sources don't dupe xvid}}

Some days after previewing the rule set, a rebuttal was released with concerns about the decisions made and them being in conflict with the high definition TV-X264 rule set.

{{cite web|url=http://www.scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1722 |title=The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009.REBUTTAL-AreYouSerious |date=2009-06-24 |quote=Unless you're planning to push a SPORTS-X264 section, these rules conflict with the TV-X264 rules already in effect.}}

aAF called the rules unofficial nonsense and said that respected groups would not be following them.

{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestlingdupe.com/releases/The.Ultimate.Fighter.Finale.S09E13.720p.HDTV.x264-aAF/ |title=The.Ultimate.Fighter.Finale.S09E13.720p.HDTV.x264-aAF |date=2009-06-22 |quote=The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009 = unofficial nonsense, we will not be following this crap nor will any groups with respect.

}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestlingdupe.com/releases/The.Ultimate.Fighter.Finale.S09E13.REPACK.HDTV.XviD-aAF/ |title=The.Ultimate.Fighter.Finale.S09E13.REPACK.HDTV.XviD-aAF |date=2009-06-22 |quote=Last and least, The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009 gotta be the dumbest shit we've ever seen. It's in no way official and no respected groups will be following that, look who made and signed it for godsakes. wtf makes a handful of noobs think they can get together and dictate how we pre...great comedy tho thx :p}}

Only NOsegmenT and KICKOFF have released standard definition x264 sport rips under these rules.{{citation |title=Tennis.Wimbledon.2009.Men's.Quarterfinal.Andy.Murray.Vs.Juan.Carlos.Ferrero.HDTV.x264-NOsegmenT |date=2009-07-04 |quote=This release conforms to the new ruleset: The.x264.Sports.Releasing.Standards.2009-x264

}}

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.

{{cite web|url=http://www.scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1727 |title=The.2010.XviD.Sports.Releasing.Standards-SportsReleaseCouncil |date=2010-03-08 |quote=The Sports Release Council was formed to separate sports releases from the ruleless world of TV-XVID. This standard aims to improve the overall quality of our sports releases while retaining the compatibility we have enjoyed for so long. We hope to bring standardization to our scene and rid ourselves of some of the archaic quality-hampering restrictions that the sports scene has had to put up with based on the preferences/assumptions of nukers.

}} Twelve groups signed the standards, including two of the original five of the x264 rule set.

The SD x264 TV Releasing Standards 2012 also cover sport releases, making the previous standards obsolete.

The latest High Definition x264 Standard is Revision 4.0 from 2011.{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2011_X264.2.nfo |title=High.Definition.x264.Standards.Revision.4.0-HDX |date=2011-01-29}} 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.

It has become quite normal that non-English spoken movies are tagged with their language tag, even when they contain English subtitles. This is different for Xvid releases. This practice has been accepted by all nukenets, but it was never written down in an addendum to the ruleset. Also the usage of both Dutch and Flemish audio tracks in one release has become a practice.{{cite web|title=New.Kids.Nitro.2011.DUTCH.READNFO.1080p.BluRay.x264-VeDeTT |url=http://www.srrdb.com/showfile.php?release=New.Kids.Nitro.2011.DUTCH.READNFO.1080p.BluRay.x264-VeDeTT&file=vedett-nwkdsntr1080p.nfo |author=VeDeTT |work=srrDB |access-date=2012-06-09 |date=2012-04-22}}

There is a second ruleset from 2008 for x264 releases that has many similarities to the previous one, but it concentrates on BD5 and BD9 releases.{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2008_BD.nfo |title=2008.BD.Standards}} High Definition x264 Standards (BD5/9)

{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/details.php?release=Shutter.Sie.Sehen.Dich.2008.German.AC3.720p.BD5.x264-piepHD |title=Shutter.Sie.Sehen.Dich.2008.German.AC3.720p.BD5.x264-piepHD |date=2008-10-22 |work=srrDB |quote=This release is based on the 2008.BD.Standards.}}

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 200–300 MB smaller than a similar release following the other ruleset due to the overhead of the Blu-ray image that will be created.

{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/details.php?release=ConAir.1997.720p.BD5.x264-DOWN |title=ConAir.1997.720p.BD5.x264-DOWN |date=2009-05-14 |work=srrDB}}

Around May 2012, the stream of BD9 releases came to a halt. 2011 only had around thirty BD5 releases.

On August 13, 2009, the first version of the standard was released. This standard is only a recommendation for anime from Blu-ray and its purpose is to improve quality over the then current HDX standard. The document reads that anime was always something special for the video codec experts at Doom9, as without anime there wouldn't be VirtualDub or many other video-related tools.{{cite web |url=http://www.virtualdub.org/virtualdub_history.html |title=VirtualDub history |work=VirtualDub.org |access-date=2012-04-03}} This is why they decided to put out new standard to enjoy almost lossless anime quality.{{cite web |date=2009-08-13

|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2009_X264-ANIME.nfo

|title=High.Definition.x264.Standards.for.Anime.1.0-FaNSuB}} [http://scenerules.org/extra/High.Definition.x264.Standards.for.Anime.1.0-FaNSuB.rar]

The French scene had rules for anime releases years earlier.{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2004_FR-ANiME.nfo|title=HIGH COUNCIL for FRENCH ANIME RULES|date=2004-11-14}} The latest French ruleset for anime is from 2011.

{{cite web |date=2011-07-20

|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2011_FR_ANIME.nfo

|title=Animes.Rules.2011.French-ANIMESFR}}Bleach.Fade.To.Black.MULTI.BLURAY.1080p.X264-SLEEPINGFOREST, UNNUKED: no.proof.needed_Animes.Rules.2011

Because of the x264 scene, many people think WMV-HD is redundant. The authors of the first document think this is not true because of the compatibility WMV-HD provides. They write that the only reason many people are against WMV-HD, is because WMV is from Microsoft. In 2007 they wrote that it can be played on the Xbox 360 and HTPCs while x264 is restricted to HTPCs. They point out that many movie studios utilize the VC-1 codec for their retail BD-ROMs.

The changes in the 2008 ruleset were made because 1080p was getting more and more popular and the authors felt it was necessary to lower the 720p bitrate minimum as well to show x264 lovers WMV is equal quality. The video size wasn't determined by the length of the movie anymore, but by the minimum bitrate.

In the 2009 standards, a nuke section was added to govern the WMV-HD section. All nukes based on any other rules are unacceptable. Because all the groups releasing WMV-HD have agreed to and signed this rule set, they are the only ones who will develop, implement, and mandate the rules governing the WMV-HD section. The groups are IGUANA, NOVO, BamHD and INSECTS. SMeG was also added in later versions.

A special section for animated/anime titles was added in version 3.5 of the rule set.

Version 4.0 of the rule set had a large ascii art added and was the first to have no minimum or maximum file size requirement for the final WMV file. WMV-HD was from then on purely quality driven by minimum bitrate.

In version 4.1 the rule set was added that the group who releases an episode of a show first has exclusive rights to do the entire season of that show for a period of thirty days. This means that during those 30 days no other group can release an episode of the same show and season without being nuked.

The source for a WMV release must be HD DVD or Blu-ray. The audio has to be encoded to WMA 10 Pro and the video codec must be Windows Media 9 Advanced Profile (VC-1). A 720p resolution dupes 1080p but 1080p does not dupe 720p. The WMV file must be in stored in RAR with a recovery record. Compression is not allowed.

In 2013, at least ten new movie releases were seen, all released by the group INSECTS. This category died out in favor of x264 MKV releases, a format that is ubiquitous for non pornographic ripped video in 2016.

The first ever scene TV-x264 release, The.Unit.S01E04.HD720p.x264-MiRAGETV, was made by Spatula in early 2006. In May 2007, more than a year later, the first ruleset appeared. SAiNTS refused to sign this ruleset because it did not ban segmenting. According to them, this was the main reason for the crap releases in the HDTV scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Prison.Break.S02E05.DVDrip.XviD-SAiNTS |title=Prison.Break.S02E05.DVDrip.XviD-SAiNTS |date=2007-05-19 |quote=We refused to sign The.720p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2007 because they do not ban segmenting which is the main reason for the crap releases we get in the HDTV scene nowadays. But since at least two of the groups that created/signed those new rules are already segmenting x264, obviously segmenting was never going to get banned. So have fun destroying another TV format with your crap and keep pretending you care about quality"}} This first ruleset defined Matroska as the video container. A fixed file size for the resulting .mkv was used based on the shows length.

The 2011 standards first introduced CRF, instead of 2-pass based encoding. In April 2016, a total rewrite of the ruleset was released, addressing all known issues and patching loopholes.

In April 2012, QCF released the first 1080p x264 television ruleset shortly after one of their releases got nuked.{{cite web |date=2012-04-23

|url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2098

|title=The.1080p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2012}}{{cite web |title=Grimm.S01E18.1080p.READNFO.HDTV.X264-QCF |date=2012-04-22 |author=QCF |quote=Third how can it be low encode settings when a ruleset does not exist? |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Grimm.S01E18.1080p.READNFO.HDTV.X264-QCF |website=srrDB}}

The ruleset was nuked afterwards by LocalNet for one.group.does.not.make.a.ruleset.make_try.inviting.some.others.to.contribute{{sic}}. In December 2012, SYS agreed: "One group doesn't decide."{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The.Victorias.Secret.Fashion.Show.2012.1080p.HDTV.x264-SYS |title=The.Victorias.Secret.Fashion.Show.2012.1080p.HDTV.x264-SYS |author=SYS |date=2012-12-11 |quote=FYI: The.1080p.x264.TV.Releasing.Standards.2012 isn't a real ruleset. One group doesn't decide. |website=srrDB}}

In September 2013, DEADPOOL had the following to say about the rules:{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The.IT.Crowd.The.Last.Byte.1080p.READNFO.INTERNAL.HDTV.x264-DEADPOOL |title=The.IT.Crowd.The.Last.Byte.1080p.READNFO.INTERNAL.HDTV.x264-DEADPOOL |author=DEADPOOL |date=2013-09-28 |website=srrDB}}

{{blockquote|This will be the last time we will pre under the 1080p ruleset as it's not supported by many groups and we will be using our own settings and preing 1080p as internals till shit gets sorted out properly without it being a direct copy of the 720p ruleset.}}

In April 2014, BATV announced they are dropping the INTERNAL tag: one group doesn't get to decide how we all release 1080p TV.{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV |title=Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV |author=BATV |date=2014-04-14 |website=srrDB |quote=We're dropping the INTERNAL tag, one group doesn't get to decide how we all release 1080p TV. The.Victorias.Secret.Fashion.Show.2012.1080p.HDTV.x264-SYS - SYS agrees as well.}} A day later, BATV released the first 1080p HDTV x265 encode using that same episode for comparison.{{cite web |url=http://www.xrel.to/tv-nfo/775995/Game-of-Thrones-S04E02-READNFO-1080p-HDTV-x265-BATV.html |title=Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.READNFO.1080p.HDTV.x265-BATV |author=BATV |date=2014-04-15 |quote=Thought we'd give this a shot, the first 1080p HDTV x265 encode! You can compare this with Game.of.Thrones.S04E02.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV, same source, same avs, same preset, same colormatrix and same crf.}} BATV thinks that 1080p is completely and utterly pointless unless done by a decent group.{{cite web |title=Black.Sails.S03E01.READNFO.1080p.HDTV.x264-BATV |author=BATV |date=2016-01-24 |url=http://www.xrel.to/tv-nfo/1084056/Black-Sails-S03E01-READNFO-1080p-HDTV-x264-BATV.html}} DIMENSION indicated they won't be using certain channels for 1080p captures due to insufficient quality.{{cite web |title=2.Broke.Girls.S05E10.1080p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION |author=DIMENSION |date=2016-02-04 |url=http://www.xrel.to/tv-nfo/1089152/2-Broke-Girls-S05E10-1080p-HDTV-X264-DIMENSION.html |quote=North American QAM, OTA, consumer sat, etc are not sufficient for 1080p pres and will never be used.}}

In 2016, a new standard was introduced for web-sourced files, covering standard and high definition video. Web based streaming and video on-demand services have increased in popularity. They were initially used for missed broadcasts, but it evolved into a legitimate logo-free exclusive source for original content.{{cite web |url=https://scenerules.org/t.html?id=wdx264v1.0-ecb63c67.nfo |title=THE.2016.WEB.AND.WEBRIP.SD.HD.X264.RULESET.v1.0-WDX264 |date=2016-03-16}}

The scene requires DVD-Video releases to fit on a 4.7 GB DVD-R.

{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2002_DVDR.nfo |title=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.

{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2010_DVDR.nfo |title=THE.2010.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS-TDRS2K10 |date=2009-11-14}} This ruleset appeared only two months after the 2009 ruleset,

{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2009_DVDR.nfo |title=THE.2009.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS-TDRS2K9 |date=2009-09-02}} which has an addendum{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=tdrs2k9a1.nfo |title=THE.2009.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS.ADDENDUM.1-TDRS2K9 |date=2009-09-03

}} released to clarify a rule because of some confusion. The 2010 ruleset seems to have more similarities with TDRS2K5

{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2005_DVDR.nfo |title=DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS.2005 |date=2005-04-11}} than with the previous TDRS2K9 ruleset. According to the first nuke, the signing groups are crap.{{cite web|url=http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2009/11/scene-dvdr-releasing-standards-2010.html |title=Scene DVDR Releasing Standards 2010 (TDRS2K10) |date=2009-11-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708035533/http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2009/11/scene-dvdr-releasing-standards-2010.html |archive-date=2011-07-08 |url-status=live}} This resulted in a nukewar. Few days later, an addendum was released.{{cite web|url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1716 |title=THE.2010.DVDR.RELEASING.STANDARDS.ADDENDUM.1-TDRS2K10 |date=2009-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301112348/http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1716 |archive-date=2010-03-01 |url-status=live}}

According to XeoN-VorTeX on October 31, 2002, a milestone in DVDR ripping was reached with the COMPLETE release of The Matrix. The DVD was generally regarded as the most complex DVD on the market. Only a movie only rip was available. The new rip included things such as the white rabbit.{{citation |title=The.Matrix.1999.COMPLETE.READNFO.PAL.DVDR-XV |date=2002-10-31 |quote=XeoN-VorTeX are proud to bring you the milestone in DVDR ripping, with the COMPLETE release of The Matrix. This DVD is Generally regarded as the most complex DVD on the market, and thus, only a movie only rip has been available; until now. The rip includes everything, including such things as the 'white rabbit'. Over 200 hours have been spent creating this DVDR and throughout this project, a guide has been updated with the new techniques required to process such a DVD. This guide will be published on the best ripping website thats out there (I'm sure you will know what it is), for the benefit of other groups or individuals. Enjoy this DVDR from your friends at XeoN-VorTeX!}}{{cite web |url=http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=29642 |title=Matrix on DVD-R |work=Doom9 |date=2002-07-22 |author=((Doom9)) |quote=It's time to climb the Mt. Everest of DVDs... The Matrix.}}{{cite web |first=Andrew |last=Smithson |title=DivX: The movie industry's mp3? |year=2002 |work=Multimedia Systems Coursework, Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.12.1735&rep=rep1&type=pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180123073120/http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.12.1735&rep=rep1&type=pdf |archive-date=2018-01-23 |format=PDF |citeseerx=10.1.1.12.1735 }}

Nowadays releases are in DVD5 or DVD9 size, have a menu available and are encoded with CCE.

The scene requires BD-R releases to fit on a 25 GB single-layer Blu-ray Disc.{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2010_BDr.nfo |title=The.BDR.Releasing.Standards.V1-BDRCOUNCiL |date=2009-05-28 |access-date=2010-11-18 |archive-date=2019-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622154106/http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html%3Fid%3D2010_BDr.nfo |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2010_BDr.nfo |title=The.BDR.Releasing.Standards.V2-BDRCOUNCiL |date=2010-04-27 |access-date=2010-11-18 |archive-date=2019-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190622154106/http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html%3Fid%3D2010_BDr.nfo |url-status=dead }} Hence not all released movies are 1:1 copies of the retail Blu-rays, although those releases exist and are tagged COMPLETE.BLURAY.

The current Music video Council standard is version 6.0.

{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=VER5_MViD.nfo |title=Music_Video_Council_Rules_v5.0-MVC |date=2008-12-17

}}

{{cite web |url=http://www.xrel.to/nfo-nfo/419949/Music-Video-Council-Rules-v6-0-MVC.html |title=Music_Video_Council_Rules_v6.0-MVC |date=2011-09-23

}} X264 must be used in an mkv container in combination with an MP2, MP3, AC3, or DTS audio track.

On November 15, 2012, the first XXX x264 SD standards were released. The movie file must not be split and an MP4 container must be used. The audio format is AAC. Xvid was used for standard definition rips the years before, just like DivX and SVCD, but did not have a ruleset.{{citation |title=The.Dark.Side.Of.Marco.Banderas.3.REAL.PROPER.Read.NFO.XXX.DVDRip.XviD-SLiEZE |date=2009-09-28 |author=SLiEZE |quote=Since the xxx scene dont have rules of their own maybe its time to sit down and create guide lines for xxx?}} The groups Mirage and SMuT had their own list of rules they endorsed visible in their nfos.{{citation |title=Chick.Flick.7.XXX-Mirage |date=2004-07-14 |author=Mirage}} SMuT wrote: "We endorse the following XXX rules and encourage other groups/sites/scene members to insist they are followed also."{{citation |title=The.6th.Trick.DVDRip-SMuT |date=2005-06-10 |author=SMuT}}

{{blockquote|

Mirage strongly endorses six rules concerning XXX as established

by the scene approved Adult Movies Release Rules Revision {{sic|Comm|itee|expected=Committee}}

headed by Smut and Mirage:

• a) production year must be: 2003-2004
• b) release date within 1 month of official store date. always by first available media (DVD/VHS)
• c) all our releases discs fit on 80min CD's
• d) 3 CD releases are ok for first run features but not for amateur or compilations
• e) all releases must have a VHS street date in the url and nfo, unless they are released first in DVD!
• f) software encoded quality captured releases are a must. too many poorly hardware capped releases floating around.

}}

Standards for DVDR, paysite videos and imagesets have been released before.

Both MP3 and FLAC releases can optionally include M3U playlist files.

At the start of the MP3 scene in 1995, there was little organization or standardization. Between 1999–2004, the pre-dominantly used MP3 encoding quality was 192 kbit/s at 44.1 kHz, which was nominal for the hardware and software encoding available at the time. This improved as computers got faster and the LAME MP3 encoder developed into its later versions.

Due to broad support in hardware devices, unauthorized 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.{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2007_MP3v1.1.nfo|title=Official_MP3_Release_Rules_1.1-2007-MP3COUNCIL}} Other formats such as AAC or Vorbis are currently not allowed.

In 2009, new rules were introduced.{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2009_MP3.nfo |title=Official_MP3_Release_Rules_2.0-2009-MP3COUNCIL}}

{{cite web |url=http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2009/08/scene-mp3-release-rules-20-2009.html |title=Scene MP3 release rules 2.0 (2009) |work=FileNetworks |author=TEAM FILEnetworks

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130055631/http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2009/08/scene-mp3-release-rules-20-2009.html

|date=2009-08-20 |archive-date=2010-11-30 |url-status=live}}

Homemade releases are forbidden. Every release needs an ID3 v1.1 AND ID3 v2 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.

The early MP3 release groups, 1996–1997, were considered "lamers", bottom feeders.{{cite web |title=Where do you want to pirate today? |author=Adam L. Penenberg |date=1997-08-08 |url=https://www.forbes.com/1997/08/08/column.html |access-date=2013-07-06 |work=Forbes}} In 2000, the former leader of Rabid Neurosis, Al Capone, posted a letter to the scene on the RNS website, complaining how the mp3 scene became more like the warez scene during its first 4 years.{{cite web |title=A Letter To The Scene by Al Capone (RNS) |url=http://www.mp3scene.info/files/32/a-letter-to-the-scene-by-al-capone-rns/ |date=2000-03-09 |author=Al Capone}}

An early scene release came in 2004 when the group ARA released Metallica's fifth performance in Gothenburg as FLAC files.{{citation |title=Metallica-Live_2004-05-30_Gothenburg-2CD-FLAC-ARA |date=2004-08-06 |quote= FLAC is a format where no quality is lost unlike the AZZ release (Again) :)|author=ARA}}{{cite web |url=https://www.livemetallica.com//live-music/0,37/Metallica-mp3-flac-download-5-30-2004-Ullevi-Gothenburg-SWE.html |date=2004-05-30 |location=Ullevi, Gothenburg, SWE |title=Download or Stream the latest Metallica shows - Live music catalog |website=LiveMetallica.com}} These lossless files can be bought on LiveMetallica.com, a service that allows fans to buy and download files of soundboard recordings.{{cite web |title=What is LiveMetallica.com? |website=LiveMetallica.com |url=https://help.livemetallica.com/support/solutions/articles/6000029268-what-is-livemetallica-com- |date=2015-07-23}} From 2007 on some early FLAC releases came from justice, a group that already used APE for lossless music the years before.{{citation |title=Sting_-_Mercury_Falling-1996-FLAC-justice |date=2007-04-28 |author=justice}}{{citation |title=OST_-_Pirates_Of_The_Caribbean_-_Dead_Mans_Chest-2006-APE-justice |date=2006-07-22 |author=justice}} That same year the Polish group BFPMP3 thought to start promoting the FLAC standard with some internal releases.{{citation |title=Ira-Londyn_8_15-PL-FLAC-2007-BFPMP3_INT |date=2007-09-02 |author=((BFPMP3)) |quote=No wiec moi drodzy, nadszedl czas zeby zaczac promowac ten standard, narazie jako _INT relki najwiekszej grupy wydajacej polska muzyke, specialnie dla ludzi ktorzy kochaja jakosc.}} Single purpose groups such as judge, FLACH or CDDA created only a handful of releases in the years before the first ruleset.

On October 2, 2011, the scene introduced a FLAC category by releasing a first ruleset.{{cite news|title=FLAC setzt sich durch - Neues Ruleset in der Musik-Szene|url=http://www.xrel.to/2011-10-09/3564/FLAC-setzt-sich-durch.html|date=2011-10-09|author=vote|language=de}} Eight days later an updated revision was released. According to the documents, the ruleset was created to satisfy the long lasting audiophile's demand for a music scene of higher quality than LAME mpeg compression encoding and because space and bandwidth were able to accommodate more. To avoid previously made mistakes in the music scene, a group of elder sceners gathered to decide upon the rules. A common understanding amongst all was that material from non-physical media can easily be of doubtful origin of source and hence of questionable quality. The rules consider only physical media as a valid source and they must be followed very strictly.{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2086 |title=Kanye_West-My_Beautiful_Dark_Twisted_Fantasy-PROPER-CD-FLAC-2010-PERFECT |author=PERFECT |date=2011-10-24 |website=SceneNotice.org}} A lot of releases are being nuked for various cosmetic flaws.{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2174 |title=RV800-Subsync-(FORM001)-READNFO-VINYL-FLAC-2012-dL |author=dL |date=2013-09-22 |quote=I feel a bit sorry, that a nuker who sits with his computer without the same experience and knowledge, interprets parts of the rules like they were carved into stone, unaware how the physical music industry works and has developed over the last 3 decades. Use your common sense, instead of creating strife.}}

Early 2016, anonymous sceners voiced a concern that nukers lack technical understanding to nuke improperly ripped vinyl sources and showed examples of how the ruleset gets twisted or misinterpreted for minor issues.{{cite web |title=Candlemass-Nightfall-PROPER-READNFO-LP-FLAC-1987-TRUE2496 |author=((TRUE2496)) |date=2016-01-31 |url=https://layer13.net/rls?id=7129210 |website=Layer13}} The release got nuked within the hour after pre by ZoNeNET with just invalid.proper as reason. In June later that year, 4 years after version 2.0, a new ruleset was made to address misinterpretations in the wording and to update some rules.

In response to version 3 of the rules, a scene notice called the rules invalid because it was not created by leading groups in the section or a council. It also pointed out that its block on WEB and PROMO releases causes a void due to the digital only distribution of many originals.{{cite web |url=https://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2354 |title=INVALID_OFFICIAL_FLAC_STANDARD_RULES_V3.0-SCENENOTICE |date=2017-01-09 |website=SceneNotice.org}} The group CUSTODES mentioned in their farewell message that the FLAC ruleset isn't professional enough to archive music in the best quality possible.{{cite web |url=https://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2366 |title=Farewell.CUSTODES-CD-FLAC-2017-CUSTODES |date=2017-02-12 |author=CUSTODES |website=SceneNotice.org |quote=The main goal of archive music in the best quality possible isn't from any real interest. TBH the FLAC-RULESET isnt professional enough for that.}}

Application releases are usually split in two different categories, 0-day and ISO apps.

{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2010.1_0DAY.nfo |title=Zeroday.Scene.Rules.v2010.1-Rules}}

Categories originating from or still being put into 0-day are for example PDA, EBOOK or XXX-IMAGESET. 0-day (pronounced zero day) refers to any copyrighted work that has been released the same day as the original product, or sometimes even before.{{cite web|last=Kopfstein|first=Janus |title=0-Day Art: saving digital art one torrent at a time - Net pirate provocateurs challenge the monetization of online works |url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/23/2961601/0-day-art-digital-art-torrents-piracy|work=TheVerge|date=2012-04-23|access-date=2012-04-26}}

It is considered a mark of skill among warez distro groups to crack and distribute a program on the same day of its commercial release.

• 0-day applications are usually 150 MB or smaller, but can be 5 GB or larger as long as they are not CD/DVD images. The release format allows almost anything in 0-day section, but often 0day releases are cracks or keygens for different applications or small games with size varying from 1–50 MB. Sometimes e-books, imagesets, fonts or mobile software are released as 0-day. Executable programs such as keygens and cracks are often compressed with the open source UPX packer.{{cite web |author=Andy |date=2016-09-26 |title=MacOS Sierra Breaks Popular Keygens, Pirate Finds Fix |url=https://torrentfreak.com/macos-sierra-breaks-popular-keygens-pirate-finds-fix-160926/ |work=TorrentFreak}}

:LineZer0 indicated in the nfo file of their 20,000th release that they will change their packing ways to RAR/SFV and put the old ZIP/RAR/DIZ packaging to rest by the first of April 2012. They strongly encouraged other groups to do the same.{{cite web |author=((Lz0)) |date=2012-03-18 |title=PTC.Mathcad.Prime.v2.0.20000TH.RELEASE.READ.NFO-Lz0 |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2077 |work=SceneNotice.org |access-date=2012-03-29}} After some threats to release information on individuals, Lz0 returned to the old packaging ways for the time being until a new ruleset can be put in place.

{{cite web |author=FATFUCK |date=2012-04-10 |title=VERY.IMPORTENT.SCENE.NOTE.ABOUT.Lz0-FATFUCK |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2090 |work=SceneNotice.org |access-date=2012-04-11}}

{{cite web |author=((Lz0)) |date=2012-04-10 |title=MathSol.CurveFitter.v4.5.7.DC040912.READ.NFO-Lz0 |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2094 |work=SceneNotice.org |access-date=2012-04-20}}

:The Minor Update (MU) rule is unique to 0-day releases. It makes sure that each month not more than one release of the same application is released. Major updates do not follow this rule. The exception to the rule happens when a group motivates in their NFO that the changes are considered to be a major update. For example the group Unleashed choose to ignore the MU rule for a hotfix, making a less blurry game available two weeks sooner.{{citation |title=Clustertruck.incl.Hotfix.RIP.READ.NFO-Unleashed NFO |date=2016-09-28 |quote=NOTE: MU rule is pointless, when this hotfix updates most of the game content and without this fix, game is damn blurry. Should we really wait whole 14 days to be allowed to pre this - no way!}}

• PDA rules require folder naming to define which application and version the release contains.

{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2002_PDA.nfo |title=The PDA releasing standards |date=2002-04-14}}

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. Generally lax security, simple programming and small filesizes make mobile software an attractive target for infringers.{{cite web|last=Dickinson|first=Eli|title=Mobile Software Piracy|url=http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/report/mobile-pda-software-piracy-and-warez|work=FierceDeveloper|access-date=2012-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819054054/http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/report/mobile-pda-software-piracy-and-warez|archive-date=2010-08-19|url-status=live|date=November 2006}} In more recent times it covers other portable devices such as iPod, iPhone, iPad or systems running Android.

• ISO applications are usually either in BIN/CUE or ISO 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 dongle.
• Some groups signed a Sample CD Scene Protocol for better quality sample discs.{{cite web |url=https://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Zero-G.Funky.Elements.AKAI-ALFiSO |title=Zero-G.Funky.Elements.AKAI-ALFiSO nfo file |author=ALFiSO |date=2003-08-17 |website=srrDB}}

This is the scene for game releases that are changed to minimize the size of the distributed files. A first ten point document was made by "The Faction" in 1998. The grouping that created the rules that should be adhered to, and the rules themselves, were disbanded the following year. The NSA rules, or "the new rules", outlines the codes of conduct regarding game ripping. Releasing can be done in two fields: games and applications. It can also be done in two ways: it is possible to release disc images or groups can "rip". In the process of ripping, groups remove things such as introductory movies, multiple texture modes, big sound files and the like.

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.

{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2000_NSA.nfo |title=Network Software Association (N.S.A.) rules |date=2000-03-26 |quote=Signed, Leaders, Council Members and Seniors of Class, Myth & Divine.}} It updates the information document that was prepared in 1998. A draft version of Standard ISO Rules (S.I.R.) 2010 was included in TGSC #43.{{cite web |title=The Game Scene Charts Issue 43 – Featuring Interview With SKIDROW |url=http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2010/07/game-scene-charts-issue-43-featuring.html |date=2010-07-07 |author=TEAM FILEnetworks |work=FileNetworks |quote=TGSC #43 also includes a yet to be finalized version of Standard ISO Rules (S.I.R.) 2010 which will probably define how PC game ISO releases are pre'd in the future.}}

At the start of 2021 a new ruleset for PC games became active: After approximately 20 years without new, written rules for the PC games section the leading Game ISO groups assembled to collaborate on a long overdue modernization.{{cite web |url=https://defacto2.net/g/gameiso |title=OFFICIAL.GAME.ISO.RULESET.2021.READNFO-GAMEISO |date=2021-01-01}} A game must be authored into an ISO file when created for Microsoft Windows, but releases for other operating systems may use a .dmg Apple Disk Image file or even skip the image file altogether before packaging in RARs. A limited time exclusivity right for game updates is introduced to the group that wins the race. Digital distribution of games causes the amount of updates to increase considerably which results in little new data and a lot of duplicate content in the game updates. During this 60 day window it's at the group's discretion to join these updates as they see fit. Outside the Scene repacked games are in high demand. FitGirl, one of the leading names in this niche, often uses the scene release as source to create a better compressed version to save considerable bandwidth.{{cite web |url=https://torrentfreak.com/meet-fitgirl-the-repack-queen-of-pirated-games-200604/ |title=Meet FitGirl, The Repack 'Queen' Of Pirated Games |date=2020-07-05 |first=Ernesto |last=Van der Sar |website=TorrentFreak}}{{cite web |url=https://torrentfreak.com/fitgirl-game-repacker-may-be-the-most-productive-pirate-online-today-211124/ |title=FitGirl Game Repacker May Be The Most Productive Pirate Online Today |date=2021-11-24 |first=Andy |last=Maxwell |website=TorrentFreak}}

DOX is an abbreviation of documents or documentation (manuals). This category includes video game add-ons such as No-CDs, cracked updates, keygens, covers, trainers or cheat codes.

{{cite web |title=README.NFO of The_Unbiased_DOX_Report_2007-12_December_Issue_Year_in_Review_THE_BIG_ONE_ARE_YOU_READING_IT_YET-TNT |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The_Unbiased_DOX_Report_2007-12_December_Issue_Year_in_Review_THE_BIG_ONE_ARE_YOU_READING_IT_YET-TNT |website=srrDB |date=2008-01-09 |author=TNT |quote=DOX is a spoof of the term Docs, which is short for Documentation (or manuals). Today, we define DOX as any additions for CD-Rom/DVD-Rom games, excluding the actual CD/DVD images themselves.}}

DOX releases are amongst the rarest releases in the scene. This is due to their small size.{{cite web |title=The_Sims_2_Bon_Voyage_Covers_750TH_MOST_ELITE_RELEASE-TNT |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The_Sims_2_Bon_Voyage_Covers_750TH_MOST_ELITE_RELEASE-TNT |website=srrDB |date=2007-10-04 |author=TNT |quote=A great journey into that mystical land of the DOXies. The rarest releases in the entire scene. Oh so hard to find because their small size results in shitty couriers choosing to skip over them, not spreading them at all, since they don't get much credits or weektop stats for moving tiny DOX. This makes collecting DOX both challenging and even fun sometimes. Finding that one rare DOX on your list that seems to exist on only 2 sites in the whole scene just brings a smile to your face when you finally obtain it.}} In October 2007, TNT (The Nova Team) noted in the nfo of their 750th release that only the groups DEViANCE and FAiRLiGHT managed to reach the same amount of DOX releases.

The console scene survived decades without rules. In 2009, a first set of rules for the PS2, Xbox 360 and the Wii was released.{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=758 |title=Console.Standards.2009-CONSOLE |date=2008-11-10}} It's remarkable that a release must be pred no later than 30 days after retail date.{{cite web|url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=757 |title=Reply.To.2k9.Console.Rules-x360inT |work=Scenenotice |date=2009-08-13 |access-date=2010-08-06}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://scenerules.irc.gs/t.html?id=2001_XViD.nfo |title=The DivX Releasing Standards 2001}} 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.

On January 25, 1997, the first game released for the N64 was Super Mario 64 by the group Anthrox and the console division of Swat.{{cite web |url=http://www.64scener.com/n64/text/tnr-01.txt |title=THE N64 REVIEW, ISSUE #1 |author=[DoOm] |access-date=2010-02-21 |quote=Swat (console division) has merged into Anthrox, all new Anthrox releases are now atx- (not as-xxxxx.zip).}} [http://n64.icequake.net/mirror/64scener.parodius.com/text/tnr-01.txt].{{cite web |url=http://n64.icequake.net/doc/releases.txt |title=Nintendo 64 ROM Release List |access-date=2010-02-21}} List complete until November 2001.{{cite web |url=http://n64.icequake.net/mirror/64scener.parodius.com/released.htm |title=Nintendo 64 ROM Release List |access-date=2010-02-21}} This list is not complete. 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. Shortly before the closure of 64dd.net in January 2015, there were 883 releases numbered on the site. The last releases listed were done by the group Carrot in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://64dd.net/modules/specials/index.php?sa0000 |title=Nintendo 64 ROM Release List |work=64dd.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114105556/http://64dd.net/modules/specials/index.php?sa0000 |archive-date=2015-01-14}}

{{see also|Game rip#Dreamcast}}

On June 23, 2000, the first ripped Dreamcast game, Dead or Alive 2, was released by Utopia.,{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=195 |title=Dead.or.Alive.2.First.DC.Release-UTOPIA |date=2000-06-23 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=And it's the first copyable release ever. Make sure to use only with our previously released BootCD, and recognize that NO additional Hardware changes are required! You can do as many copies of this image as you want using your favourite CDRWIN, but don't expect to do your own copies!}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=239 |title=Dreamcast.CDLoader.V1.1-UTOPiA |date=2000-06-22 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Finally, though no one really expected it, we made your dreams come true: Dreamcast BootCD V1.1 - boot copies and imports on a NON-chipped (!) standard consumer model.}}{{cite web |url=http://64dd.net/modules/specials/index.php?sr0726&lang=english |title=726: Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask released by The Corporation|date=2000-09-29 |publisher=64DD |quote=As for group news, yeah, it's been real slow and it seems as though interest in the N64 scene is dwindling. This may be one of the last real titles you may see for this system, with GBA, PS2, DC, Gamecube, and XBOX on our minds, N64 is not the top thing on the minds of gamers anymore. We have all been busy with summer life, and playin' DC thanks to the wonderful people in UTOPIA.}} Less than two months later, when Kalisto released the first self bootable game, Dynamite Cop, the game was a Padus DiscJuggler (CDI) image.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=268 |title=Dynamite_Cop_SELF_BOOTING_DC-KALISTO |date=2000-08-19 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Please take note that you can ONLY burn this image with Padus DiscJuggler V2.0.X, It will NOT work with any other CD burning program, nor will it work with V1.0.X or V3.0.X of DiscJuggler. And, for god sakes, don't be lame and waste bandwidth re-releasing Nero and other crap versions of this image and get with the standards.}} Later that month, the first copy protected game, Ultimate Fighting Championship, was released by Kalisto.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=1232 |title=Ultimate_Fighting_Championship_DC-KALISTO |date=2000-08-31 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=The first copy protected DC game.}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ps2&sysid=1895 |title=Kengo_Master_of_Bushido_USA_PS2-KALISTO |date=2000-12-31 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=1st group to crack the first truly protected Dreamcast title (UFC).}} [http://www.console-news.org.cn/v3.php?id=103&rls=484] Almost all releases that followed were released as a CDI image and thus became the de facto standard.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=526 |title=Last_Hope_Repack_DC-NU-NRG |date= 2007-02-08 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Respect for stnow for supplying the original. The original release of this was in alcohol 120% format which I can't stand. So to keep things as standard here is a discjuggler image.}} When Kalisto announced their retirement in the DC scene, they had released more than 66% of all Dreamcast releases.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=359 |title=Ganbare_Nippon_Olympics_2000_JAP_DC-KALISTO |date= 2000-09-02 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Sega has offered us stock options to stop releasing DC, so this will be it, our last release. Thanks to all who have supported us throughout our stay in the DC scene. Take note this is NOT a joke. We are really stopping all DC operations with this release. We will continue on with the PSX. Bye.}} See Kalisto (warez group)#Kalisto and the Dreamcast for more info about this hoax. Two days later, a new group called Echelon picked up where Kalisto left off.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=337 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714000829/http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=337 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2011-07-14 |title=Flag_To_Flag_CART_Racing_DC-ECHELON |date=2000-09-04 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=And a new group breaks into the bustling Dreamcast scene. We had the skills to do most things that KALISTO has done while they were doing it, but hey, why bother if they're doing all releases already? Now that KALISTO has stopped, we thought it would be a good time to emerge and start releasing for the public. }} This group released Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles their 188th and last Dreamcast game release on April 30, 2002.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=300 |title=Evil_Twin_Cypriens_Chronicles_DC-ECHELON |date=2002-04-30 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Enjoy the last Kanji free game from the #1 group in the DC Scene!}} On October 12, 2000, PARADOX, another big and respected scene group, released the first trainer for the Dreamcast.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=956 |title=Silent_Scope_JAP_DC_PLUS2-PARADOX |date=2000-10-12 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=That's it! the first Dreamcast trainer is born!}} 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=936 |title=Shadowman_PAL_GERMAN_DC-PARADOX |date=2000-10-27 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Note: This release is self-bootable. Also enjoy the first PDX intro on Dreamcast. We did this release just to prove that we can do neat DC releases as well. Enjoy!}} Besides games and dox, also emulators and Linux distros were released in the DC scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=sdc&sysid=350 |title=Gameboy_Emu_With_655_Roms_USA_DC-JDS |date=2000-12-21 |publisher=LUDiBRiA}}{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/index.php?sys=sdc&srg=linux |title=Linux DC releases |publisher=LUDiBRiA}}

Xbox releases are by convention in the XISO format, a slight modification of the DVD ISO format.{{cite web |url=http://www.copying-xbox-games.com/evolution-x-tutorial.php |title=Guide to setup EvolutionX |access-date=2010-01-06 |quote=The reason that you have to convert the EvolutionX files to an ISO format is because your Xbox uses a special "xISO" format to read the DVD's. That's why Xbox DVD's can't be read on a standard computer. You use a program called xISO to create that ISO, then burn the ISO to a CDRW. It's in a format called "UDF" so that your Xbox can read the disc. Since the data is encoded in the UDF format, you won't be able to view the files on your PC once they are burned to CDRW.}} 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.First Xbox releases: [http://www.abgx.net/xbox_releases_date.txt] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030152321/http://www.abgx.net/xbox_releases_date.txt |date=2019-10-30 }} and [http://www.console-news.org.cn/v3.php?id=92&page=80] These first releases worked on a developer Xbox, but if it would be playable on retail versions was unknown at the time because no modchips existed yet.{{cite web |url=http://www.console-news.org.cn/v3.php?id=103&rls=1365

|title=4x4_Evo_2_XBOX-ProjectX |date=2002-05-04 |quote=We tested this game on a developer XBOX, and it works. Since there is no mod chip yet, we have no idea if this release will work on retail XBOXes when/if a mod comes out. However, now that there is a release, a modchip developer will be inclined to get our releases to work, so we think a future mod will work with this release.}}

There are more than 4400 Xbox releases released in the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/xbox_releases_date.txt |title=xbox_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net |access-date=2010-02-18 |archive-date=2019-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030152321/http://www.abgx.net/xbox_releases_date.txt |url-status=dead }}

PlayStation 2 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.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ps2&sysid=970

|title=Klonoa_2_Lunateas_Veil_USA_PS2_DVD-PARADOX |date=2001-01-08 |publisher=LUDiBRiA

|quote=Just cause these don't require as much work as rips I would rather play the game in its full glory then to have some sweat over a rip that looks like shit, sounds like shit, and crashes. Think about how much you pollute the earth and waste money for them, they have been nothing but problems. ParadoX was the first to do PS2 rips and PS2 DVD rips i think we proved are selves so go with your homeboys who care about what we push out unlike other groups who throw together crap and whine and then shut their mouths when they notice the shit the gloat about doesn't work... BaH! Good Nite}}

On June 12, 2003, the first game for the GameCube, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, was released by STARCUBE.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ngc&sysid=1486

|title=The_Legend_Of_Zelda_The_Wind_Waker_USA_NGC-STARCUBE |date=2003-06-12 |publisher=LUDiBRiA

|quote=No, you won't be able to play this game on your GC, at least for now. But we thought software and hardware hackers would be interested in a GC release for various reasons, so here it is. For this first one, we decided to give you a pure disc dump. But on a GC disc, all the space that's not used is filled with random garbage, which is bad for compression. Any upcoming release from us will have that garbage removed.}}

As of May 2016, there are more than 3100 NGC releases released in the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/ngc_releases_date.txt |title=ngc_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net}}

On December 8, 2005, the first full game for the Xbox 360 was released in the scene by the warez group PI.

{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=x36&sysid=2 |title=Need_For_Speed_Most_Wanted_PAL_XBOX360-PI |date=2005-12-08 |publisher=LUDiBRiA

|quote=You can't run these dumps yet, but you will be able to sooner or later :) [...] Why do we release full raw dumps, one sentence "Remember Gamecube?" until we know for sure what will be needed to run these things we will be releasing the full raw dumps to you, also a full raw dump is more likely to assist any hackers out there...}}

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.

{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=x36&sysid=1 |title=XBOX_360_Dump_Extractor_Tool_1.0_OPEN_SOURCE-PI |date=2005-12-08 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=But here we go with a nice extractor tool so that you can extract the dumps and check out the files, we even decided to release the source code, so that you can figure out the filesystem and make even nicer tools [...] Yes, once you get past the protections and down to the raw bits on the disc, its just the standard xboxdvdfs, however the offset and layer breakpoint are different!}}

As of January 2017, there are more than 6700 Xbox 360 releases released in the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/xbox360_releases_date.txt |title=xbox360_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net}}

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.

On November 25, 2006, PARADOX released the first PS3 ISO.{{cite web

|url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ps3&sysid=1

|title=NFL_Madden_2007_USA_BLUERAY_PS3-PARADOX |date=2006-11-25 |work=LUDiBRiA

|quote=Well everyone here it is - the world's first accessible PS3 rip ! [...] Granted it may end up being a bad rip or even totally unusable like the initial PS1/2/PSP/XBOX/XBOX360 releases but without them I doubt we would be able to play them now.}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.fixxx.dk/2006/11/playstation-3-spil-isoer.html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113022950/http://www.fixxx.dk/2006/11/playstation-3-spil-isoer.html

|archive-date=2008-01-13

|title=PlayStation 3 spil ISOer? |trans-title=PlayStation 3 game ISOs? |language=da

|date=2006-11-26 |work=fixxx.dk

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.ps3news.com/forums/playstation-3-psn-news/worlds-first-ps3-blu-ray-game-dump-hits-cyberspace-39852.html |url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201010309/http://www.ps3news.com/forums/playstation-3-psn-news/worlds-first-ps3-blu-ray-game-dump-hits-cyberspace-39852.html |archive-date=2013-02-01

|title=World's First PS3 Blu-ray Game Dump hits Cyberspace!!!

|date=2006-11-25 |work=ps3news.com |author=((PS3 News))

}}{{cite web

|url=http://www.zataz.com/news/12705/Scoop-:-Plutot-rapide-les-pirates.-La-nouvelle-console-de-Sony-est-a-peine-sortie-que-les-copies-warez-arrivent-deja..html

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516172324/http://www.zataz.com/news/12705/Scoop-:-Plutot-rapide-les-pirates.-La-nouvelle-console-de-Sony-est-a-peine-sortie-que-les-copies-warez-arrivent-deja..html

|archive-date=2010-05-16 |url-status=live

|title=Première copie pour PS3 |trans-title=First copy for PS3 |language=fr

|date=2006-11-26 |work=zataz.com |first=Damien |last=Bancal

}} The PS3 ISOs are now fully playable on a jailbroken PS3. As of January 2017, there were more than 4,800 PS3 releases in the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/ps3_releases_date.txt |title=ps3_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net |date=2017-01-15}}

A first ruleset for the PlayStation 3 section was released on June 10, 2011.

{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=ps3&sysid=2229

|title=The.Official.PlayStation3.Ruleset.2011.PS3-CONSOLE

|work=Ludibria |date=2011-06-10}}

Shortly afterwards it was voided in classic scene style: "These rules dont mean shit you asshats."

{{cite web |url=http://filenetworks.blogspot.com/2011/06/scene-ps3-release-rules-pred-and-then.html |title=Scene PS3 Release Rules Pre'd And Then Voided |work=FileNetworks |author=TEAM FILEnetworks |date=2011-06-23}}

and the original rules were nuked for inadequate.and.unnecessary.ruleset_not.signed.by.all.listed.groups_see.Response.to.The.Official.PlayStation3.Ruleset.2011.PS3. A new "VOID" ruleset was released the day after and was nuked for no.valid.rebuttal.given_not.all.grps.need.to.sign_follow.the.new.ruleset.

{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1993 |work=SceneNotice |title=The.UnOfficial.PlayStation3.VOID.Ruleset.2011.PS3-FUCKYOU |date=2011-06-11}}

The better response followed a couple of days later.

{{cite web |url=http://www.xrel.to/nfo-nfo/424171/Response-to-The-Official-PlayStation3-Ruleset-2011-PS3.html |title=Response.to.The.Official.PlayStation3.Ruleset.2011.PS3 |work=xREL |date=2011-06-14}}

Wii releases must be in standard DVD ISO format. The rar archives must use compression.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=wii&sysid=5221 |title=Endless_Ocean_2_PROPER_PAL_Wii-WiiZARD |date=2010-02-05 |access-date=2010-02-13 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=The iCON release had m0 compression, enjoy this WiiZARD proper.}} PARADOX released the first Wii image on December 12, 2006. The game was Red Steel.{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=wii&sysid=2 |title=Red_Steel_USA_Wii-PARADOX |date=2006-12-21 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Here we are again bringing you another world first, a full DVD image of one of the best Wii games to date, RedSteel. [...] Let the hacking and exploration of the Nintendo Wii begin! As is often the case with these scene firsts, it could be a while still until this image is playable.}}{{cite web |url=http://www.aboutthescene.com/general/news/69.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617191535/http://www.aboutthescene.com/general/news/69.html |archive-date=2008-06-17 |title=First Nintendo Wii warez release (Red_Steel_USA_Wii-PARADOX) |date=2006-12-29 |access-date=2010-02-13 |quote=A small revolution is beginning - people from scene group Paradox released the very first Wii image of Red Steel, one of the most popular games on this console.}}

On April 14, 2008, BlaZe was the first group to release a Virtual Console title.

{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=wii&sysid=820 |title=Donkey.Kong.Country.2.Diddys.Kong.Quest.VC.PAL.Wii-BlaZe |date=2008-04-16 |access-date=2010-02-13 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=BlaZe brings you the first Virtual Console release. These are the raw, unencrypted files. To install this title, pack it into a WAD using your favourite wad packer (for the moment, there are no public ones) And install them using an elf installer, or a modified ISO that installs the WAD.

}} This emulated SNES Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest finally had a proper dump after its fourth release more than a year later.{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/index.php?sys=wii&srg=Donkey.Kong.Country.2.Diddys.Kong.Quest |title=LUDiBRiA - Wii Releases: search result |access-date=2010-02-13

}} These DLC releases are tagged VC or WiiWare and exist of a packed WAD file. A large amount of these first releases were nuked.{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/index.php?sys=wii&srg=.VC. |title=LUDiBRiA - Wii Releases: search result |access-date=2010-02-13 }} The main nuke reason was modified.ticket.info. Example:.[http://i25.tinypic.com/nmnt46.png modified.ticket_get.OneUp.proper] 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.{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=wii&sysid=3523 |title=Fantasy.Zone.PAL.REPACK.VC.Wii-OneUp |date=2009-07-10 |access-date=2010-02-13 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=these releases were not Trunca{{sic}} Signed and would not install we have fixed them for you.}}

In January 2017, more than 7800 releases for the Wii were released in the scene.{{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/wii_releases_date.txt |title=wii_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net}}, {{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/wiiww_releases_date.txt |title=wiiww_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net}}, {{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/wiivc_releases_date.txt |title=wiivc_releases_date.txt |work=ABGX.net}}

On May 3, 2013, the group VENOM released the first game for the Wii U: Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth. The disk image is a .iso file in Wii U Optical Disc format (WUOD), Nintendo's proprietary disc format for the Wii U. Like other console scene firsts, the game isn't playable on the console yet.{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The_Avengers_Battle_for_Earth_PAL_WiiU-VENOM |work=srrDB |title=The_Avengers_Battle_for_Earth_PAL_WiiU-VENOM |quote=Today we give you the first full WiiU disc image! |date=2013-05-03}} This first scene release was a few days after the Wii U was announced to be allegedly hacked by the mod chip developer WiiKey.{{cite web |url=https://www.engadget.com/2013/05/01/nintendo-wii-u-hack/ |title=Wii U allegedly hacked, Nintendo addresses would-be pirates (updated) |first=Mark |last=Hearn |date=2013-05-01}} Based on the file date of the RAR archives, VENOM had already created the ISO file more than a month before pre. This is the point in time when they first made the files available within the scene through their affiliated sites.

Later, Venom's Release was found to be a bad dump, so the real first Wii U game dumped was by PoWeRUp, which has been confirmed as PROPER.

On November 19, 2013, a couple of days before the official console launch date, the group COMPLEX released the first game for the Xbox One: Call of Duty: Ghosts. The release contained a 42 GB .iso file without the security sectors. The file system format of the disk is XGD4 (Xbox Game Data 4).{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2198 |work=SceneNotice |title=Call.of.Duty.Ghosts.XBOXONE-COMPLEX |quote=COMPLEX is proud to present the very first game data sector dump of an XBOX ONE game - even before the official console launch date ;) This release contains a 42 gb .iso without security sectors. These can be patched in later on before burning the iso to disc. The disc itself has a new format (XGD4 / XBOX Game Data 4) and contains a few folders (licenses, msxc and metadata) with some .png and catalog files plus one large package1.xvc file of 41,285,020 kb length. |date=2013-11-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402094023/http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2198 |archive-date=2015-04-02 }}

On May 31, 2014, the group WaYsTeD brought the first PlayStation 4 game to the scene: Watch Dogs. Just like with other console firsts, the 25 GB .iso file is not currently playable. It has the same file structure as the PlayStation 3 games.{{cite web |title=Watch.Dogs.PS4-WaYsTeD |date=2014-05-31 |author=WaYsTeD |url=http://rom-news.org/ps4/nfo/Watch.Dogs.PS4-WaYsTeD |quote=We are now ripping PS4 games hopping it will be hacked one day and for everyone to enjoy. This pretty much has the same file structure as the ps3 games. Download these games and archive them we may need them one day.}} Within two months, some other groups started doing raw image dumps too.{{cite web |title=The_Pinball_Arcade_PS4-QueLLBRUNN |date=2014-07-26 |author=QueLLBRUNN |url=http://rom-news.org/ps4/nfo/The_Pinball_Arcade_PS4-QueLLBRUNN |quote=This is a raw copy made like WaYsteD with some bddrive and ImgBurn. Don't expect any more.}} More than 3 years later on September 27, 2017, the group KOTF (Knights of the Fallen) released Grand Theft Auto V as the first playable decrypted game dump, DARKSiDERS on PC GAMES section are saying that this KOTF release would not been possible without them. As KOTF did not had good enough topsite at the time, sites IRC channel announced pre as: "DARKSiDERS RELEASED Grand.Theft.Auto.V.READNFO.PS4-KOTF". As the game was released from the DARKSiDERS pre directory, the release was given to DARKSiDERS on behalf of KOTF. Its though unclear how these groups are related, but many in the Scene remember that pre announcement mentioning also DARKSiDERS to the confusion of many.{{cite web |title=Grand.Theft.Auto.V.READNFO.PS4-KOTF |url=http://rom-news.org/ps4/nfo/Grand.Theft.Auto.V.READNFO.PS4-KOTF |date=2017-09-27 |website=rom-news |author=KOTF}} Among the first releases were games such as Assassin's Creed IV and Far Cry 4, with RAR volumes of 250 MB and even 500 MB sized parts. The outdated firmware that was required to play these games was a major drawback.{{cite web |url=https://torrentfreak.com/ps4-piracy-now-exists-if-gamers-want-to-jump-through-hoops-170930/ |website=TorrentFreak |title=PS4 Piracy Now Exists – If Gamers Want to Jump Through Hoops |author=Andy |date=2017-09-30}}

A handheld game console is a lightweight, portable electronic device with a built-in screen, game controls, speakers and replaceable and or rechargeable batteries or battery pack. Handheld game consoles are run on machines of small size allowing people to carry them and play them at any time or place. Unlike video game consoles, the controls, screen and speakers are all part of a single unit.

Game Boy Advance 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.

The Nintendo DS scene started out as an extension of the Game Boy Advance scene, and carried forward with mostly the same set of rules. On May 31, 2010, a first ruleset was released with the goal of establishing a clear and concise listing of what should be expected of a valid Nintendo DS release. "Having an official list to reference should prevent needless nuking, and clean up what is at present a cluttered and confused scene." 7 groups signed the rules.{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The.NintendoDS.Release.Standards.2010-NDS |title=The.NintendoDS.Release.Standards.2010-NDS |date=2010-05-31 |website=srrDB}} The day after, a second "official" ruleset was released but was nuked later on, although it is deemed to be the most relevant according to scenerules.irc.gs. Multiple of the 18 groups listed did not agree to sign the rules.{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/The.Official.NintendoDS.Ruleset.2010.NDS-CONSOLE |title=The.Official.NintendoDS.Ruleset.2010.NDS-CONSOLE |date=2010-06-01 |website=srrDB}}

[NUKE] invalid.ruleset_pred.after.first.NDS.ruleset (LocalRelay)

[UNNUKE] nuke.networks.do.not.have.rights.to.claim.what.rule.set.is.valid (LocalRelay)

[NUKED] invalid.ruleset_NO.rules.can.not.be.enforced.by.this.set_multiple.groups.listed.did.not.agree.to.sign.rules{{cite web |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/Sherlock_Holmes_DS_and_the_Mystery_of_Osborne_House_EUR_MULTi6_NDS-EXiMiUS |title=Sherlock_Holmes_DS_and_the_Mystery_of_Osborne_House_EUR_MULTi6_NDS-EXiMiUS |date=2010-06-23 |website=srrDB |quote=You have to know that we never signed the lame The.Official.NintendoDS.Ruleset.2010.NDS-CONSOLE ruleset, whoever wrote it. We support the real scene spirit, where a perfect release is a playable release. Also, we allow REAL skilled groups to release cracks/trainers as patches for our games, just contact us before if you can guys.}} A scene notice has been released by "Concerned Retired NDS/GBA Scene Founding Members" concerning the issue of the two rulesets.{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2160 |title=The.Current.Status.of.the.NDS.SCENE-CONCERNED |date=2010-07-09 |website=SceneNotice}}{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2161 |title=Response.to.The.Current.Status.of.the.NDS.SCENE-CONCERNED |date=2010-07-14 |website=SceneNotice}}

Nintendo DS releases are in their native ROM format (.neo or .nds).{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} The Scene has been doing .zip from the GBA days, but now the releases need to be compressed into 5 MB split RAR volumes and contain a Nintendo DS title or a patch for a Nintendo DS title. Also an NFO file is a must. A patch is some modification or tool like a trainer, crack, language selector or save fix. The most common formats are .BDF and .IPS. The directory name must include the text "NDS" and the group name. DSi related releases are regarded as NDS releases and must have the tag DSi.

See also [http://37.122.211.148/wiki/index.php?title=DS_Scene DS Scene] and [http://37.122.211.148/wiki/index.php?title=DS_Piracy DS Piracy] on pocketheaven.com for more background and history.

Nintendo 3DS releases use the .3ds file format or the .cia file format. The group LEGACY (LGC) released the first three games on June 5, 2011. They included a picture of the dumper they used.{{cite web |title=Tom_Clancys_Ghost_Recon_Shadow_Wars_EUR_3DS-LGC |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=3ds&sysid=1 |work=LUDiBRiA |quote=Like our first DS and DSi dumps, we have included a picture of the dumper with this release. |date=2011-06-05}} The packaging is done with compressed RAR files and an SFV for verification. As of October 2017, there are more than 2400 3DS releases.{{cite web |url=http://www.abgx.net/3ds_releases_date.txt |title=3ds_releases_date.txt |website=ABGX.net |date=2017-12-23 |quote=Total releases: 2523 (including 62 nuked)}}{{cite web |url=http://3dsdb.com/ |title=3DS Rom Database |website=3dsdb.com |quote=2,428 entries}}

{{See also|List of PlayStation Portable games}}

Sony PSP 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.

{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=psp&sysid=936 |title=Tiger_Woods_PGA_Tour_USA_PSP_INTERNAL_RIP-pSyPSP |date=2005-06-27 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=This game had dummy files probably to help loading times, which were removed along with some music and commentary. It comes to about 509 mb which should be enough to fit on a 512 mb memory stick in the future when the games will be playable.}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/index.php?sys=psp&m=0&y=2005 |title=LUDiBRiA - PSP Releases: search result |access-date=2010-02-13}}{{cite web |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/news090505umdcracked |title=PSP's UMD format cracked |date=2005-05-09 |website=Eurogamer |author=GamesIndustry International}} 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.

{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=psp&sysid=1655 |title=Syphon_Filter_USA_READNFO_PS1_For_PSP-pSyPSP |date=2006-12-22 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=This emulated PS1 game is for the new 3.02OE-A.. Copy it to your Memory Stick and boot as normal. Just to clarify to people who don't follow the PSP scene.. These are bought from the PlayStation store with a PS3 which is the only way they can be obtained and played. It is NOT possible to use existing PS1 ISOs with this official emulator.}}

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.

{{cite web |url=http://ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=psp&sysid=1966 |title=Untold_Legends_Brotherhood_Of_The_Blade_Plus_9_Trainer_PSP-PARADOX |date=2006-05-18 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=Here Is Another Trainer For All You Cheaters Out There. A Nice +9 For A Nice Game Is Always Good. Just Remember Which Group Is Bringing You The Hottest Trainers And Patches.}}

See also [http://www.pocketheaven.com/ph/wiki/PSP_Scene PSP Scene] and [http://www.pocketheaven.com/ph/wiki/PSP_Piracy 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.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.com/nfo.php?sys=psp&sysid=1676 |title=ALIEN_EUR_MULTI3_UMDVIDEO_PSP-DEV |date=2005-09-02 |publisher=LUDiBRiA |quote=We release this movie to allow all developers test the umd video format and maybe do a media player. There's no way yet to watch or play this movie}} Because Sony killed the format, the UMDMovie releases came to a halt in May 2007.{{cite news |title=Sony intros Memory Stick movies as Target KO's UMDs |author=Tor Thorsen |newspaper=gamesport |date=2006-07-13 |url=http://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-intros-memory-stick-movies-as-target-kos-umds/1100-6154015/}} 3 years later the group ABSTRAKT released some more UMD Movies.{{cite web |url=http://www.ludibria.net/index.php?sys=psp&srg=umdmovie |title=LUDiBRiA - PSP Releases |work=LUDiBRiA |access-date=2012-05-11}}

The first game release for the PlayStation Vita in the scene, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, was done by the group PSiCO on February 8, 2016.{{cite web |url=http://wololo.net/2016/02/10/warez-group-psico-release-first-vita-cartridge-dump-uncharted-golden-abyss/ |title=Warez group PSiCO release first Vita cartridge dump: Uncharted Golden Abyss |author=WOLOLO |date=2016-02-10 |quote=there exists no way to actually run this content today}} This was almost 4 years after the introduction of the PS Vita in Europe and North America. It was dumped from a PS Vita NVG game cartridge and the PFS encryption layer was removed since this data is not needed to become playable in the future.{{cite web |title=Uncharted_Golden_Abyss_EUR_MULTI5_READNFO_PSV-PSiCO |date=2016-02-08 |author=PSiCO |url=http://www.xrel.to/console-nfo/1091565/Uncharted-Golden-Abyss-EUR-MULTI5-READNFO-PSV-PSiCO.html |quote=Well here we are, the first PS Vita NVG game cartridge dump!}} Releases are tagged with PSV in the directory name. There were already a handful of other PSV tagged releases before, but these contained covers.

The first releases were made to be used with the Cobra BlackFin dongle for the PlayStation Vita handheld, using the .psv (BlackFin) format for its data dump.{{cite web |url=http://wololo.net/2016/06/21/ps-vita-cartridge-dumps-available-warez-sites-cobra-blackfin/ |title=Warez groups start releasing Vita Cartridge dumps for Cobra Blackin |author=WOLOLO |date=2016-06-21}} After the release of the Vitamin dumper in August 2016 following the HENkaku homebrew enabler, there weren't many new releases immediately after because of issues with this new tool.{{cite web |title=Scene_Notice_For_Vitamin_Dumps_READNFO_PSV-PSiCO |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2341 |date=2016-08-30 |quote=We expected a flood of scene releases, which luckily for all of us didn't happen}} A couple of weeks later the first ruleset was signed by 4 groups.{{cite web |date=2016-09-10 |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2344 |title=PSVita.Standards.2016-CONSOLE}} The best tool to make a copy of the game cartridge data at that moment was MaiDumpTool in combination with Vitamin 2.0 when needed. The file format used for these newer dumps is .vpk: a ZIP containing the decrypted files of the game folder.

Other handheld platforms that had games released by the Scene include Neo Geo Pocket, Neo Geo Pocket Color, WonderSwan, WonderSwan Color, Tapwave Zodiac, Gizmondo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and N-Gage.{{cite web|url=http://www.pocketheaven.com/ph/wiki/Ngage_Scene |title=Ngage Scene - PHWiki |publisher=Pocketheaven.com |date=2009-08-03 |access-date=2010-08-06}}{{cite web|url=http://www.pocketheaven.com/ph/wiki/GBC_Scene |title=GBC Scene - PHWiki |publisher=Pocketheaven.com |date=2009-08-03 |access-date=2010-08-06}}

The first traceable scene release of an e-book can be dated back to around the year 2000.{{cite web|url=http://www.searchlores.org/h_ebook.htm |title=A brief history of the e-book scene |author=Ronin |date=October 2004 |work=Fravia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120724015529/http://www.searchlores.org/h_ebook.htm |archive-date=2012-07-24 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1379 |title=VALEDiCTION.TO.THE.SCENE-EEn |author=EEn |work=SceneNotice.org |date=2004-08-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320170835/https://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=1379 |archive-date=2018-03-20 |url-status=dead}} In 2008, sUppLeX wrote in one of their NFOs that "ebooks do not really belong to 0day anymore, so we definitely need rules for that. Most countries got their own rules for the local ebook section in their country, but there's nothing similar for the whole world." sUppLeX were releasing their ebooks in RAR/SFV format at that time, but reverted two years later.{{cite web |title=DC.Countdown.Vol.1.No.15.Jan.2008.READ.NFO.COMiC.eBOOk-sUppLeX |date=2008-03-25 |author=sUppLeX |quote=YES, WE PRE IN RAR/SFV WHiCH MiGHT BE A BiT TOO MUCH FOR MOST OF YOU ZiP/DiZ LOVERS, BUT GiVE iT A TRY. |url=http://www.srrdb.com/release/details/DC.Countdown.Vol.1.No.15.Jan.2008.READ.NFO.COMiC.eBOOk-sUppLeX}}{{cite web |url=http://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2318 |title=sUppLeX.reverting.back.to.0day.standards.READ.NFO-sUppLeX |date=2010-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320170819/https://scenenotice.org/details.php?id=2318 |archive-date=2018-03-20 |url-status=dead}}

Standards existed for the German and Polish ebook scenes.{{cite web |title=German.Ebook.Rules.Beta.0.70.Denkanstoss-pxd |date=2003-12-04 |url=https://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2004_DE_EBOOK.nfo |work=SceneRules}}{{citation |title=eBook.Rules.v.2.0.Final.20.06.2004-GER |date=2004-06-20}}{{cite web |title=Polish.eBooks.Releasing.Standards.v.1.0-PLeBookScene |date=2006-09-22 |url=https://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2006_PL_EBOOK.nfo |author1=BiL |author2=iMN |author3=KiOSK |author4=PiSToNS}}

In 2009, a new ruleset for German e-books was created,{{cite web |url=http://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2009_DE_EBOOK.nfo |title=German.eBOOk.Releasing.Standards.2009-GERMANBOOKS |date=2009-04-15 |work=SceneRules |quote=Ebooks developed into a whole new independent section which grew out of 0DAY.}} which closely matches general rules for English releases and which since has been adopted in most e-book releases. There was the option to choose between ZIP/DIZ or RAR/SFV to package a release.

In 2012, international ebook rules were created. It was a unified agreement applicable to all groups to ensure high quality ebook releases.{{cite web |url=https://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2012_EBOOK.nfo |title=International.Ebook.Rules.2012.eBOOK-EBOOKCOUNCiL |date=2012-04-19 |work=SceneRules}} In 2022 an updated version of the rules was published.{{cite web |url=https://scenerules.org/t.html?id=2022_EBOOK.nfo |title=International.Ebook.Rules.2022.eBOOK-EBOOKCOUNCiL |date=2022-04-03 |work=SceneRules}} DRM-protection has to be removed prior to release and only the 0day ZIP/DIZ packaging can be used. Some examples showing naming conventions:

Magazine.Name.Year.Month.LANGUAGE.SOURCE.eBOOk-GROUPTAG

Journal.Name.Vol.xx.No.xx.Month.Year.LANGUAGE.SOURCE.COMiC.eBOOk-GROUPTAG (also for comics)

Book.Title.xxth.Edition.Year.LANGUAGE.SOURCE.eBOOk-GROUPTAG

• xx stands for a number: volume, issue number or edition
• SOURCE may be SCAN for scanned documents or RETAiL for commercially available e-documents

Allowed file formats are PDF, EPUB, Kindle (.azw, .kf8) and Mobipocket (.prc, .mobi).

• ARJ

{{reflist|30em|group="ruleset"}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

{{Cite journal | last1 = Basamanowicz | first1 = J. | last2 = Bouchard | first2 = M. | doi = 10.2202/1944-2866.1125 | title = Overcoming the Warez Paradox: Online Piracy Groups and Situational Crime Prevention | journal = Policy & Internet | volume = 3 | issue = 2 | pages = 79 | year = 2011 }}

"These, along with rules of naming and organizing files, are rules that dictate

how a file must be packaged—all groups are expected to know and to follow

these standards. The packaging stage in the script ensures that the content is

adequately packed to scene standards: files must be properly named, files must be

in the correct format, files must be the correct size, files and folders must be

properly organized and labeled, and an nfo file containing required information

must be included with the content."

{{Cite journal | last1 = Goode | first1 = S. | title = Exploring the supply of pirate software for mobile devices: An analysis of software types and piracy groups | doi = 10.1108/09685221011079171 | journal = Information Management & Computer Security | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = 204–225 | year = 2010 }}

{{cite tech report |author=Rehn, Alf |title=Ordered Misbehavior: The structuring of an illegal endeavor |year=2005 |number=12 |institution=Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Industrial Economics and Management |url=http://www.pinkmachine.com/PMP/nr12.pdf |access-date=2013-07-02}}

{{cite thesis |type=Ph.D. |author=Lars Rau |title=Phänomenologie und Bekämpfung von "Cyberpiraterie": eine kriminologische und kriminalpolitische Analyse |year=2004 |publisher=Justus-Liebig-Universität |language=de |trans-title=Phenomenology and combat "cyber piracy": a criminological and criminal policy analysis |isbn=3-86537-246-5 |url=http://geb.uni-giessen.de/geb/volltexte/2004/1819| access-date=2013-07-27}}

{{cite thesis |author=Jan Adriaan van der Wal |title=The "rise" and "fall" of the MP3scene: A Global and Virtual Organization - An organizational, social relational and technological analysis |year=2009 |url=http://dare.uva.nl/document/139360}}

{{cite book |last1=Craig |first1=Paul |last2=Ron |first2=Mark |editor1-first=Mark |editor1-last=Burnett |others=Publisher: Andrew Williams, Page Layout and Art: Patricia Lupien, Acquisitions Editor: Jaime Quigley, Copy Editor: Judy Eby, Technical Editor: Mark Burnett, Indexer: Nara Wood, Cover Designer: Michael Kavish |title=Software Piracy Exposed - Secrets from the Dark Side Revealed |date=April 2005 |publisher=Syngress Publishing |location=United States of America |isbn=978-1-932266-98-6 |doi=10.1016/B978-193226698-6/50030-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai/page/96 96–102] |chapter=Chapter 5: The Release |quote=Each release must adhere to a specific set of scene rules. If a release strays from the rules (i.e., trying to be different or ignoring warez policies) scene sites will refuse the release and instantly nuke it. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/softwarepiracyex0000crai/page/96 }}

{{cite book

|last1=Krömer |first1=Jan |last2=Sen |first2=Evrim

|title=No copy: die Welt der digitalen Raubkopie |trans-title=No copy: the world of digital piracy

|url=http://www.no-copy.org/kapitelinhalt.html |year=2007 |orig-date=2006 |publisher=Tropical Publisher

|location=Germany |language=de |isbn=9783932170829|pages=54–55

|chapter=Chapter 2: Kopie der Kopie der Kopie - RELEASE-SZENE |chapter-url=http://www.no-copy.org/release-szene.html

}}

{{cite book

|last=Gehring |first=Verna V. |title=The Internet In Public Life

|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0-7425-4234-1 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ETRQhDytIsC&q=warez+0-day&pg=PA47

|page=47 |chapter=Chapter 3: Do Hackers Provide a Public Service |date=2004-08-01

|quote=Ideally, a warez d00d tries to release "0-day warez", copies of commercial software copied, cracked, and re-released on the first day the software is available for retail sale.}}

{{cite web |title=BitTorrent Pirates Go Nuts After TV Release Groups Dump Xvid

|url=http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-pirates-go-nuts-after-tv-release-groups-dump-xvid-120303/

|date=2012-03-03 |author=enigmax |work=TorrentFreak |access-date=2012-03-04}}

{{cite web |title=Have You Got What It Takes To Be An HD x264 Releaser? |url=http://torrentfreak.com/have-you-got-what-it-takes-to-be-an-hd-x264-releaser-110210/

|work=TorrentFreak |access-date=2012-05-02 |author=enigmax |date=2011-02-10}}

}}

• [https://scenerules.org/ Largest collection of known scene rules]
• [http://www.roysac.com/blog/2009/03/how-to-package-a-scene-release/ How to package a Scene release?]
• [http://rescene.wikidot.com/what-cd-rules Music rules] of the now defunct What.CD torrent tracker

{{DEFAULTSORT:Standard (Warez)}}

Category:Warez

Category:Standards