Doesn't codemasters and many other publishers sell unfinished games already? Maybe what he means is selling unfinished to a greater degree.

I thought Codemasters already had a good piracy prevention system of making shitty games no one wants to pirate.

ROFL, he almost got me there.

Quality control is a major issue with a lot of games still, unless there is a (good) demo, you'd have to buy the game to find out if it's was actually worth the money. This is a fundamental advantage the industry has.

So rather then releasing an unfinished game and patching it up, why not release the first 30% of a game, with the ability of a full refund if you dislike it (technological/logistical problems aside) ? This comes close to a demo of course, but if it's enforced somehow, it would empower consumers more against these practices.

The same actually goes for movies. Why can't we get a full refund if we leave the theater during the break if we dislike what we've seen in the first half. I would have left during Star Trek and Terminator IV, now my visits will be in the books as a successful sale and they'll actually make more if this crap.

They've been doing this for years, releasing unfinished games and patching later. Now they call patches DLC and charge you for it.

This is no good. If down the road I want to reinstall and can't download the DLC again? Same as any other online DRM that can keep you from playing your old games.

StingingVelvet wrote on Jul 16, 2010, 01:38:
Yeah okay.

Keep messing with customers video game industry, eventually it is going to bite you in the ass.

It's already biting them in the ass. If you see a link below, NPD shows the industry fell 6% in June for the US with software sales falling 15%.

They deserve it for fucking insane ideas like this one.

We should just rid of physical games and use digital only like Steam. It's better for the environment, better use of DRM, and no issues of reselling used games.

Mac wrote on Jul 16, 2010, 03:05:
The best model I have seen so far is the one deployed by Valve with TF2, CS, etc ... where they issue small updates on a very regular basis - it becomes a pain in the arse for pirates to keep updating and legit customers continue to get great support - win win !

Valve's model really only works with multiplayer games though, one of the reasons I think Episode 3 is taking so long is them trying to change it to fit their new paradigm.

DLC doesn't really stop piracy at all on singleplayer games, pirates just crack those installers too. NOTHING stops piracy... Ubisoft had me thinking they might have done it, but nope, no dice. I'm firmly of the opinion now that you just have to release a good fucking game and stop paying a billion dollars to make it.

The best model I have seen so far is the one deployed by Valve with TF2, CS, etc ... where they issue small updates on a very regular basis - it becomes a pain in the arse for pirates to keep updating and legit customers continue to get great support - win win !

I have never bought any DLC, and I never will - i'm not supporting that crap model. It's almost as bad as Ubi's always on DLC, by witholding part of the game from me you are devaluing the product, yet you still want to charge full price, and then a premium ontop of that.

The only way the DLC model could work is if the initial game was released at half price (which coincidently may help reduce piracy in the first place) and then have DLC that is so good that it becomes a must buy and the total added together is what a new game costs today ... rather than your current view of the world which is basically just trying to put your hand in my pocket and fleece me.

Try again!

This is the same as any other DRM: a disadvantage for the honest customer.
We get either crippled games or will have to pay far more than usually for the full game.

I have never once bought DLC, and I never will. If that means playing old games then so be it.

Yeah okay.

Keep messing with customers video game industry, eventually it is going to bite you in the ass.

this news brought tears to koticks eyes.

Micro-transactions are already happening on top of full game price tags on top of DRM.

The industry does need to be cleaned up, but talking about micro transactions as a solution is the wrong direction. Studios should be held accountable for the shit they release and be put on a black list.

Day one patches, selling retail beta copies, missing/adding trivial content which is later sold as DLC and so on are completely avoidable but are completely common now.

I want to pick up additional content so that I can relive my "Holy shit, Opposing Force is amazing!" moment not "oh, another map".

At least he's honest.

Indeed - buying SP and MP separate for lower prices each would be awesome - one wonders why they don't do that?

I don't really have a problem with selling partial games if they are priced appropriately. For example, if the multiplayer is sold separately for $20, making the single-player only cost $30. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure this guy means that they should sell partial games at full price, then charge extra to buy the rest.

lmao this is such a fantastic piece of text. starts out very promising, I was thinking wait what holy shit the codemasters ceo is saying this, then he rolled right off the cliff hahaha. this guy is batshit insane