Piracy versus PC Gaming [Mar 09, 2007, 8:23 pm ET] – Share – Viewing Comments
Next Generation recaps a GDC talk titled "The Videogame Piracy Problem:
Fifteen Men on a Dead Man’s Chest" by id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead about the
impact of piracy on the game industry. They outline how Mr. Hollenshead says the
estimated $3 billion economic loss caused by piracy in 2004 does not include
piracy that takes place on the Internet. There is also an article about this
talk on
Joystiq that focuses on the statement that piracy is a factor in id's
embrace of consoles, quoting Todd as saying "Piracy has pushed id as being
multiplatform." On a related note,
Can PC
Gaming Survive in a Console World (thanks
Digg) recaps a panel discussion on the topic that brought up a similar
point:
Part of the problem is piracy. Big titles get stolen by cyber thieves, and it hurts revenue. "The market," said Capps, "that would buy a $600 video card knows how Bittorrent works."
Does that mean casual games, which exponentially outsell what PC gaming traditionalists think of as A-list titles, will one day rule? Hilleman made a point: casual is a poor choice of words. The average player on EA's Pogo "casual" game network plays "for 24 hours a week. There's nothing casual about that."
There is some light in the PC gaming world. World of Warcraft, for instance, is a massive hit, and the upcoming Spore looks not only creative and different, but promising. The MMO and other social networking games could become the norm for PC gaming, with big-ticket titles growing rarer with each passing year. Johnson added that MMOs are "successful because you can't pirate WoW. You cannot pirate an MMO. Period." Therefore, he said, "game design on the PC is going to bend toward persistence."
"There's nothing to behold other than that."
Actually, there is. Which is why it is treated differently by, uhm, you know, the law, the police and the courts. Theft is very specific in that it only happens to a material object. When you have one 'object', magically make an exact copy of it and take that copy away, the first object is still there. No material has left, which is why theft and infringment are treated so differently.
If you steal it, you do steal it. If you make an exact copy and use that copy, leaving the original in place...what has gone missing? Nothing, and thus courts and rational people do not call 'piracy' theft.
Stealing a game box from a retail store however is theft.
This comment was edited on Mar 9, 22:29.
Actually, there is. Which is why it is treated differently by, uhm, you know, the law, the police and the courts. Theft is very specific in that it only happens to a material object. When you have one 'object', magically make an exact copy of it and take that copy away, the first object is still there. No material has left, which is why theft and infringment are treated so differently.
If you steal it, you do steal it. If you make an exact copy and use that copy, leaving the original in place...what has gone missing? Nothing, and thus courts and rational people do not call 'piracy' theft.
Stealing a game box from a retail store however is theft.
This comment was edited on Mar 9, 22:29.
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