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."
I personally buy all of my new games. I only "pirate" if the game is so old that I can't buy it anywhere.
Of course, I only try to buy games that are GOOD. I research a game, I watch videos, I play demos, I read reviews, and I pay attention to who a developer is and what their previous releases were. I compare what I hear and know to what I usually like (or at least what I'm currently in the mood for) and I make an intelligent purchase.
I am sometimes wrong, though. I paid money for Doom 3, and never finished it. I bought Neverwinter Nights 2 and it sucked. I bought Oblivion and never finished it, or even played it much (may pick it up again soon).
I may be a college student who only makes maybe $12,000 a year, but I'm not going to waste my time and electricity downloading a game that may be garbage. I can suck it up, work at my job, save some money, and buy a game if I want it enough.
And on a side note about movies : if you complain that a movie sucks, some theaters will give you your money back, or let you see a different movie. I wish I had done that when I went to see Happy Feet... Two hours of my life I'll never get back...
Of course, I only try to buy games that are GOOD. I research a game, I watch videos, I play demos, I read reviews, and I pay attention to who a developer is and what their previous releases were. I compare what I hear and know to what I usually like (or at least what I'm currently in the mood for) and I make an intelligent purchase.
I am sometimes wrong, though. I paid money for Doom 3, and never finished it. I bought Neverwinter Nights 2 and it sucked. I bought Oblivion and never finished it, or even played it much (may pick it up again soon).
I may be a college student who only makes maybe $12,000 a year, but I'm not going to waste my time and electricity downloading a game that may be garbage. I can suck it up, work at my job, save some money, and buy a game if I want it enough.
And on a side note about movies : if you complain that a movie sucks, some theaters will give you your money back, or let you see a different movie. I wish I had done that when I went to see Happy Feet... Two hours of my life I'll never get back...
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