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."
"While I'd love to have faith in every developer, reality does not allow me to. I loved Gothic 1 and 2 (in spite of generally mediocre reviews of both) and bought them. Gothic 3, however, was a complete mess. Luckily, I pirated it and discovered this for myself."
I don't have faith in every developer. Only a moron would. Regarding Gothic 3 in particular, one could easily find out from the demo and many reviews that it was a train wreck. No need to waste time finding a good, working server/torrent or copy that actually works properly.
Also, in my experience with pirated games, some don't function properly, so you don't get a proper representation of the actual retail game (or, as I said, they don't work at all). Some games are also missing sounds, music, and/or videos. I'm not sure if this is how it is for modern pirated games, because it's been a few years since I've pirated anything.
Another thing : if you have trouble getting a pirated game to work, the only place you can turn to for support are other pirates, who may or may not be able to help you (or be willing to help you), and if you ask people who have legitimate copies of the game, they'll just laugh in your face. Again, it has been a while since I've pirated, so it may be more reliable these days.
On a final note, one weird thing about me is that I just can't enjoy a game that I didn't pay for. They're just not fun. I have no idea why.
I don't have faith in every developer. Only a moron would. Regarding Gothic 3 in particular, one could easily find out from the demo and many reviews that it was a train wreck. No need to waste time finding a good, working server/torrent or copy that actually works properly.
Also, in my experience with pirated games, some don't function properly, so you don't get a proper representation of the actual retail game (or, as I said, they don't work at all). Some games are also missing sounds, music, and/or videos. I'm not sure if this is how it is for modern pirated games, because it's been a few years since I've pirated anything.
Another thing : if you have trouble getting a pirated game to work, the only place you can turn to for support are other pirates, who may or may not be able to help you (or be willing to help you), and if you ask people who have legitimate copies of the game, they'll just laugh in your face. Again, it has been a while since I've pirated, so it may be more reliable these days.
On a final note, one weird thing about me is that I just can't enjoy a game that I didn't pay for. They're just not fun. I have no idea why.
Date
Subject
Author
Copyright © 1996-2024 Stephen Heaslip. All rights reserved.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners.
Privacy Policy. Manage Cookie Settings.
News CGI copyright © 1999-2024 James "furn" Furness & Blue's News. All rights reserved.
Chatbear v1.5.0/blue++: Page generated 10 October 2024, 00:04.