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."
Another point I forgot to mention...
Game resellers.
Not just popular avenues for console games such as EB or Game Crazy but also Ebay and whatnot. These all hurt game sales, but is it piracy?
Once again, by the industries definition, it is. Legally however, it is not. When you buy a 360 game for example, no matter what a EULA might say, you own it and you are free to sell it or give it away as you wish.
Why buy a game at full price new when you can get it used and enjoy ALL the benefits of an unopened copy? Used console games do not have multiplayer play tied to CD keys, there are not CD keys in fact. Also, some game stores will let you try used and even brand new games there in the store before you buy, much like some CD stores let you sample the music in store.
Once again PC gamers are villanized while two very large (I would daresay combined are larger than piracy) contributers of "lost sales" go unnoticed, primarily I suppose, because game rental and game stores that resell games are such huge customers to the industry.
Looking on the back of a 360 game, I found this..."Unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, transmission, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, RENTAL, pay for play, or circumvention of copy protection is strictly prohibited."
Public Performance??? How many times have you gone into a game store to see a full retail game up and running on one of their consoles?
Rental? Sure...I read this line on every one of my 360 titles, and I have seen ALL of them on the shelves of Blockbuster, Family Video, and some other video chain. So it's prohibited but not enforced huh?
I guess its easier to put the blame on faceless consumers than your largest consumers, much like the embarrasment that Microsoft faced when they found the largest pirates of their OS systems were PC mfgs like Dell, Gateway, etc.
Game resellers.
Not just popular avenues for console games such as EB or Game Crazy but also Ebay and whatnot. These all hurt game sales, but is it piracy?
Once again, by the industries definition, it is. Legally however, it is not. When you buy a 360 game for example, no matter what a EULA might say, you own it and you are free to sell it or give it away as you wish.
Why buy a game at full price new when you can get it used and enjoy ALL the benefits of an unopened copy? Used console games do not have multiplayer play tied to CD keys, there are not CD keys in fact. Also, some game stores will let you try used and even brand new games there in the store before you buy, much like some CD stores let you sample the music in store.
Once again PC gamers are villanized while two very large (I would daresay combined are larger than piracy) contributers of "lost sales" go unnoticed, primarily I suppose, because game rental and game stores that resell games are such huge customers to the industry.
Looking on the back of a 360 game, I found this..."Unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, transmission, PUBLIC PERFORMANCE, RENTAL, pay for play, or circumvention of copy protection is strictly prohibited."
Public Performance??? How many times have you gone into a game store to see a full retail game up and running on one of their consoles?
Rental? Sure...I read this line on every one of my 360 titles, and I have seen ALL of them on the shelves of Blockbuster, Family Video, and some other video chain. So it's prohibited but not enforced huh?
I guess its easier to put the blame on faceless consumers than your largest consumers, much like the embarrasment that Microsoft faced when they found the largest pirates of their OS systems were PC mfgs like Dell, Gateway, etc.
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 9 October 2024, 23:44.