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 found the last game I pirated - FlatOut. Which I played to completion. Then purchased, although it's still in the shrinkwrap. And that was what, two years ago?
I pirated more in college, but very rarely played the pirated game more than three or four days. And I bought games much more often then.
One reason I probably play consoles more these days is consoles cost me nothing. One of my housemate is a Blockbuster manager, and he brings games home every week and will keep them for months at times. I've played nearly every 360 game I'm interested in, finished many of them, without purchasing a single one.
So it's actually even easier than piracy.
To be honest, I think the pricing model of consoles is horribly out of whack and leads to this. $60 a game is absurd. And the prices fall at a very slow rate, with $30 now being bargain bin. Not happening.
I take more risks with PC games, which hit $30 within a few months and fall to the impulse-buy range of $19.99 within 8 to 12.
Unfortunately there's been little worth even that risk lately.
-------------
Doomriders: the first new band worth a signature - http://www.deathwishinc.com/
I pirated more in college, but very rarely played the pirated game more than three or four days. And I bought games much more often then.
One reason I probably play consoles more these days is consoles cost me nothing. One of my housemate is a Blockbuster manager, and he brings games home every week and will keep them for months at times. I've played nearly every 360 game I'm interested in, finished many of them, without purchasing a single one.
So it's actually even easier than piracy.
To be honest, I think the pricing model of consoles is horribly out of whack and leads to this. $60 a game is absurd. And the prices fall at a very slow rate, with $30 now being bargain bin. Not happening.
I take more risks with PC games, which hit $30 within a few months and fall to the impulse-buy range of $19.99 within 8 to 12.
Unfortunately there's been little worth even that risk lately.
-------------
Doomriders: the first new band worth a signature - http://www.deathwishinc.com/
-------------
Music for the discerning:
http://www.deathwishinc.com
http://www.hydrahead.com
http://www.painkillerrecords.com
Music for the discerning:
http://www.deathwishinc.com
http://www.hydrahead.com
http://www.painkillerrecords.com
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