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 don't know if this has been covered earlier or not...So why the fuck should i shell out £30 for a PC game that turns out to be utter bollocks without the ability to return it for an exchange/refund?Yes, it's been mentioned before in the thread, but it bears repeating. Before the game industry gets on its moral high-horse and complains about unauthorized use, it needs to stop hiding behind EULA's and stand behind its products with a money back guarantee like producers of other products do. If even food vendors and producers stand behind their products with a money-back guarantee (and most do), then by god the purveyors of a $50 video game should as well. It is simply the cost of doing business.
If I purchased a game which I turned out not to like, I would certainly be morally justified in obtaining an unauthorized copy of one of that company's other games if it refused to do the right thing and refund my purchase. So long as the video game industry treats consumers with such disdain, it shouldn't be surprised that some of them return the favor.
This comment was edited on Mar 11, 12:28.
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