The Gaming News Thread

[Xiahou]

So, Crysis sold over 1 million copies- that means over 20 million people pirated it? Pardon me for doubting his numbers...

Regardless, I guess what Michael here is saying is that he'd rather throw away 1 million additional sales on the PC than risk having people who probably wouldn't have bought it anyway pirate it? Add to this his suggestion that he thinks those who play his game are the "enemy" and it's not hard to see what's wrong with his business model.

I do sympathize with him on the used game market though. Should people be able to trade and swap games? Absolutely. But what EBGames/Gamestop are doing is despicable, imo. They rip people off, paying people a fraction of what they bought their games for and rip you off even more if you don't agree to take store credit instead of cash (thereby forcing you to give them back the money they gave you). Next, they sell the same games back to rubes for as little as a couple bucks off the "new" price. Gamestop pockets all the money and the people who actually make the game, the developers, get nothing. Really sleazy, imo.

The game publishers should demand to get a cut of used game sales, or just stop selling Gamestop new copies of games.

[Martok]

Aha! I found the article I mentioned earlier:

David Braben, founder of Frontier Developments, is plenty upset. He joins the ranks of the likes of EA and other high profile developer/publishers that are mounting the beginnings of a massive offensive towards “retailers that buy used games”. Mr. Braben threatens that because of this practice the single player experience may be seeing its last days. Multiplayer only or multiplayer heavy games seem to be immune to this dastardly deed. The crime? Gamers play the short-lived single player game and then wish to trade it in for credit towards another game – imagine that!

Developers don’t get a dime when a game gets traded. The end result, retail outlets make a good penny for marking up old games while developers see nothing. In truth, being that the margins are so low in initial sales it would be impossible to run a business with the low returns on brand new games. In short, there is no profit in selling new games at retail stores and the used game market exists to fill a need.

We’ve all heard this story before, developers and publishers want a piece of the action. Solution? Give folks downloadable content to entice them to keep the games longer. Whether or not this solution has improved the situation has yet to be determined. Games like GTA IV, although selling well in its initial release phase, have seen massive returns to game retailers for store credit in part due to lackluster game play, even though downloadable content looms over the horizon.

Braben’s solution is a bit more radical. He suggests offering a two tier price entry: a not for resale version of the game and a rental version. The not for resale copies would be priced at roughly $160 dollars, and the rental version at around $50. The idea? Gamers won’t trade a game they spent their life savings on.

Be vigilant gamers! Game publishers and developers produce fun products; however they are in business to make money. There is no such thing as a compassionate, loving and caring conglomerate. Keep your wits about you and while you have fun playing, don’t lose your rights, or your wallets. Corporate greed is corporate greed and their insatiable appetite for your dollars may not only do away with the single player game, but games as a whole. Sadly the industry is maturing and the days of “doing it for the love” are gone.

[Kekvit Irae]

If there's anything that will encourage people to pirate, it's 160 dollar games.

[Martok]

Piracy? Hell, there would be almost no games left to pirate. If titles become that expensive, the gaming industry would all but disappear.

[Tratorix]

Braben’s solution is a bit more radical. He suggests offering a two tier price entry: a not for resale version of the game and a rental version. The not for resale copies would be priced at roughly $160 dollars, and the rental version at around $50. The idea? Gamers won’t trade a game they spent their life savings on.

That is one of the stupidest things i've ever heard. His idea to increase sales is to raise prices? Does he not realize high prices are one of the main reasons people buy used games?

[TinCow]

The hillarious aspect is that as consoles become more advanced, they also utilize more direct computer components. This makes it far easier to hack them or otherwise make them capable of playing pirated discs. The devs are in for a rude awakening when piracy makes the full-scale jump to consoles in the near future. We'll see what excuses they can come up with then.

[Kekvit Irae]

The hillarious aspect is that as consoles become more advanced, they also utilize more direct computer components. This makes it far easier to hack them or otherwise make them capable of playing pirated discs. The devs are in for a rude awakening when piracy makes the full-scale jump to consoles in the near future. We'll see what excuses they can come up with then.

The problem is that piracy of console games does exist. However, it's curbed by the fact that not everyone has a DVD or a Blu-Ray burner, or ownership of a modded console.

[TinCow]

The problem is that piracy of console games does exist. However, it's curbed by the fact that not everyone has a DVD or a Blu-Ray burner, or ownership of a modded console.

Yep, but indications are that the next-gen consoles will allow for direct download of software via platforms similar to Steam. Once games are distributed to consoles via soft-copy alone, the ease of console piracy will increase significantly.

[TevashSzat]

The hillarious aspect is that as consoles become more advanced, they also utilize more direct computer components. This makes it far easier to hack them or otherwise make them capable of playing pirated discs. The devs are in for a rude awakening when piracy makes the full-scale jump to consoles in the near future. We'll see what excuses they can come up with then.

Well the only reason that console pirating hasn't gone crazy already is because you need to mod your console and not everyone is competent enough to do so without breaking something important.

If you do have a modded console, piracy is just as rampant. In fact, almost every major console release (especially for 360) was released by pirates a week or so before the actual release date. Thats because the companies are so focused on computer piracy that they're being more lax with security features to stop their console games from falling into pirate hands early

[Mailman653]

Blizzard: We're Not Milking StarCraft II