Does the hunt on piracy piss off anyone else here?

[Limewater]

Thanks for sharing the article. What it doesn't answer for me is how they calculated their numbers (92% pirated, etc).

It's not quite clear, but if you re-read the first paragraph it looks like they got the 92% number based on totaling the number of sales from their website versus the number of unique online players. They aren't clear, if they are making that measurement based solely on raw numbers, or if they are looking at the activation keys of the copies that are online and using that the distinguish legitimate versus pirated copies.

[Alpinex2]

A really good gaming pc with monitor, keyboard, gaming mouse, speakers etc... is going to be well over a grand.

[Niode]

You can make a gaming PC that is capable of playing everything that is available on the home consoles for £400. Compare that to all the extra stuff you can do a PC that you can't do on a console the value is definitely on par.

I paid £500 in total for my Q6600 + P5QDeluxe + HD4870 system 18 months ago. That's including the case, optical drive, PSU, HDDs and CPU cooler. The system has been overclocked to 3.4GHz, I can get the CPU to 3.8GHz stable but the power consumption isn't worth extra horse power so I dialed it back. The HD4870 is a golden sample and overlocks to the BIOS' locked maximum, completely stable without overheating. There is nothing that this system can't play, and I play all my games at 1152p. There's what, 5 games in total on the consoles that run at true 1080p? I'd be surprised if there was more. For a system that is at least 4 times as powerful than the consoles but only twice as much, I say that's pretty good value for money.

Another misconception regarding the value of a gaming rig is that you'll have to upgrade every year. It's bullshit. I can still play the latest games at max and the rig is 18 months old. I'm pretty confident that it's still going to be capable enough when it's 3 years time. By that time, if there are more games that utilise DX11 I will upgrade my graphics card. That's still an IF though.

You don't need to break the bank to have the definitive gaming experience. Nothing can compare to PC gaming, consoles just don't come close. Fidelity, immersion, image quality, are all superior on PC.

You can't live without a PC these days, it's a necessary mod-con. So if you are comparing prices for PC systems compared to consoles you have to factor in the price of you PC/laptop. So your console has cost £180-250 depending on what console and SKU you choose, plus your average piece of shit pre-built system from Dell or Advent or whatever which costs about £200-300. So all in all you've spent £380-550. So what's better value? A PC that does everything including playing games better than consoles compared to a PC that just does your web browsing/word processing and a separate system for gaming. Plus the added value of being able to mod your games and all the independent gaming that is available for free. It's a complete misconception that PC gaming is more expensive. It isn't.


At Alpinex2, no it won't. A 1080p monitor can be bought for £140~, the gaming rig will set you back about £400, the speakers are about £45, Mouse around £35, keyboard around £30 for a gaming keyboard is still only £650... Looking at Dabs.com it will cost you around $750, which is still only £500 when you convert it to sterling. You might even be able to get it for even less if you shop around.

[Limewater]

Another misconception regarding the value of a gaming rig is that you'll have to upgrade every year. It's bullshit. I can still play the latest games at max and the rig is 18 months old. I'm pretty confident that it's still going to be capable enough when it's 3 years time. By that time, if there are more games that utilise DX11 I will upgrade my graphics card. That's still an IF though.

You don't need to break the bank to have the definitive gaming experience. Nothing can compare to PC gaming, consoles just don't come close. Fidelity, immersion, image quality, are all superior on PC.

<snip>

It's a complete misconception that PC gaming is more expensive. It isn't.

You make good points, Niode. However, I guess it could be argued that the PERCEPTION that PC gaming is expensive likely has had an impact on PC gaming is more expensive than console gaming.

If people think it's expensive, they're more likely to go the console route, whether they are correct or not.

[AppleQueso]

It's incredibly obvious that piracy has hurt PC gaming, it's almost foolish to deny that when you look at the facts.

Unfortunately, the industry attempts so far to curb this (via highly restrictive DRM) have done absolutely nothing except make things worse.

One thing I'm curious about: Steam seems to be a pretty popular platform, anybody have any data on how successful it's been compared to say, retail outlets? Perhaps a comparison on the success of high-profile games using only Steam's DRM vs games with more restrictive types of DRM such as Secu-ROM?

[J T]

The new Penny Arcade cartoon sums up the piracy debate pretty well:

[jp1]

The DRM aspect of the argument doesn't hold much water as far as I'm concerned. You can purchase the game and then download the DRM free (pirated) version online. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Using DRM as an excuse for piracy makes little sense.


Anyone that will say it is wrong to download the DRM free version after you purchased the game retail should seriously reevaluate the way they think. It is one thing to want to do the right thing and have morals about it but it is an entirely different thing to be brain washed by corporations into screwing yourself out of the rights you should be entitled to.

[Niode]

I know I don't have any facts to back me up but Steam is pretty ubiquitous on PCs, well, on gamer's PCs anyway.

I don't think DRM is the solution, but Steam's DRM is very transparent, it could hardly be mentioned in the same breath as some other monstrosity's publishers/developers have gone lengths to incorporate. It doesn't bug you for an internet connection, you can simply start in offline mode and have 100% access to all of your games (of course MMO titles won't work). You can use your account on another PC and it will give you access to all your games (you just have to wait for them to download). The key thing, I feel, the PC industry needs to sort out is pricing structure. I still think there is quite a discrepancy on the amount of (legal) free gaming that can be had on PC compared to the price of retail games. Valve seems to be the only company who understands this and is committed to offering great games at really good value.

When Steam recently released figures for their holiday sales it showed that the lower priced games were actually making 15% more on sales than they were at full price. I think that shows that prices need to come to down to stimulate the PC gaming industry. Steam is going some way to help achieve this but other publishers need to understand that people aren't going to put up with bullshit DRM methods and they don't want to pay a premium for the inconvenience. You don't have to put up with this bullshit if you use Steam, or a console, but not all publishers will use the Steam platform. Until this is rectified PC sales will continue to decline.


@JP1

What you're saying is a bit of a paradox. If a person has access to the DRM free version (IE the superior product) what incentive is there to go out and purchase the DRM version (the inferior product). These companies need to learn that to combat piracy they need to offer a superior product to the pirates. The implied illegality of piracy isn't enough to put people off pirating, so these companies need to try a different tact.

[ZeroAX]

A really good gaming pc with monitor, keyboard, gaming mouse, speakers etc... is going to be well over a grand.

monitor really? do you add the cost of an hd tv when buying an hd console?

[Niode]

A really good gaming pc with monitor, keyboard, gaming mouse, speakers etc... is going to be well over a grand.

monitor really? do you add the cost of an hd tv when buying an hd console?

Haha, yeah good point. Never really thought of it like that.