Assholes trying to take down PSN

[ZeroAX]

A larger market? More retail outlets? They are mainstream now? DVD and Blu Ray tech as bait for non gamers? Games are relatively cheaper than they used to be? Take your pick. It's kinda unfair to compare the gaming world today to what it was in the 80's and pre-Playstation era.

yeah, but don't you think a bunch of people where introduced into the world of gaming, due to piracy? I know plenty of people, who pirated games as teens, and now buy a bunch of games.

Were they stealing games? Sure. But what would the companies have gained, if they had tried to send them to jail? Nothing. That is why I find copyright laws, like the one in France (or was it stopped afterall? I'm not sure) complete and total bullshit.

For those who don't know, in France, if they catch you pirating stuff, they send you 3 notices, and on the 3rd notice they cut your internet connection (forever I think). This is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid. It's like someone stealing candy from the mall, and then banning him from ever shopping again. Great idea guys, not that the economy money to flow.


Though, I'm not sure if the law passed. I know mister ugly nose wanted to pass the law, but A LOT of French people and politicians were against it.

[brunoafh]

If no one had the temptation of being able to just download a game without any hassle via Pirate Bay or what have you, you would see more copies being sold.

Is that why today games sell waaaaaay more than they used to in the 80s and early 90s?

No. That's not the reason. It doesn't have anything to do with anything, either.

[jfrost]

A larger market? More retail outlets? They are mainstream now? DVD and Blu Ray tech as bait for non gamers? Games are relatively cheaper than they used to be? Take your pick. It's kinda unfair to compare the gaming world today to what it was in the 80's and pre-Playstation era.

I think it would be productive to compare multi-platform games from the 360 and the PS3. Prior to 2011, the PS3 was unhacked and it was impossible to run pirated software on it. The 360 security was bypassed years ago.

The PS3 and 360 have pretty similar user numbers. If we could agree to some titles, I think we could estimate the power of piracy. If it is really that strong, I think we would see PS3 versions faring much better than 360's.

I don't think that was the case at all, though, but I could be wrong.

[noiseredux]

I am an adult

still up for debate...

[MrPopo]

The advent of the digital medium has caused our intuitive notions of property and value to be turned completely on end. We can all agree that if I go into a store, slip a book under my shirt, and walk out with it I have committed an act of theft. The store used to have a unit of inventory that they now lack. However, now we have a medium that is incredibly easily produced. If we're just going by the disk image the cost of production is effectively null and can be performed by anyone. This allows you to aquire a copy without paying for it AND without removing it from the hands of another. It's something that we need to get a better legal framework around; right now we still try to apply the laws we have for physical goods to the situation, and it just doesn't work. The red herring here is that the most common delivery vector is a physical disk which can be stolen. However, a single user who legitimately purchases it can release it to the internet and it will multiply like a virus.

Since current legislature regarding this is fucked, I'm not going to comment on its legality. However, I do feel that from a moral perspective you are denying the creators compensation for their work, and it should be frowned upon. But it's going to happen; there's no way to stop it entirely. You'll always have people who can't or won't pay for your work who still want to consume it. I think the best method to monetize is to incentivize buying: things like requiring a legitimate CD key to play online, or the purchase of an online pass which comes free with sealed copies.

[ZeroAX]

I think the best method to monetize is to incentivize buying: things like requiring a legitimate CD key to play online, or the purchase of an online pass which comes free with sealed copies.

The second one just punishes legal costumers who buy used.

It's a big issue, how to get people to buy legal copies. But unfortunately corporations are run by old men in suits, who are super greedy. To them digital distribution = same prices at a lower cost for them => more profit.

I find it really insulting what original game packaging has become. Black and white, 20 page manuals and the disk. Why am I buying this original again? If I'm going to support you guys, how about giving me a big fat thank you? How about not making me feel like a fool for buying your game, when the other guy gets the same enjoyment by stealing it? A comic about the game, stickers, a pin, SOMETHING. At least Mega Drive games had cool artwork and packaging.

[the7k]

I think the best method to monetize is to incentivize buying: things like requiring a legitimate CD key to play online, or the purchase of an online pass which comes free with sealed copies.

This is the whole reason single-player experiences are dying, everything is going multiplayer only, and a ton of subscription fees and paid unlockables is the name of the game now.

Well, that and used games, but that's another (far less important) issue.

[MrPopo]

I think the best method to monetize is to incentivize buying: things like requiring a legitimate CD key to play online, or the purchase of an online pass which comes free with sealed copies.

This is the whole reason single-player experiences are dying, everything is going multiplayer only, and a ton of subscription fees and paid unlockables is the name of the game now.

Well, that and used games, but that's another (far less important) issue.

Believe me, I tried hard to think of a way to incentivize single player buying that doesn't require an always-on internet connection and isn't easily cracked.

As for Zero's comment regarding used sales, yes, it does. That's the whole reason they implemented that version. CD-Keys are a way of doing it without attacking the used segment.

[ZeroAX]

Believe me, I tried hard to think of a way to incentivize single player buying that doesn't require an always-on internet connection and isn't easily cracked.

I've said it many times, lower prices for less content. People don't mind paying 10€ for a 2 hour movie (average), so I don't think they'd mind paying 10-20€ for 5 hours of gameplay. And they can release the game as a trilogy (GTA:SA "The heist at Las Venturas")

Though of course, those 5 hours of gameplay, better be filled with fun, and no lame filler content (you know, escort missions, item hunts, and the rest of the crappy lazy techniques game designers have thought of to fill the game with content, so it looks good on reviews (lasts 50 hours, with 40 hours spent pressing X without thinking)

[Betamax001]

I've said it many times, lower prices for less content. People don't mind paying 10€ for a 2 hour movie (average), so I don't think they'd mind paying 10-20€ for 5 hours of gameplay. And they can release the game as a trilogy (GTA:SA "The heist at Las Venturas")

Though of course, those 5 hours of gameplay, better be filled with fun, and no lame filler content (you know, escort missions, item hunts, and the rest of the crappy lazy techniques game designers have thought of to fill the game with content, so it looks good on reviews (lasts 50 hours, with 40 hours spent pressing X without thinking)

Especially when the single player campaign is only a few hours long. I remember that was a complaint about Modern Warfare 2 when it came out, which immediately turned me off of buying the game because I had no intention to play online and wasn't going to spend 60 bucks on a game that after I played for a few hours would be done with.