Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

Fair enough, but what about eBay and such?

The argument over piracy destroying games is the same as the argument about piracy destroying movies and music. Which is the same as the argument from the 1970s and 1980s:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ling_music.png
Oh noes!

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

To be fair, with eBay, you always run the risk of dodgy stuff.

Haha, this is true.

Personally, I just can't stand the look and feel of a fake game/DVD/CD.

I just like the real thing.

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

Console games can be copied very easily now that they are in DVD, HD-DVD, or Blu-Ray format. I imagine any CD systems were also copyable. The only solution I can see for that is a move back to console-specific storage devices. PCs are kinda fvcked, but I guess this is a good thing overall for the industry. Sure, some companies will lose massive amounts of money from people "testing" their game before they buy and either not buying it based on the crappiness of it or not buying it based on the frugality of the "tester". So the companies that will make money will be those who have games that people feel are worth playing, theoretically.

Does anyone think this might mean a revival of shareware/asking for donations?

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

I'm more concerned about the little companies. EA deserves to suffer for its wrongs inflicted on the gaming public. But people like Paradox Interactive, and all the other smaller publishers and game houses really do deserve support.

And I think they get it, because they've adapted to new conditions. For example the booster pack Armageddon for one of Paradox's leading games: Hearts of Iron 2 was sold off Paradox's website for $5. The Hearts of Iron 2 expansion Doomsday was sold online for $20, as well as in stores. Armageddon itself was based on the response and wishes of the gamers in the official forums, who wanted to extra features added, as well as the designers who wanted to implement new things.

Rather than say a Sims expansion that EA will flog off for $60 or more.
In sheer dollar terms, pirating a big-brand game is going to be more profitable because you will save much more money.

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

amen to that.

and like marsoe said, its not big companys that are suffering. its the little ones. but even so, is piracy really dragging the market down that much? Ironclad themselves said that it wasnt a huge problem. And seriously, if they didnt gouge the prices so much, this problem would hardly exist.

and maul, its sins of a solar empire, not "sons of a sor empire."

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

I forgot what the name is LOL, but I enjoyed th egame, so dont be a grammar/spelling nazi on that :) but yeah, its actually the SMALLER companies that churn ou tthe greatest and best of games(in some cases big companie slike Blizzard)

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

Not quite what I meant. The little companies had evolved their methods of distribution, and their pricing - as well as offering much better user support and involvement. As such, they suffer

The big ones, which tend to have poor support, excessive pricing, and old methods, are suffering more from piracy. If they want to reduce piracy, they should adapt the methods of the little companies.

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

The key thing may be enough, I feel, as more and more games rely on multiplayer for a core component of gameplay, and tying even single-player gaming to an online registration might help the problem. But maybe doing it every time you play might be a bit excessive.

As an aside, I would never pirate any form of executable or .jar file, for the simple reason of computer security: the possibility that a virus or other malicious code has been woven into the application just rules it out for me.

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

You can't stop it. Ever since we first started making things other people have made cheap knock offs. It's just that with the internet the cheap knock offs can be made at an incredibly low cost when compared to the price of the original. Technology isn't going to provide a magic bullet for you either.
You either learn to live with it, in game advertising etc, or you learn to tollerate a certain level of it and alter your marketing strategy to encourage people to buy, removed invasive copy protection, frequent updates requiring a valid CD key etc. Any case getting rid of it completely's a pipe dream.

Re: Gaming Piracy - How to stop it?
 

Very true. There are also coders who crack copy protection mainly so ordinary people are not subject to restrictions in regard to copy protection etc. ;)
I'm not sure, but I thought in recent years people promoted consoles as providing quality graphics for regular users.
I didn't request studies to show that piracy costs money, but for your claim that piracy is the main reason for developers moving to consoles.

In any way, that is not an (independent!) study, but an interview with Todd Hollenshead, the CEO of Id software. The numbers presented are open to claims of bias.

What people also may not realise is that, even if a lot of games were pirated, many people who download them illegally may not actually be able to afford them, so in reality no profit is really lost.

This "cannot afford, even if I tried" can be seen also when costly software is pirated. Students who use illegal copies of e. g. Photoshop may have not been able to purchase the software. So even if they had not pirated their copy, they would not have (been able to) purchased a legal copy, which is always assumed, even in regard to music or movie piracy.

(I hope you understand what I'm trying to say, otherwise I'll have to rephrase it.. =p)What I was trying to say is that if people feel the money they paid for the product was worth it (including the price being appropriate), more people may be willing to buy a legit copy.
Well how do they find out?Yep, I agree.