By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Shinlock on 28 January 2009
Edit Thread
ChichiriMuyo said:
Shinlock said:
seece said:

That is sad, and you shouldn't have to pay so much for one game. however that doesn't give you the right to pirate games.

 

There is a problem in europe and it does extend to my country somewhat, where games are pretty over the top priced (new ps3 game is $130.. wth). Games are expensive to make however the pricing outside of the states is a little nuts at times. One classic example I remember when I was younger was when Super Street Fighter 2 came out for Sega mega drive, and the game cost $225, nearly as much as the console itself o_0 (other games were $80-90 at the time).

however the point that it doesn't give you the right to pirate is bang on correct, the issue is people that can't afford can't do without. its a really evil circle, where gamers staved of games just pirate them and it ends up staving the developer and they go bust. Although imo alot of developer going bust is the structure of publishers in the industry, ie having far too much control.

 

How?  If the person never had the money to spend, then the developer couldn't get any.  You cannot get blood from stone by squeezing it, and you can't get cash from a poor man by demanding it.  Either the dev starves or they don't, and piracy has no effect on that whatsoever.  If the starved gamer can't buy games, they can't buy games.  That's the reality of this subject.  People seem to think that these companies could magically make millions or even billions more if piracy didn't exist, but there is absolutely no money to make this happen.  If pirates had the money to spend, they wouldn't be pirates.

the above applies very true in countries like america, where games are reasonably priced and people pirate anyway. In countries where a game cost half a month's wage, publishers need to take the view of "I can sell it pretty cheap and make some money, or leave it as it is and have piracy issues in those countries". Sure there will be an issue with people importing games from those regions but thats were region controls come in handy.

Companies core mistake is blaming poor sales on piracy before blaming it on the quality of the game (its easier to blame someone else then perform a harsh self assessment). Piracy is just one way companies can loose money, poor products or products people aren't interested in is majorly big as well. I'm not about to make the RIAA assumption that every person that pirates a game would of brought the game if they couldn't pirate because thats truely flawed logic. Publishers do need to price games based on market conditions in that country rather then going "well americans pay $60 for a game, thats about a months wage in country X, but we'll charge that much anyway".


on the "If pirates had the money to spend, they wouldn't be pirates." comment... Generally this doesn't matter, people with money also pirate. This is why services like XLA,PSN,wiiware are hitting back, because they are producing fun simple games for $10-$15 which for alot of people is an easy impulse buy that they can do from home. Alot of piracy from people with money is simply because its easier to download the game then it is to drive to the store and pick up a copy.