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Forums - Sony - PS3's lack of mass pirated games a negative factor?

bugrimmar on 22 June 2009

you guys aren't seeing what i put in the OP.

the 360 is outselling the ps3 on almost every multiplatform game, despite the 360 being heavily pirated.

doesn't that mean that piracy isn't hurting the 360 at all?

also, something like mgs4 didn't see a substantial increase in sales from the ps2 versions despite the ps3 not having pirated games.

take a look at those examples before posting about pc and psp markets.



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vitoaf27 on 22 June 2009

The X360 and PS2 also have/had a larger number of hardware sold, meaning that theres that much more people who might not pirate games.



S.T.A.G.E. on 22 June 2009
bugrimmar said:

I kinda expected at the beginning of the generation that the PS3's lack of mass piracy would lead to more game sales. It seems, however, that the effect of an "original games only" console has been negative, or neutral at best.

Almost every multiplatform game has sold better on the 360, despite mass piracy on that console. In fact, the PS3 has the lowest attach rate out of the 3 consoles, with the 360 having a very large lead. Aside from that, franchises from the PS2 (that also suffered mass piracy) didn't really experience a huge bump in sales on the PS3 (ex: sports games, Metal Gear), and in fact some franchises experienced a reduction in sales, meaning to say that fans will buy the original game nonetheless. I have now two propositions:

1.) Piracy actually helps you sell hardware, since some consumers are only willing to buy the console for the promise of cheap games, and more consoles on the market means more potential for software.

2.) People who wanted to buy the original game in the first place will buy it despite the presence of pirated games, so removal of piracy doesn't really result in the increase of software sales.

So I am led to believe that piracy can actually be a good thing for console and game makers. Any ideas fellas?


Game developers hate pirating. This makes no sense. They also hate Gamestop, because Gamestop makes profit off of used games upon their launch, which harms their sales. Developers don't make profit off of used games, Gamestop does.

Secondly, Multiplatform games sell better on on the 360, because the 360 has a more active userbase than the PS3. Xbox Live itself generates a huge amount of profit, hence why Microsoft pours so much back into Xbox Live.

Buying a game doesn't equate to pirating. Copying a game, or downloading games off of torrents is pirating. This is what is fucking up the PC Platform.

Having exclusives on a system that is very expensive is the only reason the PS3's exclusives aren't selling as they should. It's about the games...not the system. Sony seems to have forgotten that. This is third parties are begging Sony to drop the price of the PS3 now. Still...no response from Sony.



Steroid on 22 June 2009

So it's lack of piracy and not the insane amount of Money MS throws at marketing multiplats so they look like 360 exclusives?



S.T.A.G.E. on 22 June 2009
Steroid said:
So it's lack of piracy and not the insane amount of Money MS throws at marketing multiplats so they look like 360 exclusives?


Um....what? Microsoft isn't throwing huge amounts of money at their multiplats (..save for GTA IV). 360 multiplats sell better because the 360 has more dedicated users. If Microsofts multiplats are more valuable, it's possibly because they know the value of DLC. DLC is one of the major reasons game developers and companies alike keep standing value on prized multiplatform titles. It also helps to keep people from selling off the game to Gamestop, so they make a profit off of it. 



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BMaker11 on 22 June 2009

MGS4 sold more than MGS3, when the PS2 had over 100M users, and the PS3 was at like 12-14M (forget exactly)

/thread



S.T.A.G.E. on 22 June 2009
BMaker11 said:
MGS4 sold more than MGS3, when the PS2 had over 100M users, and the PS3 was at like 12-14M (forget exactly)

/thread

Um...MGS3 came out during a time when the PS2 started losing value. MGS4 came out around the time PS3 was low in value and helped gave it true value. This is in the beginning of the PS3's lifespan. It was expected. The value of a systems games in the last couple years of its life cycle, relies upon dedicated gamers and late purchasers of the system. the bulk of the buyers, most likely will have fallen out of the loop. PS2 had a lot of casual users who fell out of the loop after a couple of years.

 



theprof00 on 22 June 2009

selling more hardware is great if you make money on the hardware.

Like the wii or 360 for example.



Tallgeese101 on 22 June 2009

I doubt 360 piracy is as bad as people say (at least in western markets). Seeds/leeches on 360 games pale in comparison to PC games.

PSP, DS and PC are the ones being (have been?) killed by piracy.



S.T.A.G.E. on 22 June 2009
theprof00 said:
selling more hardware is great if you make money on the hardware.

Like the wii or 360 for example.


Sony is make money off of hardware. Blu Ray stand alones to be exact. All thanks in part to the PS3. :)