WoW-Killer. A term thrown about with a lot of carelessness. However, consider the money and advertising of EA, the well-known pedigree of Bioware, and the already established franchise not just of Star Wars, but of the KOTOR line specifically. I got to say, "WoW-killer". Yeah, maybe, just maybe.
Some good comments on here and some stupid ones too.
So is piracy something that every legitimate consumer and every development and publishing should fight against with all their might? Or is it the cost of doing business. I've said in previous posts that I am a manager at a Gamestop. In any retail outlet you have to find a balance between making the shopping experience easy and pleasant for the customer and making it more difficult for shoplifters to rip you off. If you make it too difficult for your paying customers to shop and browse your goods, they just won't shop there. Its not worth the hassle. Gamestop and any other retail outlet view the loss that comes from shoplifting the cost of doing business. Limited installs, SecuRom, a myriad of other methods to make it harder to pirate the game, just end up inconveniencing legitimate customers.
So again, I'm not saying that piracy is not a problem(I did buy my own copy of Crysis). But has the 'cure' been worse than the disease. Has this slow but steady march towards making PC games harder and harder to use, slowly moved consumers to consoles where all you have to do is pop the disc in.
Stardock is the perfect example of a company that is focusing on how many games it did sale as opposed to how many it didn't.
Kris, if you are watching. i'd like to see this topic discussed on the next Game Theory podcast, please.
This is really going to bite these companies on the ass at some point. The music industry tried shutting down pirates and all they ended up doing was forcing companies like SamGoody, Tower Records and the Warehouse out of business, and got themselves stuck in an inflexible business model with Apple where they are incredibly unhappy. This will eventually come down to whether developers and publishers will decide they want to deal with the public in a manner that treats end users with something resembling respect (See Stardock) or will they go the way of the music companies and continue to try to make it more and more difficult for their customers to use their products. I realize that piracy is a serious problem, but even Crysis, the most pirated game of all time, made a profit.
A point I'd like addressed if possible. How much does a company like Crytek spend on antipiracy tech and methods vs how much they estimate they have gained in sales?
I also work for gamestop and i do feel that the company's days are numbered. Numerous execs including Phil Harrison, formerly of Sony, has said that DD is the future. The next generation of console will almost certainly include a robust DD service. I think it is clear that microsoft and sony are already looking to move in this direction with the continuing increase in the hard drive size. It will come down to how smart they are with the pricing to see how quickly Gamestop will be forced to go the way of SamGoody and Tower Records.
Valve boss Gabe Newell explains how the company is using procedural narrative to simulate an almost limitless number of in-game stories, and how statistics are guiding the future of game design.
Tomb Raider Underworld producer Eric Lindstrom talks about Lara Croft’s essential personality traits, and why they’ve helped her survive all these years.
Network now...
talba007's Comments
WoW-Killer. A term thrown about with a lot of carelessness. However, consider the money and advertising of EA, the well-known pedigree of Bioware, and the already established franchise not just of Star Wars, but of the KOTOR line specifically. I got to say, "WoW-killer". Yeah, maybe, just maybe.
Some good comments on here and some stupid ones too.
So is piracy something that every legitimate consumer and every development and publishing should fight against with all their might? Or is it the cost of doing business. I've said in previous posts that I am a manager at a Gamestop. In any retail outlet you have to find a balance between making the shopping experience easy and pleasant for the customer and making it more difficult for shoplifters to rip you off. If you make it too difficult for your paying customers to shop and browse your goods, they just won't shop there. Its not worth the hassle. Gamestop and any other retail outlet view the loss that comes from shoplifting the cost of doing business. Limited installs, SecuRom, a myriad of other methods to make it harder to pirate the game, just end up inconveniencing legitimate customers.
So again, I'm not saying that piracy is not a problem(I did buy my own copy of Crysis). But has the 'cure' been worse than the disease. Has this slow but steady march towards making PC games harder and harder to use, slowly moved consumers to consoles where all you have to do is pop the disc in.
Stardock is the perfect example of a company that is focusing on how many games it did sale as opposed to how many it didn't.
Kris, if you are watching. i'd like to see this topic discussed on the next Game Theory podcast, please.
This is really going to bite these companies on the ass at some point. The music industry tried shutting down pirates and all they ended up doing was forcing companies like SamGoody, Tower Records and the Warehouse out of business, and got themselves stuck in an inflexible business model with Apple where they are incredibly unhappy. This will eventually come down to whether developers and publishers will decide they want to deal with the public in a manner that treats end users with something resembling respect (See Stardock) or will they go the way of the music companies and continue to try to make it more and more difficult for their customers to use their products. I realize that piracy is a serious problem, but even Crysis, the most pirated game of all time, made a profit.
A point I'd like addressed if possible. How much does a company like Crytek spend on antipiracy tech and methods vs how much they estimate they have gained in sales?
Can't wait to read the interview when it comes.
Sigh. Sony has disappointed too often with new features for their products for me to take them seriously at this point. PSP camera anyone???
I also work for gamestop and i do feel that the company's days are numbered. Numerous execs including Phil Harrison, formerly of Sony, has said that DD is the future. The next generation of console will almost certainly include a robust DD service. I think it is clear that microsoft and sony are already looking to move in this direction with the continuing increase in the hard drive size. It will come down to how smart they are with the pricing to see how quickly Gamestop will be forced to go the way of SamGoody and Tower Records.
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