Ok, now, to understand this you have to have some basics:
a) I live in south america. Meaning: bandwith, lag issues. Currency issues. Piracy.
b) Iam a PC gammer who uses STEAM for online gaming.
c) This is the third world... I want to live in the second world but I havent found it yet.
Sometimes you cant fight something. In my case that my love for videogames is only shared with people I get to know throught internet sites with comunities like Destrucotid and a very happy few I know on life. But even those very few dont use PC as a gaming platform, a couple use the 360, the other two play WoW most of the time and thats it.
So Im not even able to find three companions for a Left4Dead match. Of course I can allways call some friends I got on STEAM, Dtoid guys are most of the time there.
But I just wanted to point out how sad it is that most of my friends, who play PC games on lanparty´s, they refuse to jump the online service and pay to play, at least once, a game like TF2. Is sad because 15 usd a month in this country is not even a night out with friends, 15 usd cant get you decently drunk on a night club.
So I asked one of them why? The answer: "I believe internet "stuff" has to be free, I wont pay for a game".
So thats it, uruguayan people believe they are smarter than everyone else. Things like movies, videogames and books are "free" because they can get them on the internet. They allready pay for the broadband (if they are not stealing wifi access), so why pay for a videogame? They are free!!
Piracy is somehow normal around here, thats because currency issues like I was saying. 15 usd is not a LOT of money, but it can buy you stuff... and 50 usd is like groceries for a family of four for five days, maybe less depending on what you buy...
Bottomline I think that digital distribution is the way to go to fight piracy, eventually some people realize the pro´s of getting legal stuff. Multiplayer, etc... At least in this country, but as the currency around here deteriorates against the dollar you wont get that many people to invest on things they cant touch. They rather spend that money on hardware.
For console users the situation is not good, 360´s are all cracked, if they work on LIVE is because they spend hours on the internet updating whatever needs to be done to be able to play on LIVE without getting banned. They pirate games coz the cost of a retail copy via Amazon+fedex+taxes pushes the price tag to around a 100usd, and no used games market.
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(# 0) on 04/12/2009 18:56
(# 1) on 04/12/2009 20:18
(# 2) on 04/12/2009 20:53
I used to do that, pirate everything, now that I have a job and a steady income, I am able to afford one game every two or three months.
And I can actually play it online with our shitty thirld world internet connections.
(# 3) on 04/12/2009 21:21
(# 4) on 04/12/2009 21:27
Ditto here, but even though is not easy, think of all the mayor releases that this industry creates, if that were the only reason thats fine, but it chooses to release them at the same time, and i make a decent wager but still i cant spend my money at the rate this industry requires, bessides think also that in south american countrys we get games reaaally late (at least here in Colombia they do) can you belive that we got little big planet in january, and with the money u spend ordering it online here a low class family can live for about a month, so i understand it when people get *ahem* backup games cause they now that if they go online to any game site everyone will be talking about a game they wont get to play for a month (and thats being optimistic) unless they get a pirate copy wih comes out even before launch, still i think the fault of this piracy issue in third world countrys lies with both consumers and the industry, consumers by sucking and buying or dowloading pirate games even sucky so they can have a large lybrary of illegal games, instead of savig and buying legit, and the industry for not taking into consideration the economic limitation of these countrys and sending games a bit cheaper and faster (i'm looking at you capcom, 103 bucks for RE5 the regular edition at a regular retailer is NOT cool) im noy asking for the games to be free but i cant figure the logic of making games more expensive on countrys that have less money...
also... oily boobs of win-ness
(# 5) on 04/13/2009 13:40
Steam ID: gunhosan
(# 6) on 04/13/2009 14:52
at least you get game releases. Here in Uruguay that doesnt exist, enter a gamestop (the only store is 2x2 in a mall), and you can buy only one game for 120usd for the ps3 (priced at 1200usd).
@Jozo:
I will.
(# 7) on 04/14/2009 11:52
we dont have a gamestop... dont get me wrong i love my country, its just... i wish i had faster games for less cash... *sob*
@JOZO
ditto dude ur on for some l4d
(# 8) on 04/14/2009 18:07
Dude add me on steam, my account is Janledroxa
(# 9) on 04/16/2009 08:55