The "I wouldn't have bought it anyway" defense is one of the Ten Golden Rules of videogame piracy (I rule at plugging) but it's a rule that Crysis developer Crytek doesn't find entirely valid. The studio argues that while not everybody who pirated Crysis would have potentially paid for it, sales were still lost.
"Well, clearly not all would have," conceded Crytek's engine business manager Harald Seeley. "But judging by, for example, the number of users who downloaded our patches, there were a lot more active players than there were unit sales. And I think we can safely say if they were still playing the game by the time our latest patch released, and if they were playing on a pirated copy, then they were a sale that didn’t happen but probably would have had it not been possible to obtain the game illegally."
Crysis is Crytek's most pirated game of all time, and CEO Cevat Yerli has had more than his fair share of words on the subject, even stating that the company would no longer produce PC exclusive content thanks to pirates.
Of course, everyone knows that the "I wouldn't have bought it" argument is bollocks, just like most of the self-justifying horsesh*t that comes out of the mouths of those that pirate. If you want to steal stuff, fill your boots, I don't care. It's the pathetic excuse making that I can't stand.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
1:24 PM on 08.28.2008
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I may go back to it again sometime but we'll see.
Am I the only one who downloaded the demo? (I also bought the full game, after seeing the game performed reasonably on medium settings on my currently mediocre pc)
The game had a demo release, before the launch. Everybody could legally see how crysis performed on their machine, so enough with this "crysis was pirated because it ran slow". The fact that they are downloading the updates is because they keep playing.
After downloading the demo, and seeing that it ran poorly, why would anyone want to download the full game? It is called piracy, front to end.
There was a demo for Crysis. Unless you had a Quad Core PC(which I'm guessing most pirates didn't have.), I don't buy the "I pirated to see how it ran" excuse.
Your anti-pirate bullshit is pissing me off. Your anti-homebrew stance is also pissing me off. Stop fucking whining. I doubt you even have a pc that can play crysis anyway, so how does this effect you?
BTW, homebrew and pirating software are completely different things. Yes modifying your psp to run homebrew software is actually illegal due to legal agreement you accepted stating you wouldn't modify the hardware or software for unattended purposes. But they are not ethically the same thing. Also, why the fuck is wrong with dumping my psp games on memory stick or dumping my games on my pc's hard drive. Yes they are both illegal activities but I don't give a shit. Yes I buy my games, i just want to be able to run them off memory instead of a freak'n disc. This way it makes it easy to switch between games and reduces and wear and tear on my cd's, which always end up all over the place or in 100 cd spindle cases mixed with shit from 1997.
Also I'm really annoyed by the all the self-righteous bullshit too. You know why I'm not against pirating? Emulation. I want to play Earthbound on my pc or psp? Is that so wrong? I"m pretty sure in your early days you played with snes emulators. Heck if it wasn't for Zsnes I would have never discovered all those great snes rpgs.
Back in the late 90s early 2000s there were tons of snes rpgs we didn't have access too because american publishers didn't want to bring them over. Our only resort? Emulation and fan translation. I respect all those hard workers that got Star Ocean to finally work on an emulator or the fine Translation work for Shin Megami Tensei I and II. Go ahead hate pirating software you hypocritical jackass. I know I have no right to stand near the banner of anti-pirating, becasue I grew up doing that shit all through highschool. Maybe you weren't a geek back in the 90s (i have no clue how old you are), but I knew many fellow geeks who copied/pirated psx and pc games. Is it becasue we wanted to destroy industry? NO, we just wanted to fucking play games.
So go ahead with your anti-homebrew, anti-emulation, anti-"pirating" campaign. Keep thinking that stealing games and developing homebrew software is the same shit. All you do is make yourself out as a big hypocritical fool. Shut up and let the industry handle the pirating crisis themselves, they don't need you keep whining about so-called pirates, who just want to play Earthbound on their goddamn psp.
Well hello Mr Cynical!
Listen, I love games, I love the people that make great games, I love the industry... I spend as much as I can afford to on games, and I'm careful of where I spend it. I don't waste my time buying overpriced used games; I know my money isnt going to the devs. I support my favorite dev studios; even when they falter(?) I support them if I can (by buying their less-than-stellar game)
I don't need you telling me about my self-justifying bullshit. Look, I'm not stupid: I know I'm conducting illegal activities when I download a game, but I'm not lying to myself about the ethical shit.
I try before I buy and give the talent my money. Illegal? Sure. Immoral? Not by my moral compass.
Hasn't Crytek only made 2 games? 0_o
I'm not completely anti-pirating, I'm certainly not anti-homebrew and I'm not anti-emulation. If you'd actually read the things I write, you'd realize that my main beef is with the bullshit excuses. I couldn't give a fucking shit if you pirate, but don't expect me to believe you justifying it with anything other than "I didn't want to pay."
I've used emulators, I download music. I am not suggesting pirates should be strung up by their balls. What I am saying is that it's a difficult thing to justify, and the people who try often end up looking like dickheads.
HAHAHAHA you're a laugh riot, keep it up.
I dont think Crytek realizes people pirated Crysis cause they heard it runs like crap on most machines.
An excuse hast appeared! What shalt thou do?
FIGHT MOCK
USE LOGIC IGNORE
* that guy says the truth
It's still pirating. It's a sad justification. If you can't play it legally in America...guess what:
TOUGH FUCKING SHIT.
Buy a Japanese system, buy the Japanese game, or STFU.
/shrug
Point was: Pirate all you what, just don't make lame excuses.
On a lighter tangent - I like my women like I like my coffee. Stored in jars in the 'fridge.
Yes, because I can just walk over to the corner store and buy a fucking Super Famicom.
Dumbass.
Good article, sad comments.
You need an account tied to a credit/debit card in order to update. Works like steam.
If you pirate a game, sure you can play it, but you miss out on so many updates over time.
It used to be that updates after a release was a poor business model as it dumbs down the initial experience. But now with fast internet speeds, it's becoming a good strategy against pirates, and also a way that devs can spread out the development.
I didn't even finish the demo, never mind wanting more. No sale.
p.s. I agree with Bwark-Kupo.
No, but you can go online and order one from the internet, just like you can get your pirated imports.
Dumbshit.
You want a real video game? Go buy Sins of a solar empire. Best bang for a buck in a long while. Or buy STALKER Clear Sky when it comes out, previous one was an actual game, not like Cevat Yerli's shit. Fuck Cevat Yerli.
Everyone has some pirated something in their lives and most people still do. What pisses me off is the people looking down on pirates when I can look at almost anyone's computer and find something they shouldn't have on it - whether it's music (most offenders), movies, anime-fansubs or games of some sort. I'll bet most of you have watched some of that "free pr0n" on the internet but that ain't supposed to be free either.
I think that as long as you buy something you are not a total jackass but the hypocrisy is what really disgusts me.