Anyone involved in PC gaming knows that piracy of games is rampant, and this has developers running scared. Ubisoft recently said that they wouldn't release the PC version of Tom Clancy's EndWar at the same time as the console versions as they feared that piracy of the PC version would hurt sales of its console counterparts. Not a good sign, folks.
Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance, does not seem to share the bleak outlook of PC gaming that others have. In an interview with Gamasutra, Stude talks about the changes that need to be made to combat piracy, and many of them have to do with developer's views on the issue.
Pointing toward China and Korea's online distribution models as examples, Stude says, "the revenues being generated just blow the mind. You're talking almost 5 billion dollars," says Stude. "Almost half the world's PC software revenues are coming from marketplaces that have almost no retail at all."
Stude also believes that disc-based distribution is still viable: "You look at a game like Spore… despite the fact it's pirated out there on torrent networks, its selling great by any standard... it sort of bucks the notion that all games are going to be destroyed because of piracy. That's not the case."
He's not saying that the industry should just accept piracy.
"I'm saying that if there’s nothing that can be done [about piracy], the assumption that gaming will die on a platform is ridiculous," says Stude. "If there are alternative means to get that content, piracy or legit, consumers are going go find it. They have broadband, they have PC -- but perhaps they can't buy a $70 game every month like the console ecosystem relies on."
Contest:
1:23 PM on 10.20.2008
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Is no shocker that digital distribution is a good business, is a great business, it all makes sense.
I think developers are too scared of the PC because that wouldnt be with the trend of console exclusivity.
http://kotaku.com/5065990/gears-of-war-2-invades-torrent-sites
I really enjoyed The Force Unleashed. I thought it was a good game.
Stop right there. You can't deny it was a bad game. It's the rules. It's not OK to have different opinions.
The thing is that piracy is the reason why games are not released on the PC, is a cheap reason and a bad one.
They should say the truth, the console market is safer because of compatibility, base of users, audience... safer for an investment.
Since even historically, if you look at PC game sales, more games sold 1 mil+ copies on PS2 ALONE than in the PC's entire history. PC games generally do not and will not sell in the numbers of console games, regardless of piracy.
However PC gamers tend to play their games much longer than a console gamer, and online play is still a much bigger part of PC gaming than on console. So working on sales models that take advantage of things like that is where the money is to be made. Continuing content after the game is released (which has always been a part of PC in expansion packs, and is how The Sims has made EA super rich), continuing support so you have a chance to sell more content, microtransactions for certain types of games, selling advertisements for online play (not something I have a problem with when done right), and other things like that.
I liked the suggestions of not caring if people pirate the game, but putting a ton more ads in their game if they run a pirated version. Which more logically put, means putting out a free ad-supported version of the game, or letting people pay for a version with no ads and bonus content. I believe Trackmania works in a method somewhat like this.
Sorry. I forgot my place.
Also, if I was a game publisher I'd put torrents up that are disguised as real games. In fact, they'd just be demos, but there would be no sign of that fact until the would-be pirate reached the end and was hit with an ad for the full game.
To get really nasty, I'd use the exact same names for this demo torrent as for the real torrents, maybe even use taglines like, "NOT A DEMO, THIS IS THE FULL GAME" or what-have-you. What? Lying is bad, you say? Well, so is theft, jerk. Deal with it.
I belive that statement to be 1/2 correct.
What angers many PC gamers, is that we pour more money into our gaming system then any console gamer, yet lately we keep getting shafted on gaming content.
Console Gamers: You pay $250-$600 for a game console. That's it. You don't need to buy anything else to be able to run all the games that come out for that system for the next 5 years.
PC Gamers: We have to upgrade our Video Cards, RAM, CPUs, and Motherboards every 6 months to 2 years to be able to play everything that comes out. (At least, to play the game as it was intended to be played. What the developers call "Recommended System Requirements")
Let's say you buy all 3 consoles. You just spent $750 - $1250 in one year to play thousands of games over the next 1/2 a decade. PC gamers spend that same amount to build a single "mid-range" gaming system. We spent the money to game, and then suddendly, all the games go away.
Is it our fault that piracy is rampant? No. Piracy has been around since the 1st floppy disk. How many of you had Commodore 64s in the 80s? How many of you had disks with 3 or more games on them with hand written labels? Guess what? Those were pirated.
Piracy is always going to exist. Don't punish the honest gamer for it. Put some REAL effort into finding better ways to counter it. (I'm looking at you EA. SecuRom and your DRMs cause more piracy then they prevent.)
Sure PC Gamers complain alot. But, that's because right now, there is alot to complain about.
Also I would fucking LOVE if Ubisoft and the rest of the shovelware companies would run like rats from the DS due to perceived piracy. There are so many shitty games flooding the goddamn platform, it's unreal. I can't think of a single western developed title for the DS I've tried that wasn't a shovelware piece of shit.
Of course you have to know how to install ram, a hdd, a video card, videogames, etc... maybe thats why some people feels the pc gaming is "too expensive". Not just because of the price, but the tech factor.
PC gamers aren't the ones who are acting like a game is great if it's played on one console but yet is so inferior if the same damned game is played on a different console.
PC gamers aren't the ones who act like a little white console is useless and "not worthy of hardcore gamers" just because it doesn't have the engine that other consoles have.
PC gamers aren't the ones who treat others who have different PCs like second-class citizens just because they own a different type of PC.
Spare us your broad brushes about who is and isn't the "petulant child" when it comes to gaming. Methinks thou dost protest too much.
Wrong. Many PC gamers fairly consistently believe that PC ports of games are absolutely superior to their console versions, regardless of whether or not it's true. PC gamers are exactly the same whiny brats that exist in the console world; no more, no less. You'd be a fanboy to say otherwise.
And don't you dare try to make PC gamers into poor persecuted martyrs. I have nothing against the PC platform, but I constantly, continually see PC gamers arrogantly proclaiming how inferior and childlike the consoles and console gamers are. You rarely ever see console gamers concerned with whether the PC or console is better, but PC gamers are obsessed with it. You try to differentiate that from Sony-vs.-Microsoft fanboyism, but it's not different, it's exactly the same. You'd do better to examine exactly why PC gamers feel this need to constantly assert their presumed superiority.
I never said that all PC gamers were petulant children. Go back and reread that, and don't give me that "broad brushes" bullshit. If anyone is painting with "broad brushes" here, it's more likely to be a PC gaming elitist than a console fan. And did I ever say that console fanboys were acceptable? Have I ever given them a free pass? Do some digging and tell me what you find. Here's a hint: I never said that. PC gamers are fucking morons, console gamers are fucking morons. But we're talking about PC gaming in this post, and I'm not going to bloody qualify every statement I make with a counterbalance. Comprende?
I don't know what kind of games you're talking about, but the only games that have consistently shown to be better because of ease of access to functionality are FPS games. Even then, it comes down to conforming to the environment that you're given. Give a PC-shooter play a PS3 controller plus something like Medal of Honor and he'll be toasted in no time.
I don't know what kind of sites you've been visiting, but the vitriol and venom is almost always either XB360 vs PS3 or both of them vs Wii. Comprende?