Game

[Borys]

.

[Smooth Groove]

The big hardware companies might not be doing enough to curb piracy but I doubt they support it.  Less game support=less people upgrading and buying new hardware.  It's that simple. 

[duckman2000]

On the flipside, deals between developers/publishers and PC hardware companies that offer cross promotions and monetary incentives to promote a game for that particular hardware should curb some of the possible evils there.

[Great Rumbler]

It's nice that he throws that little nugget out there and then doesn't provide any examples to back it up.

[Van Cruncheon]

hey, you wanna know what REALLY encourages piracy, todd? securom. starforce. copy protection that requires a disc in the drive and hurts game performance, or borks legitimate tools and even ENTIRE DRIVES.

you want people to pay (and i get the right to say this; i haven't pirated anything pc-related since college 11 years ago)?  MAKE IT FUCKING CONVENIENT. accept that there will always be worthless thieves of your digital content on an open platform, because human beings are by and large selfish scum. MOVE TO STEAM AND DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION. fuck retailers, and fuck the box model. i hated STEAM for years, as TVC will attest, but now it's what i shop when bored -- i've bought shit i'd never purchase in a million years (like LOKI) because i was drunk or craving a loot-based dungeon crawler. if yer not gonna go digital, rip all the godawful obnoxious copy protection off the disc and stick with basic online purchase validation -- the losers will crack both approaches, but the latter doesn't piss your PAYING CUSTOMERS off.

in conclusion: if i never hafta buy a boxed pc game again, i will die happy.

[Great Rumbler]

hey, you wanna know what REALLY encourages piracy, todd? securom. starforce. copy protection that requires a disc in the drive and hurts game performance, or borks leigitmate tools and even ENTIRE DRIVES.

This kind of stuff really has become the bane of my existence since returning to the PC world. Want to play that shiny new game you just bought? Well, first you need to put in some 20 digit code of random letters and if your shiny new game comes with an expansion, well that will need a 20 digit code as well. Oh, and you can only install the game three times, so remember to manage your HD space wisely. And you have to install the entire game to your HD but still have to swap out discs anytime you want to play a new game.

No thanks.

[Joe Molotov]

"I think that there's been this dirty little secret among hardware manufacturers, which is that the perception of free content - even if you're supposed to pay for it on PSPs - is some sort hidden benefit that you get when you buy a PSP, like a right to download music for free or a right to download pirated movies and games,"

Fixed.

[laesperanzapaz]

hey, you wanna know what REALLY encourages piracy, todd? securom. starforce. copy protection that requires a disc in the drive and hurts game performance, or borks legitimate tools and even ENTIRE DRIVES.

you want people to pay (and i get the right to say this; i haven't pirated anything pc-related since college 11 years ago)?  MAKE IT FUCKING CONVENIENT. accept that there will always be worthless thieves of your digital content on an open platform, because human beings are by and large selfish scum. MOVE TO STEAM AND DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION. fuck retailers, and fuck the box model. i hated STEAM for years, as TVC will attest, but now it's what i shop when bored -- i've bought shit i'd never purchase in a million years (like LOKI) because i was drunk or craving a loot-based dungeon crawler. if yer not gonna go digital, rip all the godawful obnoxious copy protection off the disc and stick with basic online purchase validation -- the losers will crack both approaches, but the latter doesn't piss your PAYING CUSTOMERS off.

in conclusion: if i never hafta buy a boxed pc game again, i will die happy.

while i agree with you, PC boxed games are still a big part of PC game sales. Valve has even said that their 'free weekends' stuff led to higher boxed sales than digital ones

[Cormacaroni]

ah, they're just trying to get a piece of that Apple pie (ho ho), wherein music publishers are trying to get a cut of the hardware sales. This is being pushed on the makers with all sorts of hardware now, why not PC. Makers of CD-Rs, DVD-Rs etc are already paying this, aren't they? At least in some regions.

[Smooth Groove]

"I think that there's been this dirty little secret among hardware manufacturers, which is that the perception of free content - even if you're supposed to pay for it on PSPs - is some sort hidden benefit that you get when you buy a PSP, like a right to download music for free or a right to download pirated movies and games,"

Fixed.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony really isn't too concerned with PSP piracy.  It might be why they're not rushing out the PSP2 despite all the hacked PSPs out there.  All they have to do is release a few good games a year and let the huge hardware sales cover the development costs. 

[Brehvolution]

In regards to the PSP, for every lost game sale due to piracy is a mem duo stick purchase at some point.

[duckman2000]

Another inherit issue with the PC game format, although this honestly is probably just me and a few others, is that there isn't a game rental market for PC games. I usually end up buying most of the games that I rent, and I'd imagine the same would be true for PC games. As it stands right now, I can either buy, not buy or pirate the game. I don't pirate games, and the decision to buy would probably be easier to justify if I could rent the games beforehand. As said though, this probably isn't a widespread sentiment.

[Raban]

I dunno. I don't pirate PC games too much. Unless it's a hard to find, I usually suffer more hassle if I decide to torrent a game because I have to risk a virus with a keygen, or a no-CD crack, and all the shit I have to put into it is just a pain in the ass.

If I torrent now, it's for music and movies, that's about it. I don't play a wide variety of games and when it's one of those rare times I actually wanna play a new one, I just buy the game. Also, before I was VAC-banned I agree that Steam is some brilliant shit, and my main account has literally every game Valve has ever made, save for DOD and DOD:S.