The "General Games Chat" forum, which includes Retro Game Reviews, has been archived and is now read-only. You cannot post here or create a new thread or review on this forum.
Ah, waking up every Sunday morning at 9am, seeing the fresh air and going around the Car Boot Sales used to be the high point of my day, until recently.
I have stopped going to Car Boot Sales for 6 months now, for one reason, Piracy.
I used to be able to put up with it, with the odd Amiga floppy disc being flogged for a pretty penny, and that was just a few years ago, years after the Amgia liquified. There were a fair shair of con men out there as I should know, after buying Terminator 2 for 50p on the Amiga. When I went home and inserted the floppy into one of my 2 external disc drives, the game failed to load. At the time, I was only 7 and I boiled my eyes out, thinking that someone could be that mean to a 6 or 7 year old boy, but that's just the begginning.
Just by looking left or right at a Car Boot Sale, you would see pirated games for rediculously cheap prices. My friend brought home Worms World Party for an amazing £10, just a week after it was released full price.
Games are not the only thing. Many films are being brought in too. Once my friend went abroad and brought home Jarrassic Park and it hadn't even come out at the cinema yet. We put it into our video recorder and pressed play. To our surprise and misfortune, it was a video of someone who had taken a video camera into a cinema and zoomed in on the cinema screen. The quality was terrible and I only sat through about 10 minutes of it and waited for it to come out on video.
I have also been shown Silent Hill, months before it's release and Metal Gear Solid, 6 months before it's UK release. MGS is very different in America. When you face Psycho Mantis, you and Meryl have to pick off loads and loads of guards.
The films in boot sales have been imported from America or other contries and somehow been recorded onto either VHS, VCD or Mini Disc.
However, Mp3's are yet to be seen. Well, at least since I last went. My friend got a couple of albumns but I've never seen any pirated albumns. He found some Metallica, Nirvana and Led Zepplin albumns at a very cheap price.
I am disguested by this as it is just not the same as the original. The book, the case and the covers are all missing. Some people buy the cases and scan the covers but the covers are not of a glossy quality and the cases do not have the "Dreamcast" logo on the blue spine. Some people have ways of getting books as well but not many.
A lot of my friends have offered my pirated Dreamcast, PC and PS games but I have refused.
Nintendo have the best system with cartridges. The only way to pirate them is to use a contraption called the Z64. It makes a copy of the game onto the memory of the Z64 ( a few gig ) and then you can play the game from the Z64 memory, without having to own the original counterpart.
The Playstatition never thought of piracy at the time of PS's release. People made copies and then the problems began, until the release of Dino Crisis. This game had an error written into it so that if you tried to copy it, it would not copy. People downloaded cracks off of the internet and broke the protection. Dino Crisis is the only game to use this as it failed miserably.
Sega though that they had protection beaten when they released the Dreamcast. The games were recorded onto GD-Roms, a new type of CD, bigger than a standard 650MB 74 minute CD. It has a few more rings around the disc than a PS game. However, this was again cracked. People connected their Dreamcasts up to their PC's and uploaded the games to their computers and then used a programme called Winrar to make them into files of 19MB each, called ISO files. They then uploaded them to a server and people download them, Unrar them and burn them to a disc. It takes about 1 day to download a game.
PC gaming is almost the same, except, you download RIPS, instead of ISO's. RIPS are retail games with the intros and some FMV's removed, to save space when downloading files.
The creators of Bleem an emulator for the PC, that lets you play PS games on the PC, have the right idea. They have put a copy protection on the CD's that cannot be "cracked" or broken as of now. Why do music, cinema and games companies not use this? It cannot be too expensive as the creators of Bleem worked on a low budget.
How to identify a pirate.
All pirates are exactly the same to spot, turn the CD over and look at the back. If it has a black back, it is original, if it has a rainbow-like back, it is a pirate. It will have 2 rings, showing how much the CD has been taken up by the game. Beware though, don't think that a game is original by looking at the front and seeing the CD design because some people print them off and glue them to the front of the CD.
Piracy is a huge business and not just game companies, but the movie and music industry need to do something drastic, NOW.
I have stopped going to Car Boot Sales for 6 months now, for one reason, Piracy.
I used to be able to put up with it, with the odd Amiga floppy disc being flogged for a pretty penny, and that was just a few years ago, years after the Amgia liquified. There were a fair shair of con men out there as I should know, after buying Terminator 2 for 50p on the Amiga. When I went home and inserted the floppy into one of my 2 external disc drives, the game failed to load. At the time, I was only 7 and I boiled my eyes out, thinking that someone could be that mean to a 6 or 7 year old boy, but that's just the begginning.
Just by looking left or right at a Car Boot Sale, you would see pirated games for rediculously cheap prices. My friend brought home Worms World Party for an amazing £10, just a week after it was released full price.
Games are not the only thing. Many films are being brought in too. Once my friend went abroad and brought home Jarrassic Park and it hadn't even come out at the cinema yet. We put it into our video recorder and pressed play. To our surprise and misfortune, it was a video of someone who had taken a video camera into a cinema and zoomed in on the cinema screen. The quality was terrible and I only sat through about 10 minutes of it and waited for it to come out on video.
I have also been shown Silent Hill, months before it's release and Metal Gear Solid, 6 months before it's UK release. MGS is very different in America. When you face Psycho Mantis, you and Meryl have to pick off loads and loads of guards.
The films in boot sales have been imported from America or other contries and somehow been recorded onto either VHS, VCD or Mini Disc.
However, Mp3's are yet to be seen. Well, at least since I last went. My friend got a couple of albumns but I've never seen any pirated albumns. He found some Metallica, Nirvana and Led Zepplin albumns at a very cheap price.
I am disguested by this as it is just not the same as the original. The book, the case and the covers are all missing. Some people buy the cases and scan the covers but the covers are not of a glossy quality and the cases do not have the "Dreamcast" logo on the blue spine. Some people have ways of getting books as well but not many.
A lot of my friends have offered my pirated Dreamcast, PC and PS games but I have refused.
Nintendo have the best system with cartridges. The only way to pirate them is to use a contraption called the Z64. It makes a copy of the game onto the memory of the Z64 ( a few gig ) and then you can play the game from the Z64 memory, without having to own the original counterpart.
The Playstatition never thought of piracy at the time of PS's release. People made copies and then the problems began, until the release of Dino Crisis. This game had an error written into it so that if you tried to copy it, it would not copy. People downloaded cracks off of the internet and broke the protection. Dino Crisis is the only game to use this as it failed miserably.
Sega though that they had protection beaten when they released the Dreamcast. The games were recorded onto GD-Roms, a new type of CD, bigger than a standard 650MB 74 minute CD. It has a few more rings around the disc than a PS game. However, this was again cracked. People connected their Dreamcasts up to their PC's and uploaded the games to their computers and then used a programme called Winrar to make them into files of 19MB each, called ISO files. They then uploaded them to a server and people download them, Unrar them and burn them to a disc. It takes about 1 day to download a game.
PC gaming is almost the same, except, you download RIPS, instead of ISO's. RIPS are retail games with the intros and some FMV's removed, to save space when downloading files.
The creators of Bleem an emulator for the PC, that lets you play PS games on the PC, have the right idea. They have put a copy protection on the CD's that cannot be "cracked" or broken as of now. Why do music, cinema and games companies not use this? It cannot be too expensive as the creators of Bleem worked on a low budget.
How to identify a pirate.
All pirates are exactly the same to spot, turn the CD over and look at the back. If it has a black back, it is original, if it has a rainbow-like back, it is a pirate. It will have 2 rings, showing how much the CD has been taken up by the game. Beware though, don't think that a game is original by looking at the front and seeing the CD design because some people print them off and glue them to the front of the CD.
Piracy is a huge business and not just game companies, but the movie and music industry need to do something drastic, NOW.
Page:
Tellah wrote:
" It's been said that piracy costs the music and game industry over......."
Well said. Piracy is not affecting the industry- the mark-up by retailers is so high that it doesn't matter.
In an industry that makes more money the the film industry every year, it seems amazing how little money goes to the actual people who make games!
" It's been said that piracy costs the music and game industry over......."
Well said. Piracy is not affecting the industry- the mark-up by retailers is so high that it doesn't matter.
In an industry that makes more money the the film industry every year, it seems amazing how little money goes to the actual people who make games!
In reply to:
"ah but logan only the small optical discs fit into the GC so using cheap cd's wouldn't work , that is untill they release the dvd gamecube coz that can fit everything in it , or untill they release writable optical discs. So nintendo have added another twist to pirating their games !"
So? You could never buy a DVD writer before they were used to store films. The fact is 60% of Eastern games sales are fake- a market of millions. If it costs thousands to get a small optical writer then pirates will buy one.
Secondly, will anyone reaply to my long message:
Logan wrote:
> OK! Here goes:
Piracy is mostly the industry's fault.
Now read
> the rest before you reply.
Ok, so it's a bold claim. But why do
> people pirate games? Simple- to get games for nothing/cheap. After
> all, all you get with a game is a load of 1s and 0s in binary... if
> you can get it for a tenth of the cost elsewhere then why
> not?
So, the main reason people buy pirate games is because they
> are cheap. The question now is, are new games too expensive. Simple
> answer... yes. The industy can sell games for so much less. Lets
> investigate how:
Firstly, where does the money go when you buy a
> game? Answer: the retailers. They get most of the profit. Next up is
> the publishers. Finally are the developers, who actually make the
> game, but get nothing in comparison to the retailers! (mind you, the
> money is spread amoungst less people). If retailers cared about game
> pirating sooo much they could lower all game prices by quite a bit.
> But they won't.
Next up, the actual development of the games.
> Explain this. Games are made in Japanese first. This takes time, but
> the game is made. and release. Then the game is translated into
> American English, which takes time. During which time people pirate
> the game, and people in America, wanting he game, buy pirate copies.
> More so, the cost of translating raises the price of the game.
> Finally, the game is translated in French, German etc, and then sold
> here for even more, and even further into the future. Again people
> here get bored waiting and buy copies.
Here's a solution. Make a
> game with all the languages supported form the start. Then realease
> the game universally over the world. With a universal low price.
> Seeing as the gaem has to be translated anyway, why not do it from
> the start! It's more ecconomical. By universally releasing games
> then retailers are forced to keep game prices in tab with those
> abroad.
Final point on the making of games: how about getting rid
> of regional coding? If games supported all languages and could be
> played anywhere then there would be no way for European retailers to
> sell them more expensive to us. I saves waiting for releases, and
> will remove many pirate games buyers.
And now my last idea.
> Make the idea of buying a game more than just getting a series of 1s
> and 0s. A few games have things like online options that can only be
> accessed with a real game (and there are ways to make sure you are
> playing with a real game). How about games publishers giving tockets
> with games. Whe you get a certain number of tockets from a publisher
> you get a prize... get membership for a club (like club nintendo)...
> or something like that?
Oh, and very last point... how many
> times have you bought a £50 game and felt cheated because the
> game was so bad? This again leads to piracy. Publishers should
> prevent bad games entering the market... it is derogatory and ruins
> everyone's concept of gaming.
To sum up: The industry is tactling
> piracy by trying to make it impossible. This cannot be done... any
> anti-piracy system will be broken. Maybe the industry should look at
> why people pirate games and how they can make games more appealing
> to buy real copies of?
"ah but logan only the small optical discs fit into the GC so using cheap cd's wouldn't work , that is untill they release the dvd gamecube coz that can fit everything in it , or untill they release writable optical discs. So nintendo have added another twist to pirating their games !"
So? You could never buy a DVD writer before they were used to store films. The fact is 60% of Eastern games sales are fake- a market of millions. If it costs thousands to get a small optical writer then pirates will buy one.
Secondly, will anyone reaply to my long message:
Logan wrote:
> OK! Here goes:
Piracy is mostly the industry's fault.
Now read
> the rest before you reply.
Ok, so it's a bold claim. But why do
> people pirate games? Simple- to get games for nothing/cheap. After
> all, all you get with a game is a load of 1s and 0s in binary... if
> you can get it for a tenth of the cost elsewhere then why
> not?
So, the main reason people buy pirate games is because they
> are cheap. The question now is, are new games too expensive. Simple
> answer... yes. The industy can sell games for so much less. Lets
> investigate how:
Firstly, where does the money go when you buy a
> game? Answer: the retailers. They get most of the profit. Next up is
> the publishers. Finally are the developers, who actually make the
> game, but get nothing in comparison to the retailers! (mind you, the
> money is spread amoungst less people). If retailers cared about game
> pirating sooo much they could lower all game prices by quite a bit.
> But they won't.
Next up, the actual development of the games.
> Explain this. Games are made in Japanese first. This takes time, but
> the game is made. and release. Then the game is translated into
> American English, which takes time. During which time people pirate
> the game, and people in America, wanting he game, buy pirate copies.
> More so, the cost of translating raises the price of the game.
> Finally, the game is translated in French, German etc, and then sold
> here for even more, and even further into the future. Again people
> here get bored waiting and buy copies.
Here's a solution. Make a
> game with all the languages supported form the start. Then realease
> the game universally over the world. With a universal low price.
> Seeing as the gaem has to be translated anyway, why not do it from
> the start! It's more ecconomical. By universally releasing games
> then retailers are forced to keep game prices in tab with those
> abroad.
Final point on the making of games: how about getting rid
> of regional coding? If games supported all languages and could be
> played anywhere then there would be no way for European retailers to
> sell them more expensive to us. I saves waiting for releases, and
> will remove many pirate games buyers.
And now my last idea.
> Make the idea of buying a game more than just getting a series of 1s
> and 0s. A few games have things like online options that can only be
> accessed with a real game (and there are ways to make sure you are
> playing with a real game). How about games publishers giving tockets
> with games. Whe you get a certain number of tockets from a publisher
> you get a prize... get membership for a club (like club nintendo)...
> or something like that?
Oh, and very last point... how many
> times have you bought a £50 game and felt cheated because the
> game was so bad? This again leads to piracy. Publishers should
> prevent bad games entering the market... it is derogatory and ruins
> everyone's concept of gaming.
To sum up: The industry is tactling
> piracy by trying to make it impossible. This cannot be done... any
> anti-piracy system will be broken. Maybe the industry should look at
> why people pirate games and how they can make games more appealing
> to buy real copies of?
Classy move - oooh, i'd like to of seen your mates' faces - :D
Ahh, that's made my day knowing Konami stopped them lads from being cocky over their chipped MGS - haha :D
Ahh, that's made my day knowing Konami stopped them lads from being cocky over their chipped MGS - haha :D
You can buy black bottomed cd's very cheaply now, you can get purple discs that look exactly the same as PS2 discs too. The Gamecube with it's smaller dvd discs will stump the pirates at first, but Matsushita are releasing a gamecube clone that takes normal sized DVD discs shortly after Nintendo's official release.
I laughed when my mates couldn't play the chipped MGS because they needed the cd case for meyrl's frequency HAHA, oh that was a smart move konami :)
I like your description of those people who buy piracy games, FM. :OD
Very sad people who put absolutley no thought whatsoever into what they're doing when they buy a piracy product.
Fools.
Very sad people who put absolutley no thought whatsoever into what they're doing when they buy a piracy product.
Fools.
I bet you drool too.
It's been said that piracy costs the music and game industry over $1bn each, each year. Yeah, probably this amount of music/software is copied, but I think (and I've said it before) these figures are crazy!
People copy games and music either because they can't afford them, or because they are cack and wouldn't be bought for £50. (I'm not saying this is o.k!).
So the games industry isn't loosing money on these copies. So, other than monetary reasons, why is piracy evil?
People who make money off piracy are where the worries should lie. These people could deal with drugs, arms etc. These people need to be stopped. They can be stopped. Piracy is the smallest of their crimes.
If I record a song off the radio, I'm breaking the law - I bet you've all got a tape which is copied from a friend or the radio. Do you think there are music forums where people are getting flustered about people taping music??? Or film forums discussing VHS copies??? I don't think so.
They are discussing the music itself, and how much fun it is. Both music, and entertainment of all kinds, is about having fun. If you seriously think it's about 'the industry' then you are disturbed.
Why on earth does it bother some people so much. Games companies aren't going bust. OK sierra went under recently, but not through piracy. The industry is in the strongest position it's ever been in, with 2 new consoles planned before the end of the year. Squaresoft have made a blockbuster which probably cost more to make than all the pirate copies of Final Fantasy ever made!
Yes, small developers are disappearing, but that's because they are being bought out, or not being able to keep up with the exponential growth. People will always make games! In the same way people will always make music and film.
I would much rather buy a game than copy it. It's more fun (The point of gaming). But if I couldn't afford entertainment, I wouldn't deny myself the fun - I would try to make my short life a bit happier by taping films I like off the telly, and taping music. HOME piracy, for your own use, is exactly the same as this. Illegal - yes. A big deal - no.
There is a big spin on games piracy to make it seem like the root of all evil and the executioner of good computer games. This sort of attitude doesn't exist in other entertainment industries, and IMO misplaced in these forums.
People copy games and music either because they can't afford them, or because they are cack and wouldn't be bought for £50. (I'm not saying this is o.k!).
So the games industry isn't loosing money on these copies. So, other than monetary reasons, why is piracy evil?
People who make money off piracy are where the worries should lie. These people could deal with drugs, arms etc. These people need to be stopped. They can be stopped. Piracy is the smallest of their crimes.
If I record a song off the radio, I'm breaking the law - I bet you've all got a tape which is copied from a friend or the radio. Do you think there are music forums where people are getting flustered about people taping music??? Or film forums discussing VHS copies??? I don't think so.
They are discussing the music itself, and how much fun it is. Both music, and entertainment of all kinds, is about having fun. If you seriously think it's about 'the industry' then you are disturbed.
Why on earth does it bother some people so much. Games companies aren't going bust. OK sierra went under recently, but not through piracy. The industry is in the strongest position it's ever been in, with 2 new consoles planned before the end of the year. Squaresoft have made a blockbuster which probably cost more to make than all the pirate copies of Final Fantasy ever made!
Yes, small developers are disappearing, but that's because they are being bought out, or not being able to keep up with the exponential growth. People will always make games! In the same way people will always make music and film.
I would much rather buy a game than copy it. It's more fun (The point of gaming). But if I couldn't afford entertainment, I wouldn't deny myself the fun - I would try to make my short life a bit happier by taping films I like off the telly, and taping music. HOME piracy, for your own use, is exactly the same as this. Illegal - yes. A big deal - no.
There is a big spin on games piracy to make it seem like the root of all evil and the executioner of good computer games. This sort of attitude doesn't exist in other entertainment industries, and IMO misplaced in these forums.
I could have bought a pirate copy of Crazy Taxi 2 for 4 quid. But I didn't. I went to Game and spent 30 sheets on the official game. The talent and hard work of the programmers must be rewarded. If you really love video games and care about the future of the industry, you shouldn't buy pirated games. I never have, and never will.
Ild also like to partially blame the industry for Piracy, when the industry releases games/films in the UK 6 months to a year after the games/films are released in the US and Japan they create a market that Pirates can exploit.
If we got games at the same time as they do in the US then the market for Pirates would decrease!
If we got games at the same time as they do in the US then the market for Pirates would decrease!
Page: