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Many years ago I was the proud owner of an Atari ST, which although utterly useless by today’s high standards, its games had the playability and originality which many modern efforts are sorely lacking. Unfortunately, it came to a sorry end, as did the equally great Amiga, by the ever-present hand of piracy. This was then even more common than it is today, since copying floppy disks is so easy, and ultimately led to the collapse of the games market for these machines.
Just yesterday, I was given the opportunity to get my hands on pirate copies of some of the best Playstation 2 games around at a price that compared to a Happy Meal at McDonald's. I refused. I do not want to add to the problems piracy creates in the games market.
There is a lesson to be learned here- that the future of gaming is grim unless more action is taken against piracy. In the past games developers came up with many ingenious ideas, the most common of which was some form of detailed pattern or code printed on dark paper and supplied with the game manual- the original Settlers comes to mind here in earlier days and most modern PC games now use this code method on the back of games cases. This code is entered like a password to get the game to load and can only be registered once. Another solution was a cardboard disc with a pattern of holes which, when rotated as directed by the game, revealed a pattern of symbols which had to be entered. This method was not as widely used, but it worked all the same. More recently we have had disc shape changes with the release of the GameCube so that games cannot be copied onto normal Compact Discs.
These devices are very difficult to reproduce, and very effective, but came too late to save the systems of the past. Many of the developers responsible for these measures are still around today (Codemasters and Core to name but two). I think it is time that anti-piracy measures were more effective on all systems today, especially easy targets such as the Playstation consoles. Unless something is done fast, prices will continue to increase and many gamers will end up priced out of the games market.
Just yesterday, I was given the opportunity to get my hands on pirate copies of some of the best Playstation 2 games around at a price that compared to a Happy Meal at McDonald's. I refused. I do not want to add to the problems piracy creates in the games market.
There is a lesson to be learned here- that the future of gaming is grim unless more action is taken against piracy. In the past games developers came up with many ingenious ideas, the most common of which was some form of detailed pattern or code printed on dark paper and supplied with the game manual- the original Settlers comes to mind here in earlier days and most modern PC games now use this code method on the back of games cases. This code is entered like a password to get the game to load and can only be registered once. Another solution was a cardboard disc with a pattern of holes which, when rotated as directed by the game, revealed a pattern of symbols which had to be entered. This method was not as widely used, but it worked all the same. More recently we have had disc shape changes with the release of the GameCube so that games cannot be copied onto normal Compact Discs.
These devices are very difficult to reproduce, and very effective, but came too late to save the systems of the past. Many of the developers responsible for these measures are still around today (Codemasters and Core to name but two). I think it is time that anti-piracy measures were more effective on all systems today, especially easy targets such as the Playstation consoles. Unless something is done fast, prices will continue to increase and many gamers will end up priced out of the games market.
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Many years ago I was the proud owner of an Atari ST, which although utterly useless by today’s high standards, its games had the playability and originality which many modern efforts are sorely lacking. Unfortunately, it came to a sorry end, as did the equally great Amiga, by the ever-present hand of piracy. This was then even more common than it is today, since copying floppy disks is so easy, and ultimately led to the collapse of the games market for these machines.
Just yesterday, I was given the opportunity to get my hands on pirate copies of some of the best Playstation 2 games around at a price that compared to a Happy Meal at McDonald's. I refused. I do not want to add to the problems piracy creates in the games market.
There is a lesson to be learned here- that the future of gaming is grim unless more action is taken against piracy. In the past games developers came up with many ingenious ideas, the most common of which was some form of detailed pattern or code printed on dark paper and supplied with the game manual- the original Settlers comes to mind here in earlier days and most modern PC games now use this code method on the back of games cases. This code is entered like a password to get the game to load and can only be registered once. Another solution was a cardboard disc with a pattern of holes which, when rotated as directed by the game, revealed a pattern of symbols which had to be entered. This method was not as widely used, but it worked all the same. More recently we have had disc shape changes with the release of the GameCube so that games cannot be copied onto normal Compact Discs.
These devices are very difficult to reproduce, and very effective, but came too late to save the systems of the past. Many of the developers responsible for these measures are still around today (Codemasters and Core to name but two). I think it is time that anti-piracy measures were more effective on all systems today, especially easy targets such as the Playstation consoles. Unless something is done fast, prices will continue to increase and many gamers will end up priced out of the games market.
Just yesterday, I was given the opportunity to get my hands on pirate copies of some of the best Playstation 2 games around at a price that compared to a Happy Meal at McDonald's. I refused. I do not want to add to the problems piracy creates in the games market.
There is a lesson to be learned here- that the future of gaming is grim unless more action is taken against piracy. In the past games developers came up with many ingenious ideas, the most common of which was some form of detailed pattern or code printed on dark paper and supplied with the game manual- the original Settlers comes to mind here in earlier days and most modern PC games now use this code method on the back of games cases. This code is entered like a password to get the game to load and can only be registered once. Another solution was a cardboard disc with a pattern of holes which, when rotated as directed by the game, revealed a pattern of symbols which had to be entered. This method was not as widely used, but it worked all the same. More recently we have had disc shape changes with the release of the GameCube so that games cannot be copied onto normal Compact Discs.
These devices are very difficult to reproduce, and very effective, but came too late to save the systems of the past. Many of the developers responsible for these measures are still around today (Codemasters and Core to name but two). I think it is time that anti-piracy measures were more effective on all systems today, especially easy targets such as the Playstation consoles. Unless something is done fast, prices will continue to increase and many gamers will end up priced out of the games market.
I would not blame the demise of the ST and amiga on piracy, maybe more on technological advances. But yes i do agree piracy was emmense with the machines of the time. Unfortunately if piracy has an effect on the software market there exists a vicious circle. People copy as long as prices stay high. Prices stay high as piracy exists. But it doesn't stop the software houses spending millions on producing games !! and maybe each house is losing the same amount of money as each other, that would explain the uniform pricing stratergy :) I think piracy is written into the risk assessment. In business terms nothing is lost, but there is MILLIONS to gain for more fat cheques.
There will always be that ying and yang. I do not condone piracy, but its a fact of life. An impossible fact to erradicate. Shame really, I bet the MD of konami (pick your favorite) would love a pay rise.
There will always be that ying and yang. I do not condone piracy, but its a fact of life. An impossible fact to erradicate. Shame really, I bet the MD of konami (pick your favorite) would love a pay rise.
I really think that there needs to be some proper, set, and strict punishments for people who concern themselves with pirating games, both the people who copy them, and the people who actually buy them, because they are as much at fault as the people that do the copying.
If both parties knew that they were heading for a serious punishment then they would seriously think about not doing it.
The only problem with that though is that it would be such a big thing to do, it would have to be a nationwide (would we go as far as saying world wide?) action to truely put a big dent in the bad goings on around this topic.
But thats not going to happen, as well there are other things that need addressing first in the world. But this is till a big thing that needs sorting out as its costing the market millions of pounds each year.
Everytime a new console comes out, or new source of format for data to be stored on, some bof somewhere figures out how to get things copied and so on, its not something thats going to go away sharpish.
It will end up costing us the gamers more and more money as time goes by, but there is one thing 'we' can do, if we stick to buying all the original stuff we can be sure that we are doing our bit, and putting out appreciattion back into the gaming world with doing the right thing and buying the official games.
If both parties knew that they were heading for a serious punishment then they would seriously think about not doing it.
The only problem with that though is that it would be such a big thing to do, it would have to be a nationwide (would we go as far as saying world wide?) action to truely put a big dent in the bad goings on around this topic.
But thats not going to happen, as well there are other things that need addressing first in the world. But this is till a big thing that needs sorting out as its costing the market millions of pounds each year.
Everytime a new console comes out, or new source of format for data to be stored on, some bof somewhere figures out how to get things copied and so on, its not something thats going to go away sharpish.
It will end up costing us the gamers more and more money as time goes by, but there is one thing 'we' can do, if we stick to buying all the original stuff we can be sure that we are doing our bit, and putting out appreciattion back into the gaming world with doing the right thing and buying the official games.
Gone up compared to what Nes games use to be. :)
I know thats old tech stuff but i remember buying games from Toy's R Us for about £18. And now we are paying £30-40 for games. I know the market has moved some way forward, but in that short time games are now twice as expensive.
With 3 big consoles out now and the PC, if piracy gets much worse than it is already, who knows how much more these prices are going to go up.
I know thats old tech stuff but i remember buying games from Toy's R Us for about £18. And now we are paying £30-40 for games. I know the market has moved some way forward, but in that short time games are now twice as expensive.
With 3 big consoles out now and the PC, if piracy gets much worse than it is already, who knows how much more these prices are going to go up.
yes very true. I remember the last game I bought for my spectrum, Chase HQ for 14 quid. Now put that in perspective. Prices will always creep up. Thats to do with financial garble that i do not understand, cost of living and stuff. To pay £50 rrp for some games is absolutely outrageous, which begs the question, is that a response to piracy or just plain money grabbing??
No matter what companies try to do to try and prevent their games from being copied, people still find loopholes even in the newest of technologies. Piracy is such a big concern for the industry and it is indeed losing companies millions and millions of pounds. It is ever so cheap and easy to start copying games and then flogging them on a local carboot sale-£80 for a decent CD-Rewriter and around £50 for a box of CDs.
The industry cannot do much about the piracy factor itself but they can try nd make the life of "pirates" much harder. Stricter lawas should be introduced for people who are caught copying software and different kinds of firewalls to make sure some features simply do not copy themselves onto the CD and therefore make the game incomplete. Codemasters have done it, so why not everyone else
The industry cannot do much about the piracy factor itself but they can try nd make the life of "pirates" much harder. Stricter lawas should be introduced for people who are caught copying software and different kinds of firewalls to make sure some features simply do not copy themselves onto the CD and therefore make the game incomplete. Codemasters have done it, so why not everyone else
Hmm, both.
I think that piracy has played a role in pushing the prices up, they have to get the money back they loose each year somehow.
Plus i guess there out to make a profit, but likewise, i dont know all the mumbo jumbo of who gets what.
Still, i make pretty tough choices about the games i get these days, so i dont mind spending £40 on a game right now.
I think that piracy has played a role in pushing the prices up, they have to get the money back they loose each year somehow.
Plus i guess there out to make a profit, but likewise, i dont know all the mumbo jumbo of who gets what.
Still, i make pretty tough choices about the games i get these days, so i dont mind spending £40 on a game right now.
As you probably guessed from my post, I think prices are becoming extortionate these days. I have to pay around 63-70 Euro to get my hands on a game. It's ridiculous.
As the law stands I believe you get the chance to buy the "licence" before the do you, if you are found possessing copyed games/music etc. This applies to the people who buy the dodgy game in the first place. More often than not the actual pirates bang these games out one by one by demand. So are these people ever going to get caught?? Really there is no need for your friendly pirate from number 19 Smith street to even exist. All you need is broadband one of the numerous hacking groups to release ISOs to the net public, so, the problem will always exist. Games will never be cheap enough for everyone to afford, so the problem will always exist. I sound cynical i know, but this has been a topic of conversation for me since 1980 when i had my first outing to Rumbelows to buy my first box of microprocessor goodness, and nowt has changed.
Ok, so whats more likely - the software houses dropping prices first or the end of piracy ? bit of a stalemate :(
Ok, so whats more likely - the software houses dropping prices first or the end of piracy ? bit of a stalemate :(
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