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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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I personally would never download Championship for free from the net.
The developers of this game have in my mind (and many others people minds) produced the greatest football management game ever. I think they deserve the credit and all the money that goes with it.
Although this is a kinda one-off thing for me. I have a sort of special liking towards the Championship manager series which is unique when compared to my feelings towards any other game. I guess its becasue I've been playing the game for nearly 10 years from back in the day when my Amiga 600 was a top notch machine :)
Although I guess I would download it for free if i didnt have the cash but seeing as I got a job these days that isnt the case...
I guess if companies try to build a better more personal "one-to-one" relationship with thier customers then they may be less likely to buy these pirate games...ALthough thats probably debatable
The developers of this game have in my mind (and many others people minds) produced the greatest football management game ever. I think they deserve the credit and all the money that goes with it.
Although this is a kinda one-off thing for me. I have a sort of special liking towards the Championship manager series which is unique when compared to my feelings towards any other game. I guess its becasue I've been playing the game for nearly 10 years from back in the day when my Amiga 600 was a top notch machine :)
Although I guess I would download it for free if i didnt have the cash but seeing as I got a job these days that isnt the case...
I guess if companies try to build a better more personal "one-to-one" relationship with thier customers then they may be less likely to buy these pirate games...ALthough thats probably debatable
When I said Sony I kinda meant everyone in general..so there :) No this is the point I am trying to make. With so many people using the fast connections to download games and it is so easy to get cracks for games (so you dont have to enter a serial number when you install the game) there are going to be less games bought in the shops because most of them will be downloaded. I for one got Champ Manager 2002 this way and a lot of other files. This is something that companies may not like but they cant really prevent this.
Sony are not the people losing money. They may publish a few games but the loss is not with the PS2. The loss is made by the people who get the smallest cut in the first place, and that aint Sony. Morpheus and Kazaa are actually peer2peer programs, harddrive to harddrive so to speak. Trivial I know, I just felt the urge to put you on the straight and narrow there :D sorry. MOrpheus is starting to feel the grip of the law and are going to go legit very soon. Kazaa are taking over where morpheus left off. Kazaa, a program, when once installed makes is impossible for anyone to stop you from sharing.
Now what about games that are simply being uploaded to such websites as Morpheus and Kazaa and people with fast connections simply download them like that. After all there is no problems with getting MP3s this way. So Sony are obviouslylosing money in this way as well
8 hrs after release???? That must be a new bloody record for UK gamers! It really is getting out of hand.
thats quite a high % pro evo. Also auction site are rife with it too. There's a bloke at work that comes round every month with his updated pirate movie list..madness. Its always tempting to see what spiderman and stuff like that is like. But wheres the pleasure or achivement in watching something that resembles the picture from a mashed up VHS cassette? A fiver for 3 CDs and you maybe only watch it once....i say to to the cinema !!Its the same with games. You never get the whole deal either. Audio cuts, no FMV no MP options, PS2 DVD games ripped to CD !!! wheres the pleasure?? Imagine buying FFX on CD with FMV missing....nay fun.
We speak about software companies with the need to research into anti piracy. Take MS and windows.....has there been anything that is easier to rip than Windows. Even XP fell foul before it was put on public release. That was after MS "impossible to copy" deal with the online registration thing. I bought 98se years ago and never seen the need to upgrade (by the by). Its impossible to keep ahead. The big companies maybe half a day ahead. A good example is Soldier of fortune 2 for PC. That was released yesterday in the US. There were UK people playing the US copy on Gamespy 8 hrs after release. An amazing achievement you must admit, but totally wrong.
We speak about software companies with the need to research into anti piracy. Take MS and windows.....has there been anything that is easier to rip than Windows. Even XP fell foul before it was put on public release. That was after MS "impossible to copy" deal with the online registration thing. I bought 98se years ago and never seen the need to upgrade (by the by). Its impossible to keep ahead. The big companies maybe half a day ahead. A good example is Soldier of fortune 2 for PC. That was released yesterday in the US. There were UK people playing the US copy on Gamespy 8 hrs after release. An amazing achievement you must admit, but totally wrong.
I suppose in the long term it would be better to have a software solution than a policing solution.
Trish wrote:
>
> Its in places like these markets that the cops should really be
> cracking down. They know they're being sold there and they know its
> illegal so why is it that they're hardly ever dealt with?
Could be because its far too bigger operation for them to handle now. There were loads of these people at this market, and there are thousands of these markets open everyweek. Then there are the people who just do it at home.
Its gone beyond there power now.
>
> Its in places like these markets that the cops should really be
> cracking down. They know they're being sold there and they know its
> illegal so why is it that they're hardly ever dealt with?
Could be because its far too bigger operation for them to handle now. There were loads of these people at this market, and there are thousands of these markets open everyweek. Then there are the people who just do it at home.
Its gone beyond there power now.
Pro Evo wrote:
> I went to a sunday morning market not so long ago. It was really big,
> and about 40% of the stalls there were all selling pirate games and
> music CD's.
>
Its in places like these markets that the cops should really be cracking down. They know they're being sold there and they know its illegal so why is it that they're hardly ever dealt with?
> I went to a sunday morning market not so long ago. It was really big,
> and about 40% of the stalls there were all selling pirate games and
> music CD's.
>
Its in places like these markets that the cops should really be cracking down. They know they're being sold there and they know its illegal so why is it that they're hardly ever dealt with?
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