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Piracy and games seem to be more intertwined than ever. With the creation of CD based systems the video games industry has been fighting a (losing) war against the pirates, sucking much needed funds away from the young industry. Unfortunately justice is rarely served, as mostly the deed is done by teenagers, like me and you. Autorities can neither track nor penalise teenage offenders, and rarely are big operations caught.
All the hardware and software producers take this problem very seriously, designing more and more complex ways to trip up the would be pirate. Unfortunately the pirates always seem to be one step ahead, the PS2 has already been "chipped" and the Xbox has already been compromised. The GC remains unscathed, though, due to it's unique discs and piracy software. Is this the future? Perhaps not, as the only downside to the GC's proverbial anti-piracy stance, the "Q", has been exploited. The Q houses a standard DVD drive, this has allowed pirates to copy GC software onto the DVD format allowing pirated GC games.
I'm sure all of us have played a copied game, or perhaps copied one ourselves, but is this hurting the industry or simply making games more affordable? I myself have copied and played copied PC games, but I do not feel guilty. Most people do not. Do you think it is fair to steal another's "intellectual property"? That is after all what games are.
Most teenagers will agree that the problem with the industry is the high price of games. ZOE is a prime example, £40 for the game but you will have completed it within 6 hours at the most. Is this value for money? Do you believe the industry could afford to sell them at a lower price? I do, at the end of the PSX's lifespan you could purchase brand new games in Our Price for a mere £25, nearly half of what we pay today. If the companies reduced the price of games not only would there be less incentive to pirate software, but gaming would be more accessible to the majority of the public. Gaming these days is a considerable investment, £200 for a console, £30 for a memory card, £25 for a controller and £40 to £45 per game? I'm sure i am not alone in thinking this is overkill. The consoles, perhaps, are the only things worth what you are paying for them.
The cheap price of the GC is the way forward, £130 for a brand new next gen console is pretty good, and GC sales reflect this. However the games are still are vastly overpriced. If games cost £25-£30 new, how many more people could afford gaming and how many less would have to resort to piracy? Personally I feel, for games at least, Joe Bloggs is being ripped off.
Anyway, what are your views on Piracy, Pricing and the state fo the industry?
_________________
All the hardware and software producers take this problem very seriously, designing more and more complex ways to trip up the would be pirate. Unfortunately the pirates always seem to be one step ahead, the PS2 has already been "chipped" and the Xbox has already been compromised. The GC remains unscathed, though, due to it's unique discs and piracy software. Is this the future? Perhaps not, as the only downside to the GC's proverbial anti-piracy stance, the "Q", has been exploited. The Q houses a standard DVD drive, this has allowed pirates to copy GC software onto the DVD format allowing pirated GC games.
I'm sure all of us have played a copied game, or perhaps copied one ourselves, but is this hurting the industry or simply making games more affordable? I myself have copied and played copied PC games, but I do not feel guilty. Most people do not. Do you think it is fair to steal another's "intellectual property"? That is after all what games are.
Most teenagers will agree that the problem with the industry is the high price of games. ZOE is a prime example, £40 for the game but you will have completed it within 6 hours at the most. Is this value for money? Do you believe the industry could afford to sell them at a lower price? I do, at the end of the PSX's lifespan you could purchase brand new games in Our Price for a mere £25, nearly half of what we pay today. If the companies reduced the price of games not only would there be less incentive to pirate software, but gaming would be more accessible to the majority of the public. Gaming these days is a considerable investment, £200 for a console, £30 for a memory card, £25 for a controller and £40 to £45 per game? I'm sure i am not alone in thinking this is overkill. The consoles, perhaps, are the only things worth what you are paying for them.
The cheap price of the GC is the way forward, £130 for a brand new next gen console is pretty good, and GC sales reflect this. However the games are still are vastly overpriced. If games cost £25-£30 new, how many more people could afford gaming and how many less would have to resort to piracy? Personally I feel, for games at least, Joe Bloggs is being ripped off.
Anyway, what are your views on Piracy, Pricing and the state fo the industry?
_________________
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Piracy and games seem to be more intertwined than ever. With the creation of CD based systems the video games industry has been fighting a (losing) war against the pirates, sucking much needed funds away from the young industry. Unfortunately justice is rarely served, as mostly the deed is done by teenagers, like me and you. Autorities can neither track nor penalise teenage offenders, and rarely are big operations caught.
All the hardware and software producers take this problem very seriously, designing more and more complex ways to trip up the would be pirate. Unfortunately the pirates always seem to be one step ahead, the PS2 has already been "chipped" and the Xbox has already been compromised. The GC remains unscathed, though, due to it's unique discs and piracy software. Is this the future? Perhaps not, as the only downside to the GC's proverbial anti-piracy stance, the "Q", has been exploited. The Q houses a standard DVD drive, this has allowed pirates to copy GC software onto the DVD format allowing pirated GC games.
I'm sure all of us have played a copied game, or perhaps copied one ourselves, but is this hurting the industry or simply making games more affordable? I myself have copied and played copied PC games, but I do not feel guilty. Most people do not. Do you think it is fair to steal another's "intellectual property"? That is after all what games are.
Most teenagers will agree that the problem with the industry is the high price of games. ZOE is a prime example, £40 for the game but you will have completed it within 6 hours at the most. Is this value for money? Do you believe the industry could afford to sell them at a lower price? I do, at the end of the PSX's lifespan you could purchase brand new games in Our Price for a mere £25, nearly half of what we pay today. If the companies reduced the price of games not only would there be less incentive to pirate software, but gaming would be more accessible to the majority of the public. Gaming these days is a considerable investment, £200 for a console, £30 for a memory card, £25 for a controller and £40 to £45 per game? I'm sure i am not alone in thinking this is overkill. The consoles, perhaps, are the only things worth what you are paying for them.
The cheap price of the GC is the way forward, £130 for a brand new next gen console is pretty good, and GC sales reflect this. However the games are still are vastly overpriced. If games cost £25-£30 new, how many more people could afford gaming and how many less would have to resort to piracy? Personally I feel, for games at least, Joe Bloggs is being ripped off.
Anyway, what are your views on Piracy, Pricing and the state fo the industry?
_________________
All the hardware and software producers take this problem very seriously, designing more and more complex ways to trip up the would be pirate. Unfortunately the pirates always seem to be one step ahead, the PS2 has already been "chipped" and the Xbox has already been compromised. The GC remains unscathed, though, due to it's unique discs and piracy software. Is this the future? Perhaps not, as the only downside to the GC's proverbial anti-piracy stance, the "Q", has been exploited. The Q houses a standard DVD drive, this has allowed pirates to copy GC software onto the DVD format allowing pirated GC games.
I'm sure all of us have played a copied game, or perhaps copied one ourselves, but is this hurting the industry or simply making games more affordable? I myself have copied and played copied PC games, but I do not feel guilty. Most people do not. Do you think it is fair to steal another's "intellectual property"? That is after all what games are.
Most teenagers will agree that the problem with the industry is the high price of games. ZOE is a prime example, £40 for the game but you will have completed it within 6 hours at the most. Is this value for money? Do you believe the industry could afford to sell them at a lower price? I do, at the end of the PSX's lifespan you could purchase brand new games in Our Price for a mere £25, nearly half of what we pay today. If the companies reduced the price of games not only would there be less incentive to pirate software, but gaming would be more accessible to the majority of the public. Gaming these days is a considerable investment, £200 for a console, £30 for a memory card, £25 for a controller and £40 to £45 per game? I'm sure i am not alone in thinking this is overkill. The consoles, perhaps, are the only things worth what you are paying for them.
The cheap price of the GC is the way forward, £130 for a brand new next gen console is pretty good, and GC sales reflect this. However the games are still are vastly overpriced. If games cost £25-£30 new, how many more people could afford gaming and how many less would have to resort to piracy? Personally I feel, for games at least, Joe Bloggs is being ripped off.
Anyway, what are your views on Piracy, Pricing and the state fo the industry?
_________________