PC hardware manufacturers love piracy, says id CEO

It all comes down to money in the end, Publishers have always taken the wrong approach to piracy and there are no simple answers; but the discussion does raise some valid ideas for example shorter time limits on copyrights 5-10 years them the product becomes public domain through a specific licence, say free to distribute but no reverse engineering of software or re-editing of films and music and no commercial use. Prices do need to come down and the pricing structure of products needs to change, supermarkets etc do it with dvds already any film over 2 years old usually end up on sale for a reasonable price. As for DRM I don't like it, I'd rather buy a cd and rip it to my mp3 player than buy a track I can only listen x number of times or use on one player. Regional lock outs on games and dvds is a crock to, it just allows publishers to hike prices and exert to much control over the market at the expense of the consumer. I'm not saying piracy is right or the answer to consumers being controlled or extorted; but someone has to make a stand against these people and government never seems to side with the consumer against business. The whole 'rip off Britain' thing seems to have gone quiet but scoot across the various on-line retailers and compare prices and UK consumers always come of worse. Here is the rub companies also encourage us to consume and don't like when some get a 'free' bite of the cherry, I think in the end it all balances out, the companies haven't lost any revenue because the pirate has little or no intention of buying that product (but as above piracy in some cases does generate sales) and the companies over charge the consumer (and would do even if piracy didn't exist) so haven't lost any real revenue. Think about it anyway.

Comment by Blake at 12:08am 3rd September 2008

It all comes down to money in the end, Publishers have always taken the wrong approach to piracy and there are no simple answers; but the discussion does raise some valid ideas for example shorter time limits on copyrights 5-10 years them the product becomes public domain through a specific licence, say free to distribute but no reverse engineering of software or re-editing of films and music and no commercial use. Prices do need to come down and the pricing structure of products needs to change, supermarkets etc do it with dvds already any film over 2 years old usually end up on sale for a reasonable price. As for DRM I don't like it, I'd rather buy a cd and rip it to my mp3 player than buy a track I can only listen x number of times or use on one player. Regional lock outs on games and dvds is a crock to, it just allows publishers to hike prices and exert to much control over the market at the expense of the consumer. I'm not saying piracy is right or the answer to consumers being controlled or extorted; but someone has to make a stand against these people and government never seems to side with the consumer against business. The whole 'rip off Britain' thing seems to have gone quiet but scoot across the various on-line retailers and compare prices and UK consumers always come of worse. Here is the rub companies also encourage us to consume and don't like when some get a 'free' bite of the cherry, I think in the end it all balances out, the companies haven't lost any revenue because the pirate has little or no intention of buying that product (but as above piracy in some cases does generate sales) and the companies over charge the consumer (and would do even if piracy didn't exist) so haven't lost any real revenue. Think about it anyway.

Comment by Blake at 12:08am 3rd September 2008

i reckon if the makers made there games/music cheaper in the first place i think they would sell more legit copies instead of people downloading them,i think in this case less is more

Comment by skewjahbob at 6:35pm 29th August 2008

I find it hilarious the amount of people on here who say they will download a game to 'try' as the demo isnt long enough then buy the game if you like it. As if thats some kind of justification. You dont have the right to do that. Demos will easily give you a good enough idea if you like a game. Plus a magazine review or recommendation from a friends, etc. Its just excuses. And to be bluntly honest I would bet that there's a very high percentage of people who 'try' but dont 'buy'.

Comment by pveater at 8:18am 27th August 2008

Well i only buy original games... new bands i like i buy there cd's .... stop being stingy b******s, you wouldnt work for nothing so dont expect others to. Steam is a good idea as you dont have to use the original disc therefore saving it from kiddy finger doom .... as for price ... well so it might cost 30 quid ... it just means you have to cut back on pies/beer/fags or whatever your vice is. :o)}

Comment by rabbiehippo at 5:54pm 26th August 2008

Well i only buy original games... new bands i like i buy there cd's .... stop being stingy b******s, you wouldnt work for nothing so dont expect others to. Steam is a good idea as you dont have to use the original disc therefore saving it from kiddy finger doom .... as for price ... well so it might cost 30 quid ... it just means you have to cut back on pies/beer/fags or whatever your vice is. :o)}

Comment by rabbiehippo at 5:54pm 26th August 2008

Yeah, of course....all PC owners are thieves and pirates.....makes perfect sense to me [/sarcasm]. This guy is talking out his a**e. With a retard like that as their CEO, it's no wonder id haven't made a decent game in ages

Comment by cyberspice1 at 2:45pm 26th August 2008

As everyone knows as new hardware comes in the older hardware drops in price. Any one who builds their own rigs are quite happy with this fact. Those who can afford to buy the new shiny pieces of kit will do, the one with less money watch the forums and the market prices to make their rigs and you cant pirate hardware but you can but it off the back of a lorry. Problem with games is the shelf prices lasts too long. Companies squeezing as much out of it as possible (between £25-£40), so the try before you buy culture that is apparent in this day and age is an advantage with piracy, as you get to cane a game and if you like it you'll probably buy it. It lasts longer than the demos and you get to use all the uber abilities of the platform your playing. The games push the hardware companies and in turn the hardware companies push the games and of course the consumer gorge them self on the products released from both. I'd say that piracy with unwritten rules of conduct is an advantage to both the consumer an manufacturer, keeping both happy bunnies. We spend happily they profit greatly...

Comment by Grinder at 3:15am 26th August 2008

That is why I said his accusations were a little off base but they had merit. He was right when he said that people had no intention of paying for their software. These people have spoken and we've heard them. His point about hardware manufacturers was also right when he said they are benefiting from it. Look, everybody likes a deal, I shop for them myself. But his point is still underscored by the fact that you've still spent well into the thousands for all your hardware initially, plus any upgrades you might have done. You also had no problem with paying for any of it either because you "expected" to. So his little "comment" is born out of frustration and can't really be proven. He just took a swipe at the hardware side for not sticking up for the software side as he sees it. In his view, the hardware manufacturers are making tons of money while the sofware developers are getting robbed blind. So don't think that just because "you" want to pay for all of your content, means that everybody else does or is. That is wrong to. When it comes to this debate one thing is certain, actions speak louder than words.

Comment by Warrior24_7 at 8:58pm 25th August 2008

To be honest, I think that piracy would of helped the game industry before and now if they can stop it then the game industry will be thriving, because alot of people who had pirated their games will obviously be more comfortable getting a game that they are not sure that they'll like, and since doing so, they would of obviously found that they like the extra game genres that they previously thought would be cr*p, and they would of had the abillity to see what quality the game devs put in their games.... after all, alot of people buy games from devs that they know put high quality into their games... If it was possible to pirate hardware, then I'm sure that there would be 75% less fanboys out there for sure!! because alot of people go by prevoius experience... and I think that alot of people preferre to go by previous experiencewhen it comes to games too!... ahhh my head hurts... :S

Comment by NikoBellic at 8:59pm 25th August 2008

I have paid for all my PC stuff but the most I've spent on a single PC has been £850 to date because I'm happy to spend an hour or two shopping around to get a good deal. But I've paid for all my games/OS/software and (as said before) I have neither built a PC on the basis of me downloading illegal content, or on the basis that I have some sort of twisted "right to do so" - just because someone is able to do something doesn't mean they have the right to it or even should do it. I don't think motherboard manufacturers are thinking (secretly or otherwise) "we love thee fact our motherboards help people download more free/illegal/legal content because they don't. Nor does using Corsair/OCZ memory over a value brand make a blind bit of difference to how much (if any) content the user downloads. I respect id for making Doom & Doom II, I loved them, but for me, doing my uni work, keeping in touch with family, reading interesting articles and watching programs i might otherwise not get to watch is an expected benefit of owning a PC.

Comment by EdArch at 4:38pm 25th August 2008

from one of my own posts before. It is illegal to back up your own music / Games unless you can do a perfect 1 on 1 copy. so unless you own a CD PRESS then its illegal. Same as console games / pc games. Most pc game makers state that you can install a game on as many pcs as you like as long as you only use 1 pc at a time. So tape to tape / cd to cd / dvd to dvd back ups are illgal in the uk full stop. How ever CD cracks most of the time do a better job than the makers of games like to admit but its illegal because they do not have the original owners permission ... Same argument over and over and over again. When you at school your taught to learn you mistakes from history lessons. seems to me no one learns any thing... Pirating has been going on since the first book was made. It all started with the first Press of paper. The government didn't like it then until it got out of control, then they embraced it and paper presses became legal. VHS recorders were frowned apon by Hollywood and then when they reliased it would make a fortune, they rolled out tones of VHS / Betamax tapes so they embraced it, same goes for tapes, same goes for CDs and same goes for downloaded content. History is just repeating it self over and over again .. Do u learn from the past . do you hell ....

Comment by mayhem at 3:18pm 25th August 2008

from one of my own posts before. It is illegal to back up your own music / Games unless you can do a perfect 1 on 1 copy. so unless you own a CD PRESS then its illegal. Same as console games / pc games. Most pc game makers state that you can install a game on as many pcs as you like as long as you only use 1 pc at a time. So tape to tape / cd to cd / dvd to dvd back ups are illgal in the uk full stop. How ever CD cracks most of the time do a better job than the makers of games like to admit but its illegal because they do not have the original owners permission ... Same argument over and over and over again. When you at school your taught to learn you mistakes from history lessons. seems to me no one learns any thing... Pirating has been going on since the first book was made. It all started with the first Press of paper. The government didn't like it then until it got out of control, then they embraced it and paper presses became legal. VHS recorders were frowned apon by Hollywood and then when they reliased it would make a fortune, they rolled out tones of VHS / Betamax tapes so they embraced it, same goes for tapes, same goes for CDs and same goes for downloaded content. History is just repeating it self over and over again .. Do u learn from the past . do you hell ....

Comment by mayhem at 3:18pm 25th August 2008

So sad but the retail verson of my TOCA 3 Race driver was so awful i downloaded a cracked version and it plays better. Not just a bit a lot the frame rate is up it crashes less and I dont have to keep cleaning the CD and playing musical chairs with the Drives. Software Manufacturers should look after paying customers first and profit margins second (Steam has the right i dear but my god there prices are a bit high). Although Games not wroth playing is a realy problem I am i startreck fan i know i know but i own all the games and other than armada there all crap realy realy couldnt be bothered after a 1 hour crap.

Comment by Cool_CR at 12:20pm 25th August 2008

A friend of mine says he buys DRM free music from iTunes all the time, I have not done this myself to confirm it. He also pays about $1.03 per song. DVDs are for "private" use. "If" you own a legitimate copy of one just turn it over and read the security warning. "If" you have a legitimate copy of a video game, read the warranty and license agreement page. There should be no doubt as to what you're allowed and not allowed to do. Why do you care about region codeing? People who have problems with DRM usually have some type of copying software on their PC and have to work around the DRM because it causes them problems. They cite all the "problems" DRM causes but they'll put up with watching an inferior copy of a movie or the many problems with a stolen game?!! So how can you say that your "user" experience is better than someone who plays legitimate game or views movie a error free?!!

Comment by Warrior24_7 at 11:02am 25th August 2008

if thats what annoys you about drm,why not buy the game/film that you want on dvd/cd then as you say its not much cheaper to download than it is to buy but at least you will own physical material that you can sell on if its not what you want.I agree with you about the region coding and the fact that we always end up paying alot more than anyone else because of vat but thats the uk for you -we get taxed to death on everything :(

Comment by subzero1971 at 9:26am 25th August 2008

simple if you buy a game you have the right to install it on every computer you have. if you have a pc and a lap top it can go on both, if you down load a song i want to put it on as meny devices as i own, pc, mp3 player, a cd for in the car. and not have to be conected to the net to play them. and if it sucks i have the right to sell it on and make my money back, DRM stops that. itunes makes a big deal of being the way forward. for content distrbution, and shoots its self in the foot with DRM. by the end of the day you may as well by the cd, and screw the future of distrbution. and keep the cost down my arse it just as much to buy a full album from itunes as it is in tesco. then you have region codeing an i hate that even more. "sorry you cant down load this movie, as it not reliced in you region" balls to that. region coding also drives up prices, take an american dvd and add vat, and we still pay more, if i want to play the latest game i dont want to hang around 6 mounths cause i live in the uk and region coding helps the one thing i hate Censorship. "sorry we think you so stupid that if you see martial arts wepons in a film or game, you will copy it and beat some one to death with nunchucks".

Comment by russel_williams at 10:56pm 24th August 2008

You keep stating that you would gladly pay for a film if it isnt protected by drm - Why is drm so important to you or is it the fact that you want to be able to copy it for some other reason.Yes i borrow pc games all the time off my sons but technically i paid for the games/the pc's and xboxs that they play them on so i do actually own them, as for films i watch everything i want to watch on sky,sky box office and the cinema.I think you will find that places like blockbuster have to pay a premium for rental games and have a special licence and no doubt the game developers with get a % of every game rented and as for pre - owned thats beginning to die a death with the newer games as alot of them can only be activated a few times.

Comment by subzero1971 at 10:30pm 24th August 2008

no my idea of value is not destorted buy the fact i can get it for free. i was makeing the same judgement call on games back when i had the PS1 and no internet, back then though i would have to borrow the game of a frend. hell that that ment that only 1 copy was being baught, and 3-4 people played the game for free. no money was parting hands. same as if you down load a torrent. only 1 person has the game, the rest play for free. hell if i go and rent a game from block busters how much money is going to the game makers? not a lot if any more than the cost of 1 disk. so when i pay £3-6 pound for a rental, i get the same game some one payed £30-40 for and had just as much fun compleating it. and the same goes for pre owned, then again thoes of us who remember, games compnies have all ready had a go at pre owned and rental, and how its killing the game industury.

Comment by russel_williams at 9:28pm 24th August 2008

your idea of value for money is distorted by the fact that you can get it for free by downloading a torrent. If you couldn't get the games for free at all then you could only base value for money on the prices that it costs in various shops (online and highstreet). £25-30 is not a rip off for a game, £8-12 is not a rip off for films. What exactly are you basing you 'value for money' comments on. Do you have direct experience of how much it costs to produce a game or how much profit they need the game to make for it to help the company to stay afloat in a competitive market? Do you? Now think about console games, they cost more, and reduce in price a lot slower than pc games. If you really cant stand paying £30 for a brand new pc game, then wait until it comes down in price, if you wont pay the premium you have no right to play it straight away, dont think that playing it right away by stealing it, then paying for it when it is cheaper is acceptable, you've already hit the companies profit and view of whether the game was a success or not. Paying more for something that is brand new is something that exists in every single competitive market, new houses, new computer components. I bet you wouldnt dream of stealing a new 4870 X2 then buying one in a few months time when they have come down in price!

Comment by NewParadigm at 6:49pm 24th August 2008

and i do use play.com and i do shop for bargins. but i am also unwilling to gamble with my money in large amounts. hell ive down loaded stuff and loved it and i have gone and baught orignals. at the moment i love HD-DVD sure its a dead format. but the disks are amazing quality and dirt cheap £4.99 and less, no region coading. and if its cut i just buy it in from abraord. for what ime getting £4.99 is worth it. plus i just want to ask how meny people hear borrow film, game (console and pc) and cds of there frends. (i do all the time and thay lend mine), are you not doing the same should ent you go and buy your own copy ?. cause thats the same as piracy, you have not payed for the right to watch that movie ?. no money is being payed buy you to the film maker !.

Comment by russel_williams at 10:25pm 23rd August 2008

i go to the cinema all the time and pay for it. i admit i have an unlimited card but its good value for money, that what i want value for money. hell ide pay a £1.50 to download an episode of battlestar galatica strate from the company that makes it. as long as its uncensored with no drm.

Comment by russel_williams at 10:08pm 23rd August 2008

i go to the cinema all the time and pay for it. i admit i have an unlimited card but its good value for money, that what i want value for money. hell ide pay a £1.50 to download an episode of battlestar galatica strate from the company that makes it. as long as its uncensored with no drm.

Comment by russel_williams at 10:08pm 23rd August 2008

I cannot agree more with warrior and his last comments and as for russell_williams if you cant afford the game/film or music then save up - its pr1ck5 like you ruining the games industry for everyone else, if everybody thought like you then games developers would give up and wouldnt even bother releasing new games and drm is to protect films from being copied and distributed by people like you. Why dont you try play.com where you can pick up games cheap,i've preordered crysis warhead for £15 and far cry 2 for £24.99 delivered so if you pay £40 for a game your ripping yourself off

Comment by subzero1971 at 9:04pm 23rd August 2008

While he may be a little off base in his accusations, he does have a point, and you just made it. If I'm not mistaken he's made comments before also. So has John Carmack of id. Back to the point. EdArch, the fact that you said you currently own 2 PC's and have built 2 previous to that, pretty much means that you "paid" for all that hardware. I bet all told you spent well into the thousands. Yet we have a guy like russel_williams who can't stand paying the $40 for the software and steals all or most of his content. He said he doesn't want to wait 6-12 months for a show, but won't go to the theater because you have to pay for it. Not only that, but his attitude on the whole thing is exactly what the id CEO described. People "expect" to get stuff for free and have absoluetly no intentions of paying for it. The hilarious part is when he said " stop ripping people of with DRM, region codeing and insainley high price tags", as he continues to rip them off! id is VERY upset at the PC gaming industry and have made the following comments. http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/09/id-software-ceo-piracy-pushed-us-multiplatform/ http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2008/08/07/carmack_interview/

Comment by Warrior24_7 at 2:59pm 23rd August 2008

i have an idea, stop ripping people of with DRM, region codeing and insainley high price tags, no i will not pay £40 for every game that comes out, hell i hate the idea of paying more than £25 hell most games i do buy are sale and preowned. the same rant goes for dvds, cd, and tv content make it dirt cheap and people will buy it. i use torrents all the time why. because i want to see the show i like now not 6-12 mounths later. if the show is good ill buy the box sets (when there cheap) or put up with add brakes even for online content. the enetrtainment industry has made enough money from me. there was a time when people know me as blockbusters cause i had more games and dvd than the shop had.

Comment by russel_williams at 2:40pm 23rd August 2008

I think he's talking out of his resa. I currently own 2 PC's and have built 2 previous to that and none of them were built with the thought "If I build a PC I'll have a right to download free stuff" - although there may have been the occaisional "750Gb? wow that's alot of porn" - I think Hollenshead's remark would be more weight behind it if he'd just say "I hate piracy" or "that other software studio inviting pirates to give opinions is heresy" - I don't think he's thought his theory through and he sounds as sensible as a conspiracy theorist saying mobile phone signals are used to control the population

Comment by EdArch at 2:39pm 23rd August 2008

I know theres a lot of tubes doing this right now and i mean a lot. And they wonder why theres not many good games comming out for pc right now its because they are making the games for consoles.I live in inverness and gamestation did sell a lot of pc games now they have half a shelf and most is preowned.

Comment by megapig at 10:48am 23rd August 2008

I know theres a lot of tubes doing this right now and i mean a lot. And they wonder why theres not many good games comming out for pc right now its because they are making the games for consoles.I live in inverness and gamestation did sell a lot of pc games now they have half a shelf and most is preowned.

Comment by megapig at 10:30am 23rd August 2008

The DS is a handheld CONSOLE

Comment by pveater at 8:31am 23rd August 2008

ah, region specific. Now I see what you are saying. From my experience chipping is primarily used to play the copied games. Obviously your experience is imports. Strange though because out of thousands of copied games I've seen, maybe a handful were imports.

Comment by CSQuake at 7:53am 23rd August 2008

What makes you think I'm in the IT industry?!! I'm a gamer...period. If I come across something I'll post it. I've posted many things here already. But I'm not going to search the net for your benefit. If you want to get smart on the issue of piracy on the PC then look it up and research it yourself. If your one of the many who believe this is all one big joke, then there is nothing you'll ever see to make you think otherwise. Chipping a console allows you to play import games too. Games are locked out by region. American consoles can't play Japanese games and visa versa. Not only that, the same game may have different content and level of difficulty per region! The import game market is huge too. So of course there is piracy on the console, of course you can use a chip, and these chips are used for that purpose too. Some cases you don't need a chip all you need is a boot disk of some kind.

Comment by Warrior24_7 at 9:17pm 22nd August 2008

Keep reality tangible. Anyone that shares online is not a thief. They haven't stole anything, they haven't taken anything away from anyone so they haven't done anything wrong. It's not surprising then that the definition of being a thief is being questioned in order to justify who's being labelled one. I agree that trying to mimic a brand or sell a DVD for a cheaper price is obviously illegal, but what about me, who may download a torrent of a game or film; is that illegal? See don't do the law and I know you don't either. Hence I never remember my teacher at school sitting me down and reading from a law book explaining what and what not to do. Do you know why this is? It's because I have a morality to contend with and that's a sure enough way to inform me when I may do a horrible thing. And I'm not sure whether Windows Vista supports it, because I get no warnings when I'm downloading. ;)

Comment by TKSnatch at 8:55pm 22nd August 2008

'chipping' is a term used to describe giving a console the ability - whether it be a mechanical solution or chip/circuit solution - to play illegally copied games. Not sure 'chipping' has anything to do with playing locked out content, unless I've missed something in your post that explains yourself better.

Comment by CSQuake at 8:26pm 22nd August 2008

the DS is a 'handheld' - 'console' ... so you are both right.

Comment by CSQuake at 7:47pm 22nd August 2008

I think it's time you explained to us what part of the IT industry you are in, gaming? software? hardware? networks? etc. I'm not knocking your knowledge but you seem to have loads of 'facts' about how bad the PC piracy issues are, I'm just wondering how you know all this.

Comment by CSQuake at 7:43pm 22nd August 2008

For off, the DS is not a console, it's a handheld. "Chipping" a console let's you play locked out content. I'm not saying that there is "no" piracy on the console. But it's no where near the levels of the PC! It's absolutely out of control on the PC. Even PC developers point to the console's security and use it as an example when comparing the two. Sales data that is widely available also backs that up. You need to get your facts straight.

Comment by Warrior24_7 at 7:16pm 22nd August 2008

I think you will find that there are far more pirated games on the consols! Look at the ds everyone i know has one of those R4DS. The consol chipping market is massive did people forget about this?

Comment by blunder12 at 3:49pm 22nd August 2008

There is some truth to this. In the console world it's all about the software. He who has the most content wins! It's software first, sortware over hardware. The PC is different. It's "ALL" about the hardware! PERIOD!! It's all about the "spec". What are the "spec requirements" of the game and does "your" PC have the "specs" to even play it!! This drives on the hardware manufacturers. PC gamers pay thousands and tens of thousands for "potential" not performance and this is where hardware manufacturers make a killing. Good examples of this are so called "Dream" PCs, SLI/Crossfire and Crysis! That game has been out for some time now. Since then there have been two complete families of video cards released from ATI and Nvidia. NONE of them can handle the game maxed out at the highest resolution...none. But yet you'll pay $400, $500 to $600 and above for what, a 5%-10% performance gain from the last cards they made...it's a racket! Drivers are always the excuse when cards don't seem to perform. But they never seem to get fixed because new cards come out. I'm not saying that hardware manufacturers are happy about piracy, but they sure benefit from it.

Comment by Warrior24_7 at 2:31pm 22nd August 2008

I'm sorry, but I think that game developers aren't "tight" - if developers don't want give their money to some software that, in many cases, isn't needed, then that is their choice. Not every user wants to install Steam to play their game, either - it takes up a lot of memory and RAM.

Comment by bilkyasko at 3:32pm 22nd August 2008

Actually, I had a hunt around and found a cracked copy of Psychonaughts that ran through Steam just fine. Steam is good, but it can be overpriced sometimes and it isn't completely pirate-proof.

Comment by TWeaKoR at 2:37pm 22nd August 2008

This person sounds just like a bitter old man. He thinks of his issue as a dirty little secret when it's just a matter of circumstances. Why SHOULD hardware manufacturers give any mind to copyright? It's none of their business. This is like accusing syringe manufacturers of promoting the drug scene.

Comment by ricka at 2:35pm 22nd August 2008

One word: STEAM If every game on the PC was linked to Steam there would be no piracy at all. It's just the publishers are often too tight to pay Steams cut, so they don't use it.

Comment by l3v1ck at 2:01pm 22nd August 2008

but a demo is perfectly good enough to decide if you may like a game or not, even if it's only half a level you get to see the graphics, play style and atmosphere of a game, thats all you need, if you then find the game a bit dissapointing, thats one of the pitfalls of paying for your entertainment instead of entertaining yourself I'm afraid. You do not have a god given right to know exactly what you ar ebuying before you get it... thats what word of mouth and friends are for. You can't go in to a retaurant, have a meal, then decidde whether to pay for it or not depending on how much you liked it... you chose it, based on a feeling and understanding of what you may like and what flavours you may have tried before, its the same with games, videos, film, music, buying a house, car, washing mashine etc etc etc etc.

Comment by NewParadigm at 1:20pm 22nd August 2008

The problem with pirating is that the temptation is always there, its so easy to do, and once you have the game it's so easy to play it through then just get rid of it and say "well it was ok, but not worth buying to play again" and even if you do buy it the perceptio of whether it was a succesfull product or notin the developers eyes has been damaged... they tend to base their opinions on initial sales figures... if these are low the nthey will see it as a failure, and may be tempted to not make another 'mistake' like it. Also shops dont want to have stock hanging around their shops for a few months before anyone decides to buy it. The thing with consoles is, whilst it is almost as easy to pirate games, a lot of the people who use them just aren't as clued up to it as pc gamers tend to be, because the actual operating of the system is less accessible... that and they just dont have the inclination to mess around with it... consoles tend to be bought for simplicity after all.

Comment by NewParadigm at 1:20pm 22nd August 2008

"I pirate a game and buy it if I like it" - excuse again and again. Don't you get it that you have no legal right to do this. Anyway back on topic... I recently upgraded my PC hardware at a cost of over £540 to play Age Of Conan. Software which is not only bought legally but requires an additional monthly subscription. Not sure where I've saved money there with the 'hidden benefit' of PC hardware. I'll still continue to buy the games I want no matter what hardware I might have purchased or how much it cost.

Comment by pveater at 1:18pm 22nd August 2008

I have a games collection of over a 100 for the PC and even more for my consoles. I payed for every one but i do use pirated games if i like it i buy it if not then i get rid of the copy The thing that gets to me every time is i know of more people with pirated Xbox 360 games then PC games and its bigger then Microsoft let on. It just looks good when they can say 6 million have a xbox 360 but 70% use pirated games and they dont say anything about that its easy mod as well £50 and £3 per game or just use a pc and down load it your self

Comment by pcn00b at 1:03pm 22nd August 2008

I have a games collection of over a 100 for the PC and even more for my consoles. I payed for every one but i do use pirated games if i like it i buy it if not then i get rid of the copy The thing that gets to me every time is i know of more people with pirated Xbox 360 games then PC games and its bigger then Microsoft let on. It just looks good when they can say 6 million have a xbox 360 but 70% use pirated games and they dont say anything about that its easy mod as well £50 and £3 per game or just use a pc and down load it your self

Comment by pcn00b at 1:03pm 22nd August 2008

Todd Hollenshead is obviously trying to get his name in print, but unfortunately he chose to talk about something idiotic. Is it the DVD manufacturers responsibility to stop DVD pirates. Was it Casio et all; responsibility to stop tape piracy. Is it Panasonics responsibility to stop people pointing a camera at their TV screens. Is it the responsibility of WD, Samsung, etc to stop people recording games to their HDD's. Is it Nvidia or ATI's responsibility to stop people viewing pirated games on their monitors. Is it the electricity companies fault for supplying the means with which to power the PC ... blah.

Comment by CSQuake at 12:53pm 22nd August 2008

I also didn't purchase my components based on their effectiveness to source and use pirate software. The problem with game developers is they love consoles too much and can control in most parts the piracy problem there. PC's on a whole they can't, unless they can somehow have something added to a motherboard or gpu that will smell out pirate software and stop it from working. Unless they pick up the bill for that, why would Asus or XFX do it, even if they could? Love? The developers need to work out this one on their own.

Comment by crazyceo at 12:39pm 22nd August 2008

of people say that they download things and then buy the original if they like it... I'm not casting any aspersions here but in my opinion I think this is a bit over-used as an excuse. For a start peoples idea of how much they like something is quite varied... a lot of people may download say 10 games, but only really really like 1 of them, so they only buy one, and this is supposedly ok? I watch a lot of films at the cinema, a lot of the mwere dissapointing, but I wouldn't expect to get in the cinema to see them for free... if I really thought they were goign to be rubbish I'd wait unti lthey were on tV, or in the bargain bucket on DVD... you could do the same for games you think may not be very good, just wait until they are reduced to bargain bucket prices. Also there is replayability to consider, a lot of single player games are really only worth playing through once, a lot of people consider this to be a sign that the game isn't good enough to buy... because they have already played it they dont think its worth buying... ummm sounds wrong somehow. Thirdly you have to consider timing... if you really want to play a game when it first comes out, but download it then buy it later, you are denying the developers the money they get for a new release which is considerably more than when it gets reduced several months later... this is pretty unfair given that a new release pc game already costs less than a ne release console game... no wonder console games appeal more to developers.

Comment by NewParadigm at 12:23pm 22nd August 2008

This all seems like BULL to me. My hardware choices are not influenced by the ability to pirate stuff at all and i seriuosly doubt anyone elses is. If the hardware manufacturers do campaigns on piracy thats extra costs to the company which will only be passed onto us endgame. i think Todd needs to stop throwing a paddy and blaming the hardware companies for not doing enough. Todd get off your own a** and do something yourself

Comment by adam_bagpuss at 12:16pm 22nd August 2008

why should hardware makers speak out against piracy? its not their problem at all. if game makers want to bypass this piracy problem, the best answer right now is to make ad-supported games, NOT hassle another section of the industry for a problem is has nothing to do with

Comment by soddit113 at 12:13pm 22nd August 2008

fed up blaming the public, now they are blaming manufactures i have to say i am quite happy to pay for software, the companies involved in software pay a lot of R&D costs. granted some software seems over priced when it's first released, but it does eventually come down. they are not non-profit companies, and there would be no reason to do it if they were.

Comment by richardcreedy at 12:05pm 22nd August 2008

Sounds to me that he's just unhappy about his sales figures. offcourse I too download some pirated media, but in my case it makes me buy more music,games & movies, because when i like something I want the original, things that i download and dont buy afterward are things i wouldn't have bought in the first place, but just wanted to check them out ba-ecause i could be mistaken in my opinion ...

Comment by Psyloid at 12:06pm 22nd August 2008

Not quite right! Hardware manufacturers love games worth playing, whether they are paid for or not. Yes, people will play games without paying for them, but people will drive cars without paying for them too. It doesn't mean that car manufacturers secretly love car thieves and joyriders.

Comment by gavomatic57 at 11:57am 22nd August 2008

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