Here comes some news! The new expansion pack for GTA is going to have full-frontal nudity. Won't someone think of the children?
I'll tell you something. We live in a world where Jenna Jameson and Ron Jeremy are more well known than Ingmar Bergman and Milan Kundera. Kate Winslet just won an Academy Award for The Reader, a movie in which she spent a large portion of the first part naked. Anyone can find porn on the internet just by searching for the word "porn." None of these things are for kids.
Hey, here's a newsflash to those parents groups: In order to have those kids, you had to participate in full-frontal nudity! You're all SICK!
Hey, here's an idea. Maybe instead of freaking out over something that is obviously meant for, marketed to, and developed for adults, why not do something else? Maybe take a vacation. See the sights. Go visit Paris. Maybe once you come back, you'll be much calmer and be able to clearly see that the industry is already doing its best at keeping content that is not meant for kids away from kids.
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Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Adventures In Pirating Part 2
In Friday's post, I talked about reasons that normal, law-abiding people will pirate. In this installment, I'll be discussing ways that the gaming industry can win wayward customers like myself back.
1) Become more active in the community. Yes, corporations are nameless, faceless, soulless entities, existing solely to make a profit. However, Ken Levine is not a corporation. Sid Meier is not a corporation. Help us to see you companies as groups of people and communities, not corporations. And for the love of God, whatever you do, do not throw the developers to the wolves only after you've angered the community, like you did to poor Ken Levine.
I hold up as a great example GoodOldGames.com. They've put faces on their community. Even though it's a company, and yes, the bottom line is to make money, they've found that the best way to do so is through fomenting the idea of a group of people who just want what everyone else wants: They want to make money doing what they love and being fair. Sounds good to me, and it's harder to pirate from a person than a corporation. This dovetails with the next point...
2) Get rid of excessive DRM. I'm not talking about removing CD checks or product keys, or going back to the wild, woolly days of software swapping. I have no problem with CD checks or product keys. It's when you start getting out of hand that you hand the high ground over to pirates.
Once again, GoodOldGames seems to be prospering with this idea. We have no solid numbers to back it up yet, but since developers are constantly jumping on board with it, I think we can safely say that it's a success. Since there's no DRM, there's no moral justification to pirate. Therefore, people like us who only pirate when they can justify it to ourselves have no recourse.
3) Remember you're not going to stop everyone. I say that there's two groups of pirates: casual pirates and hardcore pirates. Casual pirates are people like myself. We pirate not because we get any thrill out of it, but as a practical matter. It's easy and cheap. I'm able to play all the latest games for free. I don't pirate to stick it to any mythical "man." I pirate because I like to play games and it's the easiest way to get them. Especially in a down economy, it's going to be hard for a lot of pirates to give up their habits.
The Rubicon between casual and hardcore pirates in my mind seems to be modchipping. When you open your console, you've crossed the line from casual to hardcore. People who willingly open their systems and void their warranties just to get free content are on a different level. The majority of hardcore pirates won't stop. You can try and make the systems harder and harder to hack, but then you're adding layers of complexity for your developers. You still won't stop the pirates either, because the harder it is to hack, the more of a personal challenge it becomes.
In other words, don't try stopping EVERYONE, because you won't. Instead, do this...
4) Give bonuses to people who buy your games at retail. Atlus has started doing this. When they release a game, like Ys Books I&II for the DS, they include a bonus, like a soundtrack CD. Other games will include tchotchkes like figurines or a cloth map. Are these huge presents? No. They're not. The soundtrack will probably be on the torrent sites within minutes of release. The figurine will probably end up buried in a toybox somewhere.
Still, it's not what you give, it's that you give at all. Remember, your living is based on goodwill and warm, fuzzy feelings with your clientele. Making sure they're appreciated goes a long way toward building brand loyalty. Remember, you don't have to do this for every release. It's just that every once in a while, you should get us something nice. Make us feel pretty.
5) Allow us to return games again. This is a bigger bone of contention with publishers, but it would go a long way to reducing piracy. Now, I know Gamestop and others are scared of being considered in league with piracy, as they should be. So, here's a really easy way to handle this that doesn't cost them a penny more.
You know those Edge Cards people sign up for at Gamestop? Let us return games with them too. If we have an Edge Card, allow us to return 1 out of every 10 games we buy. There. Now we're not buying games to pirate them, and now we're able to return purchases that aren't good. Problem solved.
Oh, that's right. I forgot that Gamestop doesn't want to let people return games because they prefer to run their business as an upscale pawn shop. My mistake.
6) Give us more demos. When a movie is good, they let critics screen it ahead of time to provide early reviews and build positive buzz about it. When a movie isn't good, no one gets any pre-screenings because the studio is ashamed of it and wants to limit negative buzz. Let's do that with game demos. Let us see what you're working on before you release it, and don't just let the same purveyors of "exclusive" content in the gaming industry get their hands on it. We don't trust them anymore, so it's not helping.
On top of that, it helps get rid of another excuse that I forgot to mention: The system requirements boondoggle. Years ago, PC Gamer included a demo of Deus Ex with one of their magazines. I really wanted to play it, but I had doubts that it would work on my system. I installed the demo, and it didn't work. I'm so glad I had a demo, because otherwise I would have found out the hard way.
This would also take care of another justification that Shamus Young points out in his "Excuses on the High Seas" article: Now you know whether or not the game will work on your system. You know whether or not it will be good. You don't have to take blind, shot-in-the-dark guesses based on a byzantine list of system requirements and the cryptic reviews of sycophantic game reviewers.
7) Reviewers need to be detached from the industry. Imagine if Roger Ebert worked for Entertainment Weekly. What if, on the cover of every copy of EW for the last six months, they were hyping a new movie. Now, the movie comes out and Roger Ebert hates it. What pressure would he feel to give the movie a better review than normal? I mean, EW survives because it has access, not in spite of it. Ebert might do the right thing because he seems to be an upstanding guy, but it might bring him some flak from the suits higher up.
Now, remember the Jeff Gerstmann incident? Where Gerstmann seemingly left Gamespot over a bad review of Kane & Lynch? Imagine having to do that every single day: Toe the line between hyping up new releases and giving honest opinions. That's where game reviewers are when they work for a company that relies on access.
Getting detached from the industry at large serves another major purpose as well: It slows down the hype machine. Now, instead of fifty different sites all jostling for "Exclusive Access" that will inevitably be parroted on every site as soon as it's released, they're able to concentrate on the games in front of them. This builds value into the product, meaning that pirates are more willing to see the benefit of actually purchasing the game, rather than just consuming it and throwing it aside.
7) Give us more specials. As Valve just proved with Steam, not only do sales go up with lower prices, so do profits. I know it's common to see a AAA title for $50 and a budget title for $20. Ask yourself: Is that really fair pricing? If you're losing customers by the handfuls, are we really making the situation better by keeping the prices so high, especially in a bad worldwide economy? Hopefully we see a dialogue about pricing, and hopefully one that doesn't sound like a preschool fight.
8) Add complexity to pirating. We talked about how simple it is to pirate PC and DS games, and how complicated it is to pirate PS3, 360 and Wii games. Nintendo is taking the next step in anti-piracy with the DSi, which should lock out most major flash cards and also allow for firmware upgrades. It's about time.
The PC is more difficult to lock down. They're on to something with online distribution like Steam, but the PC market is dying. It might be time to abandon it as a single-player platform in favor of more multi-player experiences. I could live with that: My PC as my multiplayer machine, and my consoles as single-player machines. Even fiascos like Spore had a healthy online component that will keep sales going for a long time.
Let's also have CD-key checks for online servers. If I want to play Call of Duty 4 online, double-check my CD-key. Make sure it's legit. The only people who will complain are the pirates. In other words, tell the pirates, "Go ahead. Pirate the single-player experience. You're not getting into multiplayer, though." I guarantee that once the word gets out, you'll limit the amount of pirated copies being distributed. They might set up their own servers, but those servers won't be as well-run as yours are, with online leaderboards.
9) Lastly, it's on us, the pirates. We have to stop. Let's not pretend that we're helplessly being borne along by the waves of technology. We've made the decision to buy the flash card or search for the torrent. We're not helpless victims. We're people who are trying to take content from others.
I take issue with people who say that pirates are killing the industry, but there is a kernel of truth to it. If a popular game doesn't sell, it doesn't matter how many people are playing it. They're not going to make another one.
--
There it is: a list of several solutions to the piracy crisis. Companies usually focus on only two: Making it harder to pirate and telling us to stop pirating. It's not that simple. There are economic considerations and broken trust on both sides. In order to fix a problem that runs this deep, there needs to be a long two-sided dialogue. Your move, game companies.
1) Become more active in the community. Yes, corporations are nameless, faceless, soulless entities, existing solely to make a profit. However, Ken Levine is not a corporation. Sid Meier is not a corporation. Help us to see you companies as groups of people and communities, not corporations. And for the love of God, whatever you do, do not throw the developers to the wolves only after you've angered the community, like you did to poor Ken Levine.
I hold up as a great example GoodOldGames.com. They've put faces on their community. Even though it's a company, and yes, the bottom line is to make money, they've found that the best way to do so is through fomenting the idea of a group of people who just want what everyone else wants: They want to make money doing what they love and being fair. Sounds good to me, and it's harder to pirate from a person than a corporation. This dovetails with the next point...
2) Get rid of excessive DRM. I'm not talking about removing CD checks or product keys, or going back to the wild, woolly days of software swapping. I have no problem with CD checks or product keys. It's when you start getting out of hand that you hand the high ground over to pirates.Once again, GoodOldGames seems to be prospering with this idea. We have no solid numbers to back it up yet, but since developers are constantly jumping on board with it, I think we can safely say that it's a success. Since there's no DRM, there's no moral justification to pirate. Therefore, people like us who only pirate when they can justify it to ourselves have no recourse.
3) Remember you're not going to stop everyone. I say that there's two groups of pirates: casual pirates and hardcore pirates. Casual pirates are people like myself. We pirate not because we get any thrill out of it, but as a practical matter. It's easy and cheap. I'm able to play all the latest games for free. I don't pirate to stick it to any mythical "man." I pirate because I like to play games and it's the easiest way to get them. Especially in a down economy, it's going to be hard for a lot of pirates to give up their habits.
The Rubicon between casual and hardcore pirates in my mind seems to be modchipping. When you open your console, you've crossed the line from casual to hardcore. People who willingly open their systems and void their warranties just to get free content are on a different level. The majority of hardcore pirates won't stop. You can try and make the systems harder and harder to hack, but then you're adding layers of complexity for your developers. You still won't stop the pirates either, because the harder it is to hack, the more of a personal challenge it becomes.
In other words, don't try stopping EVERYONE, because you won't. Instead, do this...
4) Give bonuses to people who buy your games at retail. Atlus has started doing this. When they release a game, like Ys Books I&II for the DS, they include a bonus, like a soundtrack CD. Other games will include tchotchkes like figurines or a cloth map. Are these huge presents? No. They're not. The soundtrack will probably be on the torrent sites within minutes of release. The figurine will probably end up buried in a toybox somewhere.
Still, it's not what you give, it's that you give at all. Remember, your living is based on goodwill and warm, fuzzy feelings with your clientele. Making sure they're appreciated goes a long way toward building brand loyalty. Remember, you don't have to do this for every release. It's just that every once in a while, you should get us something nice. Make us feel pretty.
5) Allow us to return games again. This is a bigger bone of contention with publishers, but it would go a long way to reducing piracy. Now, I know Gamestop and others are scared of being considered in league with piracy, as they should be. So, here's a really easy way to handle this that doesn't cost them a penny more.
You know those Edge Cards people sign up for at Gamestop? Let us return games with them too. If we have an Edge Card, allow us to return 1 out of every 10 games we buy. There. Now we're not buying games to pirate them, and now we're able to return purchases that aren't good. Problem solved.
Oh, that's right. I forgot that Gamestop doesn't want to let people return games because they prefer to run their business as an upscale pawn shop. My mistake.
6) Give us more demos. When a movie is good, they let critics screen it ahead of time to provide early reviews and build positive buzz about it. When a movie isn't good, no one gets any pre-screenings because the studio is ashamed of it and wants to limit negative buzz. Let's do that with game demos. Let us see what you're working on before you release it, and don't just let the same purveyors of "exclusive" content in the gaming industry get their hands on it. We don't trust them anymore, so it's not helping.
On top of that, it helps get rid of another excuse that I forgot to mention: The system requirements boondoggle. Years ago, PC Gamer included a demo of Deus Ex with one of their magazines. I really wanted to play it, but I had doubts that it would work on my system. I installed the demo, and it didn't work. I'm so glad I had a demo, because otherwise I would have found out the hard way.This would also take care of another justification that Shamus Young points out in his "Excuses on the High Seas" article: Now you know whether or not the game will work on your system. You know whether or not it will be good. You don't have to take blind, shot-in-the-dark guesses based on a byzantine list of system requirements and the cryptic reviews of sycophantic game reviewers.
7) Reviewers need to be detached from the industry. Imagine if Roger Ebert worked for Entertainment Weekly. What if, on the cover of every copy of EW for the last six months, they were hyping a new movie. Now, the movie comes out and Roger Ebert hates it. What pressure would he feel to give the movie a better review than normal? I mean, EW survives because it has access, not in spite of it. Ebert might do the right thing because he seems to be an upstanding guy, but it might bring him some flak from the suits higher up.
Now, remember the Jeff Gerstmann incident? Where Gerstmann seemingly left Gamespot over a bad review of Kane & Lynch? Imagine having to do that every single day: Toe the line between hyping up new releases and giving honest opinions. That's where game reviewers are when they work for a company that relies on access.
Getting detached from the industry at large serves another major purpose as well: It slows down the hype machine. Now, instead of fifty different sites all jostling for "Exclusive Access" that will inevitably be parroted on every site as soon as it's released, they're able to concentrate on the games in front of them. This builds value into the product, meaning that pirates are more willing to see the benefit of actually purchasing the game, rather than just consuming it and throwing it aside.
7) Give us more specials. As Valve just proved with Steam, not only do sales go up with lower prices, so do profits. I know it's common to see a AAA title for $50 and a budget title for $20. Ask yourself: Is that really fair pricing? If you're losing customers by the handfuls, are we really making the situation better by keeping the prices so high, especially in a bad worldwide economy? Hopefully we see a dialogue about pricing, and hopefully one that doesn't sound like a preschool fight.
8) Add complexity to pirating. We talked about how simple it is to pirate PC and DS games, and how complicated it is to pirate PS3, 360 and Wii games. Nintendo is taking the next step in anti-piracy with the DSi, which should lock out most major flash cards and also allow for firmware upgrades. It's about time.
The PC is more difficult to lock down. They're on to something with online distribution like Steam, but the PC market is dying. It might be time to abandon it as a single-player platform in favor of more multi-player experiences. I could live with that: My PC as my multiplayer machine, and my consoles as single-player machines. Even fiascos like Spore had a healthy online component that will keep sales going for a long time.
Let's also have CD-key checks for online servers. If I want to play Call of Duty 4 online, double-check my CD-key. Make sure it's legit. The only people who will complain are the pirates. In other words, tell the pirates, "Go ahead. Pirate the single-player experience. You're not getting into multiplayer, though." I guarantee that once the word gets out, you'll limit the amount of pirated copies being distributed. They might set up their own servers, but those servers won't be as well-run as yours are, with online leaderboards.
9) Lastly, it's on us, the pirates. We have to stop. Let's not pretend that we're helplessly being borne along by the waves of technology. We've made the decision to buy the flash card or search for the torrent. We're not helpless victims. We're people who are trying to take content from others.
I take issue with people who say that pirates are killing the industry, but there is a kernel of truth to it. If a popular game doesn't sell, it doesn't matter how many people are playing it. They're not going to make another one.
--
There it is: a list of several solutions to the piracy crisis. Companies usually focus on only two: Making it harder to pirate and telling us to stop pirating. It's not that simple. There are economic considerations and broken trust on both sides. In order to fix a problem that runs this deep, there needs to be a long two-sided dialogue. Your move, game companies.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Adventures In Pirating Part 1
I'm going to just come out and say it: I'm a pirate.
Here's the kicker: So are a lot of other people.
Usually, whenever there's an article about pirating, it is essentially written from the publisher's point of view. This holds true even for "edgy" publications, like the Escapist. Here's a sampling from their "Pirate Week:"
Pirates Anonymous: In which a former pirate reforms and realizes the error of his ways.
Viva La Revolucion: A mocking treatise about the supposed justifications of pirates.
Rob From The Rich, Steal From The Poor: About how pirating from small-time companies hurts their bottom line.
In other words, even when game journalists try and broach the subject, they have to be careful what they say. If they say too much, they risk alienating publishers and developers. They have to talk about how pirating is a "scourge" and it's destroying the industry, all while clucking their tongues at the pirates for being such naughty children.
The problem lies here: There's more to pirating than people who just want free things. It's a complex issue with a lot of variables, and understanding the underlying causes can help alleviate the problem.
Now, I pride myself on being an honest person. I have never stolen anything from a store, except for once when I was five I took a piece of candy from a Brach's Pick-A-Mix stand and felt horribly guilty for years afterwards. I drive the speed limit, I am respectful to my elders, and I treat law enforcement with the utmost respect and dignity. So how could I decide to pirate games?
Above all, remember this: I'm not trying to justify or legitimize piracy. I'm not trying to say that it's right and noble. I'm just spelling out why someone like myself pirates games instead of paying for them. In the next part of this series, I'll be breaking down what can be done to bring former customers like myself back into the fold.
1) The bad economy. I had been working at a computer store for about two years. It paid okay, but it wasn't phenomenal. My wife works too, and we're both in debt to the tune of about 10 grand total. About five months ago, I lost my job. I have since reentered the full-time workforce at my previous wage, but we're playing a lot of catchup. I suspect that there are a lot of people in my position, or worse.
If you have a choice between buying a game or putting food on the table, which would you do? That dovetails nicely with the next point:
2) The price of games. I'm not the only person who thinks this is an issue. There is one person who I consistently agree with: Gabe Newell. He has said that pirates are "underserved customers," which is true. He also says that games are too expensive. Look at this article, where he talks about promotions. He says that during a sales period, an unnamed third-party game went on sale, and the amount of sales went up 36,000% for that title. He also publicly stated that not only did the sales go up during sales on Steam, but profits went up too.
$50-$60 for a new release is expensive. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, especially in a bad economy. When you have maybe $20 left over after you pay all your bills or you have had your hours cut at work, it's very difficult to justify spending so much money for something frivolous.
3) Chiding game journalists. This goes back to the articles I posted at first. The article about the reformed game journalist who decided to give up piracy made my blood boil. He talks about he realized that he wasn't able to really play games when he was a pirate, so he really didn't love them like he does now that he stopped pirating.
That's bull. I love games just as much as the next guy. I have played video games since I was five, and I can't imagine life without them. I am able to dig deep into games because I have such a wide swath of games to enjoy. Don't treat me like a second-class citizen because I don't buy them.
Besides, how many game journalists who consistently chide pirating gamers have a 100% legitimate music collection? Have you ever downloaded a song from early Napster, Kazaa, or Limewire? Congratulations! You're a pirate!
You know what else gets me? When game journalists blame all of gaming's ills on pirates. When a game doesn't sell, they blame all the pirates for ruining it. I can't find the article now, but it blames the R4DS for Nintendo not making any hardcore games for the DS. I would argue that the strategy RPG is one of the most hardcore types of game out there, and the DS is swimming with them. In fact, Nintendo just released Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon on the DS this week. Are you telling me they've abandoned the DS? You have to be kidding me.
When game journalists harp on this viewpoint, it detracts from the real issues in the industry and makes pirates disrespect your viewpoint even more. Instead, it makes pirates defensive and angry. What possible benefit are you getting out of these articles, other than making publishers more happy with you?
4) DRM issues. Some people will point to DRM as being the only issue driving pirates. It's not. However, it is an issue. Why should I pay $50 for Spore and be able to install it five times? Why should I wait for CD-checks, Starforce, rootkits and other detritus to start before I can play my game? Why can't I just go and get the game and own it?
Imagine if you were going to buy a blender. The salesman told you that you could only have this blender in five different locations around the house. After that, it would stop working, and the only way to get it to work is by calling the manufacturer. If you lend it to someone else, the blender will stop working for them or you. The company claims that most households will only ever keep it in one spot, so it's not an issue. They want to make sure that everyone has to buy a blender.
There would be mass consumer outrage! There would be a company-wide investigation into why they did this, and who allowed this to happen. It would give anti-blender consumerists the moral high ground.
And therein lies the problem. Draconian DRM is a problem because it gives pirates the feeling of a moral high ground. Whether or not it's true, it doesn't change the fact that people like "sticking it to the man," especially when "the man" keeps trying to stick it to them.
5) No-refund policies. I didn't always used to be a pirate. There was a time when I bought games left and right, amassing a huge collection. There was a reason: Electronics Boutique opened up in our local mall. At the time, they had a policy that you could return games after they were opened if you didn't like them. I didn't take advantage of it much, but I did once after buying Wizardry 8.
Why is a return policy such a big deal? Well, would you buy anything else if you couldn't return it? In other words, you have to know before you buy the game whether or not you will like it. That's impossible to know. For instance, I have a fear of water and swimming. There are no review sites that will point out whether or not a game has swimming portions in it. I have had games that I bought that I didn't like because of that reason. They're good games, but I can't play them, and now I can't return them.
6) The ease of piracy. I download PC games, and I own an R4DS card. I frequently use emulators. I have never modded a system. In the last few years I have owned a PS2, a Gamecube, and a Wii, and I buy games legitimately for all of them. What are the common threads between what I pirate and what I don't pirate?
Piracy on the PC and DS is easy. You can't brick your PC by pirating a game. You can't destroy your DS by using an R4 card. Emulators are simple to use: Download the emulator, download a game. Configure controls, push play. You're done.
On the other hand, piracy on a console is a different proposition. You're usually cracking open the console (thereby voiding your warranty), putting in a chip, and then burning metal onto that chip to keep it in place. It's dangerous, and a huge risk to take with an expensive machine.
7) The game journalism cycle. We, the game journalists, have to stop doing this. When a game is announced, we start rolling out the hype machine. We talk about all the amazing features that Game X will have, and how you can't be without it. Then, when it comes out we try and be the first company to post a review. We maybe talk about the game for another week, tops. Then we move on to the next "must-have" game, and keep the hype machine rolling.
Now, this works great with movies and music. Movies and music require minimal investments of time. You don't have to "learn" most movies or music. You can sit, watch or listen to it for 2-3 hours, and then walk away. Games aren't like that. You need to learn the game and then spend time enjoying it. We whine when a game has only 6 hours of playtime.
Therein lies the problem. It's not just that games are so expensive, it's that there are so many of them. How are we supposed to keep on top of the gaming cycle without piracy? When is there a chance to catch your breath and catch up on games that you didn't play before? When does the hype machine stop rolling?
9) Companies are nameless, faceless corporations. Most companies seem to be just people in suits. We can't imagine them as gamers, since the decisions they make are so frequently wrong from a gamer's standpoint. I mean, mention EA to some gamers, and you get almost a visceral reaction, as if EA had killed their puppy when they were a kid, or bullied them on the way home from school.
10) Habit. It starts with one game. Then the next. After a while, you don't even think about going to buy that hot new release. You just wait for it to hit the torrents and get it. I've even looked for indie fare, like Depths of Peril, but after Shamus Young commented on pirating indie games, I decided against it.
--
Once again, none of these reasons make it okay to pirate. I'm not condoning it. I'm saying that people have legitimate reasons why they choose to pirate games. So what can be done? What are game companies doing right, what are they doing wrong, and what can they do to bring pirates back to the fold? The answer is coming on Monday.
Here's the kicker: So are a lot of other people.
Usually, whenever there's an article about pirating, it is essentially written from the publisher's point of view. This holds true even for "edgy" publications, like the Escapist. Here's a sampling from their "Pirate Week:"
Pirates Anonymous: In which a former pirate reforms and realizes the error of his ways.
Viva La Revolucion: A mocking treatise about the supposed justifications of pirates.
Rob From The Rich, Steal From The Poor: About how pirating from small-time companies hurts their bottom line.
In other words, even when game journalists try and broach the subject, they have to be careful what they say. If they say too much, they risk alienating publishers and developers. They have to talk about how pirating is a "scourge" and it's destroying the industry, all while clucking their tongues at the pirates for being such naughty children.
The problem lies here: There's more to pirating than people who just want free things. It's a complex issue with a lot of variables, and understanding the underlying causes can help alleviate the problem.
Now, I pride myself on being an honest person. I have never stolen anything from a store, except for once when I was five I took a piece of candy from a Brach's Pick-A-Mix stand and felt horribly guilty for years afterwards. I drive the speed limit, I am respectful to my elders, and I treat law enforcement with the utmost respect and dignity. So how could I decide to pirate games?
Above all, remember this: I'm not trying to justify or legitimize piracy. I'm not trying to say that it's right and noble. I'm just spelling out why someone like myself pirates games instead of paying for them. In the next part of this series, I'll be breaking down what can be done to bring former customers like myself back into the fold.
1) The bad economy. I had been working at a computer store for about two years. It paid okay, but it wasn't phenomenal. My wife works too, and we're both in debt to the tune of about 10 grand total. About five months ago, I lost my job. I have since reentered the full-time workforce at my previous wage, but we're playing a lot of catchup. I suspect that there are a lot of people in my position, or worse.
If you have a choice between buying a game or putting food on the table, which would you do? That dovetails nicely with the next point:
2) The price of games. I'm not the only person who thinks this is an issue. There is one person who I consistently agree with: Gabe Newell. He has said that pirates are "underserved customers," which is true. He also says that games are too expensive. Look at this article, where he talks about promotions. He says that during a sales period, an unnamed third-party game went on sale, and the amount of sales went up 36,000% for that title. He also publicly stated that not only did the sales go up during sales on Steam, but profits went up too.
$50-$60 for a new release is expensive. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, especially in a bad economy. When you have maybe $20 left over after you pay all your bills or you have had your hours cut at work, it's very difficult to justify spending so much money for something frivolous.
3) Chiding game journalists. This goes back to the articles I posted at first. The article about the reformed game journalist who decided to give up piracy made my blood boil. He talks about he realized that he wasn't able to really play games when he was a pirate, so he really didn't love them like he does now that he stopped pirating.
That's bull. I love games just as much as the next guy. I have played video games since I was five, and I can't imagine life without them. I am able to dig deep into games because I have such a wide swath of games to enjoy. Don't treat me like a second-class citizen because I don't buy them.
Besides, how many game journalists who consistently chide pirating gamers have a 100% legitimate music collection? Have you ever downloaded a song from early Napster, Kazaa, or Limewire? Congratulations! You're a pirate!
You know what else gets me? When game journalists blame all of gaming's ills on pirates. When a game doesn't sell, they blame all the pirates for ruining it. I can't find the article now, but it blames the R4DS for Nintendo not making any hardcore games for the DS. I would argue that the strategy RPG is one of the most hardcore types of game out there, and the DS is swimming with them. In fact, Nintendo just released Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon on the DS this week. Are you telling me they've abandoned the DS? You have to be kidding me.
When game journalists harp on this viewpoint, it detracts from the real issues in the industry and makes pirates disrespect your viewpoint even more. Instead, it makes pirates defensive and angry. What possible benefit are you getting out of these articles, other than making publishers more happy with you?
4) DRM issues. Some people will point to DRM as being the only issue driving pirates. It's not. However, it is an issue. Why should I pay $50 for Spore and be able to install it five times? Why should I wait for CD-checks, Starforce, rootkits and other detritus to start before I can play my game? Why can't I just go and get the game and own it?
Imagine if you were going to buy a blender. The salesman told you that you could only have this blender in five different locations around the house. After that, it would stop working, and the only way to get it to work is by calling the manufacturer. If you lend it to someone else, the blender will stop working for them or you. The company claims that most households will only ever keep it in one spot, so it's not an issue. They want to make sure that everyone has to buy a blender.
There would be mass consumer outrage! There would be a company-wide investigation into why they did this, and who allowed this to happen. It would give anti-blender consumerists the moral high ground.
And therein lies the problem. Draconian DRM is a problem because it gives pirates the feeling of a moral high ground. Whether or not it's true, it doesn't change the fact that people like "sticking it to the man," especially when "the man" keeps trying to stick it to them.
5) No-refund policies. I didn't always used to be a pirate. There was a time when I bought games left and right, amassing a huge collection. There was a reason: Electronics Boutique opened up in our local mall. At the time, they had a policy that you could return games after they were opened if you didn't like them. I didn't take advantage of it much, but I did once after buying Wizardry 8.
Why is a return policy such a big deal? Well, would you buy anything else if you couldn't return it? In other words, you have to know before you buy the game whether or not you will like it. That's impossible to know. For instance, I have a fear of water and swimming. There are no review sites that will point out whether or not a game has swimming portions in it. I have had games that I bought that I didn't like because of that reason. They're good games, but I can't play them, and now I can't return them.
6) The ease of piracy. I download PC games, and I own an R4DS card. I frequently use emulators. I have never modded a system. In the last few years I have owned a PS2, a Gamecube, and a Wii, and I buy games legitimately for all of them. What are the common threads between what I pirate and what I don't pirate?
Piracy on the PC and DS is easy. You can't brick your PC by pirating a game. You can't destroy your DS by using an R4 card. Emulators are simple to use: Download the emulator, download a game. Configure controls, push play. You're done.
On the other hand, piracy on a console is a different proposition. You're usually cracking open the console (thereby voiding your warranty), putting in a chip, and then burning metal onto that chip to keep it in place. It's dangerous, and a huge risk to take with an expensive machine.
7) The game journalism cycle. We, the game journalists, have to stop doing this. When a game is announced, we start rolling out the hype machine. We talk about all the amazing features that Game X will have, and how you can't be without it. Then, when it comes out we try and be the first company to post a review. We maybe talk about the game for another week, tops. Then we move on to the next "must-have" game, and keep the hype machine rolling.
Now, this works great with movies and music. Movies and music require minimal investments of time. You don't have to "learn" most movies or music. You can sit, watch or listen to it for 2-3 hours, and then walk away. Games aren't like that. You need to learn the game and then spend time enjoying it. We whine when a game has only 6 hours of playtime.
Therein lies the problem. It's not just that games are so expensive, it's that there are so many of them. How are we supposed to keep on top of the gaming cycle without piracy? When is there a chance to catch your breath and catch up on games that you didn't play before? When does the hype machine stop rolling?
9) Companies are nameless, faceless corporations. Most companies seem to be just people in suits. We can't imagine them as gamers, since the decisions they make are so frequently wrong from a gamer's standpoint. I mean, mention EA to some gamers, and you get almost a visceral reaction, as if EA had killed their puppy when they were a kid, or bullied them on the way home from school.
10) Habit. It starts with one game. Then the next. After a while, you don't even think about going to buy that hot new release. You just wait for it to hit the torrents and get it. I've even looked for indie fare, like Depths of Peril, but after Shamus Young commented on pirating indie games, I decided against it.
--
Once again, none of these reasons make it okay to pirate. I'm not condoning it. I'm saying that people have legitimate reasons why they choose to pirate games. So what can be done? What are game companies doing right, what are they doing wrong, and what can they do to bring pirates back to the fold? The answer is coming on Monday.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Some interesting stuff about Avalon Code
Here's a hands-on from Gamespot. I wasn't sure if we really needed another RPG for the DS, but this looks promising.
Finally Logged Into Club Nintendo
I'm now officially a member of Club Nintendo. I'm pretty excited. I don't know what for, but I've been trying to do this for a while now, so to finally get the monkey off my back is a big deal.
Weird Rulership Situations In Gaming: Part 1
There are lots of strange leadership situations in gaming. We're talking ineffectual kings, worthless princesses, and "captains" who can't actually lead anything. Today, we're going to highlight one of my favorites: King DeDeDe from the Kirby series.
Let's do a quick recap of what King DeDeDe has accomplished during his tenure as monarch over Dream Land. In Kirby's Dream Land, he attempted to steal all the food from the kingdom, only to get defeated by the hero of the land, Kirby. You would think that he would have been permanently removed from office after such a disgrace, but maybe there's a really strong base for him in the Dream Land House of Lords, or they just haven't signed a Magna Carta there.
After this a pattern starts. In Kirby's Adventure, Kirby beats the crap out of the king again, only to find that he was actually protecting the country by turning off the Fountain of Dreams. This shows that he is a poor delegator. I mean, don't you think you would tell the person who seems to have a vendetta against you what you're planning on doing before getting the crap kicked out of you again?
This is a recurring theme afterwards: It's repeated in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and 3. DeDeDe has a hare-brained scheme to save the land, but he doesn't tell anyone. This leaves the confused populace to fend for themselves and the country devolves into a bloody battlefield. Kirby is constantly getting attacked by otherwise friendly countrymen who apparently swear loyalty to the king. It's possible that DeDeDe has great approval ratings.
However, even if his consituents love him, as the picture below would seem to indicate, that only makes things worse. Then, Kirby isn't quite the hero he's made out to be. Here's something to make you think: Maybe the people of Dream Land truly know the King's intentions. Maybe Kirby is instead the last one to know, so he's a murderer instead, responsible for the needless deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Dream Land residents. In other words, when you play Kirby games, you're playing the story of a misguided, murderous monster who kills rather than ask questions.
In fact, the situation has gotten so bad that in Kirby: Squeak Squad, Kirby isn't really justified in anything he does. Here's the plot: He's sitting down to eat some cake, and then someone who is shaped like a rat steals the cake. Instead of chasing after someone who is clearly a rat, he goes and beats up King DeDeDe. Again. Once again, how is this helping? How are you restoring faith in the monarchy when every time something goes wrong, you march straight into the palace, slaughter the guards, and humiliate the king?
How did it get to this point? Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of DeDeDe. He was the one who started this mess back in Kirby's Dream Land. Naturally, once someone tries to steal all of the food in the country, it's assumed that they're a bad guy. But this has now gone beyond mere distrust. This is now a personal vendetta, and one that needs drastic action. We're talking out-and-out treason against the crown, which should not stand.
Apparently, the lines of communication have not been open to this live wire, loose cannon named Kirby. I can imagine his trepidation over opening a dialogue, considering that Kirby seems to kill anyone associated with the King. But wouldn't you at least try, considering the untold damage that's he done?
All of this makes me think that underneath the surface of the happy-go-lucky Kirby series lies a deep well of resentment and hatred that is bound to burst forth one day in a new, gritty reboot, one in which the very fabric of Dream Land is being rent asunder by warring factions. Lives will be lost. Kingdoms will fall. Fruit will be eaten.
Let's do a quick recap of what King DeDeDe has accomplished during his tenure as monarch over Dream Land. In Kirby's Dream Land, he attempted to steal all the food from the kingdom, only to get defeated by the hero of the land, Kirby. You would think that he would have been permanently removed from office after such a disgrace, but maybe there's a really strong base for him in the Dream Land House of Lords, or they just haven't signed a Magna Carta there.After this a pattern starts. In Kirby's Adventure, Kirby beats the crap out of the king again, only to find that he was actually protecting the country by turning off the Fountain of Dreams. This shows that he is a poor delegator. I mean, don't you think you would tell the person who seems to have a vendetta against you what you're planning on doing before getting the crap kicked out of you again?
This is a recurring theme afterwards: It's repeated in Kirby's Dream Land 2 and 3. DeDeDe has a hare-brained scheme to save the land, but he doesn't tell anyone. This leaves the confused populace to fend for themselves and the country devolves into a bloody battlefield. Kirby is constantly getting attacked by otherwise friendly countrymen who apparently swear loyalty to the king. It's possible that DeDeDe has great approval ratings.However, even if his consituents love him, as the picture below would seem to indicate, that only makes things worse. Then, Kirby isn't quite the hero he's made out to be. Here's something to make you think: Maybe the people of Dream Land truly know the King's intentions. Maybe Kirby is instead the last one to know, so he's a murderer instead, responsible for the needless deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Dream Land residents. In other words, when you play Kirby games, you're playing the story of a misguided, murderous monster who kills rather than ask questions.
In fact, the situation has gotten so bad that in Kirby: Squeak Squad, Kirby isn't really justified in anything he does. Here's the plot: He's sitting down to eat some cake, and then someone who is shaped like a rat steals the cake. Instead of chasing after someone who is clearly a rat, he goes and beats up King DeDeDe. Again. Once again, how is this helping? How are you restoring faith in the monarchy when every time something goes wrong, you march straight into the palace, slaughter the guards, and humiliate the king?
How did it get to this point? Much of the blame can be laid at the feet of DeDeDe. He was the one who started this mess back in Kirby's Dream Land. Naturally, once someone tries to steal all of the food in the country, it's assumed that they're a bad guy. But this has now gone beyond mere distrust. This is now a personal vendetta, and one that needs drastic action. We're talking out-and-out treason against the crown, which should not stand.Apparently, the lines of communication have not been open to this live wire, loose cannon named Kirby. I can imagine his trepidation over opening a dialogue, considering that Kirby seems to kill anyone associated with the King. But wouldn't you at least try, considering the untold damage that's he done?
All of this makes me think that underneath the surface of the happy-go-lucky Kirby series lies a deep well of resentment and hatred that is bound to burst forth one day in a new, gritty reboot, one in which the very fabric of Dream Land is being rent asunder by warring factions. Lives will be lost. Kingdoms will fall. Fruit will be eaten.
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