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News Tom Clancy's Endwar PC delayed due to piracy

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by CardJoe, 9 Oct 2008.

  1. airchie

    airchie What's a Dremel?

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    The more I think about it, the more I think this is a good thing.

    I'm quite confident PC gaming will never die.
    Large companies like Ubi and EA etc pulling back from PC gaming only allows newer, smaller, hopefully better and less greedy devs into the scene.
    With these companies, they will be pirated too but at least they will also make a decent profit from all the honest gamers.
    I'd far rather my money went to this type of developer where its not all about their bottom line.

    The Stardocks and Introversions of this world are set for a bumper payday soon for all their hard work and faith in the PC gaming crowd.
    I for one am all the happier for it.
    I'd rather give them my money any day! :)
     
    Last edited: 9 Oct 2008
  2. Leitchy

    Leitchy Minimodder

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    Oh well stuff there shitty game. I'll look forward to playing Red Alert 3, Fallout 3, COD World at War (Even though its back to WWII), FarCry 2, GTA 4 (Late yes I know), Left 4 Dead and World of Warcraft: Wrath Of The Lich King if your into such virgin porn.

    I'm sure these titles will fill your time whilst we wait for End War. I understand when a developer releases console versions of a game first as I'm sure they are easier to develop for (standard hardware and all) and THEN release a PC version a few months later, but to come out and blatantly blame Piracy and generally offend all legitimate PC customers is an outrage.

    Just take look at Sins of a Solar Empire, then shove it up your ars* Michael de Plater.
     
  3. The Infamous Mr D

    The Infamous Mr D Minimodder

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    I fail to see how releasing the game on PC at the same time as the consoles would not benefit them financially. They've already paid for the development and marketing - a PC pressing run would surely net them a few extra quid even despite the alledgedly high piracy rate. Granted, piracy is probably more prevalent on PC than on a console, but I shouldn't think the numbers go against the publishers. They are only in it for the money, after all.

    What seems more likely is Sony or Microsoft slipping a few crisp notes into the publisher's pockets, asking them to hold off on a PC version and renounce piracy on the PC as the excuse until we gamers get fed up waiting and buy their consoles instead. Now that DOES make business sense, as everyone wins. Except the gamer.
     
  4. Xtrafresh

    Xtrafresh It never hurts to help

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    YARRR, it be a global conspiracy matey, avast!

    People that only use a computer for powerpoint-presentations should not be allowed near a gamestudio, if you can still call it that.
    Soon new companies will figure out a way to make business sense AND customer sense, and these decaying talent-eaters lead by stagnant moneycounting managers will be replaced.

    PC gaming is not dead, IMHO it's a butterfly casting off it's old shell. ATM it's a gooey mess, but just you wait and see! :D
     
    Last edited: 9 Oct 2008
  5. Jack_Pepsi

    Jack_Pepsi Clan BeeR Founder

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    Pffft!

    Humour me... if PC pirating pirates are ruining the PC as a gaming platform and game dev's finally stop making PC games, won't pirates carry on pirating console games more so? I buy my games because I have fantastic sites such as Bit-Tech to review them for me. If they say, "This game is the mutts nuts - you really need to play this game!" Then, if it's the sort of game I'll play, I'll buy it.

    Even though I like to buy an actual product I can't help but think that digital distribution might be the way forward.
     
  6. impar

    impar Minimodder

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    Greetings!

    Games PC versions being released after the consoles versions dont affect me.
    Being released with absurd DRM schemes or not released at all, affects me.

    Like it or not, PC games piracy levels are too high.
    If games companies can make some money with the console versions before the PC versions are out, better for them. Its understandable.
    That will work until the piracy level in consoles increase.

    The real problem here is the piracy, not the developer/publisher decision.
     
  7. cjmUK

    cjmUK Old git.

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    Console games are more expensive because console themselves are a) subsidised and b) proprietary. So on top of the natural price for the game, you are paying a levy to help pay for the hardware and a fee because it's a locked-in technology.

    As for Steam, it's not bad - it's easy to use, and very reliable. The only problem (which I've mentioned so many times in the past) is that you don't have the capability (officially) to sell the games - a right you would have with retail products.
     
  8. Lepermessiah

    Lepermessiah What's a Dremel?

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    BULL, that is PR speak for "We want to try sell more console versions for MS and Sony first". PC has no one backing it like the crapsoles do.
     
  9. Almightyrastus

    Almightyrastus On the jazz.

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    I get the feeling that a lot of the no PC release stuff and the console exclusive things are less to do with piracy and more to do with the console companies paying to have a game come out for their machine. PCs are at a huge disadvantage here as there is no central manufacturer who can pay the software houses a bribe.

    Sure there is a piracy problem with PC gaming just as there is with consoles, R4DS anyone? Take a look around any big torrent site and you will find console games and instructions on what to do to get things running.
     
  10. karx11erx

    karx11erx What's a Dremel?

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    Good question, actually. There is still a difference. Only one person is using the game copy at a time, the copy has been paid for, and the second person was willing to pay for it, too. Do you consider it theft if I purchase and read a used book? It's just the same. Or what if I uninstall and give a game I have paid for and played through to a friend for free? I don't consider that theft. I think this should be viewed from the point of my having purchased to play a game for an unlimited amount of time. Once I stop playing it, I can pass that license on, so to speak.

    People who pirate games aren't willing to pay at all. The point with them is that they steal software right when it becomes available and do not use somebody else's license which that person has ceased to (legally) exploit.

    Let me ask back: What is your real point? To excuse SW piracy?
     
  11. UrbanMarine

    UrbanMarine Government Prostitute

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    Wise words from a company that killed the Rainbow Six series not piracy :: cough ::


    I'm sorry but nothings safe in the way of piracy. Hell Fallout 3 for the 360 is already on torrent sites. So all they're doing is further hurting their sales. I still wanna see numbers from non-bias parties on how much damage piracy is doing to titles.
     
    Last edited: 9 Oct 2008
  12. bbshammo

    bbshammo What's a Dremel?

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    When will the supporters of the piracy = lost sales argument actually do what they ought to and publish the numbers supporting their claims??

    The only side in any position to clarify the debate is them as they have access to the numbers.

    For example; a good example may be to consider two franchise releases with similar review ratings across a number of reputable reviewers, and comparing their sales in-line with previous years and also measuredagainst econimic activity in their markets (so as to ensure that downturns aren't ignored).

    With the facts, people MIGHT actually start believing their claims.

    At the moment one side of the debate (anti-devs/pubs) has a perfectly reasonable theory that makes perfect sense, and the other (anti-pirates) makes a less plausible argument, WITH the ability to prove it if they wanted to, yet choose not to... Apparrently.

    As long as STEAM exists and these devs/pubs continue NOT to back up their arguments that they could if they wanted to, then the debate will rage on; which makes you wonder about the true motives of the industry.
     
  13. Dominatorbuster

    Dominatorbuster What's a Dremel?

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  14. karx11erx

    karx11erx What's a Dremel?

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    I have read a story recently of a good game and game studio that went bankrupt because of piracy: Titan Quest and their makers. I didn't play the game myself, but was told that it was a very solid one. First of all, early copies with some copy protection got distributed one or two weeks ahead of the official release. Many of the pirates using them ran into problems because of that protection and blamed the game coders for writing crappy code instead of themselves for playing a badly cracked pirated SW copy. That resulted in a bad reputation for the game hurting initial sales. It later turned out that about 90% of the game's copies around had been pirated, which left too little revenue for the company. So they had to close. All because of some a-holes who come along under the false pretense of having to make sure the game was worth it, some self-proclaimed game quality police. Why not wait for some good independent reviewer (like those on bit-tech.net hopefully are) test the game and report about it?

    I know the mindset of SW pirates from experience (not my own, but from having had to do with such people). They do it because they do not care about right or wrong or about others and their lives and making a living. They only care about themselves and how they can get whatever they want w/o having to pay for it. They are parasites sucking on the lives of better people than they are. They have no morale, no decency, they do whatever they see fit to live the life they desire w/o caring about anybody else around them. They do not function properly unless being threatened with severe negative consequences unless they do. It's basically the same mindset that would run down a person while speeding and trying to escape unseen, or cause a traffic accident and try to make the others pay by lieing about what had happened. Imvho.

    (Let me add that I am not talking about people who want to try a game and delete it after a short time because they don't like it, or purchase it because they do.)
     
    Last edited: 9 Oct 2008
  15. Nictron

    Nictron Minimodder

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    In the case of these two games they have a proven track record, and are excellent games so your argument does not hold water there.

    You can always, read websites, Magazines and try demo's

    I do not see any excuse for stealing or piracy, would you feel for a person that breaks in and steals from you just because he has no money?
     
  16. Xtrafresh

    Xtrafresh It never hurts to help

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    dude, first you say you want innovation, and then you advertise the bazillionth incarnation of a sports game? Just tell us you don't like FPS, and leave it at that.

    It's not as if FPS games aren't diverse enough. Compare Mirror's Edge to Crysis to Halo to Bioshock, and you cannot deny that they are far far more diverse then any two football management games will ever be.

    IMHO the problem is not that the games or the developers or the creative directors suck, the problem is the mangers.
    Managers that lay the same project management structure and sales models on every single product they get their hands on, be it a broomstick or a spaceshuttle. It's the same people managing the project, with the same methods. Ofcourse they compensate for the lack of specific knowledge by sitting down business analists (or even more condesendingly titled subject matter experts) down in project meetings and ignoring their advice.

    It's not piracy or devs or anyone really at fault, it's managers that fly sideways through entire industries. Sadly, they are extremely adept at dodging and diverting blame.
     
  17. Lepermessiah

    Lepermessiah What's a Dremel?

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    People defending piracy on here are ridiculous, all game ssuck? Yeah, 2007/2008 have been about as good years for PC games as there has ever been, god, the lengths people go to to try and justify piracy, there is no justification.
     
  18. ParaHelix.org

    ParaHelix.org What's a Dremel?

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    Games = Steam = Win.
     
  19. ParaHelix.org

    ParaHelix.org What's a Dremel?

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    +1, I can understand (slightly) when it comes to office software which runs into the hundreds, but games are NOT expensive, these people need to get jobs.
     
  20. Uno1_

    Uno1_ What's a Dremel?

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    The thing that really grinds my gears about the piracy is killing the PC argument, is that there's no justification I can see behind it.

    Piracy is possible on the PC, and games do get pirated. Conclusion? Piracy is killing the PC.

    Piracy is possible on the consoles, and games do get pirated. Conclusion? Piracy is killing the PC.

    Wait... What? How is the PC a different environment than the consoles?

    The only true difference I see is that consoles are not a locked environment, and thus are (in theory) more expensive to develop for. I say in theory as while with PC's one must program for a varying environment, with consoles you have a more complex environment, such as the PS3's obscure method of multiple cores, etc. Added to that, you have the cost of the DRM publishers feel obliged to put on PC games, and you've got a rediculous situation on your hands.

    I think the truth of it comes down to (in my opinion) it being easier to release a game on consoles and have it be lauded as the next coming. Games on PC tend to (again, in my opinion) be held to a higher standard, whereas simpler games tend to make the grade on consoles.

    Thought for the day: Has anyone asked Valve or Blizzard if they are concerned about piracy, or about the PC's long term viability?
     
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