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NOW who's getting ripped?

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_Z_

Posted: Jul 26 2007, 05:39 PM

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Rampant piracy threatens PC games (BBC)

QUOTE (article)

Global piracy cost the US games industry more than $4bn in 2004, not including losses from net piracy. Mr Hollenshead said the PC games industry was still not taking the threat of piracy seriously. "I find myself when I have a discussion about piracy trying to convince people it's a serious problem."

"Some estimates show that as much as 50% of game sales are lost to piracy in the US. "In Eastern Europe, Asia and South America the losses are estimated to be 90% plus," he said.

Several years ago, when PC games started hitting the $60-70 mark, I stopped buying them. I think a lot of people did. The prices went higher and the bugs went up. One I bought I had to wait 3 mos for a patch to even start playing it! GameCo greed and poor product I think spurred on the hackers market, which I think is behind this supposed piracy claim.

If one reads some of the comments at the end of the article, I think a broader envisionment of the problem begins to appear. Bad games, poor performance, and ridiculous prices have put the gaming industry where it is today- and if they're going to complain about getting shot in the foot, they have no farther to look than their own hand.

Ducc	Posted: Jul 26 2007, 05:56 PM
O-4 Major Group: Founders Posts: 2,453 Member No.: 4 Joined: 18-November 04	They're getting ridiculously complex too. I wonder how much more complex games can get. Seriously, someone has to write all that code. How do you manage such huge projects, get them done quickly and under budget, without bugs? Damn near impossible?

Dan	Posted: Jul 26 2007, 06:06 PM
O-2 1st Lieutenant Group: Special Forces Posts: 1,193 Member No.: 8 Joined: 23-November 04	When did PC games cost $60-70?

_Z_

Posted: Jul 26 2007, 06:28 PM

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QUOTE (Dan @ Jul 26 2007, 06:06 PM)

When did videogames cost $60-70?

Mid/late 90's I guess. Many of the games I was following that used to be $29.99- $39.99 went to $59.99-$69.99 with special sets costing $10-20 more initially. Some 'director cut gold box' (yada yada) games were running close to a C-note. I was convinced the GameCo's were on drugs...

To boot, it seemed the newer the game- the more bugs it had, and the less fun it was to play.

That's when I said 'enough' and cut the umbilical. It was a total turn-off. I stayed out of the gaming isles at Best Buy for years...

Dan	Posted: Jul 26 2007, 06:31 PM
O-2 1st Lieutenant Group: Special Forces Posts: 1,193 Member No.: 8 Joined: 23-November 04	Yeah but they were only special box sets you didn't have to buy them over the normal ones.

_Z_	Posted: Jul 26 2007, 06:48 PM
O-4 Major Group: Founders Posts: 2,306 Member No.: 2 Joined: 18-November 04	I didn't. The special sets didn't have anything but extraneous junk added (widget or poster, etc.) which didn't change/affect the way the game was played. The one exception I did get were the sets with a strategy guide. In most of those cases, the game manual was so poorly done- you needed it. Recent war game [sic] purchases allieviated the problem by not including a manual at all. But they weren't $50-60+ either.

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