Is Piracy a Big Factor in Todays Consoles

[xiringu]

I think big companies (not only consoles, but music, and movies aswell) fear that their profits stall or rise too slowly for them to be happy.

it's funny to hear them whinning all the time, and then present those profits year by year of zillions of dollars...and, oh yes, they still want more.

I know how long it takes to develop a game and all that, but...if we had access to the real accounts, I'm sure we'd be surprised of how much they actually win for every game...but they still want more.

they always talk about losing money, but that's not true, they never lose. instead of having 20% profits, they might have 15%, you get the point.


if they try to sell games at $40 and they don't sell enough, they blame it on piracy, but they never say people CAN'T AFFORD to buy games so expensive. they assume that we are going to pay that for a game and if possible 1 or 2 a month...NO WAY!


so one thing, is money...and another is what you get for your money.

i love watching previews and the latest technology graphics stuff for games, but when you play the games, 99% of them are crap, pretty, but still crap or copies of another game.

I could live playing only with the demos you get from websites or magazines, because I just want to see the games, and many times I can't spend more than 1/2 or 1 hour playing to a game, and that's it...I don't want to see it again...

"seen it before" and "boring" are probably the comments I'd say after watching a new release

it's sad but it's the same with movies...when was the last time you really enjoyed a movie and thought it was worth your money?

so, is piracy killing the console star?
NO

[nyrtrublue]

personally i use isos to try games its like a blockbuster inside my room and since im to young to drive thats really important to me but if i play a game i like then i will buy it when i get the chance so it helps the console in that aspect which probably helps balance out the die hard pirates

[BazzaLB]

One thing is for sure. Piracy has nothing to do with the cost being charged for games. In Australia, the average AAA PC title costs around 80-90AUD. The PC has plenty of piracy issues. Compare this with the XBOX 360 where there is NO piracy and those games cost 100-110+ AUD. How they justify the ridiculous prices for XBOX 360 games in Australia is beyond me. If they are wondering why the PS2 is still outselling the XBOX 360, it all comes down to the pricing.

What makes the 360 game pricing even more of a joke is when you compare a title like "Prey". Prey ran far smoother and had higher resolution textures in some places on the PC Demo than the 360 Demo I tried, so in some cases, you'll be getting an inferior product for 20+ dollars extra.

[AuroEdge]

Piracy is a big deal. It's not like if there was no piracy that game prices would be reduced, you'd be naive to believe game companies would sell games for less than they can get away. However, piracy is unlawful. Does it make sense to try out an iso of a game to see if you like it and subsequently buy it? Maybe. Still wrong though.

[oninotsume]

Okay,

I work for a major game company (no I will not tell you which one), but let me assure you that piracy prevention is a MAJOR issue.

A lot of people say "$ony trying to steal your money" or "Microsoft" just in it for the money. The people who say this have obviously never worked at a company. Of COURSE they are trying to make money! However, they ARE NOT bringing in the boatloads that people imagine. Companies publish many games, but many games fail and you have to be able to cover that loss in order to pay all the programmers, designers, developers, testers, localizers, marketing, producers, etc., etc. These are the lives of HUMAN BEINGS and their FAMILIES that the company has to support. Plus you need money for future development and company growth at the same time, otherwise people will say "their games are no good anymore."

With the retail price of games (especially in the US) already low, and the cost of development easily soaring into the double digit millions IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A PROFIT! Every pirate cuts into what may have been a sale.

I've seen my games up on torrents, and yeah it pisses me off, because I know the people who are downloading it aren't thinking about the thousands of collective hours of overtime, stress, and all of the blood sweat and tears that went into planning and creating the game. They just want to enjoy the benefits, leaching off us like parasites.

I would seriously like to punch them in the face, for insulting me and everyone who worked on the project, and all of their friends and family who had to go through the hardship of making a game with them.

That's my two cents's

Don't pirate, YOU ARE STEALING and YOU ARE KILLING THE INDUSTRY. It isn't just Sony and Microsoft out there, there are many game publishers who don't have thier coffers and are working their asses off to make good games.

[SSaxdude]

With all that said, quite simply I love using PSP ISO's.
[/B] on my trusty 1.50

Yeah me too. I will admit I'm a huge pirate, but with out them I would have probably sold my PSP. Homebrew is awesome and all, but I also really like playing commercial games. What I don't like is how this site is so negetive towards iso loaders, but that's their opinion and I don't think anyone can change it.
It doesn't matter if people are pirating games because there will never be enough to make a huge impact. BTW, I've also almost been banned on several occasions.

[Emeriastone]

I think what is most important is that we support game developers by purchasing the worthwhile games. This shows that we are loyal and supportive of the developers and the console distributors.

This goes as well for those who contribute to digital piracy; those who do so should know that it hurts the gaming industry, and if they won't stop the piracy, at least they can purchase a game once and a while.

[Voltron]

I would say it's hurting psp industry A BUNCH, lots of movie companies are making less umd releases because of piracy, and the only reason game prices raise is because of pirates, well mabie a little greed mixed inside, but the more prices raise the more pirates are going to pirate, and finally gaming industry will collapse, but after a period of (possibly long) slumber, someone will surely try and start the gaming industry back up again, but during the period, there will be NO game even made for people to pirate, so pirates are forcing their doom but carrying us with them.

NO WAY, Give me a break!
1.) UMD Videos were never widely received or supported. The prices were ridiculous. 14.99-19.99 or higher. Same as DVD prices. Why would you want a scaled down stripped version of movie when you could get so much more on a DVD for a few dollars more?

2.) Game prices have raised? In what country? Not in the U.S.A. I bought my PSP on March 24, 2005 (launch day) and some launch games were $49.99 for the PSP. Now most games are 39.99, some 19.99-29.99. What are you talking about? So before PSP homebrew even existed, games were the same price as what they are now. ISO Loading is NOT hurting sales or raising prices.

3.) You state soon the gaming industry will collapse and be doomed. Again, what country are you from? In the U.S.A. the Video Game Industry is at an ALL TIME HIGH and growing stronger year by year. Pirates are forcing their demise and taking us with them? I think you've been watching too many pirate movies lately. When it comes to the PSP, where can you buy "pirated" games? You can't. You can't really make bootleg UMD games and sell them on a street corner like you can CD's DVD's, Computer Software, etc. etc. Pirates are hijacking the PSP's success.

I guess voltron's got his points that i agree on, but daxziso's not that hard to use it... nither is devhook...

Yes, you are right. The loaders themselves are not difficult to use. What I was referring to is all of the firmware file installation, the constant updates, the custom MODS to allow features such as No Autorun, return to 1.50 xmb, etc. etc. It can be a lot to wrap your head around if you are not familiar with it.

I work for a major game company, let me assure you that piracy prevention is a MAJOR issue. A lot of people say "$ony trying to steal your money" or "Microsoft" just in it for the money. These are the lives of HUMAN BEINGS and their FAMILIES that the company has to support. IT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO MAKE A PROFIT! Every pirate cuts into what may have been a sale.

Excellent post oninotsume, it really sheds light on the business side of things. I agree that is is extremely hard to make a dollar. And companies, just because they are big, are not the beneficiaries of unlimited sums of money. Every day companies face mergers/acquisitions, bankruptcy, etc. etc. You speak first-hand and make a very strong point AGAINST all piracy. I'd feel bad for what I do now but I buy most of my games and dump them myself.

Homebrew is awesome and all, but I also really like playing commercial games.

Yes, I agree. I constantly hear people talking about how all PSP games suck. That is not true. There are now a LOT of really great commercial games. I don't so much use ISO Loaders for the thievery, I do it because I have a 1.50 PSP and a lot of games won't play unless backed up to ISO. I play commercial PSP games more than my XBOX 360/PS2/GameCube games. I love PSP games. I just wish more of them would feature infrastructure WiFi.

[dupp]

ha ha. Funny topic to see after being banned for similar discussion. Its been discussed and debated time and time again with good arguments from both sides of the spectrum.

A lot of you know where I stand but I'll state it again.

In my opinion, especially in "todays" consoles as the title of this thread says, no, piracy is not really a big factor that is threatening to bring down any of the major gaming consoles.

1.) The PS2 is still going strong and Sony execs stated they think the PS2 will see a 10 year lifespan. And the PS2 seems to easily be able to play "back up" PS2 games.

2.) The GameCube & XBOX are not really doing so hot lately but that is because they are dying off being at the end of their lifecycle. Not cause of piracy. you can't even pirate GameCube games can you?

3.) I have to imagine the XBOX 360 is pretty secure, and it will probably be years before the copy protection used for Blu-Ray is decrypted or hacked so the PS3 is not in any danger. Also, who the hell wants to download a 25GB PS3 game? Not me. Its enough of a hassle messing with PSP ISO's and they are almost always less than 1GB.

4.) If you have the right stuff, it is much easier to play NDS & GBA ROMS on a Nintendo DS than it is to play PSP ISO's on a PSP. But yet the Nintendo DS is dominating the PSP in almost every region.

5.) There probably are not as many die-hard PSP homebrew experts to cause a big profit loss for Sony due to ISO Loaders. Give DevHook or DAX Loader or any other loader to any homebrew "n00b" and tell them to use it. Most would probably smash their PSP out of frustration. Also for that reason, a lot of PSP homebrew users are intimidated by comlex nature of some of the ISO Loaders. I was one of those people once.

With all that said, quite simply I love using PSP ISO's. But I do own most games in UMD as well. I just have a 1.50 PSP and can't play the games otherwise. The faster CPU speed, extended battery life, and elimination of painful load times that the PSP is known for among other benefits makes ISO Loading spectacular on the PSP.

I KNOW most PSP homebrew users with a 1.50 PSP feel the same. I'm just not afriad to voice my support of it.

Also, I'm not so naive to not acknowledge the dangers and harm of piracy. But the only areas where I have seen major losses due to piracy is from Computer Software & Music. Video games are not really threatened too much by it. And with the next-gen consoles on their way, I don't think it will be worthwhile to try and play pirated PS3 games. Maybe in 3-4-6 years when Blu-Ray discs are as cheap as blank DVD's now and Blu-Ray Burners come in every PC. But not in the near future.

Now pardon me, I must go back to playing Tekken: Dark Resurrection on my trusty 1.50

to half answer about gamecube piracy... i read onlin that with PSO and the adapter for broadband it is possible to rip the games to your hard drive and play them off of there, although a rental fee to get the disk is far better than the 50 + to get the game... even with blockbusters crazy 7.50 rental fees... to the other post... i think they stopping UMD movies because sony added the movie player, and most likely everyone with a psp hasa computer at the least, and most likely internet and limewire... why pay for what you can download...

[ryan_rocks29]

you can't even pirate GameCube games can you?

Actually, yes, you can, but it is VERY hard to do because the two things you need to rip a game and the modchip you need to get to play the games are VERY hard to find.