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Console Players Are Pirates
According to a study by Macrovision one in five console gamers is a pirate, or uses pirated software. Interestingly the study, detailed on GamesIndustry.biz, also found that "three quarters of them would have paid for the games if they hadn't been available for free." Coverage also available on IGN.
I don't believe this for a second. A survey of 6000 people does not represent the millions of gamers in North America. Also... the main bias of this survey is that Macrovision is trying to peddle their copy protection services to MS and Sony.
"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud
I may have missed something, but they go from talking about software to games... software is not the same as a game, and that stat seems wildly out of whack. There are a handful (at least) of hurdles that one has to overcome before being able to priate a game, and it doesn't seem like the average gamer would neccesarily also be tech savvy enough to have, and keep the motivation in order to actually pirate the material.
That people who only have a passing interest or curiosity in a game would pay money for it. (outside of a rental)
Now if they could download and burn the same game they may be more willing to give it a wirl.
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Yup, the BBC says that they're a growing threat.
Oh wait...
May I ask why? You supported them when you purchased the XBox. Why not buy games for it. If a software developer puts out a title that is to your liking and of suitable quality why not pay the company that produced it?
Please elaborate.
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I don't suppose Macrovision would have the slightest bit of bias in this sort of a study? Seeing as they sell copy-protection technology...
I would expect such blatant racism on Fark, but on Slashdot? Mods please ban this asshole.
For a number of reasons, including who conducted it (Macrovision), their sample target (Techno-savvy gamers), and their sample size (6,000). Not to mention that we haven't yet seen the actual survey that they (presumably) e-mailed these people. There's also the issue of multiple responses from the same person. I assume they tried to prevent this with IP logging, but it is certainly still feasible. Also unknown are they type of "gaming" sites. If they attached a survery to GameCopyWorld.com, that just might skew the results a tad bit. I will take this article and with it, a giant-sized cube of salt.
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Doer of bad deeds, screenwriter-wannabe
savagexp
ARRRRR!!!
Modding a PS should not be a suprise as many games from Japan don't work in a US version. They have nobody to blame but themselves.
Sorry about the writing. Robot fingers, you know? Cliff Steele in DOOM PATROL #23
But you are supporting consoles, you bought the unit didn't you? That is all that MS needs to know that they sold X units, which gives them bragging rights, plus it gives them sway with games developers as to what platform games should be ported to first. Remember the good old days when GTA was on the PC only? when Halo was originally developed for the PC?
You are playing the games, albeit they are pirated (so you say). However have you played these games in absolute silence? or did you tell friends about how cool game X is?
So unfortunatly your still supporting them...
E.
Never rub another man's rhubarb - The Joker
There is no way! Even here at work where most people are techy, the bulk of people do NOT pirate console games. I would say more like 1 in 10 (if even). And that ratio would certainly drop in a general population count.
...one in five Xbox and PS2 gamers is using pirated software...
Does this mean they are actually pirating Xbox and PS2 games, or is it also including gamers with pirated software on their computers? This seems kind of vague to me. I am curious what exactly they asked the gamers in the study.
I know far more than 5 console players and not one of us has a pirated console game. Hell, I've never even *seen* a pirated disc or cart for a console and I'm pretty sure most of my friends are in the same boat.
Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
A new study conducted by California-based firm Macrovision
Just stop there, with that source, the rest of the article is worthless.
I would be willing to grant that such piracy probably happens, but this sounds like a scare tactic comming out of Macrovision trying to prop up sales of their anti-copying technologies. I expect a study to follow which claims that games with their newest technology are pirated far less. It will, of course, be the same level of bullshit at this study, but if it drives one or two companies to adopt their technology then it will easily pay for the minimum wage they paid someone for half a day to call random gamers and ask a misleading question.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
In the article here, shareware author Colin Messit discovered that less than 20% of the people using his software would pay for it voluntarily.
He wrote his software in such a way that a user installing it would have a 50/50 chance of getting a crippled version or a non-crippled version at time of installation. When people registered, they sent their serial numbers which encoded whether or not they had the crippled version or the "honor system" version.
He discovered that the crippled version was registered (people sent money) 5 times as often as the "honor system" version.
Conclusion? Most people only pay if they have to.
This is arguably the most pirated game.
So 1/5th of the players (assuming the study is anywhere near accurate, which I doubt) are pirates...that doesn't support the statement "Console Players are Pirates." Yesh.
- AMW
"According to a study by Macrovision one in five console gamers is a pirate, or uses pirated software. Interestingly the study, detailed on GamesIndustry.biz, also found that "three quarters of them would have paid for the games if they hadn't been available for free." "
Funny, the console market is pretty darn strong. You'd think all this piracy would mean that this year would be a real drag for console game publishers.
"Derp de derp."
The US gov says government corruption at an all time low.
Hot dog vendors say now is a good time to buy a hotdog
Could it possibly be that, perhaps, by the definitions used in this study, that one in five PEOPLE are pirates?
www.eFax.com are spammers
I can concieve that people actually doesn't have pirated games, but take this as example:
:P
Here in Argentina, I would say only hi-class people with no knowledge of games get to a game store and buy original games and consoles. Simply becouse they don't care about money. The rest use "pirateable" consoles like PS1/2 and Xbox, just becouse thay sell modchipped aquipment in the stores, and copied games too.
Enclosing things, make that survey here and you will get:
30% Sega Mega
30% PSOne
20% PS2
15% Xbox
5% Other
and a huge 90+% pirated stuff and a 10-% elite buying original games/consoles.
(I get it about actually buying the console and promoting it's games, but the 1 of 5 relation doesn't make sense to me)
Get real, look at the DC/eMuLe/BT networks and tell me you would rather download the game even before it hits the shelves and download it to your IDE 80 HD on your XBox.
P.S.: FBI Agents, I don't own a console so don't poke me
I think merely owning a GameCube indicates that you are a fairly honest person who is just interested in playing some games. The console has yet to be hacked in a way that really allows for widespread piracy. I've played a single downloaded game on my GameCube... and that was the Biohazard 4 DEMO, which wasn't available in my area.
I know that most of the people I know who have an Xbox bought one simply for the ease of piracy on it, and don't touch a GameCube, as they are expected to actually purchase their games.
I have a study to prove it!
--Acme Elephant Insurance Company, Oklahoma City.
My point is that this research only tells us that crippleware worked better in this particular case, a case where I think the registration fee was set way too high. Looking at just the uncrippled registrations, he made $3900 in about a year for his couple of days work. To me that seems pretty fair, and certainly not something I'd complain about. All registrations totaled $34000, and he claims it would have been $50000 if all versions had been crippled. That seems like an awfully good return for a couple of days work. Good on him for making that, but it seems a bit off to be complaining about his users honesty given just how much he made from that software.
Note that Sony has apparently figured this out, because the PSP is not region-coded. We'll find out how well they've figured it out when the PS3 comes out.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Interesting. I don't know if that's an old version or I've been lucky, but I haven't had any problems with crashing. It's been extremely stable even when streaming video (including off of a remote DVD) over the network.
I don't mind using the Xbox controller as the interface is geared towards using it. I also use the Xbox for emulation and gaming, so the controller is my primary interface, although I do have the DVD remote. A wireless controller works well.
Neither can stand up to the Tivo remote which is the best I've ever used. So I don't have the best of both worlds in one unit. The Xbox has tons of flexibility you will never see in a commercial product, but yeah you have to make do with the controls.
I wish I could find a nice appliance that did everything from DIVX and OGG playback to recording and transfer over a network, but in this DRM headed world I find that unlikely in the commercial sector. The only better option is a
custom built media pc but the big difference is cost. A modded Xbox with a decent hard drive will run you only $300 or less.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
Has anyone found the actual study (not another press release), or the citation for it? I did a search at the macrovision homepage, and then through the technology/engineering databases at my university, but I couldn't find this study.
As far as I can see and hear, gamecube games are some of the hardest to pirate because of their backwards spinning mini dvd disc format.
GC discs do not spin backwards. They just don't conform to ISO-9660 standards, which is why ISO-9660 compliant DVD-ROM drives (read: all of them) can't read them.
Mini DVD-R/RWs are also fairly common. You can get a pack of mini DVD-R/RWs at almost any computer store.
The amount of money he made should have little to do with how much work he did. Instead, it should correlate with how much service he did for others.
I think he should be applauded for serving so many with so little of his own effort. There are those that put plenty of effort into pointless tasks and serve no one.
Instead this man was able to, with just a few days work, provide something useful to thousands.
So what did those he served give him in return? Well, those that were honest, gave him money. Those that were dishonest did nothing for him.
Money is a promise to serve. Giving someone your money is a promise that they'll get something something back from you, directly or indirectly. It's a form of reciprocity.
Are you really defending those that would use this man's services and not even give him a "thank you"?
Secondly, my point is that the time he spent on that app is a more accurate estimate of its worth than the entirely arbitrary price he decided to charge for it. I haven't tried the app myself, but from description (it prints out windows helpfiles) and the time he spent on it indicate to my mind that it is overpriced. If people are given the choice between being honest and paying too much or being dishonest and paying nothing it is not a suprise that many of them choose to pay nothing. People are known for dishonesty when they feel they're being ripped off. However, if the choice had been between being honest and paying a fair price and being dishonest and paying nothing the percentage of people who decide to pay will be higher. Without further research at other price points this research is not conclusive.
Not at all. What I'm saying is that I think if his pricing were more reasonable he would have found a smaller gap between the "honest" and "dishonest" users. As I said, people who feel the price is unreasonable are more inclined to be dishonest. Take a look at his "five fundamenetals for sucess": a product users need, quality, advertising, distribution of samples, and a reason to pay. Notice that he's completely forgotten pricing. Yet most business owners will tell you that price is probably the number one thing you have to get right to suceed.This guy does the same amount of work and expects $50000+. Why is the difference so high?
Same amount of work? Really? How long did it take him to become a programmer? What about the time it took him to learn the Win32 API? He didn't get anything for that work until he turned it into software that users could take advantage of.
And the qualitative difference in the type of work is important too. Most people can, in some way, apply brute labor to help build a road. A smaller percentage of people have the skill to write software. This fact seems to suggest that the task of producing software is in general more difficult than the simple application of a person's labor.
You also seem to be suggesting that the value in something comes from the labor put into it. This labor theory of value is a poor performer. One reason is the subjective nature of value. People's degree of desire for a thing has little to do with the labor put into that thing and varies greatly from person to person.
It's because the software vendor has the capability to perfectly replicate his product, and while automatic replication of work is the key to wealth, it's hardly a fair situation.
Why should it matter to the users of the software how much money or wealth the programmer might earn? So what. He asks for money for his services. People can say yes or no. What's the problem besides the envy some might feel?
People are known for dishonesty when they feel they're being ripped off.
This feeling of being "ripped off" is silly and is hardly an excuse for dishonesty.
Look. This guy wrote a cheap program to do a job many people needed done. You might think it was too easy a job to justify his charging $25.
But where were the cheaper alternatives? Surely if it was such an easy task for the typical person, there'd be other options.
"The survey participants were randomly selected from a pool of visitors to various game-related websites."
Any chance of a list of which websites? Any chance to actually see the questionaire? I really really hate it when these pseudo-scientific adverts are presented without providing any backing. I understand most people aren't interested, but there's no reason the down and dirty info can't be linked off the shock and awe press release.
Personally speaking (and I suspect I'm not alone) I have a load of consoles around my house, all chipped, or 'opened' (apart from the PSP and DS).
I've got every console I've owned chipped as soon as I was able to. It's not a matter of wanting 'free' games, it's my urge to make the device as functional as possible. You buy your console and it does X, you chip it and it does X plus a bit more. The world's full of millions of these damn consoles, all uniform in their ability/appearance. You just have the urge to get a little bit more than the next guy - the commoner you can look down upon.
My PS2 was nice, but I bought into DVD when it started off and US imports had the latest films, different cuts and lower prices. How f'in annoying was it to be only able to play back 2/3rds of your film collection? When MGS came out in the US months and months before the UK, why on earth should I sit twiddling my thumbs before I can play it?
For the Xbox it's the wonders of Media Centre - Now there's no reason MS couldn't have released something similar, but they didn't. It's out there, I want it and I need a mod chip to make it happen.
To sum up my ramblings, a large number of people don't mod purely to pirate. They mod to 'free' their console of all the artificial restrictions that've been forced upon it.
Somebody pushes you, your first instinct is to push back.
This is what Macrovision is fighting. The consoles have copy protection and most people happily live their lives with it. A minority are opposed to it, you know they are, they've spent an evening swearing at it whilst clutching a soldering iron. You're not going to make them stop, you just enter an escalating race against them. New protection followed by new patch/chip/technique. It's got personal and I'm not going to let Macrovision stop me.
PSP seems to be a bit of an advance, you need to buy games for it, but it plays movies, I can just stick the card from my camera into it, it's region free for games, seemingly it'll synch with the new PSX. I'm just curious to see if my theory holds out, will it be less of a target for hackers due to it's higher original functionality.
The survey actually is of console gamers, but does not ask if they pirate console games. It asks if they pirate any kind of software.
As much as I'm a generally honest guy, and I've never modded a system of mine (and probably never will), but I have pirate software on my computer. PC software is ridiculously expensive, especially when you're staring at Adobe's web suite and saying "Two month's rent, or the sense of honesty in knowing I didn't pirate something?" 99.95% of the time, I bet paying the god damned rent wins out.
I bet if the survey was done again, and the kids were asked if they had ever pirated any games for a console, there would be a far lower affirmative response (since I'm sure most of those kids don't have mod chips).
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I'd rather be flamed than ignored.