Piracy Killing PC Gaming?

1up reports on comments from Kevin Cloud, co-owner of id, saying that piracy is killing the PC games business. He says that, in most markets, it's hard to sell official products because pirates can beat them to market. From the article: "'It's the primary reason retailers are moving to the console,' Cloud said, continuing on to say that ways to reduce piracy are in the forefront of every PC developer's mind, and citing World of Warcraft's subscription-based nature as an example of a possible solution to the problem."

Comments

Top Reason for Cracks?

[Shads]

Copy protection that annoys the consumer. I've cracked 90% of the games I've bought in the last 10 years because having to put the cd in the drive to play the game when all the content is on the hard drive is... STUPID. Many of my friends and family have taken it a step further and don't even bother buying the software anymore the rational being- "If i'm going to crack the game and make it unplayable online, why not just warez it and save 50 dollars?" and I honestly find it pretty hard to disagree at this point.

my guess

[zerocommazero]

I don't think piracy is the main thing killing the gaming industry. Most people who pirate wouldn't buy a copy of the game anyway. It's a multi-faceted problem. First off, what does a PC offer that a console can't anymore?

Graphics - With the adoption of high-res televisions and next-gen console horsepower, this gap is closing fast.

Online play- More and more consoles games are getting ONLINE finally and some even with headsets for communication, Don't forget the handhelds too so this gap is closing.

Mouse precision - With the Wii, we might finally be able to play an RTS or FPS and get the delicate response that makes a console controller unwieldy or undesirable for those certain game genres.

Episodic content or Expansion packs - Now that consoles are online and have drive space, this isn't going to be an exclusive PC advantage anymore.

What's really left? Modding?

PC games are competing against each other too, especially MMOGs. If I'm going to pay for a subscription, I'm gonna spend the time to play a game for all its worth which means I'm not gonna plunk down more cash for other games that I don't have time for.

Don't forget that PC games on average have a much longer amount of game play time. As console games have shortened the individual game experience, PC game developers have continously raised the bar on the sheer amount of extra playability. Downloadable content, mods and expansion packs have greatly extended the playability of an older game. Hell, my buds and I still play Frozen Throne often enough because of the plethora of fan created maps alone!! This gives me even less free time in which to get bored and look for another game. And now adays, there's a huge slew of PC games (and obviously console games) released all the time. There definitely is a saturation effect going on that no one is facing or wants to even think about.