Comments on: Piracy Helps Hardware Sales http://www.gameproducer.net/2008/08/27/piracy-helps-hardware-sales/ I bake games. Indie style. Thu, 16 May 2013 13:23:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Frantic-Sheep http://www.gameproducer.net/2008/08/27/piracy-helps-hardware-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-130574 Frantic-Sheep Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:49:41 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/?p=1232#comment-130574 I read that article as well, something along the lines "hardware companies dirty little secret" ;p. And indeed, its not their problem and I can imagine them benefiting from it. I start to love digital distribution models and things like Steam, XBLA etc. Or Guild Wars for that matter .. those are all kind of 'hack proof' (requires authentication, but I won't say 100% of course) and the pricing seems right as well. I mean, I just payed 15 euro's / 24 dollars for Team Fortress 2. Wow that felt nice. Same goes for the Castle Crashers game that will be purchased soonish :) The other difference with a platform like Steam is that they can support constant updates to the game (keep it fresh) and it has a 24/7 open store and don't have to fight for retail shelf space for example. I read that article as well, something along the lines “hardware companies dirty little secret” ;p. And indeed, its not their problem and I can imagine them benefiting from it.

I start to love digital distribution models and things like Steam, XBLA etc. Or Guild Wars for that matter .. those are all kind of ‘hack proof’ (requires authentication, but I won’t say 100% of course) and the pricing seems right as well. I mean, I just payed 15 euro’s / 24 dollars for Team Fortress 2. Wow that felt nice. Same goes for the Castle Crashers game that will be purchased soonish :)

The other difference with a platform like Steam is that they can support constant updates to the game (keep it fresh) and it has a 24/7 open store and don’t have to fight for retail shelf space for example.

]]> By: Oliver http://www.gameproducer.net/2008/08/27/piracy-helps-hardware-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-130573 Oliver Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:42:34 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/?p=1232#comment-130573 I wonder how it would affect sales and piracy if the companies change the way they interact with their fans/players/community. Remembering back to the launch of Aquaria.. I went right to the order form, placed my order and couldn't wait until the download was finished.. and I've never played the demo. I think it was a very well executed product launch. Also, the developers themselves keep interacting with their fans on the forums. Or the way you are developing the zombie game for a community that can't wait for the next demo. I like to compare it the kind of asian restaurants were you can watch the cooks prepare your meal. Your mouth gets watery as you absorb the smell and you just can't wait to get your damn plate. It also helps bonding with the restaurant, ie. you go back there. I think that other companies can learn something from "the small guys". For example, in my opinion, Blizzard is doing a great job with the launch process of Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2.. slowly introducing more stuff, giving sneak previews and all that kind of stuff. It helps getting people into the mood. At least it does for me. :) I wonder how it would affect sales and piracy if the companies change the way they interact with their fans/players/community. Remembering back to the launch of Aquaria.. I went right to the order form, placed my order and couldn’t wait until the download was finished.. and I’ve never played the demo. I think it was a very well executed product launch. Also, the developers themselves keep interacting with their fans on the forums.

Or the way you are developing the zombie game for a community that can’t wait for the next demo.

I like to compare it the kind of asian restaurants were you can watch the cooks prepare your meal. Your mouth gets watery as you absorb the smell and you just can’t wait to get your damn plate. It also helps bonding with the restaurant, ie. you go back there.

I think that other companies can learn something from “the small guys”. For example, in my opinion, Blizzard is doing a great job with the launch process of Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2.. slowly introducing more stuff, giving sneak previews and all that kind of stuff. It helps getting people into the mood. At least it does for me. :)

]]> By: Juuso Hietalahti http://www.gameproducer.net/2008/08/27/piracy-helps-hardware-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-130571 Juuso Hietalahti Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:05:36 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/?p=1232#comment-130571 Piracy doesn't drive drive hardware prices up for the reason that those who manufacture games (for PC) are not manufacturing PCs. With consoles it's bit different: for example, Xbox is manufactured by Microsoft, so Microsoft can set the rules for "xbox game development". There's no "owner of PC system", so hardware prices are not going up because of piracy. Piracy doesn’t drive drive hardware prices up for the reason that those who manufacture games (for PC) are not manufacturing PCs.

With consoles it’s bit different: for example, Xbox is manufactured by Microsoft, so Microsoft can set the rules for “xbox game development”. There’s no “owner of PC system”, so hardware prices are not going up because of piracy.

]]> By: Clean3d http://www.gameproducer.net/2008/08/27/piracy-helps-hardware-sales/comment-page-1/#comment-130566 Clean3d Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:58:59 +0000 http://www.gameproducer.net/?p=1232#comment-130566 So, some consoles are cheap because they are counting on licensing deals and software sales to make up the price, right? Does this mean that piracy might drive hardware prices up to cover the creation of software now? So, some consoles are cheap because they are counting on licensing deals and software sales to make up the price, right? Does this mean that piracy might drive hardware prices up to cover the creation of software now?

]]>