sgGamers

Why, hello there, dear blog readers! If you’ve just came in with coffee in hand, I suggest taking some time to scroll a little bit downwards to the next latest entry, by CrashWire. You know what they say: ‘coffee is a drink best served with words.’ Or something like that.

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Hey! Welcome back! So, did you have fun responding to CrashWire’s entry? Good. Now let’s get this show started. I’m just waiting to bombard you with words.

Let’s recap: CrashWire noted that game publishers should include some extra junk in order to sway a consumer’s decision between piracy or justice. However, I think he failed to see that if they put in a cloth or a figurine, then the original cost of the game would be higher. Most people, particularly the ones who have no idea what they’re getting themselves into with that 50USD purchase, do not want those nifty pack-ins. What they’re more interested in is a lower price to get their gaming on. And you have to realise that piracy is rampant, but not everywhere. $50 isn’t too far off from the 30 or 40 an average American might spend to look for a pirated games business, drive to it, and purchase the loot.

And for those who actually care about the piece of cloth, which really is just a piece of cloth.. well.. that’s where limited editions come in. And if you want that piece of cloth, you jolly well have the spending ability to get it.

Back to my point: imagine, if a game does not have a standard version, and only comes in the limited edition sort whereby all the extra goodies are packed. And everyone has to pay a heftier price for that only package. You think consumers won’t resort to piracy that way?

People just want more value for their money. More bang for their buck. More juice in that lemon. Whichever product gives them more value, wins. No doubt including some sort of memorabilia, yet retaining the same price-point as their competitors, is going to help developers get that roast chicken. But no matter how you see it, a pirated game is, technically, still a better package.

CrashWire mentioned that an original copy of a game may cost $50, while its pirated step-sibling a measly three. So what do you get for that extra $47? Quality casing, disc, and some black-and-white instruction manual. Like CrashWire said again, it’s not even worth collecting.

However, back when I bought NeverWinter Nights (PC) for $50 or $60, there was this pirate nearby hawking his copies for 10 dollars a disc. That’s $40 (3 installation discs and a play disc… I can’t remember). With just an additional 10 or 20 dollars, it occured to me that the original was a better product. And there’s also the resale value - an original product is certainly easier to resell than a hacked-in-China one.

But the game publishers can’t possibly make/price their games such that pirates won’t be able to make a better product out of their licensed work.

So what’s the best way to get more revenue? Fight piracy, of course. Raids and copyright protection technologies will definitely not root piracy. But it’s the best solution thus far.

But if you want to fight piracy, you better do it right. It’s a jungle out there, and without the proper war tactics, you’re going to be gunned down by the guerrillas, sucking away your resources.

I must really applaud Microsoft and their Xbox Live service. It has deterred a great many from purchasing pirated Xbox software, or even modding their Xbox consoles. Yes, if you are careful, modding your Xbox will not prevent it from going on Xbox Live - most modchips these days allow you to turn it off. However, once you turn off the mod, you can’t run your pirated software on it. Essentially, this means that anyone who’s interested to play Xbox games online, or even download additional content, will have to dish out the cash for the real deal. And guess what? Most of the greatest games on Xbox are critically raved because of their Xbox Live components.

PC games have a similar ‘CD key’ feature. Sometimes they may be cracked, or there may be a private online service for the game. But usually these cracks and private services take so much time and effort to find that an average salaryman would prefer sticking with the authentic experience.

Now THAT’S copyright protection.

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Didja know.. THAT I AM BUSY? Well, now you do.

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