Piracy and a PS3
Jan. 4th, 2012 05:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trinityvixenI've seen many arguments for and against prosecution of digital content pirates. This is the best argument I've yet read as to why prosecution is the losing strategy if your battle is really about sales and not, say, some sort of ego trip about controlling content.
The issue never has been the pirates, except, perhaps, in the early days of Napster before iTunes came along. The pirates are always going to be there. The question is not how you deal with them, it's how you deal with your all-too-willing-to-pay customers. Solve that problem and piracy won't be your problem, even if it continues to exist.
This is so simple, and it's been borne out by several recent enterprises, like Rifftrax and Louis C.K.'s cheap video download of his stand-up routine. The central point of that post, about building the brand/franchise loyalty is so key, though. I cannot tell you how many games I've picked up new--and not necessarily cheaply new, several years after their release--because I got to borrow or buy used a previous installment of a game and got hooked. Mass Effect, Dead Rising, the various and sundry Lego [Fill in the Blank Film Franchise] games were all introduced to me for free from borrowing from friends, something that major games studios, with their DRMs and restriction of content to specific devices/gamer tags, would consider if not illegal than at least indicative that I'm a pirate-in-waiting. (Man, I wish! Pirates get the best hats!) Since then, I've shelled out good money (or have had it shelled out on my behalf as presents) to continue those stories. Because they've got me. They made something I liked and mostly didn't dick me around on playing them, and so I stayed. And I will continue to stay. I'm ready to shell out the $80 for the collector's edition of Mass Effect 3 as soon as I can figure out which pre-order bonus I want!
Speaking of Legos and pirates, though, I bought the latest game, Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean, and it's delightful, if a little bizarre. Like, I can hardly tell where the cut scenes are going to end and going to drop me in to play the story. Also, a lot of the story play seems to take place in scenes that aren't, strictly speaking, movie-based. For instance, recruiting Jack Sparrow's crew to go chase after Barbosa in The Curse of the Black Pearl. In the movie, Jack goes as far as to find Mr. Gibbs himself, but the rest of the crew shows up at the dock later, and that's the end of it. In the game, I run around finding each person and securing them for my ship. It's a little backwards, but in a movie where there are a) invincible zombie enemies and b) not infinite amounts of droids to destroy, it's passable. It's a Lego [Fill in the Blank Film Franchise] game; it could be Lego: Twilight and I would still play it. (Especially if I got to bash little Edward into a million studs on occasion.) Hopefully, too, it will tide me over until Lego makes my dreams come true and exploits its possession of the rights to The Lord of the Rings to make a game in addition to the physical sets.
And did I mention that I'm playing all these games on my brand new PS3?
In 2010, when I started biking to work, I promised myself that if I hit 100 trips on my bicycle--trips that would otherwise cost me a ride on the subway, not bike rides taken just for the fun of riding--I would buy myself a present with the money I'd saved commuting. I didn't make it in 2010. In 2011, however, thanks in part to the unseasonably warm weather and my increased endurance, I rode my bike on over 250 rides over the course of about 6-7 months. Counting strictly by $2.25 rides on a pay-as-you-go accounting (or $2.10 or so, with the MTA's bonus thrown in), that's more that $500 saved by not taking mass transit. If you count instead the cost of unlimited 30-day Metrocards for those months, I saved hundreds of dollars more. You could even subtract the money that I did set aside for the infrequent ride on the subway and/or bus (about $60 pre-tax from my paycheck), and I was still ahead by more than the cost of the system. And I was staying in shape. Win-win-win all around.
Why a PS3? For starters, it does have some games you can't get on the XBOX that I've been interested in playing, and I enjoyed some of them at PAXEast enough for it to stick in my mind this long. (Looking forward to the Uncharted series a lot!) I also know quite a few people who have them now from whom I can borrow games, which makes me less nervous about the investment. Ther's also the Blu-Ray player, which, as I build up my library, will come in handy. Plus our apartment already has an XBOX 360, which my roommates have rounded out with a Kinect now. I even got a $75 gift certificate at Target for buying the bundle I wanted anyway (it came with a Move controller and a game as well) after Christmas. I made out with a bandit. I feel a little ashamed spending so much on myself at the holidays, but it was something I earned. Next year, I'll try to save up for a TV :)
I have no idea how to friend people on it, but I'm TrinityVixen (shocker, I know). Say hi to me some time? Please do not laugh at my laughably paltry amount of trophies. I'm working on it!
The issue never has been the pirates, except, perhaps, in the early days of Napster before iTunes came along. The pirates are always going to be there. The question is not how you deal with them, it's how you deal with your all-too-willing-to-pay customers. Solve that problem and piracy won't be your problem, even if it continues to exist.
This is so simple, and it's been borne out by several recent enterprises, like Rifftrax and Louis C.K.'s cheap video download of his stand-up routine. The central point of that post, about building the brand/franchise loyalty is so key, though. I cannot tell you how many games I've picked up new--and not necessarily cheaply new, several years after their release--because I got to borrow or buy used a previous installment of a game and got hooked. Mass Effect, Dead Rising, the various and sundry Lego [Fill in the Blank Film Franchise] games were all introduced to me for free from borrowing from friends, something that major games studios, with their DRMs and restriction of content to specific devices/gamer tags, would consider if not illegal than at least indicative that I'm a pirate-in-waiting. (Man, I wish! Pirates get the best hats!) Since then, I've shelled out good money (or have had it shelled out on my behalf as presents) to continue those stories. Because they've got me. They made something I liked and mostly didn't dick me around on playing them, and so I stayed. And I will continue to stay. I'm ready to shell out the $80 for the collector's edition of Mass Effect 3 as soon as I can figure out which pre-order bonus I want!
Speaking of Legos and pirates, though, I bought the latest game, Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean, and it's delightful, if a little bizarre. Like, I can hardly tell where the cut scenes are going to end and going to drop me in to play the story. Also, a lot of the story play seems to take place in scenes that aren't, strictly speaking, movie-based. For instance, recruiting Jack Sparrow's crew to go chase after Barbosa in The Curse of the Black Pearl. In the movie, Jack goes as far as to find Mr. Gibbs himself, but the rest of the crew shows up at the dock later, and that's the end of it. In the game, I run around finding each person and securing them for my ship. It's a little backwards, but in a movie where there are a) invincible zombie enemies and b) not infinite amounts of droids to destroy, it's passable. It's a Lego [Fill in the Blank Film Franchise] game; it could be Lego: Twilight and I would still play it. (Especially if I got to bash little Edward into a million studs on occasion.) Hopefully, too, it will tide me over until Lego makes my dreams come true and exploits its possession of the rights to The Lord of the Rings to make a game in addition to the physical sets.
And did I mention that I'm playing all these games on my brand new PS3?
In 2010, when I started biking to work, I promised myself that if I hit 100 trips on my bicycle--trips that would otherwise cost me a ride on the subway, not bike rides taken just for the fun of riding--I would buy myself a present with the money I'd saved commuting. I didn't make it in 2010. In 2011, however, thanks in part to the unseasonably warm weather and my increased endurance, I rode my bike on over 250 rides over the course of about 6-7 months. Counting strictly by $2.25 rides on a pay-as-you-go accounting (or $2.10 or so, with the MTA's bonus thrown in), that's more that $500 saved by not taking mass transit. If you count instead the cost of unlimited 30-day Metrocards for those months, I saved hundreds of dollars more. You could even subtract the money that I did set aside for the infrequent ride on the subway and/or bus (about $60 pre-tax from my paycheck), and I was still ahead by more than the cost of the system. And I was staying in shape. Win-win-win all around.
Why a PS3? For starters, it does have some games you can't get on the XBOX that I've been interested in playing, and I enjoyed some of them at PAXEast enough for it to stick in my mind this long. (Looking forward to the Uncharted series a lot!) I also know quite a few people who have them now from whom I can borrow games, which makes me less nervous about the investment. Ther's also the Blu-Ray player, which, as I build up my library, will come in handy. Plus our apartment already has an XBOX 360, which my roommates have rounded out with a Kinect now. I even got a $75 gift certificate at Target for buying the bundle I wanted anyway (it came with a Move controller and a game as well) after Christmas. I made out with a bandit. I feel a little ashamed spending so much on myself at the holidays, but it was something I earned. Next year, I'll try to save up for a TV :)
I have no idea how to friend people on it, but I'm TrinityVixen (shocker, I know). Say hi to me some time? Please do not laugh at my laughably paltry amount of trophies. I'm working on it!
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-04 11:24 pm (UTC)Yes, the fact that's a Blu-ray player – and a constantly-updating one, thanks to the network – is a big bonus. We have a 360/Kinect too, which we're always embarrassed to admit because it's SO EXCESSIVE, but hey! Then we don't have to face the sorrow of console wars and exclusive titles out of our reach.
And our friends love us. Heh.
Definitely have fun with Uncharted! I'm so glad you finally have access to those.
...lastly, go you, rewarding yourself for biking badassery. That's on my list of resolutions this year.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 03:36 pm (UTC)Your resolution is to bike more? Rock on!
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 01:28 am (UTC)I'm surprised you've given up on Xbox Achievements, though. :P
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 03:36 pm (UTC)I'm not giving up on achievements! I just get trophies now, too!
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 02:23 am (UTC)There are others, but I suspect those will be fun for you!
While the article is pretty good, and prosecuting pirates will never solve piracy, it's very much a "I have all the solutions" type piece from someone who has already been successful in the game industry, and as a result, he paints a much more optimistic picture than is really warranted.
Seeding intentionally takes a lot of work. It may be "near zero" compared to the millions big publishers spend, but it's definitely not zero, especially for indie publishers. And most of the time, it still fails. It just doesn't fail to the tune of 10 million dollars spent on advertising.
I love his Gamasutra stuff on general game design, though.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 03:38 pm (UTC)Interesting to get your opinion on this article. I recognize the "for me and thee" aspect of it. It reminds me of an article Trent Reznor did about file sharing a while ago, where he admits that the only reason that some bands could afford to make their music free or cheap is that they were already established. It's a privilege not many artists have.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 04:28 pm (UTC)You don't have to convince publishers on the importance of seeding. That's why they release demos and put announcements and art on Facebook and all that stuff.
The biggest thing you need to convince publishers of is the need to stop automatically charging $60 for every single game while charging for DLC on the first day, and to stop putting in DRM that makes things actually painful<.i> for the consumer.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 10:09 pm (UTC)Regarding PS3 games, though I haven't played many thus far, Katamari Forever is a ton of fun, and 3D Dot Game Heroes is a giant pile of retro-rpg references that plays like the original Zelda. You're welcome to borrow them at some point, if you'd like.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 02:49 am (UTC)I've had my PS3 for years and don't have a whole lot of trophies, probably because I'm spending more time playing my old PS & PS2 games than the new ones I've picked up for the PS3 ^^;;
no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 03:39 pm (UTC)