The more they will be pirated.
When games were 29.99 and there was no need for authentication and people with relatively low tech-skills could make their own no-CD workarounds, piracy and lost revenues were a lot less.
Now, they raise the price of games to 59.99 because of piracy, which of course leads to more... you guessed it... piracy. Plus, on top of that mess, they add these ridiculous restrictions like needing to have an internet connection to activate it before playing (even for single player). The incentives to pirate have never been higher... and as a famous economist once said - "incentives matter"
When games were 29.99 and there was no need for authentication and people with relatively low tech-skills could make their own no-CD workarounds, piracy and lost revenues were a lot less.
Now, they raise the price of games to 59.99 because of piracy, which of course leads to more... you guessed it... piracy. Plus, on top of that mess, they add these ridiculous restrictions like needing to have an internet connection to activate it before playing (even for single player). The incentives to pirate have never been higher... and as a famous economist once said - "incentives matter"
When games were $29.99, they also cost a lot less to make because they were a lot less graphically intense, I'd assume. No doubt there's been price inflation on some level though. Also, when games were $29.99, not as many people had the internet, nor did they have access to unlimited bandwidth, high density storage, nor the growing technological knowledge available today. Offline authentication made a lot more sense then.
I don't buy the argument that people pirate games because they're too expensive (see above about people even pirating a $1 game that has no DRM). People do it because it's convenient, and because they have no qualms about taking something for nothing if it's readily available and (relatively) socially acceptable.
I mean, sure, I feel sorry for the rare person who owns a computer good enough to play modern games but doesn't have any access to an internet connection. But I can't get too worked up about it. It's not really a "ridiculous restriction" ...
Warder to starry_nite
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Chapterfish — Nate's Writing Blog
http://chapterfish.wordpress.com
Starcraft II won't have crazy DRM.
- 28/05/2010 01:59:14 PM
944 Views
Could be worse. I'm still miffed about its release structure, though. I feel milked.
- 28/05/2010 03:01:54 PM
601 Views
Still a load of shit.
- 28/05/2010 06:39:46 PM
606 Views
I'm pretty anti-DRM, but one-time connection seems reasonable enough.
- 28/05/2010 07:03:24 PM
545 Views
Don't get so excited, sheesh.
- 28/05/2010 11:04:47 PM
602 Views
Go start your own game company? Really? That's the only response?
- 08/06/2010 03:49:33 AM
567 Views
Even just a single authentication?
- 08/06/2010 05:00:38 AM
539 Views
Will they?
- 08/06/2010 06:50:01 PM
558 Views
Re: Will they?
- 09/06/2010 12:06:38 AM
505 Views
If you think DRM will stop pirating...it wont
- 09/06/2010 12:21:03 AM
532 Views
Your posts are like the lovechild of a video game fanboy and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.
- 09/06/2010 03:05:34 AM
599 Views
Re: Your posts are like the lovechild of a video game fanboy and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.
- 09/06/2010 02:18:17 PM
530 Views
I have to agree... the more restrictions and hassles they put on playing purchased games
- 09/06/2010 05:37:40 AM
507 Views
Who doesn't have the internet these days?
- 09/06/2010 06:08:19 AM
546 Views
The majority of people, actually.
- 09/06/2010 06:27:30 AM
546 Views
That's just a terrible argument. If they have no Internet, they can't illegally download games.
- 10/06/2010 02:18:34 AM
561 Views
I think he was saying ...
- 10/06/2010 03:10:08 AM
517 Views
