Topic: Well, here's another take on why hardcore games are bad business

[DAaaMan64]

LOL I like Halo 3 as well.

[Ymeegod]

Depends on what you're looking for.  I like strategy, platformers, and RPGs and there's more than enough on the DS if you want to shop online.  Finding some of these games is the real challenge since they have limited builds.  Mario&Luigi Partners in Time for example is very hard to find new.  But it sounds like you're looking for budget games and for some reason Nintendo hasn't released player choice titles.  Mario Kart DS is still marked at $35 even after all these years.

What I loved about the DS was the non-games.  Personal Training Cooking and Brain Age were great.

As for Halo 3, I enjoyed it but the story was down right dumb and loved the hell out of Bioshock.  Doesn't sound like you gave BS enough time to enjoy--how long did you try it?

[Deguello]

Mario Kart DS is still marked at $35 even after all these years.

Maybe if the sales would die down they would.  Why would they want to reduce the price on a 4 year old game that still seems to top the charts?

[ReverendNoahWhateley]

The one factor that kept me from finishing the original Halo is how generic the enemies are.  There are big lizardmen that walk sideways to avoid being shot, and there are cute little comedy relief lizardmen that pull a Shemp Howard and run away when you shoot at them.  There might have been medium-sized lizardmen later in the game, but I didn't make it that far. 

I suspect the later Halo games are more diverse.

About the DS: there are actually a lot of DS games I need to pick up.  Fire Emblem, The Dark Spire, Civilization Revolution, Ninjatown...my selfish lust for DS games is pulling me in so many directions at once, I don't know where to start.

[oohhboy]

They were Lizards? I thought the small ones were Ewoks. They sure die like them. The biggest thing for me was how unsatisfying  the weapons were. No character, no bang, mostly a spamfess.

The article was pretty meh and took forever to get the point, a weak one at that. I know how to pirate, I could pirate, but a choose not to pirate the majority of the stuff I got. I haven't pirated anything Nintendo since the end of the SNES. I have had to pirate Mac games since, well you can't find them, besides I got plenty of open source games to mess with. I have a pretty decent anime collection which I started after watching a pirate version.

At the end it came down to economics. I felt that all that I have brought was worth was I paid for. I have plenty of games to play and feel no need to acquire everything. Entertainment wise, I am maxed out.

DRM and firmwares are not going to change any of the ongoing piracy. I am in the progress of constructing a Hackintosh. I am willing to go pretty far to continue using an Apple, however I can't afford to. The protection measures in place isn't going to change whether I buy a Mac or not since I can't buy one in the first place.

In a lot of ways, that is what piracy is about. Getting something you can't afford or unwilling to afford. Whether it hurts the company or it's legality isn't a factor, it never comes to mind. Sometimes it is a lost sale since the person could afford it and was too cheap to buy it. However a majority of the time I believe they wouldn't have brought it in the first place or couldn't afford to do so.

You could pirate 3000 games, but seriously, how much enjoyment could one possibly derive from that? Could you play each one to satisfaction let alone completion? How much of life are you willing to give up to play your collection? The resulting problems you would face playing such a collection would be punishment in itself.

While it's true pirates aren't customers, they aren't stealing from you either. They are more potential future customers. For some, they may start buying games if they play less since they will have time to find better jobs or do more hours. Others are lost causes and quite frankly, trying to turn them would be a waste of time.

[Ymeegod]

What are you talking about?  Pirating hurts the industry because namely these guys are reselling games and taking all the profits for themselves.  You don't have to download games yourself to get illegal versions--just look at lovable Ebay for example.  Ebay really doesn't give two-sh!ts about the illegal actions of it's users and they sell 1000's of copies of games to users who are unaware of what they're buying.  Hell I got stung three times myself (i used to buy alot of used games from them) and no I didn't deal with anyone with a China account) and Ebay didn't even ban the other user's account.  I had to go to Local Police and that took months of my time (one idiot got fined 25K and other 75k--the last guy got away).

So you can't say they aren't hurting the industry.

[oohhboy]

I am sorry. I was speaking as an individual. In no way would I condone selling of such "Product" and you clearly hate buying such "Product". No doubt such practice does directly hurt the industry, however such industrial piracy was outside of the scoop of the openning article and this thread.

Of course if you wish to extend this issue you might like to look into generic drug manufacturing. It's the same thing with a twist and on a whole different level of complexity.

[Mikintosh]

What are you talking about?  Pirating hurts the industry because namely these guys are reselling games and taking all the profits for themselves.  You don't have to download games yourself to get illegal versions--just look at lovable Ebay for example.  Ebay really doesn't give two-sh!ts about the illegal actions of it's users and they sell 1000's of copies of games to users who are unaware of what they're buying.  Hell I got stung three times myself (i used to buy alot of used games from them) and no I didn't deal with anyone with a China account) and Ebay didn't even ban the other user's account.  I had to go to Local Police and that took months of my time (one idiot got fined 25K and other 75k--the last guy got away).

So you can't say they aren't hurting the industry.

I don't understand...what do you get from these eBay sellers? I don't know what you mean by "illegal versions" of games.

[Mop it up]

I don't understand...what do you get from these eBay sellers? I don't know what you mean by "illegal versions" of games.

Illegal copies. Bootlegs. Unauthorized production of the games. They are made from cheap material too and will often times freeze up or just plain not work.

[KDR_11k]

"Nintondo" GBA carts, for example.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

wtf ahahahahhahahaha

[Mikintosh]

I don't understand...what do you get from these eBay sellers? I don't know what you mean by "illegal versions" of games.

Illegal copies. Bootlegs. Unauthorized production of the games. They are made from cheap material too and will often times freeze up or just plain not work.

That's why you never buy from someone with lower than a 98% rating unless you're willing to lose your shirt in a worst-case scenario.