Messages

1851

TalkBack / Re: Mario Pirate Settles For 1.5 Million

« on: February 10, 2010, 05:44:43 PM »

This isn't going to get us anywhere. When people are unable to even see the different between theft and copyright infringement, you know you're not dealing with the sane. You need serious mental help and a lesson in law if you truly believe that it should be common place for someone to be fined $1.5 million for downloading a game, a movie, or a song.

I have not condoned piracy. I have not berated it. I have merely mentioned that the commonly witnessed punishment for copyright infringement (not theft!) is unjust and unfairly in favor of the media cartels. There are numerous things that could be done to truly curb piracy, but these companies opt instead to distort the law, waste tons of development money on copyright protection schemes, and generally annoying their real customer base by charging high prices and treating them just the same as they treat the pirates.

If such copyright infringement equated to lost sales, the entire industry would have tanked a decade ago. The same is true for the movie and music industry as well. Circus courts like this are merely spectacles of old corporations that can't keep up with the times. Instead of giving their customers what they want, they're going to go after non-customer in an attempt to halt their own stagnation. Not only is this unfair to the real customer (who has to put up with unjustified prices and intrusive DRM) but it also sets a dangerous precedent in a variety of law cases.

1852

TalkBack / Re: Mario Pirate Settles For 1.5 Million

« on: February 10, 2010, 01:42:28 PM »

And furthermore, it is Nintendo's property so whether they charge $50, $5, or even $500 for it that's their right because they own it. People don't have to buy it, but no matter what they do not have a right to pirate it. Piracy is theft and it goes against pretty much any religious and moral code there is.

It most certainly is Nintendo's decision. However, that doesn't mean that it is a justified price. Simply having the power to do something does not make you right in actually doing it. Furthermore, software piracy is not theft. Don't let the media conglomerates brainwash you into thinking that downloading a copy of a game is on the same level as swiping a physical product from the store, because it's not. Sadly, the courts tend to cave into the media companies and actually punish people in excess of what they would had they merely stolen a copy from the store. It sounds to me that you're just a jealous little kid that doesn't like seeing other people having the things you can't afford.

Oh, and piracy goes against religious teachings? Are you serious?! What a pitiful fallback. I'd be careful saying stuff like that, as it may just be against the coveted forum rules.

1853

TalkBack / Re: Mario Pirate Settles For 1.5 Million

« on: February 10, 2010, 12:43:05 AM »

Nintendo, and other entertainment creators, should be more proactive in their anti-piracy practices. Make good games (with no DRM!) and charge a fair price for them. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a great game, but it's not worth $50.

10 million people disagree with you.

Just because something is popular does not make it right. Most people (10 million being a drop in the bucket, after all) are completely uninformed, unthinking, consumer drones. One needs to only look at some of the comments throughout this thread to see that.

Most games aren't worth $50 and that's why piracy is so high.

Piracy is so high because it's so easy. 

That's entirely subjective. The common gamers (common Wii owner especially) has no idea that such piracy even exists, let alone how to do it. Besides, there's a huge element of "time vs. cost" to take into account when copying games. A lot of people would be willing to simply pay for the product simply to make sure it "just works".

These games are marketed towards age groups that do not have jobs and do not have money.

If we're talking about young adult males, they have more disposable income than other demographics as they don't have to support dependents or pay mortgages or save for retirement.  They're also more likely to know how to pirate.

No, we're talking about Nintendo's target audiences; children. Most twelve to fifteen year olds do not have jobs and cannot purchase videogames themselves. Mommy and daddy are only going to purchase so many games for them. Looking back at my previous point, what these kids do have an abundance of is time. The time it takes to download and implement a games is worth it to them, because they cannot meet the $50 toll.

They're people that usually can't purchase the game anyway. If developers began charging $20 for games, I guarantee that they'd see a huge boost in sales, and probably even make more of a profit than by selling fewer units for more money like they do now.

If that was the case, then they'd already be doing that.  They do have financial analysts, you know.  Otherwise they wouldn't have any shareholders.

EDIT: Let's try your $20 idea.

At $50 NSMBWii has generated $500 million in revenue (10 million copies sold, assuming $50 US is the average earned per copy sold).  At $20 the game would have to sell 25 million copies to just match overall revenue.  It would have to sell even more to match marginal profit if we consider the cost of producing an extra 15 million copies.  I don't think this is very probable...

Perhaps we should rethink what a marginal profit would be. NSMBW didn't take very much at all to produce. It's ridiculously simple and has very little in the way of visual assets. If developers can't make a profit off of a $20 game then they're doing something wrong. Hollywood spends a ton more making lame blockbuster movies, yet the theater tickets only cost $5 and the DVD release sits around $20. Or how about a new novel? You can go purchase a brand new hardcover novel for $35. It's going to give you a longer-lasting amount of entertainment, and has actual, material costs involved in its manufacturing.

Regardless, even at a more affordable price, the majority of people who pirate games are still going to choose the free option.  If one has no issue with pirating (ethically), there's still no incentive to pay (other than tangible benefits like artwork or a manual).

Those people will pirate the game regardless. The game could be $1 and they would still take it for free. Those people are not lost sales, and should not be treated as such. Developers should stop wasting time and money on developing DRM schemes to hinder non-customers. They should instead be focused on making the experience as fun as possible for their actual customers. It's a greedy, ass-backwards way of looking one's install base. How much more profitable do you think NSMBW could have been had Nintendo not created and implemented new copyright protection for it? How much money and time do you think they could have saved had they not been hunting down and ruining the lives of people that were not doing anything at all to harm their product? This is copyright infringement we're talking about, not theft. No product was stolen and no units were lost. Potential loss does not equate to $1.5 million. Of course, you probably feel vindicated every time the RIAA sues the life savings out of someone's grandmother for downloading a single MP3.

1854

TalkBack / Re: Mario Pirate Settles For 1.5 Million

« on: February 09, 2010, 08:51:14 PM »

$1.5 million is getting off light.  Just 30,000~ stolen copies.  Nintendo could have had his ass in hock for $50 X times downloaded.

No, they couldn't have. That's why they settled out of court. That's why all copyright infringement cases settle our of court. To say that this guy caused $1.5 million in damages is asinine. He could have stolen an entire shipment of the game from Wal-Mart and got off easier. Copyright infringement cases are ridiculous.

Nintendo, and other entertainment creators, should be more proactive in their anti-piracy practices. Make good games (with no DRM!) and charge a fair price for them. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a great game, but it's not worth $50. Most games aren't worth $50 and that's why piracy is so high. These games are marketed towards age groups that do not have jobs and do not have money. They're people that usually can't purchase the game anyway. If developers began charging $20 for games, I guarantee that they'd see a huge boost in sales, and probably even make more of a profit than by selling fewer units for more money like they do now.

1855

TalkBack / Re: Mario Pirate Settles For 1.5 Million

« on: February 09, 2010, 10:19:21 AM »

That's an utterly ridiculous fine. Of course, all of these media cartels think that their **** is worth more than it really is. It must be nice to have the world governments believe in your imaginary damages.

1856

General Gaming / Re: Torchlight

« on: February 08, 2010, 11:37:16 AM »

The latest Diablo II patch even removes the CD check! There's really no reason not to be playing Diablo 2.

Torchlight has absolutely no plot, which seems to be the main factor in keeping me interesting. Action RPGs have fairly shallow gameplay by definition, so the story and quests need to make up for tha tin some way. Torchlight does not, unfortunately. If it had multiplayer I could manage without the story, as a nice LAN game with one or two friends would be even more fun. That is also not the case however. I'm glad I didn't pay the full price for Torchlight, because I'd feel ripped off.

1857

TalkBack / Re: The Grinder No Longer Wii Exclusive, Scheduled for 2011

« on: February 06, 2010, 09:53:09 PM »

Nosferatu's influence only comes through visually, and even then it's pretty vague. Count Orlok was not simply a construct of animal instincts. These vampire seem much more akin to those found in "From Dusk Till Dawn".

1858

TalkBack / Re: INTERVIEWS: Riivolution and Fatal Frame Translation

« on: February 06, 2010, 09:48:50 PM »

I had downloaded the patch not too long ago. Sadly, I've not yet had time to load the game up and try it.

1859

TalkBack / Re: Blaster Master Sequel Headed to WiiWare

« on: February 06, 2010, 07:04:09 PM »

This has got to be one of the most exciting things to come out of WiiWare in a long time!

1860

General Gaming / Re: Team Fortress 2 360

« on: February 05, 2010, 09:36:52 PM »

I play all of the time. It's one of the few reasons that I actually put up with Steam. Of course, I really, really can't fathom playing it on another platform... I like receiving loads of free updates though.

I still smirk when I think about some of the dialogue from Portal.

1861

Nintendo Gaming / Re: GameCube Score/Brag Thread

« on: February 05, 2010, 09:13:22 PM »

Now that the GameCube has been dead and gone for awhile, I'm finding some great deals on stuff.  I scored a copy of Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes for about $20.

I recall picking Twin Snakes up for about $20 at Wal-Mart years ago. I don't think it was part of the Player's Choice lineup, but it dropped pretty heavily there in that last year or two of the GameCube's life. I think you overpaid for it, considering.

1862

TalkBack / Re: The Grinder No Longer Wii Exclusive, Scheduled for 2011

« on: February 05, 2010, 04:38:33 PM »

No great loss here. The Conduit was mediocre at best. The only thing it truly did right was to allow for full customization of the controls.

1863

General Gaming / Re: XBLA recommendations

« on: February 02, 2010, 10:25:56 PM »

It probably has something to do with achievements being a throw-away feature in games that no one really cares about.

1864

General Gaming / Re: Why do you still play games?

« on: February 01, 2010, 12:20:45 AM »

I play them because it makes me look cool and allows me plenty of opportunity to converse and impress other like-minded professionals. Besides, women really dig a man who plays video games.

1865

TalkBack / Re: Rondo of Blood Coming to VC as Import Title

« on: January 31, 2010, 03:07:22 PM »

If an official English translation already exists, then why are they only releasing this as an import?

1866

TalkBack / Re: Xbox Popped My Stressball.

« on: January 26, 2010, 08:49:17 PM »

All this money people spend on Xbox 360s could buy you a killer gaming PC.

And then after a quick install of a few emulators you're playing every game for every system!

User was warned for this post.

1867

Nintendo Gaming / Re: Journalist Returns Wii Due to "Hidden Costs"

« on: January 24, 2010, 03:35:56 PM »

The reason I want civil, and friendly, dialogue on this issue is because I want videogames to show the world, one consumer at a time, that everyone and anyone can be a gamer, no matter what their thoughts on the "Gaming Ghetto" was before.

Isn't that what ruined gaming though? It was just fine until it became popular!

1868

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Starts Wii Greatest Hits Line in Japan

« on: January 23, 2010, 05:45:30 PM »

Why is everyone getting squared now?

It's hip to be square.

1869

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Officially Announces First Quarter Releases for Europe

« on: January 22, 2010, 10:51:03 AM »

Oh, cool! a Worms game coming to WiiWare!

A 2D Worms game!!! Maybe I can finally put away Worms Armageddon?

1870

TalkBack / Re: Nintendo Starts Wii Greatest Hits Line in Japan

« on: January 22, 2010, 10:38:37 AM »

What's 428? Is that Madworld in Japan?

Imagine the games we could possibly push through for a second chance. I would love something like this to come stateside.

It is basically a visual novel adventure game.There are some protaginists and how they interact in the game can affect the game and can have many different outcomes and endings.
You know those "choose your own adventure" books it is similar in concept to that. Check Wikipedia for a clearer understanding of the game.

That game sounds pretty neat, actually. Too bad I bet it's all in Japanese.

1871

General Chat / Re: General Purpose Star Wars discussion thread

« on: January 19, 2010, 09:58:07 AM »

#1 - Slave Leia.

1872

General Gaming / Re: "Green" Game Cases...

« on: January 18, 2010, 07:19:17 PM »

Getting your hand chopped off and nearly killed by your mortal enemy who also turns out to be your long-lost father seems like the kind of thing that could force you to grow up pretty quickly.

Or run away crying, just like his father spent three entire films doing.

1873

TalkBack / Re: Over 100 Million Miis Created So Far

« on: January 18, 2010, 12:11:04 AM »

Next person!!!

1874

General Gaming / Re: Bayonetta

« on: January 15, 2010, 10:16:41 AM »

Yes.  The male gamers want male characters with sex appeal for male gamers.

That why they play those JRPGs, huh? Androgyny for everyone!

1875

General Gaming / Re: "Green" Game Cases...

« on: January 15, 2010, 10:14:52 AM »

Nope, sorry. "Generations" was easily the worst Star Trek film. Even it didn't have a ridiculously racist comic-relief character, nor was it 99% cartoony CGI. I will omit the new film, simply titled "Star Trek" as it is far too generic of an action flick to really be considered part of the franchise.