Genius!
Interesting to hear that someone tried this in the games business (with success). I've heard of independent movie makers who boosted publicity and sales of their works by spreading them in p2p networks before.
Quote from FrieChampInteresting to hear that someone tried this in the games business (with success). I've heard of independent movie makers who boosted publicity and sales of their works by spreading them in p2p networks before.
I think it was Tucker Max who promoted the movie they made about him on p2p sites just due to the low amount of places it was showing.
Quote from FrieChampInteresting to hear that someone tried this in the games business (with success). I've heard of independent movie makers who boosted publicity and sales of their works by spreading them in p2p networks before.
I think this is something that helped Paranormal Activity, the film festival screener of it has been available for about two years on torrent sites even though the movie just came out, and they relied on that whole "Demand it!" system to determine in what markets to release it. The publicity from people illicitly seeing the movie and spreading the word almost surely helped out that process.
"We know anecdotally that even at 59p a lot of people have pirated the game," he said. "At 59p it's pretty fair to assume that a lot of those pirates would have been able and would have bought the game, but there's an overall attitude that it's fine to pirate."
just to respond to this: it's not really a question whether to pirate or not if a game comes out at a low price. price is a static barrier, and it would be the same whether you had a weighted price or a very low price; the barrier stays the same. the extra bother of going through credit cards or similar just to get access to a game is something that people don't want to bother with. i reckon in the future, the essence of distributing a piece of media will have to be so simplified that people won't have to bother with various payment options, but rather have a "one-click" button for everything. or, put differently, there is a blindside to impulse shopping online.
I agree with sentura on this.
On a related note, I noticed that steam now remembers your credit card info so its practically just click-and-buy now just like on xbox live.
I also noticed that, sure made that on a whim half off mass effect buy easier 
Quote from SkjalgI agree with sentura on this.On a related note, I noticed that steam now remembers your credit card info so its practically just click-and-buy now just like on xbox live.
thank god, I'm the first to admit the old system has lost Steam a purchase from me on more than one occasion...
The title is kind of deceptive, it's definitely not the first time a developer has leaked a dysfunctional version of their game onto torrent sites.
Quote from Senturajust to respond to this: it's not really a question whether to pirate or not if a game comes out at a low price. price is a static barrier, and it would be the same whether you had a weighted price or a very low price; the barrier stays the same. the extra bother of going through credit cards or similar just to get access to a game is something that people don't want to bother with. i reckon in the future, the essence of distributing a piece of media will have to be so simplified that people won't have to bother with various payment options, but rather have a "one-click" button for everything. or, put differently, there is a blindside to impulse shopping online.
It's much easier to buy stuff off Steam and iTunes than jumping through the various hoops to pirate it.
Quote from TaylorIt's much easier to buy stuff off Steam and iTunes than jumping through the various hoops to pirate it.
Wrong, its just as easy. Browsing for games on steam is just as easy as browsing for games on thepiratebay. A couple of months ago it was easier to pirate it since you'd have to type in your credit card info in steam before you could buy, but now that you dont have to do that hassle anymore (since it saves your info) it's basically the same thing.
What is still different tho is the release date. Sometimes a game appears weeks before on torrent sites because idiots thinks its a clever idea to release in america before europe. (or visa versa).
I've not downloaded anything for a long time, but I recall a significant amount of dicking about afterwards. Mounting it, applying the crack, whatever.
Either way, we’re pardoning piracy because they have to enter a number. As someone who occasionally still walks to the shop, that is really incredible.
Hmmm, hope it turns out well for them. Didn't buy Trials HD on XBLA but I really liked the trial version (hur hur), was just too much other stuff to play when it came out and I kinda forgot to buy it.
Oh and speaking of sites saving your credit card info, I both totally hate it and love it at the same time. With Amazon I've probably bought a few too many things that I probably shouldn't have since its so fast to check out, and on the other hand then it just makes it a breeze to buy new shit.
Wait a minute, those seem like the same point, hmmm 
Quote from TaylorI've not downloaded anything for a long time, but I recall a significant amount of dicking about afterwards. Mounting it, applying the crack, whatever.Either way, we’re pardoning piracy because they have to enter a number. As someone who occasionally still walks to the shop, that is really incredible.
I guess you're right in the fact that its a little more hassle to do the pirated thing now I guess. Especially if you dont already got emulator software or winrar.
I'm not pardoning it either, I'm just saying I'd rather stay in my comfortable chair and download my games without having to get up, find my jacket/wallet to get to the visa card. Yeah, I know its lazy, and I know its a pathetic excuse and even more pathetic to realise that you dont have the energy to get up and walk 5 metres for a game.
But thats how most folks are; pathetic 
Now this wasnt something that would deter me from the super awesome games (triple A games like the new mw2), I'd willingly go the extra mile (read: 5 metres) for those kinds of games, but I'd never in my life bother to do that to pick up for example Torchlight (which I have now btw, since Steam remembered my visa <3, its really cheap and really worth it!). The thing that deters me the most about triple A games now-a-days is the fact that I feel really let down when I pre-purchase them in norwegian stores (online), just to find out right after that they are freely available (no waiting 2 weeks!) on torrent sites for free.
So to list the pros and cons here;
Why pirate?
Pros:
Cons:
For me, its pretty simple if they want to lower the amount of piracy on the pc. 3 simple steps;
Add to that list as a pro for pirating:
Never regret a purchase ever anymore.
A con for pirating:
The law! 
I think 90% is a bit high for the average on when pirates can get updates. For the vast majority of games for example each new patch has to have the .exe re-cracked to work. A friend of mine downloaded Torchlight because he's currently traveling, so his credit card address and current location don't match, so he can't actually buy anything online. He's been complaining that he can't patch the game.
basically what skjalg said up until now. whether you think the excuses are pathetic or what you think about the entire ordeal is irrelevant. it's what people think, that matters. you can't build an empire on slaves without proper propaganda.
Quote from JetsetlemmingI think 90% is a bit high for the average on when pirates can get updates. For the vast majority of games for example each new patch has to have the .exe re-cracked to work. A friend of mine downloaded Torchlight because he's currently traveling, so his credit card address and current location don't match, so he can't actually buy anything online. He's been complaining that he can't patch the game.
Lol yeah sorry, I ment to put (dont) in the middle of that sentence. Basically my whole Cons list had that problem, but its fixed now.
Quote from SkjalgIn 90% of the cases, you dont get updates for the game.
Also, funny you should mentioned Torchlight; while playing it I noticed quite a few bugs and while at work I browsed the torrent site to check for updates to some tv series I watch and noticed
Torchlight v1 12 Update-SKIDROW
, and when I got home I immediatly downloaded it on steam
Skjalg's argument of laziness may sound ridiculous, but it rings true. Companies should do their utmost to remove all of the barriers between the customer and their product. It doesn't matter if it's a small or a large barrier. You can't impulse purchase something very effectively if you have to think too much about it.
I've been on steam since the beta and I've purchased a grand total of one game using it -- Half Life 2. Why? Two reasons.
1. For new releases, steam is very expensive. £40 for MW2? I've seen it for as low as £26 (Sainsbury's stunt) and you can find it easily enough for ~£33 in other places. I'm guessing Valve takes their cut and the game's regular publishers also want their standard cut so it pushes the price up, but I'm not willing to pay an extra £7 for 'convenience', especially when I see the US pricing. I can buy 4 triple A games on steam, or I can buy 5 online for the same money. No dilemma here.
2. Steam doesn't accept debit cards and I neither have nor want a credit card. If I want to purchase on steam, I need to deposit money into paypal and then pay using that. It's too much hassle for me, plus I don't trust paypal -- too many horror stories. As a result, Valve never gets my money, nor do any of the companies that sell their games via steam. It may sound weird to some people, but I am far happier to go to play.com, order and wait for the best part of a week. It takes longer, but I don't have to do anything other than click two buttons on a website. Ever since I started working full time, I am much more mindful about how much time I waste doing stupid bullshit. Stupid bullshit like logging into my bank, moving money into a pay pal account, then remembering all of my details and purchasing. 3 steps instead of 1. 15 minutes of fail instead of 1 minute of simplicity. I don't want to fuck about on 3 websites to order 1 game.
Now, I'll admit that I'm rarely going to purchase new releases of 'big' games on steam because of the price, but there's been loads of games that I would've purchased in an impulse buying mood (especially around the £5 to £15 mark). However, it's too much effort for me. I cannot be arsed to go find my wallet and move money around etc. Instead, I'll fire up an old game or do something else. I would probably spend an extra £50 a year on steam on smaller titles if they removed the barrier. In these cases, the wait does matter because I want to buy and play something now, so I don't want to order via play.
I don't pirate because
A: I cannot be arsed
B: I'm not a student any more. I don't really have an excuse.
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