Pirates! and the winner is rom 4454!

[Minos]

Very sincere little article from the creators of Maestro! about how pirating games kills creativity in this industry:

http://www.maestrojumpinmusic.com/blog/ ... e-chiffre/

I really hope the next generation of consoles/handhelds manages to find a way to completely avoid piracy. Otherwise great original games will be a thing of the 90s.

[-HP-]

It will be great if they manage to do that, and still keep homebrew possible...

I know... I know...

[BaRRaKID]

That's a very confusing article, i read it twice and it's still a bit hard to understand the point (if there is one) but i don't think piracy is to be blamed in this case.

They make "games for others, Baby games, teddy bear and pony games", they depend on 3 or 4 other companies to get the game published, they apparently don't invest enough or efficiently on publicity since "the shop 100 meters from the studio didn’t even know the game was in their stock", and then they are surprised that they don't make enough money to create their own projects? What's there to be surprised about? They have a bad business model, they create games for very small demographic (babies and small children who own a NDS) that has a overly saturated market (there are hundreds of DS games for children) and have to split the profits with 3 or 4 companies and then they try to blame it on piracy?! Looks like just another case of bad management for me tbh...

[Lord Ned]

Well even with innovative games like Scribblenaugts, wide audience, had people pumped, etc... However I imagine they still lost a large precent of the audience when people found out they could win everything with ufo + vine, and that it had a horribly crippling control scheme.

You'd spend so long setting up a thing only to tap in the wrong spot, and have Max jump to his death and drag your setup with him. This turned people off = bad recommendation and rating = low amount of buyers = floped idea.

Edit: To clarify, I think it's bad design decisions that's causing the piracy, thus 'killing the creativity'.

[Minos]

That's a very confusing article, i read it twice and it's still a bit hard to understand the point (if there is one) but i don't think piracy is to be blamed in this case.

They make "games for others, Baby games, teddy bear and pony games", they depend on 3 or 4 other companies to get the game published, they apparently don't invest enough or efficiently on publicity since "the shop 100 meters from the studio didn’t even know the game was in their stock", and then they are surprised that they don't make enough money to create their own projects? What's there to be surprised about? They have a bad business model, they create games for very small demographic (babies and small children who own a NDS) that has a overly saturated market (there are hundreds of DS games for children) and have to split the profits with 3 or 4 companies and then they try to blame it on piracy?! Looks like just another case of bad management for me tbh...

I think you missed the point. They are an small studio. They depend on investors' money to get their games out. It's not like the studio is backed up by a large company or is run by millionaires that can afford a few losses. They had this awesome idea for a game and had a hard time finding a publisher because investors won't risk their money on risky projects. Although the casual games market is already saturated at the moment there are high chances a pony game will sell 20x more than a more "hardcore" title, since "hardcore" gamers are the first ones to pirate. This is specially true on DS and Wii and in other platforms as well to some extent.

[Steppenwolf]

I don't think only piracy is to blame when it comes to DS games. I would certainly buy more of them when they wern't so ridiculously overpriced. 40 Euro for a new DS game? Give me a fucking break. They shouldn't cost more then xbox live games or casual games on steam because they are in no way more complex or more detailed.

[Jetsetlemming]

I agree with barrakid. Piracy or no piracy, they're shooting for a small, oversaturated market as a tiny little studio, their business model is fundamentally flawed. Innovation is not what sells copies in casual games focused on babies and small children. Walmart posters and commercials on TV are. Look at those Ubisoft Imagine games. You can't get less innovative than that, but I just saw a Walmart commercial for the "Imagine Series" last week while watching Fox. They're selling crazy.

As far as I'm concerned, if you're a small/indie studio that can't afford at the bare minimum magazine ads and press copies, you're fucking insane if you're not making your games focused on platforms and distribution sources that give you free advertising, like PC digital distro services.

[Rick_D]

scribblenauts was shit. great premise, terribly executed.

the last good game i bought for ds was legend of 'zelda: phantom hourglass'. maybe hotel dusk. i buy all my ds games and agree that the price tag is a little hefty considering that less money and manhours are spent compared to a 'next gen' game.

the thing that gets me, is that piracy is often thought of as being as pc-exclusive problem. i went did a search for assassins creed 2 and there are already about a dozen rips up for xbox. and getting a flashed ds is the simplest thing in the world (legitimate companies are out there selling the gear in special metal boxed special editions...).

[Rick_D]

I agree with barrakid. Piracy or no piracy, they're shooting for a small, oversaturated market as a tiny little studio, their business model is fundamentally flawed. Innovation is not what sells copies in casual games focused on babies and small children. Walmart posters and commercials on TV are. Look at those Ubisoft Imagine games. You can't get less innovative than that, but I just saw a Walmart commercial for the "Imagine Series" last week while watching Fox. They're selling crazy.

not sure if i get your meaning 100%, but they are saying that they have to do the shitty kids games to keep the revenue going while they work on their own innovative games, which then get pirated and cause them to fall back on the shitty kids games because no publisher will take a chance when the game, although heavily played, didn't sell many copies.

i think in part it is the console manufacturers fault that they don't do enough to prevent piracy on their machines. a console is a very closed system and should be much easier to control.

[Taylor]

Well Microsoft did just ban 600k-1m 360's with dodgy firmware! You can't say more anti-piracy than that (link). I think it's more a case that Nintendo don't care too much about copy protection, the games they make money on are aimed at the portion of the market that don't have R4 cards and bugged Twilight Princess saves.

[Jetsetlemming]

I agree with barrakid. Piracy or no piracy, they're shooting for a small, oversaturated market as a tiny little studio, their business model is fundamentally flawed. Innovation is not what sells copies in casual games focused on babies and small children. Walmart posters and commercials on TV are. Look at those Ubisoft Imagine games. You can't get less innovative than that, but I just saw a Walmart commercial for the "Imagine Series" last week while watching Fox. They're selling crazy.

not sure if i get your meaning 100%, but they are saying that they have to do the shitty kids games to keep the revenue going while they work on their own innovative games, which then get pirated and cause them to fall back on the shitty kids games because no publisher will take a chance when the game, although heavily played, didn't sell many copies.

i think in part it is the console manufacturers fault that they don't do enough to prevent piracy on their machines. a console is a very closed system and should be much easier to control.

I thought they were saying that their kiddy game WAS innovative and unique and totally worth all your money you've just never heard of it. Either way, innovative game, shitty game, best game ever, when you're focused on the casual market the actual quality of your title doesn't mean anything compared to how much advertising you do. Casual gamers don't spread stuff around by word of mouth at nearly the same amount mainstream or hardcore gamers do (and even then, frequently it's a copy of the game shared instead of a purchase recommendation, casual gamers also have no attachment to the industry and don't care how many copies you end up selling).

[FrieChamp]

I think it's more a case that Nintendo don't care too much about copy protection, the games they make money on are aimed at the portion of the market that don't have R4 cards and bugged Twilight Princess saves.

I'm not enough of a tech geek, I'm not sure if you can say that Nintendo could have done more upfront to avoid the piracy problem that is surrounding R4, but they certainly do take the problem seriously now in court:

http://dailynintendo.com/nintendo-wins- ... r4-maker-2

http://www.edge-online.com/news/capcom- ... cy-lawsuit

I don't want to break an NDA but piracy is hurting Nintendo's sales, how much depends on the region. Like Rick said in some countries they sell R4 cartridges with pirated games like it is the most normal thing in the world. This isn't some shady backalley business, they are offered at traditional electronic retailers. Now imagine average mom going to the store to pick up a game for her kid, then it's a no brainer which version she buys.

[Minos]

I think it's more a case that Nintendo don't care too much about copy protection, the games they make money on are aimed at the portion of the market that don't have R4 cards and bugged Twilight Princess saves.

I'm not enough of a tech geek, I'm not sure if you can say that Nintendo could have done more upfront to avoid the piracy problem that is surrounding R4, but they certainly do take the problem seriously now in court:

http://dailynintendo.com/nintendo-wins- ... r4-maker-2

http://www.edge-online.com/news/capcom- ... cy-lawsuit

I don't want to break an NDA but piracy is hurting Nintendo's sales, how much depends on the region. Like Rick said in some countries they sell R4 cartridges with pirated games like it is the most normal thing in the world. This isn't some shady backalley business, they are offered at traditional electronic retailers. Now imagine average mom going to the store to pick up a game for her kid, then it's a no brainer which version she buys.

A bit too late I'd say