The most illegally downloaded games of 2008

[POBmaestro]

The most illegally downloaded games of 2008

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[Platinum]

Spore as number one just goes to show how retarded these pikeys are, its not even a great game.

[Dead Alive]

I guessed it would have been Spore before I even opened the post. Don't see what all the fuss is about tbh. I only played about ten minutes at a mates house and didn't like it.

[Snoozer]

I think it was in response to the DRM that killed second hand purchases and your own installations. People seemed to pirate it out of 'protest.'

[azrael316]

Meh. i was using 'dodgy' software years ago, even on my ZX81, its not killed the home computer market now, nor do I think it ever will.

PC game makers need to realise that if games were CHEAPER then maybe we wouldn't copy them. I would have bought Fallout 3 if it was £20 on release, and not waited until I had played a 'snide' copy first.

Farcry 2, played the thing, don't like it, won't buy it.

If a game costs £20, and not the best part of £50, I might be better prepared to take the hit on a dodgy game or two.

However, if a game was £15 then I would still buy games that were even a little sub-standard.

[Platinum]

Originally Posted by azrael316

PC game makers need to realise that if games were CHEAPER then maybe we wouldn't copy them. I would have bought Fallout 3 if it was £20 on release, and not waited until I had played a 'snide' copy first.

http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5483...3/Product.html

Farcry 2, played the thing, don't like it, won't buy it.

If a game costs £20, and not the best part of £50, I might be better prepared to take the hit on a dodgy game or two.

http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/7113...2/Product.html

Since when has £25 been the best part of £50?

Price fail, Tight **** win.

[Listy]

yeah but play.com you cant just walk in off street and get a copy can you

[Dead Alive]

Originally Posted by Listy

yeah but play.com you cant just walk in off street and get a copy can you

But you can here.

[azrael316]

http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/7113...2/Product.html

Since when has £25 been the best part of £50?

Price fail, Tight **** win.[/QUOTE]

Point taken matey.

Although, if the RRP was £20 play.com would probably do it at a pint I would buy 3 or 4 at a time.

If Im honest most of my games are from 'budget' ranges (white label, sold out etc). Its VERY rare I buy a game at full price on release day anymore. IIRC the last one was Dawn of War - Dark Crusade.

[Killa-Kyle]

Originally Posted by Platinum

http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/5483...3/Product.html



http://www.play.com/Games/PC/4-/7113...2/Product.html

Since when has £25 been the best part of £50?

Price fail, Tight **** win.

Epic retort! I approve this post.

[Betty_Swallocks]

Originally Posted by azrael316

If a game costs £20, and not the best part of £50, I might be better prepared to take the hit on a dodgy game or two.

However, if a game was £15 then I would still buy games that were even a little sub-standard.

QFT

[Platinum]

They have to make money though, and come on PC games are the cheapest format around and offer the best graphics / controls (FPS).

[Nex]

These have got to be some of the most stupid and ridiculous reasons to pirate games I have heard of.

Since when has not being able to buy a game at play's prices on the high street been a reason to download it instead?

Fair enough some people cant afford £30 for a pc game and I can accept that but again that's not a good enough reason to pirate a game.

If you cant afford it when it comes out then wait till its on budget then get it there's plenty of other games to play in the mean time.

They may help themselves more if they actually stop making so many cr@p games and actually spent more time developing better ones that have less bugs and are longer so you actually get more for you money.

[Jozii]

I don't think lower prices or better quality is the solution. People would still download and I doubt the statistics would improve much from it. Because let's face it, people download because it's free and convinient, something real-life stores can't offer, and online download-stoes only offer a part of.

The reason I don't download games is simply because it causes so much trouble when you want to play multiplayer.

The only solution I can see in the long run (because the currently illegal download-aspect isn't going to go away whatever rules and laws are written): make it legal to download games, but make the downloaders pay money for the fact that they are downloading at all (higher internet costs). This additional income would then be distributed among the game developers.

[Dead Alive]

Originally Posted by Jozii

(..)but make the downloaders pay money for the fact that they are downloading at all (higher internet costs). This additional income would then be distributed among the game developers.

And how could you tell if a downloader was downloading legal files, or illegal games/torrents etc...

Wanting to charge regular users too? For example, I download my games from Steam, I pay for them. Would you like Virgin to charge me extra because I might on the off chance be downloading a game illegaly also?

[Jozii]

Originally Posted by Dead Alive

And how could you tell if a downloader was downloading legal files, or illegal games/torrents etc...

Wanting to charge regular users too? For example, I download my games from Steam, I pay for them. Would you like Virgin to charge me extra because I might on the off chance be downloading a game illegaly also?

If it was legal to download any game for free, you nwouldn't have to pay anything on Steam.

Sure, there would still be the issue of downloading other things that aren't games, but there's no perfect solution. My point is that you won't get rid of the pirates so to guarantee a gaming market that continues to succeed on the PC, the developers have to get their money through other means.

Trying to prevent the pirates to download games illegally - through laws, security meassures on the games, or anything else - isn't going to work, people will always find a way around it :/

[Snoozer]

If you've got some time, read the latest 'guide' from the man off Tweakguides.

It's very interesting and he looks at every side of piracy over ten pages.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_1.html

[Fat Tony]

Regarding the whole "paying for a hit and miss game", try websites like Ciao and Gamefaqs for user reviews. Sure you have to sift through fanboys and nonsense, but it'll be enough to decide whether a game is going to suit your taste.

[Killa-Kyle]

Good Article/Thread. Rep!

In my opinion!

To reduce... well there are a few options... people will always pirate because they are... dirty pirates or they genuinely can't afford, I'm sure there are other reasons too... like getting a game in Russia early because it wasn't a world wide or electronic release.

DRM is starting to get very clever, GTA4 is testament to that but one has to ask if the DRM in GTA4 actually causes some of the major issues in the games initial release. I wonder if cracked versions of heavily DRM'ed games will actually run better? I think GTA4 has been cracked tho. I'd lol if it runs better than my Steam copy. I know some release groups have unofficially patched issues with games in the past, I even remember that back in my Amiga days.

The right game, the right price. Not greed. Also, discounts for loyal customers and first timers etc.

I'd invite producers to have the developers make all games trailware, like play the first level or hour and then have the game save your progress and provide a window to:

a) I like it, buy and carry on
b) give me one more level/hour, I'm not sure yet
c) uninstall this, its sucks like a dyson!

updated thoughts:
With a platform like Steam that would be very doable. Make it as easy as possible for the gamer to part with their Benjamin's! Don't even have to leave the game ftw. e.g. Steam provide you with the ability to 1-click-in-game buy the game with an preferred account. They can even revoke games purchases that get declined. With a good design and supporting architecture, this would be doable.

rFactor does something similar. I recall trailing the fully functional game for half a day and then very happily parting with my cash once I'd seen what was on offer.

[Dead Alive]

But the only way you can charge extra, is to charge everyone because they might all be downloading ilegally. And if you charge everyone, they're going to be mighty unpleased about paying extra ontop of their normal bills to help prevent thieves.