Well, I worked at a major software company for 10 years, so I have some opinions on this...
1) Many software companies have gone out of business due to piracy and not just because of lost sales but also because people get it before it's released, say it sucks and it keeps people from buying who would have bought the game (and hated it possibly.
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2) There is no way to keep a game from being pirated. The company I worked for spent millions to 'copy protect' our games and it never worked. It's stupid to even try. Instead of spending money on that spend it on making a better game.
3) There are many games that I thought I'd hate that I downloaded just out of boredom and ended up liking and purchased. Many of the pirates actually go out and buy the games after they've pirated and finished them because they were so good.
4) Software companies don't understand their customers worth a crap. Lets be honest, how many 10-15 year old kids have $500 a year to buy 10 games? Not many at all. Games are too expensive for the core demographic they are designed for and then add on a $13-15 a month fee for the newer games and you've priced your customers out of the market, all but forcing them to pirate some of the games they want to play simply because they can't afford them.
5) Many games don't have demos, which means you're going to pay $50 to see if you even like a game. I just dropped $55 on Horizons and I find it hugely boring. I wasted $55 on a coaster. If they had a demo I wouldn't have wasted my money.
Game companies need to not waste their time on anti-piracy software and simply make better games and people will buy them. The most successful companies are the most pirated (Lucas Arts, Electronic Arts, Blizzard) and they're still making a crapload of money simply because they make QUALITY games that people WANT to play.
In my opinion, 90% of the games released every year are crap. They're nothing but technology demos on how pretty graphics can be with no thought behind them. No story, no challenge, no emotion, but simply a point and click kill fest of monotony and repetativeness.
When Halo is the 'Best Game of the Year', things suck. It's not a good game. It's a pretty game, it's technology is impressive, but I was never challenged in it. I never had to out think a puzzle or achieve anything spectacular. I didn't feel like HOLY CRAP when I beat the game. Max Payne 2 was light years better than Halo was. It had a great story, great level design, great easter eggs and an amazing conclusion to the game.
Space Empires succeeds because it's not a clickable screen saver like the games that are out now, it's a struggle. A challenge that is always changing and has many different solutions. It's emotional from the beginning to the end, you feel loss when your ships die, you feel great when you kill someone off. THAT is a game and THAT is what the pirates will actually pay for after they've pirated it, not to mention the word of mouth the pirate gives to all of his/her friends about how great the game is.
That's how I found Space Empires, from a pirate talking about it. Otherwise, I never would have heard about it.
*hops off the soapbox*
- takr
Re: Malfador Games Pirated
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