Mass Effect 2

[Valmy]

And got a smallish return on the investment.  Is it really worth the effort of fiddling with the game so it will work on a PC, when the end result is more piracy than actual legitimate users?

That's the discussion that's going on right now.

It depends upon the number of legitimate users.  Is the assumption that the pirates would be buying copies of the game if they did not pirate and thus that is lost revenue?

I mean they looked like they were going pure console there for awhile with KOTOR and Mass Effect...then they decided to turn around and start making PC games again.  It is not like there was no piracy in 2003 or 2007 when they decided to turn around and release their console only games on PC.

If Bioware decides to go back to console only that will be sad but I will have to find other games to play.

They looked like they are going in the right direction to me by requiring you to be connected to their system to use the DLC....even the pirates would theoretically have to pay then right?

[DisturbedPervert]

They looked like they are going in the right direction to me by requiring you to be connected to their system to use the DLC....even the pirates would theoretically have to pay then right?

Nah, that shit don't work for PC. Really only useful for consoles sales, so not as many people rent or buy used.

Regardless I'm a bit skeptical over accuracy, as well as meaning of piracy numbers based on torrent trackers.  Look at the comments in any torrent and the vast majority are like 'wtf do I do, what is rar, how do I mount, you asshole this doesn't work' as well as indecipherable messages from people all corners of the globe.

[Scipio]

Fucking steam failing to work.  FUck.  Pre-loaded for nothing.  WHORES.

[Slargos]

For those of you who worried, I can now report that aside from all DLC being available, the 1.02 patch has been cracked and distributed. 

[grumbler]

Is it really worth the effort of fiddling with the game so it will work on a PC, when the end result is more piracy than actual legitimate users?

That's the discussion that's going on right now.

The discussors need to get back to looking at profit and costs, not number of pirates.  Why should i decide to make $10,000 in profit with 2 pirates when I could make $1,000,000 in profits with 200 pirates?

It is bad business to lose sight of the objective.  Maybe you can redirect the discussion back to the proper topic.

[viper37]

Don't be surprised when Bioware doesn't release future games on PC.  There are actually 50% more pirated copies of Dragon Age on the PC than there are paid for copies, and the PC market isn't big enough to justify the trouble.

1- pissing off customers by delays due to the console version not working is not a good way to ensure customer loyalty.

2- Can't argue with raw numbers.  However, I suspect that many of these pirates ended up buying the game or stopped playing.

[viper37]

The discussors need to get back to looking at profit and costs, not number of pirates.  Why should i decide to make $10,000 in profit with 2 pirates when I could make $1,000,000 in profits with 200 pirates?

It is bad business to lose sight of the objective.  Maybe you can redirect the discussion back to the proper topic.

I think console games are already more profitable.

All consoles combined, they are a bigger market than us.
They pay 10$ more per game than for the PC.
It's more difficult to pirate the game, hence less pirates.
We're old timers clinging to a past era.  These kids in the video game studios already sees us as dinosaurs 

[Valmy]

We're old timers clinging to a past era.  These kids in the video game studios already sees us as dinosaurs 

I would have agreed with this back in 2002-2003.  Now I don't think so.  PC gaming has survived and will continue to do very well.

[Valmy]

1- pissing off customers by delays due to the console version not working is not a good way to ensure customer loyalty.

How does that piss off customers?  Am I entitled to a game before the company is willing to release it?  Maybe "customers" eager to find a fig leaf justification for breaking the law.

[Neil]

Indeed.  XBox and Playstation.

Suuuure they will.  They even released Dragon Age on Mac for godsake.

And got a smallish return on the investment.  Is it really worth the effort of fiddling with the game so it will work on a PC, when the end result is more piracy than actual legitimate users?

That's the discussion that's going on right now.

Define smallish.

They've only sold three quarters of a million PC units.

[Slargos]

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/12/12/pc-game-retail-sales-numbers-for-november-revealed/

[viper37]

How does that piss off customers?  Am I entitled to a game before the company is willing to release it?  Maybe "customers" eager to find a fig leaf justification for breaking the law.

Missing released dates, twice.  I'm happy they found the issues, but I'm disapointed it takes so long to correct the "small errors".

Some are really pissed off, though.

[Neil]

It depends upon the number of legitimate users.  Is the assumption that the pirates would be buying copies of the game if they did not pirate and thus that is lost revenue?

Not entirely.  Estimates for lost sales have fallen between 2% and 10%, which I think is reasonable when you take into account cross-platform losses.

I mean they looked like they were going pure console there for awhile with KOTOR and Mass Effect...then they decided to turn around and start making PC games again.  It is not like there was no piracy in 2003 or 2007 when they decided to turn around and release their console only games on PC.

All of which got PC release.  The difference is now there are real discussions about exiting the PC market.

They looked like they are going in the right direction to me by requiring you to be connected to their system to use the DLC....even the pirates would theoretically have to pay then right?

That was the idea, but pirates will usually find a way in all but MMORPGs.

[viper37]

They've only sold three quarters of a million PC units.

from Slargos' link, that seems to be good:
Report: 170,000 Modern Warfare 2 PC retail games sold in US
And that game is deemed hugely popular.

Besides:

Notably, NPD does not track game sales through nontraditional channels such as digital distribution, which would include Valve's popular PC download service Steam.

I'm thinking 250 000 is only for the DVDs in store, or am I wrong?

[Neil]

The discussors need to get back to looking at profit and costs, not number of pirates.  Why should i decide to make $10,000 in profit with 2 pirates when I could make $1,000,000 in profits with 200 pirates?

It is bad business to lose sight of the objective.  Maybe you can redirect the discussion back to the proper topic.

The question is:  To what extent does the aside of PC gaming damage the core business, which is console gaming?  When you're talking about piracy, that's difficult to quantify.  Given the costs related to porting the game to PC, I don't think it's quite so clearcut as you seem to suggest.