MNC said:Exchange rates!
Because 40$ = 40 amirite.
Sloane said:I don't get, why so many people seem to be on the pirates' side here. I probably spend 600 Euros or so every year on videogames, while other people play the same games for free. How can anyone who actually buys games not hate piracy?
All these stupid excuses... Crappy games, exchange rates, high prices, release schedules, downloads don't equal lost sales... Are you kidding me?
/rage
Tain said:i hear nintendo's calculations are "one download = three sales" actually
Sloane said:I don't get, why so many people seem to be on the pirates' side here. I probably spend 600 Euros or so every year on videogames, while other people play the same games for free. How can anyone who actually buys games not hate piracy?
All these stupid excuses... Crappy games, exchange rates, high prices, release schedules, downloads don't equal lost sales... Are you kidding me?
/rage
Hey, let's face it, we get the short end of the stick at just about all of those points. That don't mean we condone piracy, but let us rage at our own misfortune!Sloane said:I don't get, why so many people seem to be on the pirates' side here. I probably spend 600 Euros or so every year on videogames, while other people play the same games for free. How can anyone who actually buys games not hate piracy?
All these stupid excuses... Crappy games, exchange rates, high prices, release schedules, downloads don't equal lost sales... Are you kidding me?
/rage
FlightOfHeaven said:Europe: Excessive Pricing Causing A Nearly 50% Software Sales Drop In Europe
There's a difference between "being on the pirates' side" and calling out an unrealistic publisher scapegoat. All those "excuses" you listed are potentially valid, which means that blaming the sales decline exclusively on a singular unverifiable factor just isn't very convincing.Sloane said:I don't get, why so many people seem to be on the pirates' side here. I probably spend 600 Euros or so every year on videogames, while other people play the same games for free. How can anyone who actually buys games not hate piracy?
All these stupid excuses... Crappy games, exchange rates, high prices, release schedules, downloads don't equal lost sales... Are you kidding me?
/rage
Durante said:There's a difference between "being on the pirates' side" and calling out an unrealistic publisher scapegoat. All those "excuses" you listed are potentially valid, which means that blaming the sales decline exclusively on a singular unverifiable factor just isn't very convincing.
How is piracy unverifiable? Everyone knows it's happening, every single developer will tell you it has gotten worse and worse.Durante said:There's a difference between "being on the pirates' side" and calling out an unrealistic publisher scapegoat. All those "excuses" you listed are potentially valid, which means that blaming the sales decline exclusively on a singular unverifiable factor just isn't very convincing.
And claiming that it's based on piracy when the decline is recent and the system was hacked 5 years ago isn't very convincing either.Mael said:Still claiming simply that 50% of the sales dropping being due to poor localisation effort on fucking niche games nobody ever bought and prices (when they were perfectly okay the year before and didn't affect all the other similar products) is to say the least not very convincing
The problem is that it's hard to get people to stop once they've started pirating, but easy to get them to start when you do stupid things with pricing and distribution.MikeE21286 said:I live in America, so I'm obviously outside of a territory which gets ravaged brutally by absurd pricing, but I still don't think that pricing is the main reason for pirating on the DS in Europe, or any country. It has to do with ease plain and simple.
I think that if the pricing were to even be, or become, reasonable (i.e reasonable as in lining up with American standards -- which is probably the cheapest place to buy games) that almost a small fraction of people who pirate now would stop pirating.
aeolist said:The problem is that it's hard to get people to stop once they've started pirating, but easy to get them to start when you do stupid things with pricing and distribution.
Mael said:Did it affect DS sales or all games accross the board?
lawblob said:Oh good, another thread where GAFfers who probably pirate the shit out of games are going to furiously rage at companies who for some reason have a problem with people illegally stealing their property.
shuri said:In a perfect world, Nintendo would beat the pirates by having their own itune-like client for pc that allowed users to download drm-protected copies of purchased games straight to the console/handheld. It would be the best solution.
Hari Seldon said:So is this R4 thing new? Does it just make it super easy to pirate instead of the previous hax?
Funny thing is a lot of people do this, but their delayed sale is still blamed on piracy. :lolConradCervantes said:No one ever said gaming is a cheap hobby. That's what I tell customers who complain about Nintendo having the gall to price New Super Mario Bros Wii at $50.
Costs of games is still no excuse for piracy. If you really want the game, manage your finances to the point where you can afford to drop 30 on a DS game. Otherwise don't buy video games.
lawblob said:Oh good, another thread where GAFfers who probably pirate the shit out of games are going to furiously rage at companies who for some reason have a problem with people illegally stealing their property.
DS games are certainly a lot easier to pirate because of the relatively small file size compared to other games.
The thing is this happens anyway. In GAME on Sunday I saw Rhythm Paradise for £4.95 and usually see Elite Beat Agents, Advance Wars: Dark Conflict, Picross DS for a similar price (Starfox Command tends to be confined to the used section).Kunan said:Exactly. The last thing Nintendo wants is their games in the massive Walmart bargain bins, that would do a lot to wreck the image of the Nintendo name in the corner.
What's unverifiable (and, frankly, seems unlikely) is that a relatively sudden 50% drop in sales can be attributed primarily to piracy, not the fact that it exists.Sloane said:How is piracy unverifiable? Everyone knows it's happening, every single developer will tell you it has gotten worse and worse.
chaostrophy said:Piracy always puts me in a tough spot- I'm regarded as "tech-savvy" among my family and friends because I build my own PCs, use Linux, fix their computers, and so forth. And I don't keep it a secret that I'm a gamer. So everyone just kinda assumes that I pirate just because I can, unless I tell them in so many words that I don't because I'm more ethically evolved than them. So then I worry that I come off as a smug dick.
lawblob said:Oh good, another thread where GAFfers who probably pirate the shit out of games are going to furiously rage at companies who for some reason have a problem with people illegally stealing their property.
The Faceless Master said:several devs on GAF have mentioned that many of their fellow developers are very savvy pirates.
TheSeks said:Price, Games not being available in their region, etc. etc. etc. ALL contribute to piracy/lost sales more than DURR HURR THE GAME IS FREE, DO WHAT I WANT BECAUSE A PIRATE IS FREE.
MikeE21286 said:I live in America, so I'm obviously outside of a territory which gets ravaged brutally by absurd pricing, but I still don't think that pricing is the main reason for pirating on the DS in Europe, or any country. It has to do with ease plain and simple.
I think that if the pricing were to even be, or become, reasonable (i.e reasonable as in lining up with American standards -- which is probably the cheapest place to buy games) that almost a small fraction of people who pirate now would stop pirating.
jorma said:It's weird but your nick has had me believe you were actually a lawyer.
TheSeks said:Oh good, another thread where GAFfers who probably pirate the shit out of games are going to knee jerk reaction due to GAF mods.
HEY EVERYONE! I CAN CALL PEOPLE THAT MAY/MAY NOT PIRATE PIRATES ON GAF, TOO! *flails arms*
.Price, Games not being available in their region, etc. etc. etc. ALL contribute to piracy/lost sales more than DURR HURR THE GAME IS FREE, DO WHAT I WANT BECAUSE A PIRATE IS FREE
*Jackpopcorn.gif*
MagniHarvald said:Piracy is huge where I am. I'm the only student I know that has a legit copy of Office on my PC. I'm the only one who buys DS games. I'm the only one who buys music and movies 100% of the time. And the worst part. People think I'm a freak because I actually spend money on games/movies/music/software. If you can get it for free, why spend money on it? ><
edit:
Concerning the DS, I've only bought two games for it in the past year (Platinum and SoulSilver), and both I've imported from the US. Prices are too high in Europe for DS games.
I had a Super Magicom for my Super Nintendo way back in the day. It was a great little thing. I think I still have it somewhere.bryehn said:I want a magic computer. Seriously, I've never heard that term.
And I don't see any sort of quote or anything here from Nintendo themselves relating to software numbers.