Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 9:24 PM
Sat Nov 21
21 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us: tips@kotaku.com
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
Email | AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
Email | AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
Email | AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
Email | AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
Email | AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
02/13/09
02/13/09
Starseige: Tribes <3
02/13/09
You're welcome.
Signed, Me
02/13/09
But overall it's people on computers who are stealing someone else's hard work and threatening their livelihood.
World of Goo.
02/13/09
What I'm getting at here though is this. Like this guy said, 'pirating' made people like Fahey here (is it responsible for the Furry thing? If so... piracy is bad. Sorry man... had to) and myself. I love gaming now because of this. And I feel I need to support it. I also feel, people who exclusively pirate games and don't pay? Probably would never be willing to fully 'support' the industry regardless, even if it weren't viable. They will always, for the most part, pirate and believe they don't need to pay. For various reasons. I mean, if suddenly they absolutely cannot pirate? I see these people as maybe owning one or two games and then borrowing the rest. Or worse, used games at EB. I dunno, I just see that demographic as seeing gaming as a 'waste' of money, and they would rather put it into whatever else.
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
And how can you possibly compare a company willingly distributing a demo/shareware to consumers with someone downloading an entire game which does not have any shareware plan in place? They're not even close to the same thing. And all this does is give unethical people ammunition to say that it is because this guy said so.
02/13/09
That's just it, there is no valid excuse to pirate or steal. It's actually impressive that someone in his position is willing to acknowledge every aspect of the issue rather than simply denouncing it, although it certainly deserves it (which he makes clear by stating that he does not advocate piracy).
Stude can give pirates all the ammunition they could ever need, it doesn't make firing the gun right.
02/13/09
Honestly, sometimes people have legitimate reasons for downloading games. Myself, I have downloaded plenty of games in my past and I still do, although at a much diminished rate. I used to download so much because I had no cash, I couldn't afford the games and the risk of buying a shitty game was too great. I still bought the blockbuster games that I knew I would like, but that was about all I could afford.
Now, I can afford more games so I usually buy ones that I think are worth it. But there is so much shit out there, and games that you think will be amazing just end up turning into piles of shit (see Haze). So I tend to download the ones I'm unsure of, and purchase them at a later point if I can't afford it right away.
I doubt this holds true for many people, but its kind of necessary for me to do this. I've started working in the industry, and its almost a requirement for people like me to have played all these games. And I couldn't have done it without playing games for free.
02/13/09
If you download games, that's your decision, but I wouldn't really say there is any legit reason to do it.
I'm not passing judgment from up on a pedestal, I'm guilty of pirating a few games back in the day, but I've always felt guilty for doing it because I knew I wouldn't have been able to just walk into a store, grab the game off the shelf and get excused from it for saying I couldn't afford it.
I think what the PC Gaming Alliance needs to do is ensure more quality demos for their PC games and make them more accessible so downloading a game to try it out is something we shouldn't hear anymore. I hardly see or hear anything about PC demos yet almost every release, good or bad, on consoles gets a demo.
02/13/09
02/13/09
I 100% agree with you on having alternate solutions in terms of demos and whatnot. A lot of commenters seem to have it solidified in their head that there is no excuse, anyone who downloads games does it solely to get a free game, etc, share the thought processes that lead to the kind of archaic DRM we see today bundled with PC games. They think the problem resides with the "criminal" and not within their own practices. What we need is a solution that considers all aspects of the problem (ie. mandatory demos).
02/13/09
02/13/09
I don't pirate or "steal" games, but when I was 14/15 my older brother's college roommate always gave me a stack of games whenever I'd come visit. I probably wouldn't have ever played Wing Commander, Privateer, the Sierra adventure games, the LucasArts SCUMM games, and many, many others if it hadn't been for him.
02/13/09
As I already mentioned several times whenever piracy articles came up on Kotaku, that's how it worked back in the days. In 1989 it was very normal to copy games or programs from a floppy to another.
And for sure that's how I got into gaming.
Pkunzip for the win.
02/13/09
Speaking of going down memory road, your "copy games or programs from a floppy to another" comment reminded me of this old gem (for those who haven't seen it):
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
He says nothing about its effect on the industry today. World of Goo.
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
02/13/09
The disrespect for women argument is bullshit. The women are paid and willingly do whatever, on camera. Obviously if they keep doing this job, they don't feel disrespected.
The disrespect for women argument against porn is just a manifestation of feminist extremists who (just like any other kind of extremist) want to dictate what everyone else can and can't do.
That said, I don't even like porn.
12/17/08
12/17/08
Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.
12/18/08
Ah yes ... console kids in denial.
They have help groups for this you know?
12/18/08
(P.S. That was a tasteless joke. I don't really own a flesh light. No really. I mean it.)
(P.P.S. Does look really awesome though.)
12/18/08
They have help groups for that too you know!
:-p
12/17/08
no pc talk please
12/18/08
12/18/08
11/27/08
11/27/08
Why not?
11/27/08
It's odd, but I'm all hyped up for getting it on the PC. I feel as if I've never played it. I can't wait to replay it, as watching some of those old trailers are really bringing me back to how amazing it was.
I also cannot wait for that Massive Multiplayer Online Mod that's bound to come out for it. Can you imagine 150 players in liberty city all roleplaying? I cannot wait.
11/27/08
11/27/08
And that only supports my position that you are a journalist and because of that you should retain YOUR thoughts and "positions" from escaping your mouth. Have a nice day *funny bitch slap*
11/27/08
You do realize this is a blog and not the Sunday Evening Post, right? If you want games journalism, tough. Pick up an industry magazine or look at trade websites. You're completely media illiterate if you expect the unfiltered, unbiased truth from a blog of all places.
Go watch 60 Minutes or something you codger.
11/27/08
11/27/08
Well off topic, and this isn't really the place to debate the point, but it's a little unfair to blame some people for wishing they would pick one. I guess it's a newish format and eventually some resolution will shake out.
11/28/08