The solution to the illegal copying of video games perhaps isn't a law enforcement task force or volley of lawsuits, but the legitimization of the act itself.

Last week news broke that The Pirate Bay, one of the largest websites in the world dedicated to the illegal downloading of video games, was being purchased by a business group in Sweden with plans on turning the site into a purely legal operation.

Global Gaming Factory X doesn't plan on stopping the downloading of video games, but rather hopes to make enough money to pay the publishers for those downloads.

"We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site, " Hans Pandeya, CEO Global Gaming Factory, said in a prepared statement. "The Pirate Bay is a site that is among the top 100 most visited Internet sites in the world. However, in order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary."

The news comes just months after a nine-day trial against Stockholm-based Pirate Bay found four guilty of making copyright content available. The four were sentenced to a year in prison each and were fined more than $3 million.

While heralded by industry lobbying group the Entertainment Software Association, the ruling and even the possible closure of The Pirate Bay would likely have little lasting impact on piracy. That's because it doesn't address the people pirating games, just those making it easier to do so.

Billy Pidgeon, an analyst with Game Changer Research, feels that piracy can only really be dealt with by some meeting of the minds.

"I hate to hear the industry talking about how they have to crush piracy, throwing down the gauntlet," Pidgeon said. "The last thing the industry wants to do is alienate their customer base."

People saying that they deserve to take a game for free, Pidgeon adds, is just as absurd.

That's why Pidgeon was so delighted to hear Electronic Arts' reaction to news of their game, The Sims 3, being pirated.

Three weeks before the game was released for sale, it showed up on pirate sites.

John Riccitiello, the head of EA, told Kotaku that they were initially very nervous about the leaked title.

But because the game relies so heavily on online play, something EA can control, gamers who grabbed an early, free version of the title didn't get the full experience, only a taste.

In the end, Riccitiello said, EA decided to think of it as the publisher putting out a really good demo of the game, instead worrying over lost sales.

"Thats great, I love to hear them talk like that," Pidgeon said of EA's take on the issue. "Super distribution (like piracy networks) can be turned into an advantage. It's not necessarily lost sales."

Using the grassroots networks of pirates could allow publishers to reach a much larger audience, including people in regions they don't yet reach. It could also create a sort of ad-hoc iTunes for game distribution, helping publishers and developers get games to people who can't or won't use the standard distribution channels.

In other words, when you can't beat them, use them.

Well Played is a weekly opinion column about the big news of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

According to Mr. Takeshita, Zak and Wiki takes it's inspiration from the old PC point and click adventure games of years past. But they didn't want to create just another retro style game, they wanted to take the formula and improve upon it, allowing the player to do things they previously couldn't do due to the restrictions of a 2D environment. They also wanted to create a game that would appeal to not only regular game fans, but families and kids as well, providing an experience that would allow parents and kids to play together. I asked Mr. Takeshita if he thought the marketing of the game towards kids would turn off a lot of the adult gamers out there (which is admittedly a larger market) and he said that what will really sell the game is not it's graphics or title, but it's content and I have to say I agree. Despite the wonderfully cartoony graphics, the gameplay is solid and the puzzles are fun and more challenging than they would seem on the surface.

Of course I couldn't let the opportunity to go by without asking Mr. Takeshita about the name change. Treasure Island Z was short, sweet and to the point. Why change it to something so ridiculously long and rather juvenile? To start he said that Treasure Island Z was out because they couldn't secure the international right to the name because of the book. They went through almost two hundred other names before settling on Zak and Wiki. They figured that using the names of the main characters made sense and that adding the subtitle would let players know what the game was about. As for the length, he said the first name they settled on was even longer, but was shortened to the one they have now, although he couldn't recall what that longer name was. But ultimately, the name needed to appeal to kids and so was given a name that sounded similar to something one might hear attached to a animated show.

If you've had the good fortune to have played a demo of Zak and Wiki, you know how fun it is. It will be a shame if this game gets overlooked due to its quirky title and cartoony graphics although if Capcom plays it's cards right, this game will definitely be a great candidate for a new, intriguing franchise. Mr. Takeshita and his team have created an innovative game for the Wii that deserves a life as long as it's title.

Well it looks like I'll be looking forward to it a bit longer than that. In his latest developer log, Flying Labs CEO Russell Williams explains why the June date has been scrapped.

Part of what has taken so long is that I'm 100% dedicated to maintaining control of the game. That's a very unique position in this industry, and honestly, I don't think a contract like this has ever been done, so there's a lot of education that has to occur ... We have a lot of long-range plans for the game after we launch and we intend to be working on it for quite a few years. So I'm not going to rush a contract in order to "get it done" - it has to be done right.

So now there is no concrete date, but things are definitely moving forward, with a massive beta expansion towards the end of June as they move into the home stretch. Not an open beta mind you, which they view as "entirely a marketing device", but wide-scale testing of the final release code.

In short, the game is quickly approaching done, but as is always the case with piracy, the law (or legalese) is getting in the way. Let us hope for a speedy resolution, as Captain Duck Ass (secretly a ninja) yearns to feel the sea air on his face as he bravely runs away once more. Yar! Michael Fahey

Contract status, and steady on course [Pirates of the Burning Sea]

Yes, it made the newspaper because I put it there and no, it's not game related, not really. But I thought perhaps you'd still want to read it, that and I mentioned it last night in my Night Note.

So hit up the Rocky Mountain News and read my pro-pirate stance and then vote to your heart's content. And remember what else they call silent but deadly. ;) Brian Crecente

Crecente: Pirate-vs.-ninja debate rages [Crecente: Pirate-vs.-ninja debate rages]

Xbox 360's year-long head start was all for naught. At least in Japan. Since its launch one month ago, the PLAYSTATION 3 has outsold the 360 by 10,000 units. Both of them were, of course, outsold by the Nintendo Wii. But that's neither here nor there.

Man, I wish there was a way to track machines after they were sold in The Land of the Rising Sun. I'd give Crecente's right eye to know how many were not resold. Brian Ashcraft

PS3 Beating 360 In Japan [QJ.Net]

And sadly, Crecente has made it. Yep, gaming's pirate journo is on a list that was compiled by Joystiq's Kyle Orland and includes some of the industries best and brightest scribes—like Gamasutra's Simon Carless, MTV's Steve Totilo, Insert Credit's Brandon Sheffield and Kotaku's former, but now 1Up's Luke Smith. Congrats!

Me, Florian, Eliza, Mike, Mark Wilson and, hell, even Alice can all agree on one thing: Crecente's spelling has improved of late. Brian Ashcraft

Full List of 50 Best Journos [Next-Gen, Thanks to all who send this in!]

Lore Sj berg's gets his grump on in an article about what he does and doesn't want to see in his next-gen games. Rhythm games are right out (wha! Guitar Hero, hello!), but Lore wants way more attention spent on trying to make characters look like something you might talk to instead of fondle in a clothes store when no one is looking. He also wants way more grav guns (something I totally agree with) and more puzzle-adventure games.

The column's worth a read and if you're a Lore fan I've got some cool news for you: He's now also writing daily for us. I'm not going to tell you which posts he's writing because, well, I'm not allowed to, but I bet you can figure it out.

I'm delighted to have Lore's wit and piratical look on board.

Give Grumpy Gamers What They Want [Wired]