Nintendo: piracy not behind poor sales

By Fred Dutton Published 8 October, 2010

Good games sell well, apparently.

Nintendo has refused to attribute low sales of Wii and DS games solely to piracy.

In a recent investor call, CEO Satoru Iwata explained, "I do not think we should attribute bad software sales solely to piracy.

"Even with piracy, as long as we can create products which can attract attention from many consumers and which can greatly entertain them, that software can make it to the number one position of the hit software sales chart.

"So, we would like to consider it from both perspectives simultaneously. It is true there is always the influence of piracy, but it is important for us to increase the number of our consumers who are willing to shell out their money to purchase our products."

Maybe he's onto something. The phenomenal Super Mario Galaxy 2 shifted 4.09 million copies in its first five weeks on sale. Pokémon Black/White, which recently secured a perfect 40/40 from Famitsu, is rapidly approaching a similar figure in Japan alone.

Then again, maybe he's not. The excellent Metroid: Other M failed to trouble the UK all formats top 10 when it launched last month.

Iwata went on to re-emphasise that Nintendo will be making new efforts to tackle piracy on its forthcoming handheld, the 3DS.

"Of course, as a responsibility of the platform holder, we will tackle piracy. For example, when we launch new hardware, such as Nintendo 3DS, it is a good opportunity to beef up the countermeasures, and we are actually working on that now."

The 3DS launches in Japan on 26th February 2011 before heading to Europe and the USA shortly thereafter.

Nintendo's next big releases include Donkey Kong Country Returns, arriving on Wii on 3rd December, and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS a week later.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (56) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • The_Bloody_Kettle #1 2 years ago

    Piracy is annoying.
    i for one have never done it.

    Oh and the other M was not excellent. In fact I thought it rather average.

  • K-Project #2 2 years ago

    I think the general consensus was that Other M simply wasn't that great, so let's just leave it at that Nintendo.

  • nickthegun #3 2 years ago

    Terrible games behind poor sales

  • Jonny5Alive7 #4 2 years ago

    I'd say a lot of Wii and DS owners wouldn't have a clue about how to pirate games, so that isn't really the issue. Maybe the general Wii audience is more looking forwards to Just Dance 2 than Metroid.

  • Dylbot #5 2 years ago

    Metroid Other M was garbage, that's why it didn't sell well. Good on Nintendo to understand this instead of shifting the blame.

  • coolbritannia #6 2 years ago

    The 3D Metroid games have got less popular with each release, they're an awkward hybrid of shooter and puzzler and it doesn't sell that well. Piracy is not to blame.

  • Old_Books #7 2 years ago

    Thought Metroid Other M was rather brilliant. Each to his own and all that. Piracy had nothing to do with it's poor sales, though, IMO. It's never been a massive seller like Mario or Zelda.

  • Oh-Bollox #8 2 years ago

    The title alone is enough to put off a lot of people. It's not brain surgery. It's not rocket science. A lot of people have looked at it, thought "What the fuck is Other M?" and bought something with a straightforward moniker.
    Edited by Oh-Bollox at 08/10/10 @ 20:29

  • FreakyZoid #9 2 years ago

    Highest rated DS game. How did it sell?

    http://www.metacritic.com/game/ds/grand-...

  • WillTheSecond #10 2 years ago

    Other M was a very contentious step for Metroid fans and while it got good reviews, it didn't reach the stellar hight of the Prime Trilogy. I bought Prime 3 day 1, but Other M I haven't got yet. It's a hard sell.

  • Daryoon #11 2 years ago

    Metroid didn't make the UK top 10? Is that really that much of a surprise? Pokemon Black/White aren't going to sell nearly as well over here as they'll do in Japan/America either. Our gaming culture is just different, and Nintendo have never been popular with the 'core' gaming crowd in this country.

  • excelexcel #12 2 years ago

    Its refreshing to see a company not blame piracy for poor sales for once. Pokemon black/white will sell loads over here though the previous ones always have.

  • Oh-Bollox #13 2 years ago

    Nintendo have never been popular with the 'core' gaming crowd in this country.

    ...

  • Headless_Monkey_Boy #14 2 years ago

    To be Honest other M doesnt appeal to me, All Metroid games have you constantly rehashing the same areas (though the design in the prime series was fantastic it did feel like a grind at times) to get the predictable upgrades. They reputedly ruined the story and theres a bug somewhere that if i fall into i need to either start again or send off my save file and wait who knows how long to get it back.

    Seeing as i don't have much money at the mo i'd rather save for something better.

    However good 3rd party games do tend to struggle and it would be interesting to know why. eg no more heroes and red steel 2 and cursed mountain all did badly.

    Personally i'd put it down to the saturation of crap thats out on the wii, means people are more unwilling to take a chance on an unfamilier brand. Everyone knows what 'sing like Britneys' about and everyone knows that 'super mario' is going to be 'super mario' but what the hell is 'Muramasa' (if its even in the shops, it wasn't in Lancashire). Makes me worried about the future of games like 'a shadows tale' and other potential ips.

  • KDR_11k #15 2 years ago

    Highest rated DS game. How did it sell?

    Maybe that just shows that Metacritic isn't a good measure of the true quality of a game. GTA didn't really take off until it went 3D and because of that most people who are looking for a GTA game probably want a 3D GTA (you know, behind-the-shoulder view and all) so to the target audience (GTA players) Chinatown Wars was a bad game (it is top down).

  • Lusterpurge #16 2 years ago

    People need to realize that sales aren't wholly dependent on reviews or marketing. They are based on "mass appeal". Reviews and marketing do factor in somewhat, but the far bigger factors are brand recognition and target audience taste.

  • jamhead #17 2 years ago

    "Nintendo has refused to attribute low sales of Wii and DS games solely to piracy."

    Do they realise it's at least partly because their games now appear stupidly overpriced compared to the competition? I will not shell out 30 quid on a DS game when I know there are more than enough games to keep me preoccupied on my iPod for under four.

    Same goes for the Wii. The fact that Mario Kart Wii is still knocking around for 40 odd quid (in the shops) years after release is a pisstake when much more recent games like Uncharted 2 are now to be found for little more than a tenner.


  • SG #18 2 years ago

    People will always find ways to hack a console - Nintendo's handhelds have always been the easiest.

  • Canyarion #19 2 years ago

    Metroid games have never been huge sellers. Between 1 and 2 million lifetime sales (except for the original Metroid and Metroid Prime).
    I will probably get Metroid Other M one day, but not for full price. Until then, I can wait.

  • carrotcake #20 2 years ago

    Well 3DS should at least reduce the appeal of piracy. Play in an emulator on a regular monitor and you lose the 3D effect. And playing pirated games on the device itself should be a bit harder with the auto-updates from nintendo... and the recent R4-alike cards becoming illegal with sellers being shut down. And I agree with what's being said here; Metroid Other M has less mainstream appeal and is less good than Mario, that's why it didn't sell brilliantly.

  • trevd72 #21 2 years ago

    Other M is shite. the controls are rubbish! after finishing shadow complex i was excited for more metroid only to be disappointed.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #22 2 years ago

    It's hard to tell why Metroid M did not sell as much as Nintendo was hoping it would.

    It's kind of ironic when it comes to Nintendo games. If there is a game that I am interested in and it gets a 8/10 I usually get it, even when I don't really have the time for it. But, since Nintendo games are usually so brilliant I can safely say that a 8/10 for a Nintendo game does not scream "go out any buy it now" like it does with other developers/publishers because in comparison to pretty much all the other Nintendo games an 8 is "just average".

    I know it's stupid but that is the reason why I did not buy Other M yet. It's almost like I am expecting Nintendo games to review very, very well because they usually do - and when they don't I'm not sure if trying to make time to play the game will be worth it; Even though I do this for other developers because 8/10 is a fantastic score. But as I said, I'm spoiled by the quality of Nintendo games.

  • orangpelupa #23 2 years ago

    "Even with piracy, as long as we can create products which can attract attention from many consumers and which can greatly entertain them, that software can make it to the number one position of the hit software sales chart."

    i agree completely :D

    btw pirate is not always the same as loss sale.
    not all pirate are a potential buyer.

    btw try if have time, have a vacation in Indonesia. All you can see in shopping mall is pirated games.
    as for the gamer, if there no pirated games, many will just move on to other thing.
    so it will become lost console sales.

    but this getting better slowly here. With Steam and then EA also have official distributor here. Slowly, original games are penetrating the piracy market.
    Edited by orangpelupa at 09/10/10 @ 02:26

  • layleeloo #24 2 years ago

    What???? For anyone to think piracy in any format does not impact sales is seriously delusional. I welcome any steps manufacturers of anything take to prevent piracy. Those net freaks who claim Free Enterprise - bollocks. It's common theft however you cut it. But as we all know, behind a screen and keyboard all morals seem to go out of the window with a lot of people these days.

    @orangpelupa. "as for the gamer, if there no pirated games, many will just move on to other thing. so it will become lost console sales."
    Maybe thats the case, if people cant play pirated games they wont sell as many consoles. But so what? The price markup on new consoles is so minimal that manufaturers dont make that much anyway. most profit comes from the games as any retailer will tell you - look at PS3, was actually a loss for Sony at the start. So, a few lost consoles to those wankers who never buy an original game, is something I am sure manufacturers - and proper retail buying fans could put with.
    Edited by layleeloo at 09/10/10 @ 02:52

  • orangpelupa #25 2 years ago

    @layleeloo
    the console that selling hot in my country is :
    NDS, Wii, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP. These console have profit margin on every hardware sold.
    according some gamestore i ask, the current top selling is still the PS2.

    PS3 still catching up here.
    The bad news is, since PS Jailbreak come to my country. Many game store sell PS3 bundled with HDD full of pirated games .....
    Edited by orangpelupa at 09/10/10 @ 04:30

  • Der_tolle_Emil #26 2 years ago

    There are countries where people buy consoles simply because they can get pirated games as the market is based on them, like already mentioned, but I think this is a completely different topic. Console manufactors are completely aware of this and would not even think about getting sales there - in most cases they don't even release the hardware.

    It's also quite different when we are talking about consoles or PC I think. Piracy on consoles is in most cases not as rampant as on the PC. I also think that a downloaded game might not necessarily mean that a company just lost money because often people download games they would not have bought anyway. It's really hard to say how many downloads are in fact lost sales. Piracy certainly does not help in any way but I think when it comes to consoles Nintendo is right; Piracy is not the main reason for poor sales like many people like to say it is.

  • mAc062 #27 2 years ago

    I have a wii and I never use the thing. I cant think of more than 7 or 8 decent games on it and those I've borrowed from friends the rest are shovelware crap.

  • penhalion #28 2 years ago

    "Then again, maybe he's not. The excellent Metroid: Other M failed to trouble the UK all formats top 10 when it launched last month. "

    Er it wasn't excellent it was rather naff and hard to control actually! A simply case of reviewers exagerating the facts again. As a result good old word of mouth mean't that loads of us gamers simply gave it a miss.

  • TheTrueSpin #29 2 years ago

    What Nintendo don't seem to realise is that just because they tricked every mum, dad and granny into buying a Wii, most of these people will never buy anything other than Wii sports.

  • Kami #30 2 years ago

    "Do they realise it's at least partly because their games now appear stupidly overpriced compared to the competition? I will not shell out 30 quid on a DS game when I know there are more than enough games to keep me preoccupied on my iPod for under four."

    Agree with the point that Nintendo games are a bit pricey long after release.

    Strongly disagree with the silly Apple comparisons.

  • superbeast2010 #31 2 years ago

    Post deleted at 10:57:39 01-02-2012

  • Trikk #32 2 years ago

    Many still don't "get" piracy.

    Why are people who have unlimited full duplex 100mbps Internet connections and paid Usenet services still buying games?

  • layleeloo #33 2 years ago

    @Trikk. Becasue they appreciate the industry and are not blatant common theives!?

    Like a lot of people I am not uncommon in that I have a whopping bandwidth (oooh errrr! ;-) and could access any pirate sites or peer to peer netoworks but I simply refuse to download any pirated game becasue I support the industry. Predominantly through release day purchases and the odd second hand game. Doesnt matter what equipment you have - there is no exuse for piracy. The is nothing "to get" or understand about piracy other than it is blatant common theft. As its virtual though people don't see themselves as common theives - the same as shoplifters or muggers - and there lies the problem. Peoples undeerstanding or lack of concience of what piracy really is.
    Edited by layleeloo at 09/10/10 @ 15:55

  • layleeloo #34 2 years ago

    @orangpelupa. I agree yes, many consoles do have profit margin yes but I mean that the profit margin percentage wise is not as high as games. I remeber when the 360 came out (my best mate own an independant games store) that the cost price was so high that you made as much on a machine as you did a single game. Sony also didn't offer discounts for multiple purchases s it didnt matter if you were HMV or a ratailer - you wer epaying the same for a PS3. Hence why retailers like attachment rates as you make much more profit percentage on games that you do machines, hence why I wrote my comment.

    It is astonishing that some countries sell machines with pirated games pre installed like you say. Never right.

  • darth_paul #35 2 years ago

    it has been all too common for the industry to justify bad sales with piracy... ignoring that maybe the games they're trying to sell arent that good after all. "Other M" might be good, but its certainly not great. Kudos to Iwata for his intelligence.

    Others would just attribute bad sales to piracy and keep thinking that, werent for the pirates, the game would have been a huge sucess

    @ BuckoA51
    Nintendo games rarely go down in price. there may be exceptions, but generaly Nintendo thinks that games should always keep their full price (look at mario galaxy, mario kart, zelda,...almost all of them still up there). IMHO, that a wrong policy, and I just end up buy a lot less for the wii/ds, and when i finally do buy a game, its usually 2nd hand.
    Edited by darth_paul at 09/10/10 @ 16:21

  • Trikk #36 2 years ago

    @layleeloo

    Yes, because that's what people usually mean when they say "get"; that people literally do not understand how do to it! Such an unbelievably childish debating technique coming from someone acting holier than thou. It's also funny that you call pirates thieves when you are hurting the game developers much more with your second-hand purchases. A second-hand purchase is a direct loss of a sale and taking money you would have spent on games and giving it to middle-men instead. It is the actual experience without paying the creators and investors, unlike piracy which is just a copy of the experience and could result in a sale if the person wants the actual experience at any point.

    Piracy is a violation of copyright. It's not theft as it isn't taking anything from the person who owns the intellectual property. Piracy exists mostly because of one reason: availability. Write a string of text and you are now downloading the game you want to play. You will never completely get rid of piracy as long as it is easier to pirate a game than paying for it. Pricing is what drives the volume of gaming piracy of course. Someone playing 20 new games a month has to shell out €1000 while someone who watches 20 new movies a month has to shell out €100. Game publishers and distributors charge an order of magnitude more for their products even though both have comparable budgets.

    Nowadays, there's another thing to consider: features. 10 years ago, pirated games had the same features at best and were a much poorer experience at worst. Today, many pirated games have more features than the retail versions. The greed of the gaming business have stripped many essential features such as LAN play from games, often to "combat piracy". These features are of course elementary to add to the game, so the question becomes: do I pay €50 for a game that is tied to this Internet service and has less features or get a free copy from anywhere that has more features?

    Of course the person in my example earlier pirates some games, that wasn't the point as you probably know but couldn't find an argument against. The point is that he still buys games. Not to act holier than thou on Internet forums; it's simply because he is a gamer and wants the game. A pirated copy is never the actual game unlike a second-hand copy. Piracy spreads the game, spreads the word, turns people into fans and costs the company nothing. Second-hand copies don't spread the game more than a retail copy would and actually costs money to produce in the first place.

  • richyroo #37 2 years ago

    Well you succeeded Nintendo in gaining the large casual market whilst you have lost a lot of your core demographic. Its quite simple, the casual market just dont buy many games.
    I used to buy loads of games for your consoles over the years, but ultimately sold my Wii because there wasnt enough to appeal to me. Im worried that whilst you are enjoying high success with console sales, that this shift to the casual gamer will ultimately be your downfall.

    The DS on the otherhand I believe IS down to piracy. I dont know 1 person with a DS who DOESNT own an R4 card or similar.
    Edited by richyroo at 09/10/10 @ 20:33

  • layleeloo #38 2 years ago

    @Trikk. i have to dissagree with nearly everything you say. Although I may buy one second hand game per 20 brand new, second hand games are not more damaging than blatant theft at all.

    I can't believe you are trying to justify piracy saying it doesnt hurt anyone but turns people into fans? it may turn people into fans but they are still stealing peoples products. You say it costs the developers nothing? Erm, it costs them the rrp of the sale. Im sorry but I read all the time in press from pirates saying they download things and if they like it they go an buy it? Well I know enough people who download and pirate and not one of them has ever gone out and purchased an original of something they love. Im not saying that it definately doesnt happen, but it doesnt happen enough to justify the cause.

    I would love to see your opinions (althought it will be easy for you to say they would be the same) if you were the producer of a product which you were trying to sell, but people kept stealing it for free. Im sure your opinions would change then.

    Some points you make may well be viable but I'm sorry, you can not deny that piracy in any way shape or form is theft. Always has been, always will be. No matter what spin people try to put on it. Unless a product is produces as freeware of course. Whether its films, music or games - taking either of them without paying for them is theft. Its a black and white issue. Which funnily enough the law states also. Not that im a stickler for law and everything that is right, but I do believe that if you have a hobby or a love for something, there is no reason why you would not support that industry by paying for those products.

    As for second hand games - thats a whole sepearate debate which i've discussed on here many a time. Being a great believer in the recent attempts to charge for things for second hand buyers to give the publisher money. Plus many people buy content for second hand games which goes to the developer so although buyng second hand does not go to the developer, a lot of content purcased for second hand games does. Thus, still supporting the industry and most importantly the artists/developers. There is no comparison between second hand buying and piracy.

    I'm not holier than thou, but with a collection of over 1700 CD albums, 800+ DVDs, and most game platforms released on the last several generations I like to think i support the industry by purchasing my items - so I can take pride in my collection which with a pirated game, you rarely can (unless you make a nice box for them but hey, its still not quite the same is it).

    Edited by layleeloo at 09/10/10 @ 20:48

  • Lee_Morris #39 2 years ago

    Why are Wii games mentioned in a news story on piracy? Metroid didn't sell gang busters out of the gate because it's a 'core' game on the Wii. I believe a good majority of these gamers, myself included, have moved onto gaming on the HD consoles. Of course Galaxy 2 seems to debunk this but Mario is Mario. If the game was called Space Ace (stupid name but bare with me) it wouldn't have sold half as well.

  • Tad59 #40 2 years ago

    "good games sell well" Yes Nintendo, that's true! How about making some instead of milk the same old franchises?

  • Trikk #41 2 years ago

    Although I may buy one second hand game per 20 brand new, second hand games are not more damaging than blatant theft at all.

    Do you understand what an argument is? "Nuh-uh" is not an argument, for example.

    I can't believe you are trying to justify piracy saying it doesnt hurt anyone but turns people into fans?

    I'm not trying to justify piracy. I'm trying to explain why it exists and why it doesn't destroy the gaming industry as it would if anything you said was true. It's not theft by any meaningful definition (legal, economical, social, etc).

    Well I know enough people who download and pirate and not one of them has ever gone out and purchased an original of something they love.

    This is a blatant lie. How could you possibly even know this? And you follow this definite statement up with: "Im not saying that it definately doesnt happen (sic)"

    There is no comparison between second hand buying and piracy.

    Of course you can compare them. You cannot just simply state things and have them become truth or fact. I agree though, that they aren't the same: second-hand sales are directly hurting retail sales while piracy doesn't.

    I'm not holier than thou, but with a collection of over 1700 CD albums, 800+ DVDs, and most game platforms released on the last several generations I like to think i support the industry by purchasing my items - so I can take pride in my collection which with a pirated game, you rarely can (unless you make a nice box for them but hey, its still not quite the same is it).

    So you finally admit my original point is true? Great then. I only wish you would have saved everyone the time and actually read the posts instead of starting some pointless discussion.

    By the way, if you understood the definition of stealing you would never utter a retarded phrase like "stealing for free".

  • smelly #42 2 years ago

    *sigh*.. so his whole talk was misquoted.. If you listen to it what he's saying is (paraphrasing) "We MUST make good products.. we are losing sales to piracy - but we cant blame piracy.. if you make good products people will buy"

    Basically he's reasrruing his shareholders that bad piracy on the DS doesnt mean game over.

    The problem is, thanks to this misquote, dickhe@ds like campbell and some of you will tkae that as meaning "See, even the head of nintendo says piracy doesnt effect game sales"

    and use that to justify their cheapness and communist idealisms.

  • smelly #43 2 years ago

    On topic of second hand sales.. One BOUGHT game might be resold 2 to 5 times.,, Maybe at an absolute push 10 or 20 times.. A pirated game is bought onces, and pirated THOUSANDS of times.. Sometimes tens/hundreds of thousands of times.

    My research when GTA Chinatown was released, there were 400 times more seeds on the torrent sites the week it was released than sold.. And thats SEEDS not downloads.

    So, as much as the pirates would have you believe buying second hand is worse.. it's clearly a load of bullsht to make them feel better about being cheap assess who still live in their parents basement - like a certain stuart still does.

  • bf #44 2 years ago

    Having recently bought a Wii I think the platforms core problem is the availability of games. Something I felt I should have done prior to my purchase was checking for available games. When I do it now and try to find top rated games for the Wii at my usual e-tailors they are all more or less listed as "out of stock" and some of them where even released this year.
    I have a feeling that the Wii crowd are more slow moving buyers than those for the 360 and PS3, working on the assumption that the average Wii gamer is a more casual gamer they might have oh lets say a third of the game consumption rate than that for other platforms. But it doesn't seem to work like this in the minds of publishers, if a game doesn't sell a million copies after 15 min on market it considered a dud and scrapped and thus, my personal logic I know, they will never see high sales on the Wii and development efforts dwindle.
    I think they also should do a "Player's choice" line for the Wii.

    With all that said I'm quite happy that I've bought a console from people that doesn't blame everything from the poor weather to cancer on piracy.

  • IronCladChicken #45 2 years ago

    @layleeloo
    Apparently Nintendo disagree...

    @jamhead
    Nintendo don't decide the retail price, thats up to the retailer. I'd guess the games are selling at that price because people are buying them at that price (either that or Game, etc.. don't really know how to handle a console with a non-standard business model)?)

    @Tad59
    On ALL consoles it's the known franchises that make the money whatever box you have... unless there were shoddy Halo sales I was unaware of?- & Nintendo arn't as aggresive as Activision with this policy.

    @bf
    It annoys me that older Nintendo games seem to dissapear too quickly - While I can still easily buy launch games for my XBox

  • layleeloo #46 2 years ago

    @Trikk. Your original point is utter shit as everyone on this forum things. As for not reading things properly I suggest you read my post again and understand it

    "This is a blatant lie. How could you possibly even know this? And you follow this definite statement up with: "Im not saying that it definately doesnt happen (sic"

    I said - I KNOW people who.... So therefore you know better than I my friends do you?? i think not. I said I KNOW enough people who download and pirate and not one of them buys the original of anything they love.

    I then said, I am not saying it never happens in the wider world, but the percentage is so tiny its insignificant.

    So I suggest you actually read what people write, before you criticise them for not doing so. Hypocricy at its highest? I think so.

    As for your excuse of trying to justify WHY people pirate or download, its simple. They are cheapstake skinflint wankers who have no passion or morals for the industry they love, which they would rather rape than support.

    No matter what you say - theres no exucuse for it. Point blank.

    hahaha - this proves my point you have no idea about the subject matter you are tyring to justify. "By the way, if you understood the definition of stealing you would never utter a retarded phrase like "stealing for free"." hahahah. Stealing for free is a very relevant term in download and piracy. For the simply reasons stealing is getting something for free yes - like shoplifting. However downloading for example, can be a pay service too. Peer to peer networks like WIn MX and the like used to charge for membership so you could steal media. So, then you are in a way paying to steal - however paying the network and not the source. Nowardays with places like Pirate bay and the like, you do not even need to pay - hence the term, stealing for free. I think you need to be quiet now as you have no idea what you are talking about do you?
    Edited by layleeloo at 10/10/10 @ 13:59

  • orangpelupa #47 2 years ago

    @eurogamer
    looking at the comments here,

    can eurogamer please make an article about piracy?
    and looked from many perspectives and region.

    But for the start can just start at EU/NA/US/UK region. My country (ASIA region) seems like an odd case. Its harder to buy original than pirated games in Indonesia lol. And most of the gamer event dont know that they buy pirated games.

    the gamers also dont even know how to "install" game on Nintendo DS Flashcard. So the gamestore usually sell Rp 10.000 (about 1USD) @ pirated game to be installed to the mSD to be played on the FlashCart.

    What the normal gamer know is just that they buy game that work with their console.

    hmm, maybe game companies need to release a special version for countries like Indonesia. Release the original games in very low price (or FREE), but fill it with advertisement.
    in indonesia, Newspaper is almost free, Television Channel (anime, movies, news, international Soccer Show, F1 Race, etc, etc) is free of cost. Because the business get the money from ads.

    (spongebob squarepants here duration total 30minutes, advertisement differ from 10minutes to 15minutes, and still have ON SCREEN advertisement displayed while the cartoon playing)

    sorry im getting OOT,
    but i kind of concerned with my country condition.
    Edited by orangpelupa at 10/10/10 @ 14:20

  • Dirtbox #48 2 years ago

    This article caused Kotick to implode.

    And nobody missed him.

  • darth_paul #49 2 years ago

    @smelly
    "My research when GTA Chinatown was released, there were 400 times more seeds on the torrent sites the week it was released than sold.. And thats SEEDS not downloads"

    yes, but the question is: "would those 400 people buy the game, had they not downloaded it"? the executives all believe that "yes. all 400 would have bought the game. we LOST 400 sales... ", but honestly noone believes that to be true.

  • VeggieWokker #50 2 years ago

    I never pirate console games, as they have no DRM issues like limited activations or the constant need for an internet connection. Console gaming is important to me, so I purchase my games to make sure the next batch can be made.

    LoL @ the "excellent" Other M. Playing it feels like work, except you don't get paid. It throws most of the classic elements of Metroid out the window to please the casual crowd (admitted by Sakamoto) but the big joke is the casual crowd did not buy into it. Sales dropped after the first week, as people got their hands on the game and told their friends just how "excellent" it was.

  • Kalak #51 2 years ago

    @JAMHEAD
    "...I will not shell out 30 quid on a DS game when I know there are more than enough games to keep me preoccupied on my iPod for under four. ..."

    a DS game is A LOT better than a iPod game. So, yes, it costs more. But I agree that Nintendo games ARE overpriced.

  • smelly #52 2 years ago

    @darth_paul : So the assumption is - if a pirate never buys games, and only pirates them... Would he buy said games if he was no longer able to pirate them?

    If there was absolutely no way at all to play pirated games for ANY platform.. Would said pirate just not play games any more, or would he actually buy some?

    If the former, fair enough.. if the latter.. then yes, he is a lost sale.

    Who'd buy a gaming platform and NOT want to play games on it?

  • smelly #53 2 years ago

    @JAMHEAD
    "...I will not shell out 30 quid on a DS game ...."

    So, dont then.. If you dont think they're worth the price.. Dont buy them.. and dont pirate them either.. because by pirating them you prove that you DO want to play said games...

    I dont want to shell out a grand for a new 3d tv.. so i dont.. I dont use that as justification for breaking into the stop and stealing it (this is where some twat pipes up and goes "ooooh.. you're wrong.. piracy isnt stealing.. i still live at home in my mums basement and i'm 35.. oooh.. I've never kissed a girl... etc etc";)

  • darth_paul #54 2 years ago

    @smelly
    "If there was absolutely no way at all to play pirated games for ANY platform.. Would said pirate just not play games any more, or would he actually buy some?"

    If piracy would disappear tomorrow, of course the pirates would buy games (assuming they enjoy playing games). But I dont agree with the games executives/forum members when they say that "400 downloaded games" are "400 lost sales". I don't believe that to be (honnestly) the case, knowing human greed/motivations. There are a lot of people pirating them because they're greedy (want to own everything, dont ever actually end up playing 99% of what they download), its cheaper, or any other reason.
    But if piracy didn't exist, I think that, out of the 400 people that would download it, i think around 100-150 would actually buy it. So yeah, you can say that piracy loses a company around 40%... but not 100% (there are just many other factors that make a pirates download a game, and ACTUALLY wanting to play a game is a lot of times NOT the primary factor, i recon

  • zackforester #55 2 years ago

    Piracy doesn't meet the definition of theft. Theft implies that you're taking something from someone without their consent, which in this case would happen to be video games but can also apply the movies or DvDs. The problem arises when you bring into play the fact that the majority of games will make back their base production cost. At best you might be guilty of stealing a DVD and plastic case and the publisher is just as guilty of price gouging anyone willing to shell out after that point. Bottom line is, the majority of people who pirate things were never going to buy them in the first place. Sure they can pass on their word of mouth and tell other people that they enjoyed or didn't enjoy something and that could potentially generate sales, but unless you were pirating something that didn't or won't ever recoup it's production budget, you're not actually taking anything away from the publisher.

    That being said the publishers are also retarded and basing their sales off of horribly flawed price models. Most people I know don't have $60 USD to shell out every week because they're living paycheck to paycheck and if you look at the 40%+ poverty levels in the US, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. People on this board are entirely right: $40+ for a game after it's been on the market for 2+ years is extortion. This is the reason there is such a thriving and growing secondary and piracy market, and if you read any respectable literature secondary markets in which a middle man takes 100% of the profits away from the publisher actually drive primary sales, then it's impossible to sit there and say that the piracy doesn't also drive sales. Publishers want to sell games? $50 or $60 base game. $75 or $80 special edition for every game that they release. 2 months down the line, if you haven't recouped your production cost, you're probably never going to. Price drop to $20, no more special additions. $5 and $10 DLCs for the majority of games.

  • zackforester #56 2 years ago

    The whole piracy/antipiracy issue is a farce created by people who expect you pay full price, from the publisher everytime. It's the free market. If someone can't afford something, and can get it for reduced cost, or free, they're going to get it for reduced cost or free. You're not going to pay full price for something you don't have to pay full price for. That's the way consumerism works and people who buy used games are just as liable for the publishers loses as the people selling them.

    Secondly, most of the stuff that the industry sells is absolute garbage, or just a total rehash of everything they've already done with new and improved "pretty lights". If you want to get someone to buy something(especially at such a markup), you have to actually give someone a reason to want to buy it at that markup. You can't just offer the same thing everyone else is offering(at less or free) and expect consumers to pay you a higher price for it. That's called demand. If you try and sell a product that has no value, or a value far below the asking price, you're not going to generate any demand for it. Create something of value and offer it at a fair price and it will fly off of the shelves. The whole argument against piracy and other secondary markets is publishers crying that they don't make a compelling enough reason to purchase something from them, and then crying to the courts to demand that people pay their markup and fine those who don't for thousands of dollars and if you don't believe that, you're kidding yourself.
    Edited by zackforester at 24/10/10 @ 16:25