Scary, yeah, but so is every major change. I'm not sure why you're looking at it as a collapse, where it could be seen as a renaissance. Do you believe that such a collapse will be followed by nothing? Cause to me it sounds more like a restructuring.
(Shrug) You may be right. There certainly is a greater degree of infrastructure for the industry to fall back on this time around. I would again point to Valve, Blizzard, and OnLive. I'm certain that all of those companies would welcome an increased developer presence with open arms. If an industry collapse occurred, purchasing stock in those companies would be prudent, they will have a lot of business coming their way.
The big-budget, mega-publisher industry WOULD collapse though. The next big-budget game that got released wouldn't sell even close enough to cover its development costs. (let alone its marketing budget) At every store where people were lined-up to purchase a copy, there would be one person standing around with a stack of pirated copies to hand out to everyone. And the majority of people would take the pirated copy and leave. After all, if its legal, who's going to stop them? The reason no one does this RIGHT NOW, is because the store owner would call the police.
And its worth pointing out that video games and digital entertainment are not the only industries that would be affected this way. Every book ever written would be available for free download within a week. With inexpensive e-Readers so popular and prolific, the publishing industry would implode. Who's going to spend $50 on the latest hardback when they could spend the same amount on an e-Reader, and keep an entire library on it?
The exact same scenario would happen for movies and music.
If you give copyright laws the axe, you would be burning down a lot more than just Activision. Professional authors would have no way to monetize their writing. Big-budget films would suffer horribly without DVD residuals to fall back on.
Doesn't that contradict itself? If devs like Blizzard and Valve are canny, shouldn't we aspire to move in that direction? Why should we rely on, as you put it, backwards and broken console/retail system instead of moving forward with the times?
Oh, believe you me, my first retail release will either be on AppStore or Steam. And there are a lot of other developers who are more than happy to move in this direction. This is exactly why so many PC developers have been hot on the MMO kick, despite the fact that none of them can measure up to WoW. There is a much greater level of security, and plenty more opportunities for monetization. However, all of these models are designed to take control of content away from the end consumer.
And that brings us to OnLive. OnLive is specifically designed to remove access to content from the consumer. And it is able to do this in such a way that it actually provides a better service and experience than most traditional retail games. This is the direction that the industry is headed in. And it is because the end consumer cannot be trusted to responsibly handle access to digital content.
It strikes me that the whole anti-piracy thing is really just serving to hold us back in the long run. You said it yourself, we're relying on a backwards system.
It is a backwards system, but copyright law is not what is backwards about it. It is backwards because of a reliance on the physical medium. But there has been a movement away from this for over a decade, and the pace is increasing. There will be a major upheaval in the system, but it won't come from abolishing copyright law. Copyright law isn't really the problem.
I mean, right now with the amount of protection provided to the industry, there's a very significant sum on money flowing from the population into the development of games. So we know for a fact that the money is there, and people are willing to spend it in that way. I don't see that ever changing. The only thing I imagine changing is the specifics of what they'll be spending it on. Maybe the reason we're struggling is because people just don't want to spend their money on the stuff you described? Maybe they want more and more stuff like what Blizz/Valve/CCP and the likes provide? Is it not possible that we're making products that the public thinks are good enough to play, but not good enough to pay for? Which would then explain the entire phenomena of piracy.
No, that is not the problem. If people CAN get things without paying for them, they WILL. The quality of the product being stolen is irrelevant. There are people who will acquire things that they have absolutely no need, or even desire for. They get these things JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN. It is dangerous to assume that everyone operates on logic or rational reasoning. It is dangerous to assume that everyone has good taste, and can readily identify quality.
This isn't about companies like EA getting a free ride due to the NFL licence. They pull that off based on general human ignorance. I can't really fault them for that.
It is a backwards system, but copyright law is not what is backwards about it. It is backwards because of a reliance on the physical medium. But there has been a movement away from this for over a decade, and the pace is increasing. There will be a major upheaval in the system, but it won't come from abolishing copyright law. Copyright law isn't really the problem.
Yeah, that's true. I guess I'm looking at it as something like, imagine if there were a set of laws to protect the horse&carriage. We would have an obsolete horse industry right along side automobiles.
The big-budget, mega-publisher industry WOULD collapse though.
Haha, I used to be like that;
"I don't like this series, it's mainstream stuff and doesn't deserve the success it gets"
Then I realized everyone has their own taste.
Coincidently, there's alot of people who think the same of world of warcraft, and even minecraft.
Haha, I used to be like that;
"I don't like this series, it's mainstream stuff and doesn't deserve the success it gets"
Then I realized everyone has their own taste.
Coincidently, there's alot of people who think the same of world of warcraft, and even minecraft.
Well, I just mean that there are way more editions of John Madden than there needs to be.
Yeah, you can't lay the Madden phenomenon at the feet of the game's industry, or copyright law, or even EA. It is a product of the sports industry, the NFL in particular, and very much so the fans of the NFL. Once again, the issue isn't copyright so much as it is branding. Even if you did manage to scrap the entire copyrighting system, it wouldn't solve Madden. (since trademarks would still be in effect)
Uninformed or just blindly stupid sports fans buy Madden because...
1. It has official NFL trademarks and statistics slathered all over it.
2. It says "Madden" on the cover.
The NFL didn't have to sign over exclusive licencing to EA. NFL fans don't have to keep buying Madden. This isn't really a monopoly. Any and all "ideas" related to the sport of football are fair game. It's all just a big hoopla over the power of the NFL and Madden branding.
Do keep in mind that eventually they will likely tap out the Madden branding. Sales for the series have been steadily declining over the past few years. They still turn a fantastic profit with it, but nothing lasts forever.
Like Fallout, Gears of War, Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Deadspace, Mirror's Edge, Saints Row, Mass Effect, etc, etc, etc.
And yeah, Madden has its place as well.
A healthy market supports a variety of price points and development costs. Piracy has nothing to do with a healthy market.
Piracy is not some grassroots campaign against the man or casual game(r)s or anything else. Selling $60 games with $40 million budgets isn't bad for the market, either.
Like Fallout, Gears of War, Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Deadspace, Mirror's Edge, Saints Row, Mass Effect, etc, etc, etc.
And yeah, Madden has its place as well.
A healthy market supports a variety of price points and development costs. Piracy has nothing to do with a healthy market.
Piracy is not some grassroots campaign against the man or casual game(r)s or anything else. Selling $60 games with $40 million budgets isn't bad for the market, either.
Those games might be franchises like Madden, but they vary more from one edition to the next where Madden is a rehash of last year's edition.
Those games might be franchises like Madden, but they vary more from one edition to the next where Madden is a rehash of last year's edition.
And what does that have to do with piracy or the games industry as a whole?
They can't add a dozen new rules to Madden and a zombie mode (aside: why has no one made a new Mutant League Football?)
Madden sells because people want it. Each offering has new features, new rosters, etc. It fills a desire in the market and most importantly helps fund things like Dead Space and Mirror's Edge.
They can't add a dozen new rules to Madden and a zombie mode (aside: why has no one made a new Mutant League Football?)
Oh man, when I was a kid there was this Warhammer football game. That kind of stuff needs to make a comeback. The closest we have is Blitz, and that's not pushing it nearly far enough.
Replies
(Shrug) You may be right. There certainly is a greater degree of infrastructure for the industry to fall back on this time around. I would again point to Valve, Blizzard, and OnLive. I'm certain that all of those companies would welcome an increased developer presence with open arms. If an industry collapse occurred, purchasing stock in those companies would be prudent, they will have a lot of business coming their way.
The big-budget, mega-publisher industry WOULD collapse though. The next big-budget game that got released wouldn't sell even close enough to cover its development costs. (let alone its marketing budget) At every store where people were lined-up to purchase a copy, there would be one person standing around with a stack of pirated copies to hand out to everyone. And the majority of people would take the pirated copy and leave. After all, if its legal, who's going to stop them? The reason no one does this RIGHT NOW, is because the store owner would call the police.
And its worth pointing out that video games and digital entertainment are not the only industries that would be affected this way. Every book ever written would be available for free download within a week. With inexpensive e-Readers so popular and prolific, the publishing industry would implode. Who's going to spend $50 on the latest hardback when they could spend the same amount on an e-Reader, and keep an entire library on it?
The exact same scenario would happen for movies and music.
If you give copyright laws the axe, you would be burning down a lot more than just Activision. Professional authors would have no way to monetize their writing. Big-budget films would suffer horribly without DVD residuals to fall back on.
Oh, believe you me, my first retail release will either be on AppStore or Steam. And there are a lot of other developers who are more than happy to move in this direction. This is exactly why so many PC developers have been hot on the MMO kick, despite the fact that none of them can measure up to WoW. There is a much greater level of security, and plenty more opportunities for monetization. However, all of these models are designed to take control of content away from the end consumer.
And that brings us to OnLive. OnLive is specifically designed to remove access to content from the consumer. And it is able to do this in such a way that it actually provides a better service and experience than most traditional retail games. This is the direction that the industry is headed in. And it is because the end consumer cannot be trusted to responsibly handle access to digital content.
It is a backwards system, but copyright law is not what is backwards about it. It is backwards because of a reliance on the physical medium. But there has been a movement away from this for over a decade, and the pace is increasing. There will be a major upheaval in the system, but it won't come from abolishing copyright law. Copyright law isn't really the problem.
No, that is not the problem. If people CAN get things without paying for them, they WILL. The quality of the product being stolen is irrelevant. There are people who will acquire things that they have absolutely no need, or even desire for. They get these things JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN. It is dangerous to assume that everyone operates on logic or rational reasoning. It is dangerous to assume that everyone has good taste, and can readily identify quality.
This isn't about companies like EA getting a free ride due to the NFL licence. They pull that off based on general human ignorance. I can't really fault them for that.
Yeah, that's true. I guess I'm looking at it as something like, imagine if there were a set of laws to protect the horse&carriage. We would have an obsolete horse industry right along side automobiles.
That would be good though, in many people's eyes.
Except you'll necessarily see certain types of games disappear.
The industry shouldn't consist entirely of publisher-driven, AAA blockbuster titles. But there is a place for them.
You mean like the tedious John Madden series?
Haha, I used to be like that;
"I don't like this series, it's mainstream stuff and doesn't deserve the success it gets"
Then I realized everyone has their own taste.
Coincidently, there's alot of people who think the same of world of warcraft, and even minecraft.
Well, I just mean that there are way more editions of John Madden than there needs to be.
Uninformed or just blindly stupid sports fans buy Madden because...
1. It has official NFL trademarks and statistics slathered all over it.
2. It says "Madden" on the cover.
The NFL didn't have to sign over exclusive licencing to EA. NFL fans don't have to keep buying Madden. This isn't really a monopoly. Any and all "ideas" related to the sport of football are fair game. It's all just a big hoopla over the power of the NFL and Madden branding.
Do keep in mind that eventually they will likely tap out the Madden branding. Sales for the series have been steadily declining over the past few years. They still turn a fantastic profit with it, but nothing lasts forever.
Like Fallout, Gears of War, Halo, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Deadspace, Mirror's Edge, Saints Row, Mass Effect, etc, etc, etc.
And yeah, Madden has its place as well.
A healthy market supports a variety of price points and development costs. Piracy has nothing to do with a healthy market.
Piracy is not some grassroots campaign against the man or casual game(r)s or anything else. Selling $60 games with $40 million budgets isn't bad for the market, either.
Those games might be franchises like Madden, but they vary more from one edition to the next where Madden is a rehash of last year's edition.
And what does that have to do with piracy or the games industry as a whole?
They can't add a dozen new rules to Madden and a zombie mode (aside: why has no one made a new Mutant League Football?)
Madden sells because people want it. Each offering has new features, new rosters, etc. It fills a desire in the market and most importantly helps fund things like Dead Space and Mirror's Edge.
Oh man, when I was a kid there was this Warhammer football game. That kind of stuff needs to make a comeback. The closest we have is Blitz, and that's not pushing it nearly far enough.
greevar <-> Minecraft creator
One and the same? :P
If only!