PSP Title Leak irony

[Shifty Geezer]

Though a handheld subject, I thought this worth mentioning as general talk. It seems a beta build of the upcoming Gangs of London has been released over BitTorrent.

A Sony spokeperson's comment are here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=18745 and when you consider the game material, you see an interesting mixed message

 

[Jabjabs]

Ha, I completely forgot about this game. Personally I don't mind these leaks, while the companies the make the games hate the leaks, I feel that they give the fans a small peak into what it will be like and that's not all bad as long as they realize the early state of the leaks.

It's like the leaks of Doom 3 and Half Life 2, they show people that the projects are on track for what people want.

 

[DudeMiester]

I agree. I got the Doom 3 leak, and now I own 2 copies of the game. iD has nothing to complain about!

 

[Shifty Geezer]

This ties in with findings of music ripping. Last I heard pirate music actually increased sales on the whole with more exposure. It certainly hasn't decreased sales. I remember a conference where a number of devs were saying 'the people that are pirating our games were never going to buy them anyway, so we're not losing any money on them'.

And as for funding organised crime, I thought organised crime was cool? It's generally portrayed as such...

 

[rabidrabbit]

Shouldn't this have been posted in the "Handhelds" area?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Though it's on PSP, I though the subject of piracy leaks (and silly comments) was broader than just the handheld audience.

 

[DudeMiester]

This ties in with findings of music ripping. Last I heard pirate music actually increased sales on the whole with more exposure. It certainly hasn't decreased sales. I remember a conference where a number of devs were saying 'the people that are pirating our games were never going to buy them anyway, so we're not losing any money on them'.

And as for funding organised crime, I thought organised crime was cool? It's generally portrayed as such...

This is true to a point. If it's so easy to pirate that any half-brained fool can do it, then you've got problems. On the other hand, if it's hard enough that only those who really are interested, likely to tell their friends and learn the program get it, then you profit in the long run. Of course, ideally you would just make a full version freely available for non-commerical puposes, but force anyone who wants it to send in verifying credentials. This way it's accessible and you can keep tabs on it (more or less).

 

[zed]

Last I heard pirate music actually increased sales on the whole with more exposure

fire your source

cd sales account for over >90% sales

cd sales
2000 730million
2001 712
2002 649
2003 635
2004 651 (increase)
2005 598

 

[Iron Tiger]

fire your source

cd sales account for over >90% sales

cd sales
2000 730million
2001 712
2002 649
2003 635
2004 651 (increase)
2005 598

That's because Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake killed the music industry.

 

[Jabjabs]

cd sales account for over >90% sales

cd sales
2000 730million
2001 712
2002 649
2003 635
2004 651 (increase)
2005 598

You would also have to factor in the sales from online services like iTunes that have gone well above a billion songs at the moment.

And as for funding organised crime, I thought organised crime was cool? It's generally portrayed as such...

... on that copy of GTA you bought from the shift guy you meet in an ally.