Notebook Critic

Games, pirates and platforms – there is a complex relationship between these three.

Hyperbole aside, the era of cutting edge games on personal computers that we can build ourselves may be coming to an end. Sure, no amount of piracy is likely to kill the PC for its primary and intended purpose as a productivity tool but as a platform for games it is ailing.

What do games mean to the Windows PC?

A huge driver for advancement in the PC market comes from the need to play the latest games. Sure, high resolution photo and video work requires some power but a well maintained PC from 3-4 years ago will meet most people’s needs.

No other type of software pushes hardware as hard as games do. There is a healthy industry devoted to producing fast components to enable these games. For example even mainstream video accelerators in 2008 like the Geforce 8600 are faster than the best components from just a couple of years ago. This sort of progress is good for everyone.

Why don’t software makers protect their product, surely there is a way?

Publishers adopt ever more severe and intrusive copy protection schemes. These invariably fail. New solutions to the piracy problem turn up every few years but they all share the same fate. Either the scheme is too disruptive and consumers avoid software using the technology or pirates defeat the protection.

Who are these pirates?

Pirates are highly organized criminal groups.  Within these groups there are several roles. Runners/moles obtain software as early as possible. Crackers work on defeating the copy protection schemes and generating usable serial numbers and activation codes. Distributors get the finished product into people’s hands as quickly as possible – often before retail availability.

As for motive, they will cite freedom of speech and philosophically being at odds with digital rights management but all of that is non-sense. The reality is these people are not talented enough to make games. They crave the notoriety of releasing this contraband and what they do is not hard. Runners violate trust – betraying people is easy. Crackers use existing exploits with little or no creative thought. Distributors are simply dumb expendable patsies who don’t realize the nastiness that can result from their activities when they get caught.

You have to laugh at .nfo files in which pirates suggest buying a game if the user enjoys it.  You don’t steal a car to get back at alarm companies or insurers. And if you did, how likely would you be to go out and buy the same car new after you have a chance to drive 10,000 km on the stolen one?

Who downloads all this stuff?

People who can afford expensive hardware to run games, should be able to pay for games but the evidence says otherwise. Factor in the paucity of time an average person has, and it is hard to understand why these same folk can not buy a game every month or two.

The reality is that people do this because it is so easy and there is a perception of it being a victimless crime.

Is it kids? While there is a juvenile element, I have met many folks over the age of 30 who pirate. A kid can learn and change behavior, but grown ups know better and can afford to pay to play.

Another group is collectors who horde as many ISO files as they can, saving them on big drives for some mythical date when they will get around to playing them have the effect of skewing the numbers. These are folks who would rather collect than play games. They would have never bought the game in the first place. But a stolen copy of a game is what it is even if it lays unused in a CD folder or HDD somewhere.

So who do you believe, the doomsday people or the don’t panic crowd?

Don’t believe the counter-spin from the PC Gaming Alliance or the back pedaling by the fine chaps at Epic. This is all clever damage control. All these folks are saying is that PC games need to work on the majority of rigs that are sold every year – you know, the computational monsters that ship with integrated graphics or weak entry level dedicated video cards. In other words crap that won’t run crap.

Before this organization tackles piracy, they need to define what gaming on the PC is and create some standards. Casual games or 3-D blockbusters?  800 or 400 watt PSU? Shader model 3 or 4? AC’97 or 5.1? Developing this from scratch in a short time frame is going to be nearly impossible. Maybe they should revive the ancient MPC convention. While all this is happening, the piracy problem will continue and more developers will focus on consoles.

This has happened before. Other platforms became unattractive to developers for the same reasons. The Amiga is a classic example of a platform where piracy was rampant. It died as developers moved to platforms with consumers willing to pay for content.

Mac gaming died a similar death in the late 90s. Yes, Mac gaming is dead although it might be revived because the barrier to entry is so low now after the move to Intel. I say this as a long time Apple user and former Mac game reviewer.

One wonders about Vista sales. Gaming in DX10 was touted as a selling feature, but few games are really making an effort to make Vista an attractive platform versus XP. Even with the millions of new PCs sold with Vista installed, no developer wants to make their new game Vista exclusive (Halo 2 being the only exception I can think of). Why? Because 85% of the gamers who buy a Windows PC are not likely to pay for the software.

Even with fewer consoles on the market, the chance of making back the millions of dollars it takes to create a non-casual game is much greater on 360, PS3 or Wii.

Solutions:

Digital distribution might be one approach. Often it is inside sources that leak unreleased software to the pirate community. After decades of such leaks you have to ask why there has never been a clamp down.

Make examples out of zero day leakers. Throw the book at them. Ruin them completely and utterly and make sure everyone knows about it.

Stop selling products in countries where software theft is institutionalized. Don’t localize for these countries, and do not send software for printing to these places. I bought a game in Italy in the 90s, the counter clerk asked me point blank if I wanted the legit boxed copy or a duplicate that he would sell me in store for slightly less. I have heard similar stories from travelers to Asia.

Print your own games. If it has to be sold on a store shelf, make the entire product yourself. This is probably only feasible for the big guys like EA.

Offer rewards for information that leads to convictions. Pirates are low lifers that will turn on each other if offered an incentive to do so.