EA Chief Calls Pirated Sims 3 a "Demo"

[thiosk]

Poland and China?

Why those 2 countries? He's clearly making that up.

These two countries are notorious for piracy, to the level that you really do need subscription style content to even release something over there.

South america is getting that way as well.

China is also the primary reason why you have to activate your copy of windows.

 

[brewbeard]

I hope that statement is the result of an honest-to-goodness realization that DRM is not the way to approach game-protection, but at the same time I fear this will further the ongoing trend of pay-for-post-game-content that has been gaining ground this generation.

 

[zoozilla]

The fact that he's taking this with a sense of humor bodes well for once...

If 200 million copies are pirated, but 3 million copies are sold, you STILL SOLD 3 MILLION COPIES. Piracy be damned, that would still be a success. $3M x 59.99 = $179,970,000

And we all know that this time next year, their sales will have tripled because of re-ignited popularity from expansions. Sims is a long-term profit base, and they'll be crankin out cash for five or six years for this version.

Pretty sure The Sims 3 is selling for $49.99, so it would be 3M x 49.99 = $149,970,000, but the point remains the same.

Wonder how much it cost to make.

 

[capnjack]

Now that's pretty damn clever.

Though, it could be a fake just to fool the piraters into buying the game, who knows?

"Pirates" are already consumers, and there are studies indicating that people who download infringing content are also some of the most profitable demographics. That is because file-sharing on a massive scale is an amazing way to quickly and cheaply spread content, and I definitely believe that people love supporting (or at least owning) the content that they love. The majority of people I know download stuff illegal (it actually sounds a little retarded to me to call your average joe who uses limewire or thepiratebay a "pirate")

Thus far, all industries have constantly over-reacted to piracy and attempted to turn it into more of a threat than it actually is. The only threat in terms of piracy that exists is a bunch of incompetent businessmen who SUE THEIR CONSUMERS, put DRM on content, and do a bunch of other things to drive their consumers to find alternate means of obtaining content.

File-sharing is something businesses should take advantage of - it's great to see that the gaming industry is one step ahead of both the music and movie industry. Maybe if the RIAA and MPAA were dismantled, we'd see less wasteful spending on trying to pass laws to cripple the internet, and people would actually start competing with piracy.

 

[scotth266]

Hilarious. I still want to see the piracy numbers on the legit version though, just to satisfy my curiousity.

Hopefully this will get EA to realize that demos for everything is a good idea.

 

[Miral]

I totally called it. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/7.113919.2071073]

Still, it's good to actually see that EA is finally starting to see the light.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Poland and China?

Why those 2 countries? He's clearly making that up.

He was being facetious. They didn't actually release it as a demo, but Poland and China probably pirated it the most. So, he was referring to that in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

Ohh.

I had to look up facetious, y'know.

Seeing that comment from someone with a "burned-out loser"-looking avatar was just priceless. Thanks for the laughs. ;D

 

[DeathQuaker]

Well, I suppose this is better than sticking SecuROM on everything...

...The Sims 3 doesn't have SecuROM, right?

The disc version does not. [http://reclaimyourgame.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=24&Itemid=90] (Link points to folks who have tested it and found no evidence of SecuROM 7 or anything else that installs itself in a rootkit-like fashion.)

I understand that the digital download version does.

Regarding the article, I'm glad to hear Ricitiello talk about the need to provide services to customers---a startling concept, that, to reward the people who pay you money rather than punish them for buying your product.

At the same time he seems to be parrotting what his own detractors were saying not too long ago. It takes away from the genuineness of his argument.

 

[JayDub147]

I'm a bit wary of anything EA has to say, but for now I'll take it as a step, however small, in the right direction.

 

[Clashero]

Nice grammar, Ricittielo.
"not that different than a demo."

"If you see what we're doing with Madden Online, FIFA Ultimate Team or Sims 3, and Dragon Age is probably a 100-hour game by itself, "

Also, you're not beating the pirates. The online content can be cracked more easily than the full game, and sites like modthesims and thesimsresource have much much better content, for free.

 

[Gladion]

[...] So every legal costumer with no internet(and sims being the most casual game in existence there's a large amount of them)

What? Please let me interrupt you for a second there. Are you saying that casual gamers DO have computers to get a brand new game running (I admit, the graphics aren't extremely good looking, but they do demand a halfway decent system), but at the same time have NO internet connection? What do non-gamers use a computer for, if not the internet? I doubt all of them work at home.

Nice grammar, Ricittielo.
"not that different than a demo."

"If you see what we're doing with Madden Online, FIFA Ultimate Team or Sims 3, and Dragon Age is probably a 100-hour game by itself, "

Not everybody can be as perfect as you, you have to deal with that.

Also, you're not beating the pirates. The online content can be cracked more easily than the full game, and sites like modthesims and thesimsresource have much much better content, for free.

Yeah, down with the fucking companies. Serves them right, wanting money for their products.

 

[Clashero]

[...] So every legal costumer with no internet(and sims being the most casual game in existence there's a large amount of them)

What? Please let me interrupt you for a second there. Are you saying that casual gamers DO have computers to get a brand new game running (I admit, the graphics aren't extremely good looking, but they do demand a halfway decent system), but at the same time have NO internet connection? What do non-gamers use a computer for, if not the internet? I doubt all of them work at home.

Nice grammar, Ricittielo.
"not that different than a demo."

"If you see what we're doing with Madden Online, FIFA Ultimate Team or Sims 3, and Dragon Age is probably a 100-hour game by itself, "

Not everybody can be as perfect as you, you have to deal with that.

Also, you're not beating the pirates. The online content can be cracked more easily than the full game, and sites like modthesims and thesimsresource have much much better content, for free.

Yeah, down with the fucking companies. Serves them right, wanting money for their products.

1) I'm not expecting people to be perfect. I'm expecting the CEO of a humongous and very prominent company to have proper grammar when being interviewed or giving press conferences.

2) Again you misunderstand. I'm saying that what they're doing right now isn't doing anything to help diminish piracy, since the pirates can get the exact same product for 0% of the cost of the retail product Actually, compared to the digital version, the pirated version is superior, since it has no secuROM.
As has happened many times before, Shamus Young can say it much better than I. Here's a link to how piracy should be fought.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/5961-10-Ways-to-Fight-Piracy

Notice how EA accomplished only a few of the points made in the article. They half-did point 1, they did point 2 excellently, failed at the third (except in two countries), did the fourth, did not do the fifth, failed at the sixth, failed at the seventh even if they don't acknowledge it, failed catastrophically at the eighth, half-did the ninth by removing DRM from the retail version, but they at least end on a high note (and I'm talking Maria Callas high) by making good on the tenth.

 

[Jandau]

Call it spin doctoring or clever wording or whatnot, but there is a gem of wisdom hidden in there and is summed up fairly well by this sentence:

"And here's the trick: it's not the answer because this foils a pirate, but it's the answer because it makes the service so valuable that in comparison the packaged good is not."

This is what so many of us have been saying all along. Instead of combating piracy by punishing paying customers, developers should endavour to provide a superior service that would justify paying the price of the game instead of pirating it. Crying over piracy isn't going to solve anything and trying to combat it either doesn't work or you end up sueing little childred and housewives. The answer is to provide a superior product and superior service.

Quite frankly, I'm suprised EA is the one figuring it out...

 

[runedeadthA]

Oh you sneaky devil. Ah well I don't like sim's anyway

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

well it sounds like a better Policy then DRM

 

[WrongSprite]

I'm frightened. So frightened. EA are getting nicer and nicer by the second. I fear alien invasion.