Stolen Pixels #119: After Curfew
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
This might sound dumb but I don't understand the Diablo 3 joke. Maybe it's because there's currently four classes announced. The Barbarian, The shaman, The Wizard, and The Monk...
Interesting, it looks like Blizzard is the "in" company to hate.
Ah well, if their decisions are as stupid as they appear then they'll go out of business (in the long term). The beauty of the free market really. [sits back to enjoy the show].
Ah well, if their decisions are as stupid as they appear then they'll go out of business (in the long term). The beauty of the free market really. [sits back to enjoy the show].
You probably wouldn't have a choice. Move along, Citizen. Final warning.Susan Arendt said:
Ahhh, Wallace Breen. If only you had used your position as puppet of malevolent alien overlords for good (and laughs) instead of evil. I'd stay up late to see the jugglers.
You just keep getting more hilarious, do you know that, Shamus? Keep it up.
Oh wow.....an actually funny strip that is made by someone other than Travis. Looks like Shamus has been taking notes and learning. I actually laughed this time.
Wow, best comic yet. You nailed the monologue style. Every panel got an individual laugh from me. "LoL!" I say unto thee. "LoL!"
Hmmm... Blizzard has nothing new to make? If past memory serves, Blizzard does best when taking existing genres, polishing them up and making a new game out of it. Often a genre-defining game. There's been a dearth of new genres around, though, so it's perhaps not surprising that they're falling on the old standards.
Frankly, they're doing so well on the old properties that there's no real reason to "move on".
And unlike Microsoft, Blizzard does not have any sort of monopoly on computer games - if you don't like their stuff, there's loads of other things to play. Blizz. has no need to risk the barn on "new" and "innovative" products when "tried" and "tested" does so well.
I should add that I find Blizzard games to be bland and souless - not to mention intensely derivative. But then again, how else does someone get mass-market success?
Frankly, they're doing so well on the old properties that there's no real reason to "move on".
And unlike Microsoft, Blizzard does not have any sort of monopoly on computer games - if you don't like their stuff, there's loads of other things to play. Blizz. has no need to risk the barn on "new" and "innovative" products when "tried" and "tested" does so well.
I should add that I find Blizzard games to be bland and souless - not to mention intensely derivative. But then again, how else does someone get mass-market success?
Wait? Online activation actually hurt a pirate? When did this happen?
Really, in all, I believe people are looking at pirates the wrong way. Sure, the people who pirated World of Goo and Demigod in the gazillions all deserve a long, endless death (I understand the paradox of the remark, thank you internet). Well, not all, just most. Actually, just some. A few...
And that's why: People who pirate games really have little choice, most of the times.
Let me give you an example familiar to me: I live in Brazil. You know how much a Wii cost here? R$ 1200,00. That's about 700 dollars right now. That's right, the Wii cost more here than the PS3 originally cost at the US and Europe. And everyone hated the cost of the PS3. The PS3 is also pretty expensive (varying from 900 to 1500 dollars right now), but the funny thing is: it cost almost R$ 9000,00 at launch. (That was US$ 4400 at the time)
Now, besides the abomination of a price we have to pay for consoles, the games are even worse. 60 bucks for a PS3 game is a bit too much, right? Imagine forking US$ 190,00! Add to that the fact that the medium acquisitive power of a Brazilian is about a third of the medium american (though in Brazil this result is a bit inconclusive for several reasons, let's say that the acquisition power of middle class Brazilian is about 70% of middle class American). Suddenly, it's no wonder that Brazilians are some of the most rampant pirates out there.
However, it's not so bad for computer games. We only pay about US$ 70,00 at launch. The problem here comes from the launch itself. VERY FEW companies bother to launch at Brazil in the same month as the USA and Europe, if they bother at all (there are some remarkable exceptions though)... Steam, Impulse and Gamersgate do alleviate this sort of foul-play (but Direct2Drive doesn't. Fuck them.), still, not all games come from these guys (who're even kind enough to let us pay the real price for their games! Whoo!)
Now, finally, consider that the numbers you get from piracy are Worldwide reports. And consider that Brazil is doing pretty damn well for an emerging country. Now consider that the USA and Europe have about 10% of the world population (and few places outside these deal with the same prices you're accustomed to). Ultimately, consider that Africa, the Middle-East and the poorest parts of India and China also have gaming communities, and that those fight daily to keep their hobbies much more than the worst recession struck gamer from the USA.
WOW! Suddenly these numbers make sense. And you feel at least partially guilty to say EVERY pirate is a soulless demon.
On another note, you should talk more about Stardock and their Impulse. Why? Because they do their darn best to keep from giving a headache for their consumers (that is, doing exactly what you'd like for EA and now Blizz stop doing). The rampant piracy of Demigod didn't stop it from being a successful game, and neither did it diminish their policy in the least. Actually, you may play any Impulse game you buy in as many computers as you want. Hell, you may play Demigod in several computers at LAN with a single digital copy! Gotta love these guys.
Edit - ALSO: Good Old Games. Looks these guys up, if you're a gamer for more than 10 years (heck, more than 4 years) you'll just looooooove these guys. I'd wed them if it wasn't sort of illegal.
Really, in all, I believe people are looking at pirates the wrong way. Sure, the people who pirated World of Goo and Demigod in the gazillions all deserve a long, endless death (I understand the paradox of the remark, thank you internet). Well, not all, just most. Actually, just some. A few...
And that's why: People who pirate games really have little choice, most of the times.
Let me give you an example familiar to me: I live in Brazil. You know how much a Wii cost here? R$ 1200,00. That's about 700 dollars right now. That's right, the Wii cost more here than the PS3 originally cost at the US and Europe. And everyone hated the cost of the PS3. The PS3 is also pretty expensive (varying from 900 to 1500 dollars right now), but the funny thing is: it cost almost R$ 9000,00 at launch. (That was US$ 4400 at the time)
Now, besides the abomination of a price we have to pay for consoles, the games are even worse. 60 bucks for a PS3 game is a bit too much, right? Imagine forking US$ 190,00! Add to that the fact that the medium acquisitive power of a Brazilian is about a third of the medium american (though in Brazil this result is a bit inconclusive for several reasons, let's say that the acquisition power of middle class Brazilian is about 70% of middle class American). Suddenly, it's no wonder that Brazilians are some of the most rampant pirates out there.
However, it's not so bad for computer games. We only pay about US$ 70,00 at launch. The problem here comes from the launch itself. VERY FEW companies bother to launch at Brazil in the same month as the USA and Europe, if they bother at all (there are some remarkable exceptions though)... Steam, Impulse and Gamersgate do alleviate this sort of foul-play (but Direct2Drive doesn't. Fuck them.), still, not all games come from these guys (who're even kind enough to let us pay the real price for their games! Whoo!)
Now, finally, consider that the numbers you get from piracy are Worldwide reports. And consider that Brazil is doing pretty damn well for an emerging country. Now consider that the USA and Europe have about 10% of the world population (and few places outside these deal with the same prices you're accustomed to). Ultimately, consider that Africa, the Middle-East and the poorest parts of India and China also have gaming communities, and that those fight daily to keep their hobbies much more than the worst recession struck gamer from the USA.
WOW! Suddenly these numbers make sense. And you feel at least partially guilty to say EVERY pirate is a soulless demon.
On another note, you should talk more about Stardock and their Impulse. Why? Because they do their darn best to keep from giving a headache for their consumers (that is, doing exactly what you'd like for EA and now Blizz stop doing). The rampant piracy of Demigod didn't stop it from being a successful game, and neither did it diminish their policy in the least. Actually, you may play any Impulse game you buy in as many computers as you want. Hell, you may play Demigod in several computers at LAN with a single digital copy! Gotta love these guys.
Edit - ALSO: Good Old Games. Looks these guys up, if you're a gamer for more than 10 years (heck, more than 4 years) you'll just looooooove these guys. I'd wed them if it wasn't sort of illegal.
Brilliant Conan O'Brien impression. I mean, I hope that's what you're going for, because it was perfect lol. Next time you need to have Judith Mossman standing to the side to play the role of Andy. And maybe a band of Combine Elite playing the Team Fortress 2 theme in between breaks
Am I the only one to have noticed the two resistance members in Half life Episode 2, visable through the floor in one room, chatting in front of the television watching Dr Kliner.The Rogue Wolf said:
'I kinda miss Dr breen'
'Ya, His program was better, remember when he had the jugglers on?'
'That was great'
Ill have to fraps it and post it somewhere
