FourZeroTwo Blog Update

[StoneCold313]

*snip*I like to try before I buy... Prime example downloaded Kane & Lynch purely on the basis of wanting to see what all the fuss was about. *snip*

I like to try before buy too...

And with Kane & Lynch... It all sounded really good on gamespot etc, after *cough*Dl:ing*cough* it, tested for 15min and unistalled...

I really don't want to spend 50-70€ to piece of sh*t like that was..

[machstem]

But with some games(consoles mostly) you don't get demo or anything. You have to make decision by what others think about it(reviews). You pay 50-70€(to some people that is lot of money) for the game and it turn's out to be piece of sh*t, you go to the store, and you don't get full refund. They only give you have of the price.

That's why, i understand if someone want's to test the game out before supporting the company with buying the game.

With a console, you can rent a game. You cannot do that with a PC title. Unless of course, the rules have changed. (i don't own a 360/ps3)

[GrossKopf]

Yes, but you can test-drive a car for a bit first, more so than a 1-mission SP demo of a game would allow.

"Trying" a game (illegally downloading it) is not the same as playing a demo.

No we don't need to start legal discussion now...

With Cod we got a 15-20 min demo... For most people that is enough to make the buy/not to buy decision..

But with some games(consoles mostly) you don't get demo or anything. You have to make decision by what others think about it(reviews). You pay 50-70€(to some people that is lot of money) for the game and it turn's out to be piece of sh*t, you go to the store, and you don't get full refund. They only give you have of the price.

That's why, i understand if someone want's to test the game out before supporting the company with buying the game.

When your car gets stolen and the cops stop it a few blocks down the road with some 16 year old gang-bangers in it, will you be forgiving if they tell you they just wanted to take it for a ride because they want to buy a new car but aren't sure which one to get? Criminals are criminals. They should all get viruses (both on their computers and their genitals). "I wanted to test it out" is no excuse for crime.

[StoneCold313]

With a console, you can rent a game. You cannot do that with a PC title. Unless of course, the rules have changed. (i don't own a 360/ps3)

Here where i live, there is only maybe 1 or 2 places where u can rent a game. And the selection isn't good at all(ie NHL 07, BF Modern Warfare. Not the just released games)...

When your car gets stolen and the cops stop it a few blocks down the road with some 16 year old gang-bangers in it, will you be forgiving if they tell you they just wanted to take it for a ride because they want to buy a new car but aren't sure which one to get? Criminals are criminals. They should all get viruses (both on their computers and their genitals). "I wanted to test it out" is no excuse for crime.

There is very few gang-bangers in here...

And you can test drive a car before you buy it. So don't start comparing that to dl:ing a game to test it...

[GrossKopf]

And you can test drive a car before you buy it. So don't start comparing that to dl:ing a game to test it...

Yes, but you can't steal a car and then return it when you are done "testing" it and expect it to be ok.

Demo = Test driving a car
Downloading COD 4 illegally = Stealing a car

They're both crimes, so I'll compare.

[StoneCold313]

The problem is that some companies doesn't release demo before the full release. Like Kane & Lynch...

With Cod, there was demo, so people could test it before. So im not defending the people who downloaded it from somewhere, and are still playing it.

But with some game's i understand if people dl's it before buying. To test it out...

[imported_Whiskey]

Yes, but you can't steal a car and then return it when you are done "testing" it and expect it to be ok.

Demo = Test driving a car
Downloading COD 4 illegally = Stealing a car

They're both crimes, so I'll compare.

The above analogy is flawed in several ways. The point people are trying to make is that during an actual test-drive of a car, you're able to access and try out ALL of the features. You can drive it around town, as well as take it out onto the highway for a bit.

With a game demo, you are fed only a small portion of the game...often a player is only shown 1 level of SP. This gives you an idea of the graphics quality of the game, the controls, and perhaps the AI, but that's about it. You don't know the length of the SP campaign, nor how MP (which is arguably the most important part of the game for a huge number of players) will function.

I don't condone stealing in any way either. Nor do I personally download games first. But with the way so many developers have put out shoddy games in past years, and the no-return policy some stores are putting forth to PC games lately, it is understandable that some people will try (or flat-out steal) before they buy.

IMO, game companies should recognize this, and put out full-versions to download that have a time-code embedded within them, tied into their hardware profile. Give the user a certain number of hrs or days to try out everything, then render the game inoperable, after which you'd have to obtain a legit version. Of course, this only appeals to solid games (ie. COD4), and not to game companies who know they are putting out a crappy version to make a few quick bucks before enough people find out.

[StoneCold313]

*snip*
IMO, game companies should recognize this, and put out full-versions to download that have a time-code embedded within them, tied into their hardware profile. Give the user a certain number of hrs or days to try out everything, then render the game inoperable, after which you'd have to obtain a legit version. Of course, this only appeals to solid games (ie. COD4), and not to game companies who know they are putting out a crappy version to make a few quick bucks before enough people find out.

If these game companies would even release demo before full release, i think that would be enough to cut down the piracy atleast a bit.

With Kane & Lynch... I have a pretty good idea why they didn't release a demo first. If people would have seen the squares in the windows around bulletholes, i bet that no one would have even buy the game. After buying it, they realize that the game sucks and the publisher makes atleast some amount of $ out of it...

[Chris_Redfield]

Gross, tell that to the folks with NVidia cards who cant even run their game in MP.

[m_d]

EA and Ubisoft deserve to have all their PC games stolen by as many people as possible.
They abuse their position to flood the market with over-hyped trash games.

EA sells the same games every year with updated rosters / cars and I wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft forgot to implement mouse and keyboard support in one of their console ports.
There's only one thing that's worse, and that's the people who buy the same shìt every year, because they are the reason EA and Ubisoft get away with this.

< /rant >

For the small companies that really put effort into their games it sucks. IW definately falls into that category.
But also keep in mind that not everyone who downloads a game would have actually bought it, and some who download it buy it later, because they like it.
Same with music and movie piracy... number of downloads != loss of sales

[Chris_Redfield]

EA sells the same games every year with updated rosters / cars and I wouldn't be surprised if Ubisoft forgot to implement mouse and keyboard support in one of their console ports.

ROFLMAO!!! How the hell did you know?

Ubisuck forgot to implement mouse support for RE4 (oooH! Feature?!), and it was coded later as a 3rd party software.

[m_d]

Can't believe that actually happened... damn. At least it can't get any worse now.

[StoneCold313]

ROFLMAO!!! How the hell did you know?

Ubisuck forgot to implement mouse support for RE4 (oooH! Feature?!), and it was coded later as a 3rd party software.

I remember that... Oh boy buddy of mine was pissed...

[Spik3d]

Is it ok to steal a car to see if you like it, then return it and buy it? :)

A car doesn't cost $49.99+tax.

[GrossKopf]

A car doesn't cost $49.99+tax.

Ok then... is it ok to steal a copy of COD 4 from Best Buy, then go back and pay for it when you decide you like it?