Believe it or not, there are many gamers that live outside the United States. Those of us that do not live in Japan and the US aren’t always a first priority for the entertainment industry when it comes to hot new releases, yet everyone feels the power of the marketing dollar… we’re just not all “privileged” enough to experience it on day one… or year one. Here is one such story, written by rover on of our forum posters, explaining how this leads to piracy in our global economy…
Let us pretend for a moment the best motion picture of the year ranked 10 out of 10 stars on imdb.com and was released in November 18th 2007. While the United States had access to the movie all year, distributors announced a European premiere on June 16th 2008. Months after North American the release, Europe may see this blockbuster movie in its region, leaving everyone to ask themselves, “how do I see this wonderful film now?”
The world isn’t as it once was. Years ago we found ourselves lining up on an early Saturday morning in the freezing rain just to buy a new CD or rent the latest movie on VHS. Today, people expect to get what thy want NOW. We see a spot during a commercial on TV for a new CD, movie or perhaps a TV show which spark our interest and what do we do? We can wait six days to watch the next hit TV show prime time episode or line up at CD MegaWorld Monday morning at 7am to buy the CD, or we do something entirely different: we go online. Most of us would go to amazon.com to find that excellent new artist, or perhaps itunes.com to find the latest episode of our favorite TV show.
Online is the way to go. We don’t mind paying for quality entertainment; the only thing we ask is to get some flexibility to our time schedule. Some of us may watch our hit prime time TV show at 1 AM or listening to our favorite music on the bus at 5 AM. The question is “can I?” and the answer is, “yes you can!”
Now here’s where problems arise. The “yes you can” statement only applies to one group of people, specifically the North Americans. You watched this seasons first episode of “Lost” on TV, you can go online and find out there are three full seasons of 22 episodes already aired. Great! Now all I must do is pay up roughly USD $1 per episode and I’ve got the ability to download all episodes and watch them at my own leisure… right?
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Rather than allowing parents to utilize the ESRB rating, Thompson found it in his Christian heart to pursue game companies like his own personal holy war. Luckily he’s lost all his power because people finally realized he’s a lukewarm loon with a one track mind. But wait, there’s more!
@Aussie Diablo III preorders not getting refunded from GAME
This sucks major balls. Aussies already get the short end of the stick, due to significantly higher prices. I pity them, they deserve better.
@Dark Souls multiplayer
I think that another game that uses a similar concept is TrackMania Nations. Granted, in TMN you only see the ghost of the other players, they don’t affect the game too much.
@QOTW:
Hmm, I don’t really play free-to-play games. I did play a free game (“Red Alert: A Path Beyond”) though.
Good news, Herr: Blizzard is accepting those preorder refunds from GAME. Just send them your receipt, and you can purchase it from Blizzard minus the deposit.
Hi Jonah, Jordan, Paul and Dan;
I love the show and really enjoy listening to your buys perspective on the gaming industry.
I was wondering if you guys could discuss the recent announcement for an Enhanced Edition of Baldur’s Gate I & II and their plans to make Baldur’s Gate III.
Do you think they will actually make this worth buying since you can get both of the Original games gog.com rather cheaply. I’m sure these Enhanced Editions will be around $60. I can’t help but want to keep my expectations low on this even though I do love the BG series.
Some awkward silence there… I think Dan was a bit tired during recording.
@QOTW: I would say hands down Team Fortress 2, it is just so fun. I have clocked in 265 hours and the only reason I have stopped playing it is because I know every nook and cranny in it. It also gets kind of boring when you’re constantly at the top of the leaderboard :P.
I have recently started play the MOBA Super Monday Night Combat. It’s great, I’ve played 78 hours of it, but it only has 1 mode and 3 maps as of yet. There isn’t much else to do but master the different classes. I think it also made me hate MOBA games just because there is rarely a team environment. Everyone gets pissy whenever their team loses, and blame it on their teammates even if they were the worst player. I don’t know, in TF2 I always had that feeling of being in a huge team cooperating, and if you died it was your fault.
I would also like to note that I have never spent a penny on free-to-play games.
@PlayAlterEgo: I got kidnapped and killed on my way to school…