What do you think about this?

Piracy has been a big issue in Malaysia, aside from fraud and identity theft, pirated goods are now seen as a commodity. Piracy has always hit the gaming industry hard, with sales of pirated goods outnumbering retail or original goods by 8:1.

This issue exists for many reasons, usually related to the economical lifestyle of the buyers, their preferences and also the prices of these goods. However, are the buyers the only one to blame?

As the economical situation in most countries vary, the cost of these goods also increase or decrease depending on the state of their ecomony. But do you think these goods are as valueble as they cost?

RM100 to RM150 per game can be taxing to a gamer, where gamers in Malaysia are mostly students and young adults aging from 16-28. Their age also represents their purchasing power, having an average of RM800-RM1600 to spend monthly, students rarely spend that amount on money games. RM 100 per game however, isnt really a burden for a person making that amount, assuming he/she buys only 1 game monthly, effectively they would have enough to eventually buy all the games they want... eventually.

But why spend a hundred dollars on something that will blow away within months? Many turn to piracy because they see no value in purchasing these goods legally. Spending 100% less on a product is always better.

As much as we like games, seldom do we purchase all of them (as in originals) unless we know those games are good. This is highly due also to the number of not-so-properly-produced-games or flops, such as the much anticipated MOO3, which many of the hardcore fans thought it was not a good buy compared to its prequel. This is perhaps, one of the many reasons gamers choose to "test" software before eventually buying an original copy... eventually. Money they throw at the pirates however, go only to the pirates.

So, yes, we know what piracy is, but is it really our problem?

Yes, very much our problem. Due to the high rates of piracy in Malaysia, many of these foreign companies find Malaysia a hard place to survive in, particularly when it comes to sales and events. Because sales are low, they also hold less priority on having events such as E3 or similar events in Malaysia.

What are companies doing to prevent or fight piracy?

Many companies such as EA (Electronic Arts) embrace piracy as free publicity while adding value added services/content for original copies of their games. They however still keep the standard cd-protection softwares on their products to avoid them being copied or cracked, though many of which are cracked anyway.

EA's approach have been adopted by many companies, providing value added content online. But is that enough?

I think, for gamers who play games at the cybercafe more than home, buying an original game is less than practical. Since the majority of gamers play LAN, its hardly an option to buy an original game unless they can play at home.

Im sure many of you buy pirated from time to time or have bought it before? What do you think?

Hmm, actually, the reason why we connect to HK and JP very well is because of our connection hub is the same from asia -> US. Remember that earthquake a few years back that affected the internet lines? While Malaysia uses the Taiwan -> Korea -> Japan -> US route, Australia uses a different ocean line, connecting straight to the US. Their connection to the US is far better as it connects directly (their ocean fibre cables) to the US. THe same lines Singapore use to the US. This is the main reason why they dont really need local servers in Australia. MOH is also an old game.

Hehe, no one said it works. Thats why i started this topic. Securom and such make money from all this anyway. Criminals make money for them really. Like anti-virus softwares.. what would happen if there were no viruses? They'd make their own to fuel their benefit.

Well, perhaps they look at it differently than most. Unlike other companies, they eventually come up with ideas to curb it. I doubt they are the ones that put it there though (cd-protection), they are the publishers, not the devs.