Why no Madden 10 on PC?

[Nza]

What percentage of those downloads were people just getting the torrent and not the whole file? Maybe some changed their mind.

What % were people "trying before buying"? Keep in mind, there's no such thing as 'renting' in PC gaming.

What % were people just downloading for the sake of it? I know people who download like nuts and probably not even extract the archives for ages, if ever. Virtual hoarders.

What % were *actual* lost sales? Just because Johnny downloads something illegally doesn't mean he would have purchased it otherwise. If a game is made virtually impossible to pirate, will sales increase? No stats back up that claim from what I know. This isn't a justification, just a statement of reality - the majority of illegal downloaders probably never intended to spend money on what they obtained if they couldn't get it for free. If it wasn't freely available, they may not have even heard of it.

Legalities aside, piracy and its impact simply isn't as black and white as statistics say.

[Glorious Arc]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nza

What percentage of those downloads were people just getting the torrent and not the whole file? Maybe some changed their mind. What % were people "trying before buying"? Keep in mind, there's no such thing as 'renting' in PC gaming. What % were people just downloading for the sake of it? I know people who download like nuts and probably not even extract the archives for ages, if ever. Virtual hoarders. What % were *actual* lost sales? Just because Johnny downloads something illegally doesn't mean he would have purchased it otherwise. If a game is made virtually impossible to pirate, will sales increase? No stats back up that claim from what I know. This isn't a justification, just a statement of reality - the majority of illegal downloaders probably never intended to spend money on what they obtained if they couldn't get it for free. If it wasn't freely available, they may not have even heard of it. Legalities aside, piracy and its impact simply isn't as black and white as statistics say.

You are right its not black and white but...This is nintendo only...

" Nintendo went so far as to embed a secret second CPU (an ARM) in the graphics chip to run some of it’s system software (they lost $975 million to piracy in 2007)."

http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/04/23/game-piracy/

[Nza]

That's the thing though, there's no way to really tell how much money is lost to piracy. It could, in theory, be very, very minimal.

You'll notice the word "estimate" used a lot when describing piracy, because that's all it is - a guess. One which those who report it usually have a motive to exaggerate, or at least state as a 'worst possible' scenario.

I know people who bought a Wii *only* because it can be chipped. How funny is that? The only reason that Nintendo sold them a console is because of piracy. And they even have a few bought games here and there. Loads of accessories - guns and stuff. I'm confident if the Wii wasn't so easy in this regard, they wouldn't have one. So what did Nintendo *really* lose out on here?

[PolkaDot]

Quote: Originally Posted by Glorious Arc

Piracy not a problem huh...? http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-...f-2008-081204/ I would like to make note that most of those games were not even released last year but they are still being pirated. Also besides Spore being pirated horribly...Fallout 3, Far Cry 2, and Pro Evo which only released for less then 2-3 months made the 10 ten most pirated games of 2008.(side note the list was made as of dec 4) Im not saying thats the only reason why but it could be one of them. Another reason could be the fact of having to make it for another system. Its a lot harder to port to 6 systems then 4(random numbers).

Who said piracy isn't a problem? Fact is, you can find company after company who circumvent major piracy issues by updating security systems (a simple serial number isn't going to cut it in today's age, EA ). We should be asking why EA isn't taking similar action. Instead, EA just abandons an entire fanbase, leaving it with no other option, and bitches about the horrors of 'piracy'

[permanent1]

Piracy happens but the percentage of people who pirate games is minimal compared to people who actually buy them, the average person(which is the majority) have no idea about pirating much less how to do it,is it wrong? Yes of course it is. Is it as rampant as people try to make it seem? No.

[Valdarez]

Quote: Originally Posted by PolkaDot

If you actually think piracy is the reason, then you are being spoonfed a bowl of EA bull****.

Whatever. I dislike EA as a company on whole, but this isn't an issue that's specific to EA. Many companies are abandoning the PC due to a combination of lagging sales and the ease of which games are pirated.

Quote: Originally Posted by lite_speed

Yeah lol, xbox 360 piracy is worse

Seriously? No, not even close.

I do agree with the poster's remark about a company who holds a monopoly on a product having a responsibility to deliver it to all mediums.

[Exonerated]

Nah not PS3's dude.

X360 yes. But not ps3. I've got a private tracker that lets has about 100 xbox games and no 1 ps3 games.

It's simply not viable to burn ps3 games. And i have yet to see a chip or mod for the ps3.

360 is very piratable. But ps3 is not.

But the PC is by far and away the most easiest system to pirate on. You just download, extract, mount, and play. Its too easy.

with the 360 you gotta do layered burning and crap, and then chip your 360 then set it up in stupid ways. and ppl don't wanna risk it.

[CM Hooe]

I don't have any inside knowledge or anything like that, but EA did mention at one point that they were reworking their sports titles to better cooperate with the PC environment. Given that PC gamers are more savvy to updating their standalone games by themselves, EA could be exploring (possibly developing) a subscription Madden MMO of sorts, where roster and game updates would be delivered on-the-fly, and there'd be some sort of mode equivalent to a crossover of FIFA's "Be A Pro" and NHL's "EASHL". All for a monthly cost.

Just a possibility, as monthly payments for games effectively make piracy of the actual software negligible; yes, it'd have some sort of standalone functionality, but in order to get any updates or online capabilities you'd have to be a subscriber.