Hacking Pirate & Pay?

[MarquisMark]

So, everyone has an opinion on piracy. The reasons for and against have been argued ad nauseum so we'll forgo that in this thread.

Personally, I pirate because I don't want to pay the retail prices of games that I'll only play a little bit (I'm mostly a casual gamer). When there is a game I really like (e.g. Zelda) I'll buy it. This is not often.

But I know effort goes into even the "simple" games (e.g. Wii Music ). I want to support those developers too.

So, the question I pose is how do I do that? I'll like to pay what I think the game is worth. Just like that Radiohead album, I want to choose my own value for the game. What if I just send $10 in an envelope to Nintendo (anonymously, of course) and say, "Hi, I got $10 worth of fun from so and so game. Here you go." Who would I address to be sure it's not just pocketed by some random employee?

Any other ideas? This could go towards music and DVDs also.

Ps: I know rental is an option but I'm doubtful of how much of my money goes to the developer. Plus I hate late fees.

 

[sanghoku]

nice thought... i also buy those i like...

and game rental is since recently prohibited in my country

 

[brownmurder]

i would say wait for the £20 broadband "tax" (here in the uk anyways) but it wil probably all go into the goverment anyways so you will be supporting them not the developer

 

[Joey Ravn]

i would say wait for the £20 broadband "tax" (here in the uk anyways) but it wil probably all go into the goverment anyways so you will be supporting them not the developer

Yeah, we have a "digital canon" too here in Spain, meaning that there's a tax on any hardware (be it a DVD, a cellphone, an MP3 player or whatever) that may be used to pirate or reproduce pirated material. The money goes to the SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores Españoles - General Society of Spanish Authors), which, in turn, supposedly, distributes the benefits among the affiliated authors, be them musicians, film-makers or writters. But the system is so corrupted by the SGAE, that most of the money raised by the tax is spent in legal battles against P2P users...

Seriously, if you want to support your favourite dev, just buy the games you deem worthy. I, for example, bought SSBB and I don't regret it, while I downloaded, let's say, Mr. Smarty Pants.

 

[Smack]

The problem with many of the blanket taxes that are put in place is you can't be sure where your money is going. Each is structured differently but I draw comparison on a tax put on recordable CD's in Canada. The money is collected by by the Canadian Recording Industry Association and they decide how it is disbursed. So how do they do this? How do they determine which of the artists (or copyrights more accurately) are being violated more than others to doll out the money? I am not sure there is a fair method.

I guess what I am getting at is if you want to give back to developers I wouldn't take comfort in these taxes. I would sooner send money directly to the developers. Maybe what some developers should start doing is embrace that people are ripping them off and allow a "donation" or karma form on their website that allow pirates to toss a few bucks towards the appropriate development team.

However as I write that I can already see the publishers of said games freaking out at this scheme as it by-passes them. Some arrangement would have to be worked out. I know some studios directly sell their games and hardware like Red Octane so I suppose it is possible.

EDIT:
If you are curious about the various levies placed on recordable media there is a brief Wikipedia article here. I feel sorry for some of the European members who put up with outrageous levies as high as 0.60 Euro per DVD. God damn that is pricey given that my average cost per blank DVD is about 0.25 Canadian dollar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_copying_levy

 

[Drihscol]

i pirate because im australian. check our game prices.

 

[spawn844]

Example, say you like the company capcom just buy the games you seem fit.
I love castlevania so i never pirate them i always buy em. every one else just suck>.>

 

[Golfman560]

I think any goverment type thing that can issue taxes or increase the price for their benefit should step out. They drive the prices up to a point where its a waste to actually make the game because people jsut pirate it because of the huge price.

If games were $30 or instead of $50-$60 I would buy every single game that looked decent, but as is I only buy stuff thats worth it. SSBB was worth it, Zelda was worth it, a ton others were worth it, but some games aren't worth that price tag. I don't pirate games but I do make backups so me and my brother can play when we aren't home. Right now all we have is 5 games because we don't want to dish out money for more.

 

[denzil]

Any other ideas?

As a matter of fact, your idea is not new at all, it has been used for the longest time. If you wanted something, it has always been perfectly fine to steal it, try it then, and if you actually did like it, throw a fraction of the price in the general direction of the vendor. Food salesmen have been working like this for centuries, as you can see from all the half eaten fruit in the supermarket and the change money lying on the floor.

 

[Wiiownzzz]

I think after 14 years of buying their games and systems is enough pay for me. I'm only 16 (since 2 years old), yes I have had every Nintendo system from NES to the Wii and I have bought hundreds of games. Not only did I buy there games but damn...how many Pokemon cards? Thousands...looking back wasting $4 for 10 or whatever pieces of paper. SO yeah idc if I "pirate" a few Wii games lol, I have given enough. Besides I'm looking forward to buying a few games in 09 like The Conduit and hopefully...(If it releases) RE5. I always buy their Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc. games.

 

[robiul]

Developers can easy make money through in-game advertising, if they did that and lowered the price, then both sides win, not only would we get cheap games, but the developers can make enough money to survive.

 

[Smack]

I think after 14 years of buying their games and systems is enough pay for me. I'm only 16 (since 2 years old), yes I have had every Nintendo system from NES to the Wii and I have bought hundreds of games.

How much of that hardware and software your purchased was new? The reason I ask is cause most if not all of the purchases of NES, SNES hardware/software you made must have been second hand. None of that money went to support either Nintendo or a game studio. I am not picking on you I am just making that point that the developers of the hardware/software you enjoy haven't been compensated for it past the original sale, and developer compensation is the issue at hand.

 

[Wiiownzzz]

I think after 14 years of buying their games and systems is enough pay for me. I'm only 16 (since 2 years old), yes I have had every Nintendo system from NES to the Wii and I have bought hundreds of games.

How much of that hardware and software your purchased was new? The reason I ask is cause most if not all of the purchases of NES, SNES hardware/software you made must have been second hand. None of that money went to support either Nintendo or a game studio. I am not picking on you I am just making that point that the developers of the hardware/software you enjoy haven't been compensated for it past the original sale, and developer compensation is the issue at hand.

Well I don't know if the NES was new because I was only 2 and my parents don't remember lol, I remember getting a SNES (asked my parents and said the SNES was new ON SALE lol). It was brand new in the box. I remember getting BRAND NEW a N64, 3 Gameboy colors, A Gameboy Advance

, a SP

, a Gamecube, the old fat DS, 2 DS lites

, and a Wii. Oh and I'm also going to get a DSi. I would buy a new game every week, I was super spoiled.

 

[blitter]

IMO if you do anything more than evaluate a game for a couple of days then it's usually worth paying for.

Nintendo do have a tendency to price their hardware strangely. The Wii was a good price, but why has that price still not been reduced? The GameCube failed and the price went right down the same year that it was launched...now they (N) succeed with the Wii and keep grabbing the cash rather than do us a favour.

As for software, it is expensive everywhere...but there are the odd very good deals around. Just the other day a UK supermarket had GTA4 (PC version) for 10 UKP. I've only seen that on a new game once (or twice) which was good but didn't sell too well.

My solution would be that ALL developers distribute online, and setup a donation button.

 

[FAST6191]

I think after 14 years of buying their games and systems is enough pay for me. I'm only 16 (since 2 years old), yes I have had every Nintendo system from NES to the Wii and I have bought hundreds of games.

How much of that hardware and software your purchased was new? The reason I ask is cause most if not all of the purchases of NES, SNES hardware/software you made must have been second hand. None of that money went to support either Nintendo or a game studio. I am not picking on you I am just making that point that the developers of the hardware/software you enjoy haven't been compensated for it past the original sale, and developer compensation is the issue at hand.

Please do not kick off the second hand thing again as it rarely stays a controlled debate, suffice it to say there is no way I am paying that kind of money for what is effectively a rental others take a stance similar to the one you describe and go all for the dev. I say we leave it at a lot of second hand shops do rip you off if you are not careful. This "for the dev" stance does seem to be relatively new though and one I was surprised actually got a foothold.

Back on topic and interesting question. Music you can go to a concert, spring for a tshirt or what have you but I know of no real methods for developers.
I guess easiest way I can see is a spin on the "minor donation" principle and buying the games of the cheap rack when they appear. The drive to digital distribution (not something I am entirely convinced about for this sort of thing, at least in the manner it is currently playing out), paid mods and lack of these releases tends to stop that from being possible.
I guess the easiest thing to do is make mods, guides and "advertise" word of mouth style. Failing that waiting for the industry to take a hit and change strategy (it could happen) to make it more agreeable could be an idea.

One final thing as people hinted at it may not necessarily be the artist but the record company (publisher) that gets things, whether this is just or not remains to be seen.

re: blanket taxes ignoring corrupt practices and assuming something somewhere happens to an artist then does that mean an artist effectively has to be a member of a union to get any recompense.

 

[MikeyTaylorGaming]

i pirate because im australian. check our game prices.

are modchips not legal there? not that piracy is but yano XD

 

[Golfman560]

I know that installing modchip in Australia is legal, so why would modchips be illegal?

 

[mcj]

I propose a Will Pirating Morality Pros/Cons Sub forum so we don't need these useless threads in the Wii Hacking forum

 

[FAST6191]

@mcj I would argue they break up the banality of a forum full of softmod threads that are frequently the same.

 

[xDarkElement]

This is probally the stupidest question ever. Haha you pirate but you still want to pay nintendo? They make billions off us.