Path: chuka.playstation.co.uk!trsoft.demon.co.uk!ARoss From: Anthony Ross Newsgroups: scea.yaroze.freetalk,scee.yaroze.freetalk.english Subject: Re: anti-mod chip / pirating / backups / etc. Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 00:14:49 +0000 Organization: I Lines: 66 Sender: Anthony Ross Message-ID: References: <7a0a6u$714@scea> <36C40EC4.E4082468@datasys.net> <7a187m$o0v10@chuka.playstation.co.uk> <36C488C0.8DF59CF0@datasys.net> <7a2cd1$2i83@scea> <7a3pvs$7op11@chuka.playstation.co.uk> <36C5AEB2.BE73A768@btinternet.com> <36C6236E.D0B1F5B@manc.u-net.com> <36C65F6D.53849947@hotmail.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: trsoft.demon.co.uk Mime-Version: 1.0 X-Newsreader: Turnpike (32) Version 4.01 Xref: chuka.playstation.co.uk scea.yaroze.freetalk:1220 scee.yaroze.freetalk.english:3542 In article <36C65F6D.53849947@hotmail.com>, will atkin writes > >Its not the hardware manufacturers(like the minidisc players) that are >the ones that are suffering the most. Its the record companies that are >the ones losing the money. Everyone is still going to need something to >play the stuff on anyway. Also now with the impact of .MP3 files, the >recording industry is being hit really hard. Losing money across the >board. > >Sony will still make money because people need the hardware to play >games.. but the games publishers are the ones who have to push the >protection issue... > Sony (and Phillips) spent a fortune in the 80's and 90's buying record companies so that they could sell us CD's of stuff that we already had on vinyl. They are losing money on music piracy but it is tiny compared to how much they are making in profits. This is all about greed and maximizing profits. The playstation is far easier and cheaper to mod than a saturn and yet it is enjoying unprecedented success (could it be that these two things are actually related). I would be in favour of a no-frills option where you could buy the official CD on its own with only a basic typed set of instructions. If this could be offered as a direct sale by mail order with no middle- men then costs could be greatly reduced and the low price could put the pirates out of business. Software is still far too expensive and this needs to be addressed. I own about 40 or 50 original UK Saturn games and that represents a fairly big investment over about 2 years (I have only started collecting Playstation titles since I got my Yaroze). Now I am supposed to start again with the next gen, and the next, and the next. I don't really have a problem with this but when I think that a large part of the money went on manuals, packaging which have been in a box upstairs since the day of purchase (I keep all of my discs in a CD flip type holder) & marketing costs, I do feel a little ripped off. So what about cheaper software in the same way that consoles came down in price (but still allowing for a profit). Or what about price being related to production costs with say 5 bands for games in 5 categories. Eg. A game which has just come across from arcade hardware which is virtually the same as the console will need much less work than an original title. This could be the starting scale. Class 1 --> The easy port Class 2 --> The port from foreign hardware Class 3 --> The simple original title (based on production hours) Class 4 --> The intermediate original title (more production hours) Class 5 --> The difficult original title (even more production hours) Sorry I forgot Class 0 --> Games which are total Sh... and therefore nobody wants anyway. Rant over....disconnecting ranting circuits..... ------------------------------------ Anthony Ross (take the fish out to reply)