Most Pirated Games of 2009

[Smigit]

You just pointed out an excellent reason for pirating....if someone has to "save up for" a measly game, then there's a serious problem. When a game sells for $9.99 that was $49.99 just two years earlier, that tells me they are still making a profit on the $9.99 price and that greed accounted for the $40.00 hike two years earlier.

Supply and demand. The game couldn't sell for $50 indefinitely, anyone could tell you that. Likewise the reason they can sell things for $9.99 later is because the fact that it selling at $49.95 earlier on is what covered the actual costs to make the game, advertise it, pay wages for the publisher, developer, store ect ect.

The fact it goes to $9.99 two years later only means that the costs have probably been covered a long time a go and if they can make a few extra dollars down the road then it's a bonus on top of the previous revenue. By that point all they really need to cover is the distribution cost, wages ect should have long been accounted for if the game was half successful.

[0nyX]

Haha

I love the Wii list.So true.

A must have game for Wii owners (and PC) :

[Ayepecks]

Some of the comments in this thread amaze me.

If there were no pirating in the first place -- as in, no way for pirates to download games -- do you honestly think that those people would simply stop gaming altogether? They'd just give up something they enjoy because they have to pay money for it? That argument makes no sense whatsoever to me. Of course there are always going to be people who wouldn't buy a game if there were no way to pirate it, but com'n... do you really think that makes up a significant portion of pirates?

The fact that the pirates own a gaming system tells me that clearly they want to game. And even if it's not a console, on the PC you generally have to have a fairly decent rig to run most of the games on that list. Not top of the line by any means, but you'd probably buy a PC knowing that you intend to use it for gaming.

As for games selling for $9.99 two years after release -- generally, that's not the work of the publisher. The MSRP is normally still well above that, it's just the retail chains' way of clearing inventory. And most of these highly pirated games are still within $10 of full price two years after release (see: the Call of Duty and Halo franchises).

The simple fact that people are trying to defend a practice that they know is wrong is what bothers me. Use whatever justifications you want to make yourself sleep better at night knowing you're sticking it to "the man," but you know what you're doing is wrong. Don't even try to deny it.

[Xilo]

Sometimes, pirating a game is the only way to really know if a game is worth buying or not.

[toadeater]

Yep as connections get faster each year, pirating will continue to increase sadly enough. I wonder how many people used the excuse "IW isn't using dedicated servers so I'm going to pirate the game", just so they wouldn't feel bad about it.

I did not buy or pirate the game. Not primarily because of protesting IW, but because I think it was a mediocre game, and a step backwards from MW. So you got more achievements, so what? It made the game into a cartoon, and the multiplayer was worse than MW's.

[Blackhearted]

Haha

I love the Wii list.So true.

A must have game for Wii owners (and PC) :

Too bad that emulator(which is easy to figure out even with your censoring btw) is far, far too slow to run anything for wii(or GC).

[qdave]

Yep as connections get faster each year, pirating will continue to increase sadly enough. I wonder how many people used the excuse "IW isn't using dedicated servers so I'm going to pirate the game", just so they wouldn't feel bad about it.

I dont think people who didnt buy it feel in any way bad about pirating it.

[0nyX]

Too bad that emulator(which is easy to figure out even with your censoring btw) is far, far too slow to run anything for wii(or GC).

Nope it is not.

For the meanwhile i am perfectly happy being able to run perfectly the only game i like on Wii on my PC.Maybe it is slow for other games but as i said i really dont like the other games Wii has to offer.

I sense you are a Wii owner? :D

[Aero_Rising]

Why do people feel the need to defend pirates I don't care how high the price is we live in a capitalist economy which gives us a lot of economic freedoms and if the price is too high then the sales will reflect that. By pirating something you are basically saying that the people who made the game's work is not worth your money but you want it anyway so you just take it. It's the same as if you thought that the work a mechanic did on your car wasn't worth what he charged you for it but you wanted the work done anyway so when he's done you just drive away and don't pay the only difference is you're more likely to get caught by the mechanic. If you feel a game is not worth it's price then don't buy it at that price wait for a sale or don't buy it and if you can't do that and you just have to have it then ok buy it but then you know it is worth the price you paid for it to you.

[Digital Tonic]

MW2 is a great example. It's on top cause they pretty much cut out the ability to have decent multiplayer(console kiddies may enjoy home servers run on shared 128kbps dsl since they have no choice, but i don't). Basically removing half the game. They cut corners and it cost them.

I'm not surprised they cut corners, they sold 4.7 million units only to have it pirated on PC alone 4.1 million times. (I realise that there are probably people in that figure that actually bought the game, still a shocking number).

Some of the comments in this thread amaze me.

If there were no pirating in the first place -- as in, no way for pirates to download games -- do you honestly think that those people would simply stop gaming altogether? They'd just give up something they enjoy because they have to pay money for it? That argument makes no sense whatsoever to me. Of course there are always going to be people who wouldn't buy a game if there were no way to pirate it, but com'n... do you really think that makes up a significant portion of pirates?

The fact that the pirates own a gaming system tells me that clearly they want to game. And even if it's not a console, on the PC you generally have to have a fairly decent rig to run most of the games on that list. Not top of the line by any means, but you'd probably buy a PC knowing that you intend to use it for gaming.

As for games selling for $9.99 two years after release -- generally, that's not the work of the publisher. The MSRP is normally still well above that, it's just the retail chains' way of clearing inventory. And most of these highly pirated games are still within $10 of full price two years after release (see: the Call of Duty and Halo franchises).

The simple fact that people are trying to defend a practice that they know is wrong is what bothers me. Use whatever justifications you want to make yourself sleep better at night knowing you're sticking it to "the man," but you know what you're doing is wrong. Don't even try to deny it.

Totally agree with you.

Why do people feel the need to defend pirates I don't care how high the price is we live in a capitalist economy which gives us a lot of economic freedoms and if the price is too high then the sales will reflect that. By pirating something you are basically saying that the people who made the game's work is not worth your money but you want it anyway so you just take it. It's the same as if you thought that the work a mechanic did on your car wasn't worth what he charged you for it but you wanted the work done anyway so when he's done you just drive away and don't pay the only difference is you're more likely to get caught by the mechanic. If you feel a game is not worth it's price then don't buy it at that price wait for a sale or don't buy it and if you can't do that and you just have to have it then ok buy it but then you know it is worth the price you paid for it to you.

QFT.

[soldier1st]

If you didn't buy it, you shouldn't play it.

most developers dont provide a demo for you to get a taste of what the game really is, without at least a demo a game aint worth buying but a demo helps. i know if i didnt have a demo to try i would never buy that game but a demo allows me to get a glimpse of what the game can be like and the prices for most games is far too high now if there was a deal that you could say if you get the game for half price but you do like a survey on what you think but you would be monitored so you would really do it.

[Shannon]

Multiplayer is what sells games these days, the most successful games I've noticed have usually had a good MP system. The problem is, you can't experience that with a demo (usually) or a pirated copy. So how are consumers supposed to know what they're buying into? Developers should do something like open up their MP for week-long demos. Otherwise you'll have people pirating the game, beating the single player campaign (because that's all they can access) and having no real incentive to go back and buy the real thing.

Case in point, MW2. I've heard both horror stories and praise about it. I want to give the MP a go, but I'm sure as hell not going to risk $100 on it. Give me a MP demo and you might have a sale. Don't give me a demo, I'll download it, finish the SP, have no replay value and in the end... still not have experienced the MP and be in the same situation as before. Lost potential sale.

[forster]

When I say 'some people', below, Im certainly not on about me :pirate: Just so we clear that up.... :shifty:

Some people are just really too impatient to wait for games to be released, some people will download the latest offering just to play it and see what it's like. Most people that I know who download games, have loads of downloaded games but never play them, coz they dont actually mean anything - I have to say that someone very close to me (but definately not me) will usually pirate a game when it first comes out, if it's great then 'he' will buy it when it's come down in price, but 'he' never buys games when they first come out coz they are just far too expensive. 'He' does buy games when they have come down in price and 'he' always plays bought copies more than pirated copies.

Of course, piracy really cant be justified at all, whether you would buy it or not, or whether you are in a country or position where you think it's too expensive to buy and for some reason you think you deserve to play the games whether the company/store get your money are not, piracy is a crime, if you pirate games you are breaking the law, and if you get busted it's your own fault.

[Livin in a box]

With all the hassles of getting New Super Mario Bros. Wii to even work I'm surprised it got so many downloads.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I'll be honest, I was one of the 4.1 Million. Here is why. I wanted to see how it would look graphically on my system and if there was a huge difference from the 360 version. Since there was no demo at the time so I could just see the graphics, I downloaded the full game. I checked it out, uninstalled it, and was on my merry way. I had no regret or remorse doing so, I guess that makes me an incredibly bad person by the responses in this thread.

[Digital Tonic]

Multiplayer is what sells games these days, the most successful games I've noticed have usually had a good MP system. The problem is, you can't experience that with a demo (usually) or a pirated copy. So how are consumers supposed to know what they're buying into? Developers should do something like open up their MP for week-long demos. Otherwise you'll have people pirating the game, beating the single player campaign (because that's all they can access) and having no real incentive to go back and buy the real thing.

Case in point, MW2. I've heard both horror stories and praise about it. I want to give the MP a go, but I'm sure as hell not going to risk $100 on it. Give me a MP demo and you might have a sale. Don't give me a demo, I'll download it, finish the SP, have no replay value and in the end... still not have experienced the MP and be in the same situation as before. Lost potential sale.

Bioshock, Fallout 3, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Mass Effect and Assassins Creed 1 & 2, just to name a few.

If you're happy with the demo you shouldn't need any more convincing, no matter how good/bad the multi-player is.

The incentive should be to buy the game based on what you thought of the demo.

"beating the single player campaign" - So what you're saying is that in general, developers only deserve your cash based on the multi-player experience?

"I'll download it, finish the SP, have no replay value and in the end" - That's basically what purchasing a game is all about... Remember the NES and SNES days, when you bought a game, finished it and maybe played it again a year later? I hate to break it to you but building a single player game costs money too.

If you're not happy with the demo that the developer/publisher provides then don't buy the game and walk away, you have no right to torrent it just because they didn't let you play multi-player.

[OOOOOOOO]

I'll be honest, I was one of the 4.1 Million. Here is why. I wanted to see how it would look graphically on my system and if there was a huge difference from the 360 version. Since there was no demo at the time so I could just see the graphics, I downloaded the full game. I checked it out, uninstalled it, and was on my merry way. I had no regret or remorse doing so, I guess that makes me an incredibly bad person by the responses in this thread.

Yes it does.

[forster]

Just as another aside from something from another comment, Im also a big Steam fan here, picked up a good few games over the sales this month that I wanted to play that I honestly hadnt obtained from elsewhere - cheaper prices and some form of digital distribution, or a central point online to buy and deliver games effectively is what's going to reduce piracy on the whole. People just want to play games, I just want to play games, find some way to deliver games cheaply and effectively and you've cracked it.

[Krockett]

Ill admit I have pirated Games before but only for the reason to try before I buy... I really wish games released more demos so I could do that easier but if they don't released a demo I pirate then if I like I buy the full copy. I do the same with console I rent if I like then I buy the full copy....If they can find a way to "rent" on like steam or some sort I would rent then try..could also bring in a lil extra revenue....I just don't know how they would do this nor what I suggest a way to do so....just an idea

quick note I'm one of those people that if I like a game and play it alot I like to have all the boxart,manuals, ect. in a hard copy form....

[c3ntury]

It's a shame to see such high figures for the PC, I'm not surprised developers cut corners when adapting games for PC.

It used to be; develop for PC and shrink for consoles, now it's the other way around.

Steam FTW.

Stream is a miracle for release groups, it can be cracked easily and saves hours on the time needed to crack a game.

[Digital Tonic]

Stream is a miracle for release groups, it can be cracked easily and saves hours on the time needed to crack a game.

My point is that Steam offers pretty good prices on products and make them available immediately to you.

Saves a lot of effort on the buyers part.

We blaming Steam for piracy now?

[Peter Griffin]

I think the PC version of MW2 got pirated so much out of spite. No one wanted to give them money for a product that had the most enjoyable multiplayer feature stripped out of the PC version. While I didn't even play MW2, I don't blame the PC folks who pirated it.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

im most worried about the people that know how to pirate and choose to download the Sims...

how do they determine these figures?

honestly, there was a time when i was so poor that i couldnt afford games at all.... i had to wait for my birthday or christmas. now that i have a real job and i can afford games, i STILL dont pay full price at the store for them (save for MW2... eesh... $65 after tax.) all i do is wait until the games are like $10. i have plenty of other games to occupy myself until the latest and greatest is much cheaper.

[Digital Tonic]

I think the PC version of MW2 got pirated so much out of spite. No one wanted to give them money for a product that had the most enjoyable multiplayer feature stripped out of the PC version. While I didn't even play MW2, I don't blame the PC folks who pirated it.

I'm sure Infinity Ward thought PC gamers would be fine without Dedicated Servers, they knew that latency issues wouldn't be a major problem which was the only reason for having dedicated servers in the past, however they probably perfected the means of P2P networking and made it similar to consoles.

And the response was, "Ohh sh*t, no dedicated servers for MW2... F*ck this I'll pirate it".

I won't be surprised if they don't even make a PC version next time with all the dedicated server b*llsh*t they got.

Maybe the word 'ungrateful' springs to mind.

(Reminds me of the StarCraft 2 LAN play incident).

[Rohdekill]

Ill admit I have pirated Games before but only for the reason to try before I buy... I really wish games released more demos so I could do that easier but if they don't released a demo I pirate then if I like I buy the full copy. I do the same with console I rent if I like then I buy the full copy....If they can find a way to "rent" on like steam or some sort I would rent then try..could also bring in a lil extra revenue....I just don't know how they would do this nor what I suggest a way to do so....just an idea

quick note I'm one of those people that if I like a game and play it alot I like to have all the boxart,manuals, ect. in a hard copy form....

I may be getting a little off subject here but....

Since most games now focus on multi-player as their selling point and include a shorter, single-player mode (which only upsets those that like 'em and feel ripped off), why not come up with something like this:

A massive single-player campaign which takes place on-line, in a multi-user environment. Meaning, you play your mission, while seeing others play theirs but they cannot kill you. You each have separate goals yet your actions could effect each others (i.e., the other player might take out an enemy tank which I am tasked to destroy, but another tank appears after a limited time).

Both, multi and single player campaigns are online. Then, give everyone a limited time offer to demo it by restricted user accounts. If you pirate the game, you're only pirating the interface to the server, there'd be nothing to play.

... just an idea.