4. Anti-Piracy Measures
Piracy, especially in the video game industry, is nothing new, and video games and piracy have been especially good bed fellows ever since the integration of the internet changed the fabric of the marketplace. Now, it seems like all the big games are leaked ahead of their scheduled release dates, famous examples including
Half-Life 2,
Gears of War 3, and nearly all of the
Halo games. Publishers, none to happy about this rampant piracy, have recently been implementing certain tactics in order to combat this. Of course, anyone who knows anything about internet piracy knows that the way they are going about this is not only failing, but actually hurting those who legitimately pay for their products. Practices such as DRM and online passes only frustrate honest customers while doing absolutely nothing to curtail piracy. Yet despite this, they continue to push them. The result is an otherwise good game plagued with annoyances that make trying to simply play the game a chore. The worst part is that it shows no signs of stopping. Despite protests that accurately point out how piracy is a symptom of a greater problem, publishers refuse to back down. Valves Steam service is a direct example of how better service, not game-interrupting blockades, is how one stops piracy. Again though, publishers refuse to acknowledge this, so we, the law abiding gamers, must suffer.