Here's a Novel Idea: Let's Actually Purchase the Video Games We Play

Let's just come right out and say it - it's very likely that we've all been, at some point, a media pirate. There's a fine line to walk between "archival copy" of a media product we own, and making a copy of a movie/song/game from a friend that we're interested in. This is especially the case with the status quo of the video game industry - more and more people are using "torrent' and "warez" sites to download and play non-purchased copies of video games. Now before you shout out "Ye who cast the first stone...", here's some full disclosure: I fully admit that I have made and used copies of pc video games in the past. It was just so easy. Yet why did I do it?

What is it about media, particularly video games, and the Internet that seemingly makes this entire prospect seem ok? There really is no gray area to this at all: we're stealing products, plain and simple. Is it because it's so easy to do that it's perpetuated? If it were vastly easier to walk out of Best Buy with a brand-new box of BioShock or the latest Jay-Z cd, would more of us do it? Perhaps - but I sincerely doubt it very much. There is the inherent morality to the whole stealing aspect that makes most of us know it's wrong, and the actual physical act of taking something off a shelf and walking out of a store would seem to many to be extremely low on their "to do" list. Yet it is happening all the time on the Internet, and is a damaging problem with the games industry today.

Take, for instance, the disturbing quote found on this subject from Infinity Ward (IW), maker of the Call of Duty games. You may read it here. They don't list percentages/numbers of cracked games out on their servers, but their quote of "It blows me away at the amount of people willing to steal games (or anything) simply because it's not physical or it's on the safety of the internet to do." the IW representative makes a solid statement. Ethereal or not, a physical disc or not, if you have it but didn't pay for it, and it wasn't a gift or demo, guess what - it was stolen.

The implications of IW's comments are harrowing, since the article's title was "They wonder why people don't make pc games anymore." As a gamer, and more proportionately a pc gamer, this worries and upsets me greatly. The last thing I want to see is the demise of the strongest and most open platform in gaming. The death of pc gaming has been greatly exaggerated in recent years, but there's nothing to stop it from becoming a reality if the bottom falls out due to massive financial losses with the continued release of games that are immediately cracked and pirated. Consider what has happened with Spore.

Perhaps we should take a novel approach then: let's pay for games we love and play! Yes, and movies and music while we're at it. This is why we work after all, isn't it? To save up our hard-earned cash to buy things we'd like. As gamers, if we continue to desire and demand great, boundary-pushing, deeply passionate games, well, guess what - it's not a charity case out there. We need to buy them, people. This is our hobby, and it demands an investment. How would you feel if you worked 50+ hours a week on a product at your place of business for a client, who then turned around and simply took it when it was finished? Would you feel a bit jaded? Would you be surprised when, if enough clients continued to steal your finished product, your company shut down due to lack of revenue intake?

"Oh, but games are so damn expensive!" A classic, uninformed argument. Yes, games cost money, sometimes upwards of $50 dollars on PC, or $60 on console - when they're first released. Yet how often have you taken a significant other, let alone family, to an evening cinema showing? Once you plunk down two adult tickets, and say, one popcorn and soda, you're looking at a minimum of $20 - $25 dollars in cash - for a single viewing of a movie. Games, on the other hand, offer multiple hours, sometimes in the dozens or hundreds, of repeated entertainment. And this is before we discuss the increased benefits of spatial relationships, logic/puzzle-solving, interactivity, social networking aspects, and hand/eye coordination.

Consider the costs involved: games cost money to design, create, produce, market, and distribute. Where do you think your hard-earned money goes? Award-winning titles, from "BioShock", "Crysis", and "Fallout 3" to "Peggle Nights", "World of Goo", and "Lost Winds" all take buckets of cash to research, create, test, market, and publish. Yet after a few months, just like movies, cars, or clothes, prices drop, and titles go on sale. Buy the game then. Or, better yet, use the amazing number of outlets available to you, like eBay, Amazon, Half.com, Gogamer.com, or any of the other myriad stores selling used or severely discounted games on the 'Net. And how about your local mom n' pop shops, eh? Those used book stores have turned into used media stores - use'em. And don't forget the boutique shops such as EB Games or GameStop outlets, or even Craigslist. There are dozens of places to find great, cheap, used or new games, if only we put in the minimalist of efforts.

One alternative to this issue is the disappearance of the physical disc and packaging altogether, and with the advent and incredible success of services such as Steam, Impulse, GOG, Gametap, and others, this may be the inevitable progression of the PC gaming industry. While this type of downloadable content is slick, easy, and saves costs (and the planet) in regards to packaging, it will mean Internet connection will be mandatory, as well as online authentication for a purchased game at least once, if not multiple times. Only time will tell if this may curb, or at least diminish, the pirating of games.

As a long-reformed game pirate, I urge all people to head this call, and stop pirating games. This is a very serious issue for not only us gamers, but the game makers. There are millions of us yet that still need convincing to do otherwise. This is an extremely dangerous prospect: we can continue to steal and take what isn't ours, and then complain when horrendous anti-piracy software is installed on our products that ruin our rigs with rootkits, and usher in the day when the horizon is bare of any new pc releases, due to unbridled, rampant piracy.

As gamers, and consumers, the choice is ours . Let's make the right one.