The Piracy Isse

Anyone unlucky enough as to enter my bedroom would certainly note the sixteen original GameCube games, the seven Wii ones, the three Xbox 360’s, the eight PSP’s , the fifteen DS’s and the three Dreamcast’s games piled on my shelf. If such a person were to ask me for more, I would gladly show the box where my nine SNES’ and seven N64’s games are placed, as well as the digital copy of Mass Effect I have purchased from Live and installed on my Xbox HD. A further research would reveal dozens of CDs chaotically distributed all over the room and the twenty-something DVDs on my cabinet — not to mention the ones spread on other rooms of the house, including the countless seasons of TV series on the living room.

This might not sound that impressive if you are American or European, but when you live on a country where games cost twice as much as in the US, people are paid half as much, and “alternative” versions of all those games and movies are sold for less than US$5 on every corner, it takes a lot of will for one to stick to the legality.

That said, I love the theme of piracy.

If I ever see a discussion on the internet where people criticize the “pirates” while others defend their "right" to buy counterfeit products, I just feel an urge to step in. This is due to a number of reasons, but mostly it’s due to my anger against the “lies” that have spread around the world and that dominates this kind of discussion.

It is not to say that I approve piracy. Nor does it mean that I reprove it. I only dream with a world in which the matter is truly understood and discussed based on arguments, rather than absurdities.

So, here’s my altruist and heroic effort to lead the world closer to this utopia.

Link suggestion:

Incredibly conscious, highly entertaining and well ilustrated article regarding the relation between artistic and entertainment views of game design:

http://www.theoryoffun.com/theoryoffun.pdf

Purity

It is possible that you suck in fighting games. It is possible that when you were 12 years old, you'd gather with friends in front of a Super NES just to have your ass kicked in Street Fighter II and, if that is the case, you have perchance grown an aversion to fighting games.

Well, you shouldn't, because you sucking at them - in fact, the possibility of one sucking - is what makes fighting games (as well as bullet hells, RTS and a few other genres) relevant. Read on to understand why.