Yeah. Lost revenue for developers is a real BIG issue..700k pirated 360 games should amount to roughly $40mil lost by Microsoft. Not funny.
Unlike maybe artistes who seem to actually get a boost from illegally downloaded songs, the good nerdy designers, coders, writers, artists, engine designers, CGI folks, storyboarders, contracted orchestras or ensembles (for the OST), (viral) marketers, promoters, QA folks, online managers and even the in-house goffers gain nothing. There're no live concerts to recoup lost earnings (except maybe the conventions). But you'd say there're some monthly suscriptions for PREMIUM services online, but it ends there.
And the funniest part is, bringing down the price won't stem piracy. Even if it's a couple cents, why bother when you can get it freeeeeee?
Too bad.
Console piracy isn't as bad as PC piracy because you'd need to touch up hardware ('chip' the console as the lingo is here) and that may be inconvenient to some, but it's alive and well. Can't say about the rest of the world (the stats are there for any doubting Thomas) but here in Africa, specifically Naija, and in Asia, the homebrewing/pirating business is BIG. There's a major software centre in Lagos (basically computer software and lots of hardware too), and another (basically console games and the consoles themselves). Large expanses of markets, really large. Now, the hardware (iPads, laptops, smartphones, routers, VDUs, printers, any peripherals you can think of) are ALL original..the retailers do have deals with Dell, Acer, Toshiba, HP, Apple, Nokia and what have you. Nice and good. Only 'fake' goods you'll find are a couple Chinese phones or headsets here and there for the (extremely) poor. That's for hardware.
Software otoh? Forget it. Yes, some clean retailers sell the originals, but in the Villa (any Lagosian would know
) for every original software sold you have like 20 or more pirated versions peddled. Bad.
Same for consoles. At AI, all the consoles there are original, though there are 'facilities' for those who wish to 'chip' them. But you're buying it in the box first. Even in the days of NES, most were shipped straight from Japan with one or two cartrigdes to play with in-box. My first ever gaming experience was SF in an Osaka Japan box housing the NES console..never will forget that.
Then the games themselves..just like at the Vil some good folks sell the original versions, but there are shelves upon shelves sagging under the weight of pirated copies for the 'chipped' console. Literally numbering in the millions. ALL of them coming from Asia, or at least 90% of them. Some of the PES or FIFA titles actually have Nigerian or global hits embedded in them, so instead of hearing a Queen track while setting up your formation and tactics, you'd likely hear a D'banj tune. Meaning there are Nigerians over there working with the (mostly) SE Asian blackhats in pirating the games, making a killing in the process.
That's just a bit of shed light on the pirating of vid games here, and I'm sure it works that way in some other African countries, even the almighty SA.
The story's probably the same all over Asia.
But, D2 was like, 2001?? 
bro
