Game developers should lower their prices or find other ways to increase the value of their games then. Of course, it's never their problem, now is it? They'll just throw more money away on trying to fight the inevitable, and pass the bill on to legitimate customers. One pirated pieces of software in no way equates to a lost sale anyway. Try telling that to greedy corporations though.

Yeah, I kinda got a kick out of that statement too.  Maybe we don't want to pay $35 for a first-party DS game, or pay $50 for a Wii game.

It always amazes me when developers are gobsmacked at the fact that their $50-$60 mediocre game doesn't sell.  I mean, make gamers feel like we're getting a bargain, don't make us feel like we're paying a set amount just because everybody else is.

The issue is with the DS, I think the issue is more the ROM size than anything else, it's too easy to download hundreds of games and slap them on a flashcart (and the DS has an abysmal tie-ratio). The Wii doesn't have that issue.

In Europe DS games cost 40€, that IS a bit ridiculous. First party Wii games cost just as much.

Glad its confirmed, I just can't do 3D for very long before I start to feel uneasy.

I think that the fact that its 3D will curb piracy

holographic DS cart patent

a DS cart using holographic storage that is backwards compatible with the current DS.

Maybe they are using these carts and using holographic encryption on every cart so that it is impossible to replicate since holographic printers are very very expensive and not in public domain. Your common pirate wouldn't be able to afford to pirate games, and certainly not able to share them if he did since it would be cheaper to just buy the games.

Being able turn 3D on and off easily worries me as to how much the feature actually contributes to games.  Right now it sounds like just a cosmetic feature, instead of a game-changing feature like motion-control, as I had hoped.

I still believe 3D is only a secondary function mentioned only to distract Sony/Apple, while the real innovation remains a secret.

Oh, and on the topic of piracy: like I have mentioned before, I don't think lower retail prices will any significant effect on piracy, as long as it's still so darn easy to pirate games.

That's precisely why companies like Activision are moving to a "platform" model, where the game you buy is only a client and you need to pay a fee/get online to get full functionality.

I agree, 3D is nowhere close to a killer feature.

One look at eBay shows DS piracy is running wild. Even Wii isn't safe, as there are counterfeit Wii Remotes and other accessories for sale. Though I haven't seen or heard about pirated Wii games. It'd be nice to curb piracy so that those looking for legit copies aren't tricked into buying counterfeits.

You don't have to pirate Wii games, just borrow or rent them.

No, it wouldn't have any real effect on piracy. It would increase sales amongst honest consumers however. If you could buy two games for $60 instead of just one, I guarantee you'd not only purchase more games, but would be more willing to take a chance on little-known titles and more obscure genres.

Pirates are not customers and should not be thought of as customers. Most never have the intention of purchasing the games they pirate. Even if they did, they financially could not. I'd imagine most average people purchase several games per year (I tend towards about one per month, for example). How many games do you think a pirate downloads? When you don't have to worry about money and everything is merely a click away, it's easy enough to add a game to your list here and there. While it's easy to download a dozen games in a day, no one could really afford to buy that many in that amount of time. Furthermore, most pirates are simply going to grab things on a lark without ever actually even playing it. What might have sounded interesting enough to add to the download list may not stand out enough in ones memory once it's actually downloaded. It'll sit on their hard drive and never be touched again, just like countless other media files.

That's what these companies need to realize. Pirates will never be customers. Restrictive systems and copy protection only end up inconveniencing and hurting the legitimate customers, while costing the companies money in development time. Don't worry about non-customers. Make a better, more appealing product for your real audience.

^I agree with most of that and it was put very well, but there are still lots of potential customers in pirates. Lots of pirates pirate because it's so easy, but if it wasn't so easy, and it wasn't just a click away, then lots of them would actually buy games for the system. They wouldn't buy as many, but there are still lots efforts to be made towards making all of them honest customers again.

But I agree that the hardcore and entrenched pirate will only migrate to where they can get software for free. Those are lost cause non-customers, but that's not to say that if they can't pirate your software, then at some point the right piece of software wouldn't get them to make a legitimate purchase.

The DS tie ratio is about 6.0 (about 780 million DS games sold, 128 million systems). That means there is an average of 6 games sold per system. That is pretty good, even better when you think about how many people upgraded their systems (and thus the actual number of systems being played is lower).

I have to agree about price not having anything to do with it. People pirate songs, and even $1 App games. I am against piracy, but I don't buy for a second the RIAA claims about how much business they lose to it. While I have no doubt that some people pirate because of price, most do not. I know a few people who pirate songs and games, and I know for a fact that if piracy was not a option that they would just not play them. If there was no pirate versions, they would just not experience those songs and games at all.

^This is also true, but every once in a while, even one of they may buy a CD, a game or a movie if it wasn't so easily accessible for free. they may not even buy it for themselves, but they would still buy it vs pirate it.

The only reason I would ever pirate Nintendo's software is if they were not willing to give me games that I want. What I mean is that Rareware title will never come to virtual console, but if an opprotunity came about where I could put those pirated games onto my wii VC I would probably do it it in a heartbeat. Now, if Nintendo wants to combat this, they should open up to the idea of allowing more popular non-first party games on the service. Rare titles are just an example and there are plent of others that I want as well.

The same goes for emulation. I read on craigslist where a guy was advertising that he had modded his wii's hombrew channel to play GC, Dreamcast, Saturn, SEGA CD, PS 1 and 2 games off of an external hard drive. I realize that Sony consoles will never come to Nintendo's VC service, but if this guy has found a way to emulate this hard ware, Nintendo needs to get on the bad wagon and offer it legititmatly so that people will be less inclined to pirate.

Nintendo will never be able to stop piracy in such places as China, but they could slow it down in the west by basically beating the pirates at their own game. There is no doubt that pirating software is dangerous and costly for the people who do it, Nintendo can afford to beat them at their own game.

Nintendo should go after pirates the same way as a cancer. Basically stop the proliferation by making the technology harder to copy and then go after the pirates either by law suits, or like I said before offering the consumer the pirated software honestly.

Does Sony, Apple and Microsoft suffer from the same problem? If so, how bad?

Everyone suffers from it, and to what would apparently be the same extent. I'd actually look for Sony to see an increase in piracy. Now that they aren't supporting the Other OS option, the homebrew scene is going to have to find a workaround. Unfortunately, workarounds can always be used for piracy at some point or another as well. Again, that's just another example of a business hurting itself and its legitimate customers by chasing around unstoppable and/or non-existent bogeymen.

Companies taking measures against piracy is only a bad thing when the measures they take hurt people who bought the game legitimately. If Nintendo were to switch to holographic media it wouldn't do that, unless it caused higher prices for games because of the newer (presumably more expensive) technology.

The companies spend a lot of money in R&D on new protection schemes. Schemes that are all cracked sooner or later. That cost may not be directly passed on to the customer, but it's absence could certainly help a lot in lowering the cost of games. I'm willing to bet that developers would see a better financial outcome from lowering product prices than they would from failing to stop piracy.

Nintendo is too arrogant to combat piracy properly.

I think they put in protection schemes to delay pirates, not stop them.

You're blaming Nintendo for something they legally can't do. Stop being lazy and buy an original Nintendo 64.

Nintendo doesn't care about pirated games that are no longer for sale, or not released on Nintendo systems.

How is it not a gimmick period. What could it possible ever do to add to gaming that classical polygon 3D couldn't beside just looking cool.  3D is the next HD, useless crap to get dumb people to re-buy all their stuff without adding anything.

Unless you already own the games, then it's still very wrong to pirate those games just because you cant play it on your system of choice. Should sony fans be able to pirate Zelda because it will never be on the PS3? Go on ebay and buy the old carts/systems for them unless they've never been released.

First off, Dreamcast and PS2 and Sega CD emulators DO NOT Exist and will never exist on the wii 1. (Saturn & PS1 are very shoddy)

emulation=/=piracy. I don't believe in paying for something I've already paid for and it's more convenient to have most of my game collection on a single HDD/SD played on one system when traveling. This is one of the main reason emulator exist and were created.

The problem is the guys who make this crap usually live in Spain, Colombia, China, and in other country's that don't have law against piracy (international or otherwise) and can't be sued.

This is a very offensive comment to me.  To the pirates it doesn't matter what the price of games are, they are going to steal them anyway.  They do it because they can and it is easy.  Downloading music is cheap.  $.99-$1.50 for a song you like is pretty cheap, but people are still stealing music.

It is not a value issue either, because there is a lot of value and work that goes into a game.  You are getting an interactive experience, music, a story, animation and more... each of these things cost money, sometimes a lot of money. 

Now, should gaming prices be lower?  I would probably suggest yes.  I think $20.00 for a portable game is probably a good price, since it is usually using lower technology and sometimes simpler designs (but honestly that isn't always fair or true when measuring the cost of games).  So I would like to see console games around $40.00 as the max.

But the issue of pricing of games and piracy are two different issues and aren't really linked.  I'm sorry, I won't believe people will magically stop stealing software because they believe it is priced more reasonable. 

Nintendo's worried about piracy and they're cleaning up? Don't make me laugh, Iwata. And your show pony wants to charge people for your non-existant online...thing? What's going through your heads?!

The fact that you can just toggle the 3D setting on the 3DS really makes me wonder if it contributes to games or gameplay at all, or is just a useless special feature.

Something tells me that, as irritating as Nintendo is being this generation, they're gonna get hardcore frustrating next generation.

I dunno.  Nintendo is very slow to move.  They have their own philosophy and do things there way...and sometimes that means they are very slow to move with the times, and make the appropriate decisions to advance in the current market environment.

However, Nintendo has been making smart choices this generation, and are learning hard lessons in the areas they slip up.  The Wii and the DSi have had great success, but also very painful failures and Nintendo seems to be learning from those lessons...

the above statement says nothing to the fact that Nintendo hasn't been studying the market and looking at the future.  Nintendo Japan has already stated that Apple is a serious competitor they are looking at in the future.  Nintendo is looking at the future and I believe they will continue to grow.

Am I foolish to believe Nintendo will magically learn all their lessons at once and make a perfect system with all their previous mistakes corrected?  NO.  I don't...I believe the Wii2 and the 3DS will still have issues, but it will be better.  Actually, I honestly have to say the best system built and the most complete console ever built was the Xbox 360...but even that had problems.  But, the overall product was solid. 

I hope Nintendo looked very hard at Microsoft and what they did right this generation.

Pirating DS games is apparently as easy as buying a flash cart and downloading a torrent with hundreds of DS games. No hacks or soldering. It takes a lot more effort (and bandwidth) to pirate home console games. Additionally there are a lot of people selling counterfeit carts, the buyers of those definitely would have been paying customers if they hadn't been tricked into buying a fake.

Halbred, 3D is a minor feature, most likely the major feature isn't revealed yet (the DS isn't special because it has two screens either).

They were talking about their future consoles and online plans.  As much as I will never pay for online again they obviously weren't talking about people paying for the current system.  What are you thinking?

Did anyone really think you wouldn't be able to?

The ability to turn 3d off or on doesn't change anything about 3d.  This is a FEATURE and should cause absolutely no one to worry.  This won't change the 3d in any way.  When something is 3d it doesn't magically eliminate the ability to watch it in 2d.


I hate drm and things that inconvenience me but I feel that Nintendo has done a good job with their antipiracy efforts because it never inconveniences me, the consumer.  They are also talking about the trend of piracy becoming more acceptable to people.  Companies should be worried about this.  All the music companies million dollar lawsuits and drm pc games only seems to make it worse because it makes it seem like they deserve it.  drm can give a legitimate excuse for pirates (locked down, need internet, etc) and the big lawsuits and heavy handedness just makes them seem like assholes who don't deserve the money.

Perhaps I do not want to buy a N64 and hae my room cluttered. Perhaps I just want all of my older games stored on my SD card in digital form. I apologize for bringing up the olde and dated topic of Rare titles on wii, but I just wanted to make a point.

I believe Gametap is able to emulate the Saturn. If it can, why is the wii unable to do so?

there's so many games you can still buy legally for dirt cheap there's no real reason to pirate old games just because they aren't available on modern systems.

If you want old Rare titles you can always get a 360 and just buy the updated versions from Microsoft's store, as most of Rare's best titles are already up there.  Nintendo doesn't have the legal rights to Rare titles that didn't use Nintendo characters, and unless Microsoft sells the company back to Nintendo that's not going to change.

It's worth owning a 360 just for the updated Perfect Dark on XBLA.

I hate to get back onto this subject, but I will never buy a microsoft system and I understand that Rare titles will never come to VC. But still, I would hombrew those games just to have them on my wii.

I want to be honest, Nintendo is good about coming out with clever ideas no matter how gimmicky they may seem at the time. However, if Nintendo does not find a way to adapt their ways to the changing trends in the gaming world they will suffer the same fate as SEGA.

I look at Nintendo as being the specieal needs person of the gaming community. They refuse to serve the fans because of their inability to adapt their marketing scemes to what the consumer wants. How can they provide a lack luster online support in the times we are living? Simple, they are chincy bastards that screw their base over and then wonder why they are slowly losing money thanks to pirates.

I would feel ashamed to sell some body a $200 console that does not have the computing power of an iphone. I think that Nintendo is inviting disaster(day of crisis?) onto themselves. These pirates are just one thing that I see putting a nail into their coffin.

The idea that Nintendo doesn't know how to adapt to changing trends and get their marketing aligned with what consumers want is ludicrous. Nintendo clearly knows how to do those things; even their harshest critics have to give them that.

Well, you're missing out on a ton of great games. And just because you're unwilling to buy a MS console, doesn't make pirating games or supporting the pirating of games okay. There's no way to justify that.

Explain. I don't think adapting is the problem; they do. However, it's how long it takes Nintendo to adapt that worries people.

I was talking about the Wii and DS, but maybe it doesn't count if you're so far ahead of the curve that you're changing the trends yourself instead of adapting to the changes. It could be taken in terms of something like online play as well, though, and in that area Nintendo is lagging behind.

What I meant was that Nintendo takes too much to adapt to the changing trends. As for for missing out on the xbox games, I miss having the ability to play Gears of War and Mass Effect, but I just do not like the xbox as a consumer. I mean there are brands of cars that people never buy, nor drive. As for pirating Rare games noto the wii, I mainly used that as point for the topic. Sooner or later, the old cartridges will run out or become unable to work due to age.

Yes and no. Like you said, there's the whole Friend Code thing. People didn't like it on DS and Nintendo decided to give it another go around on the Wii which again, failed to win any supporters. No one outside of Nintendo thinks it's a good idea. Only recently did Miyamoto somewhat relent on it by saying that Nintendo is trying to realize "its core business structure" which may include charging for the service. If that's what it takes to get a competent online experience, so be it. We're all kind of just left scratching our heads, wondering what the hell took so long.

And that's where buying an Xbox comes in. If your old carts no longer function and you're adamant about not buying an Xbox for whatever reason, well, I'm sorry, sir, but you are sh*t out of luck. We're all expected to spend money to posses the things that we enjoy.

Treasure of Rudras is a game I would enjoy playing on the VC service, but Nintendo's moronic buisness practices keep me from enjoying the game.

That is why people will always go to clandestine ends to obtain such things. I apologize for bringing up the tired rare thing, but if the market is not able to give me what I want the way I want it, I will have to homebrew these games.

Piracy is never good. Developers make these games so that they can make a profit. They make a profit so that they can continue to make games. I'm all for open source and free intellectual property, but lets be honest and face it..you get what you pay for. If I pay $50 for a Wii game than it usually is worth it. It works in reverse too. If a game is really good you should pay money for it. By not purchasing real products people hurt the game biz. I say if your under 23 than fine, after that than you should get a job if you want to enjoy things.

Exactly how is it Nintendo's fault that Square Enix won't bring over an old, never localized SNES game to Virtual Console?

Morari your missing a key point as always, you really can't defend a point about games costing so much because there's plenty of LEGAL ways around this, me I rent most games (gamefly) or I'll buy them on sale.  Just because you think something overpriced doesn't mean you should take it for free (unless you're dying and need it then that's ok in my book).  Games are ENTERTAINMENT, meaning you can live without it.

There's also free games online anyhow, sure they might be dated but if you don't got the scratch then why complain.  A good example of free games, Mech Warrior 4 or Quake Live.  Free & Legal.

Especially after Nintendo moved heaven and earth negotiating between several companies to bring one of the most obscure Square Enix games (on probably Nintendo's least-beloved console, the N64) to the VC with Ogre Battle 64.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Nintendo doesn't allow anyone to translate import titles. If it is a text-heavy game, it'd pretty much be unplayable.

All I am saying is that Nintendo should make their technology harder to pirate and offer what ever games they can on the VC service. This would not stop piracy all togehter, but it would slow them down considerably.

That doesn't excuse piracy. Even if a game could be released on the Wii with no problems (meaning no licenses, already released in North America before, etc.) and Nintendo just chooses not to have it released, that doesn't change anything. It's still piracy and still illegal/immoral/en-ethical.

I'm not sure. Nintendo has allowed previously unreleased titles on VC, but my limited googling only confirmed that those titles were already in English to begin with (i.e. Sin and Punishment, though Nintendo owns the rights so I'm not sure it counts). There is apparently an old Wired article from 2007 referenced on Wikipedia where George Harrison, former Senior VP of Marketing, said it was possible for publishers to localize previously unreleased games on the Virtual Console. However, since the link is broken, I can't confirm this and it was from Wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt. Hey, it's the best I could in a couple minutes and the Google search bar.

Still, I find it hard to believe that Nintendo would actively stop a publisher from putting in the work to localize an old SNES game to put on VC. Said publisher would pay for the localization and pay Nintendo a licensing fee. What does Nintendo have to lose?

Didn't Square-Enix say that the version of FF IV that's on the VC (the original localized "Final Fantasy II") is only that way because Nintendo won't allow them to retranslate it?

Honestly, I don't understand why Nintendo should have a problem with companies creating new translations for old titles coming to the VC, but apparently they do.

But, it's already been retranslated like 15 times for every version of that game that's been released....

I mean, if that's the case, then that's is extremely ra-tarded and I would agree that Nintendo's policy is stupid.

If it's going to be translated, then just call it WiiWare.

Maybe the 3D graphics will give the pirates headaches so that they'll just feel like taking an aspirin and "lying down" for awhile and won't be "in the mood" for pirating games. Only to find out later that they were never interested in pirating in the first place, and only pretending to for your benefit, and then finally, finally the truth comes out and they have been seeing other people for almost a month thanks to you being 'emotionally distant' and won't return phone calls fast enough. Oh sorry for having my own busy life, and not taking care of your every little problem. What the heck, what did I do to deserve this?

I actually kind of wonder if that's why the 3 Phoenix Wright games are on WiiWare rather than Nintendo just adding a GBA section to the VC.

Another 3DS related article
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=30917.msg607455#msg607455

This is a summary of the Nintendo Financial Meeting that took place last week.
I tried to send it in to NWR, but got an error, so I send you to that link instead.