Piracy was much more difficult back in the 8- and 16-bit eras not because of copy protection or the difficulty of using the machines (though they weren't all that easy to use, especially if you had to use split ROMs), but because the knowledge of their existence sinmply wasn't widespread (at least in the U.S.) I never knew anyone who had a cartridge copier back then, I didn't even know they existed until sometime in the tail end of the 16-bit era and if I had wanted one then I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to afford it. Contrast that with, say, the Playstation where I hardly know anyone that *DIDN'T* have some pirate games and opening your system up for piracy cost like $20 and a spring. It certainly didn't have anything to do with the US or European markets, I can tell you that. I didn't even think there was copy protection on cartridge games until the N64 anyway. ...word is bondage...
I meant with the upcoming arrival of DRM, duh!! Exactly, the reality is that back in the day we didnt had the internet, and without it the only way to know about such machines (or the fact you could copy games) was if you had a friend who knew about it.
Well, I watched Pulp Fiction on UMD at work tonight...total crap. Sure the screen looks nice if you are no more than three feet from it and you can find something to prop it against, but the sound was terrible, and I can't wear headphones at work, so basically all I could hear were the action scenes, which were too loud and the dialogue was too low. i tried using it once as an MP3 player, but it's just too damn big to put anywhere. I bought the Beck music UMD, but it's inconvenient if I want to play it on my home stereo. I gave UMD an honest chance, as well as the mp3 functions, but honestly, it just isn't worth the time or the money. As for the above discussion, the NES carts were encrypted, and Tengen "cracked" it by sending a surge to the encryptor, thus disabling it. I think demand for piracy will go down as either A. the market continues to flood with shite cheap games like 50 cent:bulletproof B. People slowly end their romance with piracy like I have when they find it's nice to go out and buy the media they really want. I guess I got sick of having a million songs i'll never listen to and a handful of movies i'll never watch again. prices will come down etc...
The thing with music piracy like that, simply put if you didn't want the songs you more then likely wouldn't have bought them, thus to at least some extent piracy never accounts for a sales loss as great as claimed. It's crap like 50 Cent's game that causes losses (perhaps not this particular title as I'm sure many 'hardcore' kiddies got it) but in general lower quality products that result in a general disinterest in purchase.
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2626&Itemid=2 http://www.betanews.com/article/Report_UMD_Movies_Close_to_Failure/1143735152 It begins or uh ends, whatever. Might be a good time to find them cheap and actually buy a few if you have a PSP.
You can roll your eyes at me mate, but so far all you've done is wave the term "DRM" around like copy protection is something new to videogame consoles. What kind of DRM are you talking about? There you go pulling numbers out the air again...
Let's gather the facts here: 1. UMDs are priced oftentimes higher than a DVD, when DVDs can also be ripped and placed on a memory card. 2. Hardly any UMDs have extras. Pulp Fiction is a cult classic, yet the UMD had no extra features. I would TOTALLY buy more UMDs if there were more special features. I do like the music disks, at least you can listen to the music and/or watch the videos. 3. Universal? On what? Oh, a PSP, and what else, someone else's PSP? 4. Can't watch on big tv 5. Have you ever tried to hold one of these things to watch a movie? The portable DVD players sit in your lap, this thing needs to be held like a counterfeiter holds his dollars to the light to check for mistakes. 6. About 90% of the movies released IMO sucked...nobody wants new releases for $25. Maybe a limited edition version of The Wall, or Star Wars...yeah, why no Star Wars??? I woulda bought that shit!
