Piracy discourages future PixelJunk PSP port plans
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Oct 19th 2009 at 9:00PM } 
Cuthbert added in a follow-up tweet, "because Monsters is such a good fit it is being pirated I think," and then he responded to a suggestion to incorporate anti-piracy measures into the game code with: "unfortunately the pirates could just hack those kinds of things out." While the PSP Go has yet to be fully unlocked by would-be pirates and download-only PSN titles seem to be well protected from piracy, PJMD is available on UMD (in Japan and the greater Asia region), which has no doubt lead to the distribution of pirated versions of the game.
While it's somewhat naive of Q-Games to not have anticipated a piracy issue, it's no less disheartening. The PSP has long suffered from a lack of consistent third-party support because of a history of sales losses due to piracy. Q-Games is just the latest developer hesitant to commit further resources to supporting the PSP platform, and without the release of an impossibility firm firmware, it won't be the last.
Update: Cuthbert reemphasizes that PJMD sales will be the key determining factor that drives Q-Games' future in PSP development. Cuthbert's studio has not definitely dropped PSP development, but ostensibly low sales over the first three weeks of PJMD availability have Q-Games in some doubt about pursuing further PSP projects. Of course, a sales spike could certainly change that attitude.
[Via Examiner; thanks, Marcus N.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 19th 2009 9:02PM
Hell, I bought it for 20$. It's a great game, and the multiplayer is fantastic.
Plus, telling your buddy how much you love him with 4x (
Special Agent Steve @ Oct 19th 2009 9:59PM
my comment was ruined by the gods that despise text-hearts. Screw you, text-heart hating gods. No love for you.
Ridgecity @ Oct 19th 2009 11:50PM
On my old pc games, there would be a question that said something like this:
"To reveal the monster type the 5th word on the second paragraph on page 27 of the manual."
And it worked because I threw the manual for a Sierra game and never could finish the game. Back in the day, it was almost impossible to meet a fellow pc gamer.
unknown @ Oct 19th 2009 9:06PM
I bought pixelJunk monsters last week on 14th, I loved this game since the day i played it at a friends house.
I dont have a PS3 and the only connection I have to PSN news is through my PSP.
the problem could be
no advertising, there was no hype, nothing.
look at World Of Goo, they were getting rapped by piracy and then Nintendo shelled out some cash and advertised on ign and other game sites and Sales went up big surprise.
DaRabidDuckie @ Oct 19th 2009 9:43PM
I think you hit the nail on the head. I try to pay attention to most gaming news, but I wasn't even aware of this until just now.
So yeah, it's pretty safe to blame this on bad marketing.
NukeAssault @ Oct 19th 2009 10:22PM
i didn't even know this game existed till like yesterday. =\
Unplugged @ Oct 19th 2009 9:07PM
Heres a little idea for all the pirates out there.
1) STOP PIRATING GAMES
2) GET A JOB (or find someway to get money)
3) BUY THE DAMN GAME
4) PLAY THE DAMN GAME
5) REPEAT STEPS 1-4
pibs @ Oct 19th 2009 9:26PM
The only way to combat piracy is with loyalty. Rewarding loyal customers with dlc or a cheap little gimmick like a poster could highly curve sales. For example, RB2 came with 20 free song dlc code, Gears 2 came with a free map pack. Maybe even treating us gamers with the same respect we give the devs. Keep a fun and active community for the game, basically create an infrastructure for the title. Sadly there isn't always the budget to do so, but games like Professor Layton 2 and its twitter mystery games prove a little goes a long way.
I really don't think telling pirates to get jobs or just buy it is going to work...as bad as pirates are for what they are doing, they are still gamers.
RKN @ Oct 19th 2009 9:36PM
I will buy a game if the developer/publisher treat me with respect and reward me, such as with CD Projekt and their game, The Witcher. When they released the Enhanced Edition, they gave all the extras as a free patch to users who bought the original game. They have my loyalty and I will never pirate from them.
The exact opposite of them right now is Infinity Ward where I am very tempted to pirate from those fuckers.
Jawmuncher (PSN & XBL:Jawmuncher) @ Oct 19th 2009 11:02PM
Infinity Ward right now is such a disappointment to PC gamers.
Blizzard seems to be spiraling down a bit too.
And their both owned by activision, go figure.
RKN @ Oct 20th 2009 12:15AM
Them both being owned by Activision is probably the one and only culprit here.
Monkey Fetish @ Oct 20th 2009 12:42AM
If it were that easy. But its sad that indie-developers, which don't have huge budgets like the big-boys are the hardest to suffer from pirates. Since even a 1,000 game sales to them is a huge difference...
??? @ Oct 20th 2009 7:31AM
Bitching at pirates for piracy on the comments section of a gaming news site is like talking to a coffee table: Why bother other than to look like a complete idiot?
Mez Jr @ Oct 20th 2009 11:02AM
Really there are only 2 ways to make piracy irrelevent is to create an environment thats almost "piracy proof" typically consoles, its odd that Sony made a console that is so easily hacked. And secondly to make games for people who pay for games.
Why does the sims sell so well? The people who play the sims pay for games.
Look at RKN that kind of customer is a bad customer. Sounds like the kind of guy who if he gets bad service at a restaurant steals a fork.
Bottom line, pirates should not have a voice in the marketplace. They should not demand to be catered to so that you earn some level of loyalty from them.
Ravnos @ Oct 20th 2009 12:56PM
"That and the fact that games are [*BEEP*]ing overpriced."
Winner! Seriously, I think it's ridiculous that these companies complain about piracy and used game sales affecting their bottom line just as they jack up game prices. What do they think causes people to look at used games or piracy if not the desire to save a few bucks?
And yes, I know there will always be pirates at ANY price higher than free, but you can greatly reduce that by A) offering the goods at a reasonable price, and B) making the paid experience significantly better than the free one. If you're not doing either of these things, people have no incentive to buy new other than a "moral obligation", and if you're counting on that to make you money, you deserve bankruptcy.
Ravnos @ Oct 20th 2009 12:57PM
Shit, wrong thread. Man, I failed today.
Jeff Rebbeck @ Oct 20th 2009 3:19PM
With all due respect to the "treat me right and I won't pirate" crowd, piracy has another big driving force: cheapskates.
Lots of people who can totally afford these games pirate them anyway with the mentality "why pay money for something I can get for free?" The morality of their actions and the financial needs of the devs to make a living are not even a consideration for these people.
RKN @ Oct 19th 2009 9:08PM
Goes to show you that rampant piracy isn't just on the PC.
It would be rampant on the consoles as well if they didn't need a mod-chip to read burnt discs and unauthorized code. Many wouldn't mind not being able to connect online to play pirated games.
If piracy on the consoles was as easy on the PC, it would just be as rampant.
Its not as though console gamers have more morals than PC gamers.
CaramelZappa @ Oct 19th 2009 9:23PM
Well since the wii can be software hacked piracy on it is pretty bad too.
Eric H. @ Oct 19th 2009 9:29PM
I disagree, I havent heard anything of Wii piracy being rampant and its almost as easy to hack as the PSP. I think we just see more piracy on the PSP as its more of a hardcore handheld.
Even with the 360, all you had to do for awhile was flash your DVD drive with new firmware that could read burned discs. No mod-chip needed. I think 360 is just doing it right, they are advertising and giving incentive to purchase their games.
You could even say the same about steam games. With all the deals there's no need to pirate the games.
CaramelZappa @ Oct 19th 2009 9:40PM
Well steam is a great way of combating piracy on two fronts. One is that it's simple, fairly effective but not horribly intrusive, DRM, and the other, and much more important element is that it gives legit customers the best version of the game. Yea, you can pirate L4D, but you don't get the community and server features you get with steam. You don't get to shift tab to your friends list or instant updates while steam is running in the background. That's where DRM like securom is failed. When bioshock launched, legit buyers could only install the game 3 times, while pirates could do whatever the hell they wanted with it, so pirates got the best version of the game. With steam, you lose something significant by pirating, and on top of that it's more convenient to buy on steam.
Einhanderkiller @ Oct 19th 2009 9:58PM
Eric H., Wii games sometimes hit the top 10 most active list for games on ThePirateBay. In fact, "Mario And Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games" is the 9th most active game torrent right now.
I don't know much about hacking the Wii, but I googled around a bit and it doesn't seem that hard. It sounds like what you do is load some files onto an SD card then put the card inside the Wii.
hunter @ Oct 19th 2009 11:12PM
consoles ARE pirate able, i have seen 360 consoles with hacked firmwares working online without any problems, so that´s not really true, the fact is that the psp sucked big time, they couldn´t make this system a good one and now well, it´s easier to say that the prates are killing the machine when we all know that this is not true, the nintendo ds is easier to pirate but nobody complains why? the same old reason, there are millions of NDS and therefore they can sell enough on the system, but when your system sucks well, any pirated copy is like a stab right in the groin...
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Oct 20th 2009 12:44AM
Hunter,
1. You're a fucking idiot, DIE.
2. YES, developers are bitching about rampant piracy on DS. Why do you think Chinatown Wars is going to PSP and iPhone after disappointing sales despite torrent tracking placing downloads at a 5:1 ratio. Why do you think 53 developers including Nintendo and Capcom are currently waging a war in Japan on retailers dealing the R4? Why do you think the only thing that moves on DS is FInal Fantasy DraQue, Nintendo, and Petz? DS is just as attacked as PSP on the piracy front by people who claim to "love games."
Dummy00001 @ Oct 20th 2009 6:22AM
Eric: "I think we just see more piracy on the PSP as its more of a hardcore handheld."
That and the fact that games are [*BEEP*]ing overpriced.
(probably bad analogy) In retrospect, I have bought most of my PC games because I wanted in a way to thank developers for the game. I have about dozen unopened games which I have finished (using pirated version) long time ago.
In PC market the problem is that once you subscribe yourself to warez channels, you simply stop looking at game stores. Pirates (as fellow gamers) do better service at advertising games and also at providing 100% working up-to-date /demos/.
Story I heard from my ex-colleague. He (in Malaysia) never pirated a single PSP game: he simply got for birthday cracked PSP with two flash cards loaded with all best games. And once later he visited the shop to ask for other games where for pennies they have sold him another memory stick with games of genre he liked. (Try for comparison to install 20+ demos on a console. A chore in comparison.)
What I'm getting here at is that pirates win hands down in advertisement, customer service and customer satisfaction departments. (And they are generally not even paid for that!) Sony's PR enormously contributed to that by pushing the marks lower and lower every time they opened their mouth.
zenaxe @ Oct 20th 2009 12:38PM
@Eric H: Preach it, brother. The way to kill priracy is reasonable pricing and distribution policies and marketing properly to the system demographic!
kacex @ Oct 19th 2009 9:12PM
Someday Cuthberth, someday!!
Pinguero @ Oct 19th 2009 9:15PM
This makes me sad to hear =( since I don't buy Xbox360 games, DS games, PSP games and PC games. Only games I bought a few are CSS and PS3 games since the PS3 isn't hacked yet.
Sly @ Oct 19th 2009 9:23PM
it's your fault asshole.
Steam:Lennoko| Whats PC Gaming? @ Oct 19th 2009 9:24PM
Did you just admit to pirating, everything?
CaramelZappa @ Oct 19th 2009 9:25PM
Get a goddamn job..
linebeginstoblur @ Oct 19th 2009 10:12PM
I wish I could give you zero stars, you prick. I can't stand people like you.
Cheesus Crust @ Oct 19th 2009 10:19PM
What about iPhone? You know can get cracked apps right? Go Pirate Go!
BPMOmega [XBL, PSN, Steam] @ Oct 19th 2009 10:26PM
I wish I could hate you bald.
Sly @ Oct 19th 2009 9:23PM
the fact that it's a downloadable title doesn't protect it from piracy at all. it only keeps it off the torrent sites for a few days after release.
RKN @ Oct 19th 2009 9:34PM
I learned a while ago that even Iphone/Ipod Touch apps are pirated and on torrent sites, amazing.
Sly @ Oct 19th 2009 9:45PM
you've never heard of jailbreaking? iphone piracy is pretty bad. almost everyone i know with iphones or touches have jailbroken their device. it's crazy.
RKN @ Oct 19th 2009 9:47PM
Sorry, I'm not into Apple nor their products at all. Though the Iphone/Ipod Touch are exceptions.
Sly @ Oct 19th 2009 10:17PM
i guess you don't know people with iphones/touches either considering how common jailbreaking is.
Einhanderkiller @ Oct 19th 2009 9:24PM
How does the DS' piracy compare to the PSP's? Is it bigger or smaller?
CaramelZappa @ Oct 19th 2009 9:26PM
I'm betting smaller since you need to be able to buy a flash cart for it, and on the PSP you just need a memory stick from what I understand. Either way it's really bad on both platforms.
Sly @ Oct 19th 2009 9:46PM
it's MUCH worse on PSP. the PSP caters to the hardcore market, so a lot of owners know how to hack it.
No Kill Tayler @ Oct 19th 2009 10:05PM
I know a couple people who use the M3 card, and I know only like one person who pirates on the PSP.
Here's to hoping the Go never gets hacked, since I own one.
BPMOmega [XBL, PSN, Steam] @ Oct 19th 2009 10:24PM
R4, M3, CycloDS, Acekard, DSTT, etc... There are dozens of DS flash carts out there. And many are quite cheap.
I have one, but I use it to backup my legitimately owned DS games onto it, so I can have multiple games on me, without needing to switch Game Cards (and I can provide photographic evidence of my vast DS collection; 60+ and growing!).
Sly @ Oct 19th 2009 10:33PM
i'm in the same boat as BPM. i have a hacked PSP, but i only keep backups of games i own on it since UMDs are fragile and take up a decent bit of space. i have a DS too, but since the only game i own so far is pokemon platinum, i have no need for a flash cart.
esposch @ Oct 20th 2009 5:33PM
@ Sly
And I find ISOs better.
My copy of Crisis Core on UMD would freeze a lot (usually when getting out of standby), ripped it to an ISO and the freezing magically disappeared!
And the loading times are about 6x faster.
Don't like CSOs though, they're even worse than the original UMD!
I don't rip my DS carts though, as I can't be bothered juggling saves.
Sly @ Oct 20th 2009 5:57PM
yeah, i'm not the biggest fan of CSOs either.
Dartmerc @ Oct 19th 2009 9:26PM
I used to pirate pc games, I'll admit that. But after finding Steam, I haven't pirated a game since. I pirated games for the convenience, and Steam gave me that.
I'd think PSN would have a similar affect, but I guess some psp owners are just cheap.
sleepypersons @ Oct 19th 2009 9:35PM
Personally I can understand theses games getting pirated mainly because how simple they are. Plus I still don't get why company's think there going to sell tower defense games that are single player mainly.
They need to take a look back and try warcraft 3 TD games because those get nuts at how fast they can go and with like 8 other people its hard to get bored. When your by yourself though its pretty bland.
Kodros @ Oct 19th 2009 10:37PM
"Plus I still don't get why company's think there going to sell tower defense games that are single player mainly. "
Maybe because it sold well on the PS3?