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Reader Comments (71)

Posted: Aug 7th 2010 7:54AM Manifest37 said

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For shame. You disappoint me internet.
I understand big companies, but never pick on the little guy.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:10AM harusame said

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@Manifest37
Even the big companies mainly consist of little people that are just trying to make a living. It's no excuse to pirate.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:11AM Cleric said

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@Manifest37

The 'little' guy had an overpriced product. I bought the game off Steam when it was on sale, and it's decent, but there's no way that game deserves 20 smackers.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:44AM The Nth Doctor said

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@Cleric Well, the game is definitely worth ten dollars, and the soundtrack is worth ten dollars, so purchasing it from the developer's website (which includes both) is ordinarily priced fairly.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:53AM bm111 said

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You're exactly what's ruining the games industry. Would you kindly get mauled by wild bears?
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:53AM bm111 said

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@cleric, that is
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:59AM Cleric said

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@bm111

You're the one telling me I should get mauled by bears because I don't like something you like and I'm the problem with video games? You should really reconsider your hobbies and maybe relax a little.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:20AM shadowhowl1900 said

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@Brockobama123

i shoulda done that with MW2...
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:27AM The Nth Doctor said

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@Cleric He's not upset because of your tastes concerning his hobby, but about your attitude, one that is all too present in consumers today and is very negatively effecting the industry surrounding a narrative medium all of us here enjoy.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:30AM Lerkero said

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@Brockobama123
Sure, the publisher may get a lot of the money, but I would hope the publisher also pays most of the salary and development costs to the employees of the developer. This might not be the case with large developers, but smaller indie developers have to get money from somewhere.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 12:31PM w1n5t0n said

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@The Nth Doctor
I think the point cleric is trying to make is if people pirated it because it cost to much, they weren't going to buy it. Most of that 85% piracy rate does not correlate to lost sales for the game.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 1:15PM Acosta02 said

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@Brockobama123

Wow, okay, that doesn't make sense. Typically the employees get a bonus based on review scores and sales for the game. If you sent 60 dollars to the million man Assassin's Creed II team, they would each get like a cent.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:14PM Esposch said

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@Brockobama123

Brotip:
It's the publisher that forks out all the money, and takes all the risk by publishing the game. Without them, medium sized developers could not exist.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:05AM insomniacpig said

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Don't forget to add that the soundtrack is included.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:57AM Skizem said

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Wait, did Joystiq just actually state: We're normally pretty down on video game software piracy, especially when the games being plundered are totally DRM-free indie darlings.

=====
Just because a game is DRM free and indie doesn't mean it's okay to pirate....shame.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:01AM Lukew said

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@Skizem No they said the EXACT opposite, welcome to the English language. They are down ON, not down WITH piracy. DURP.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:05AM Skizem said

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@Lukew
Haha, damn I read too fast. Thanks for pointing that out.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:02AM dirt junkie said

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Shame on anyone who pirated this game full stop!

Personaly I've bought 3 copy's, yes 3! Got the digi download when it first came out, then 2 copys of the retail version (one of which is still sealed)

This game is one of the best indie games out there, show some god damn respect.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 3:38PM Special Agent Steve said

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@dirt junkie
That's a lotta respect.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 7:30PM Brodo said

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@dirt junkie
lol thats probably not a true story.
Why on earth would you buy three copies of the same game.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 7:57PM dirt junkie said

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@Brodo

it seems a lot I admit, I only intended to buy one retail copy after buying the digi download, I wanted it simply because of it being a collectors etd. When it came to purchase it was only £11 on release at shopto.net!
Why not buy two at that price? Plus I do collect certain video games and this makes a great addition to the collection IMO.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:07PM Brodo said

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@dirt junkie
oh ok. Ya it's a pretty fun game. I haven't played it nearly enough yet, but I love the graphics. It's really hard though IMO
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 8:15PM dirt junkie said

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@Brodo

The graphics are awesome I think, but it's the atmosphere that got me hooked! That music, one of the reason for the collectors etd as I didn't get the soundtrack with the digi download, does come with it now it seems?
Plus with the collectors etd you get a full pictorial walkthrough, drawn just like the game, can help with those tougher puzzles :)
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:22AM 2kings said

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5$ is what its worth if you ask me
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:44AM Ashitaka said

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Same here
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:33AM The Nth Doctor said

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I honestly do not understand the whining about the original price point here.

For tripple the price, people are willing to accept incredibly generic, effortless games, churned out by major developers and publishers over and over again. Why complain about getting 1. an incredibly unique, immersive, stylish adventure game, 2. It's wonderful and soundtrack, and 3. the ability to, as many gamers, especially pirates, have expressed a desire to, directly support a unique developer, for a grand total of twenty dollars?
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:36AM Lerkero said

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@The Nth Doctor
One thing you forget to mention is that given the chance, many people would pirate those $60 games as well. PC piracy doesn't just affect small downloadable games. When large games are put on PC people spend lots of time seeding and leeching torrents (unless there is a new piracy method I am unaware of).

One of the reasons why so many of those $60 games are bought is because you have to mod your console in order to pirate games, but the PC is just a download and fake keycode. I don't think a lot of people are willing to put in the effort to modify the inside of their console.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:40AM Cleric said

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@The Nth Doctor

Incredibly unique how? It's one of the most cliche-ridden point and click games I've ever seen. This game does NOTHING new.

I swear the internet has this rule that if it's indy made then it's instantly amazing and innovative.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:49AM Dungeoncrawl said

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@The Nth Doctor I don't understand the whining either. It's called "free market economy" guys. Somebody makes a product/service and sets a price.....you buy it or don't.....the seller adjusts the price accordingly. That's how capitalism works. The people who get it right are rewarded...the people who don't (i.e. they set the price inappropriately) are NOT rewarded. The point is you don't get to say "The price isn't fair so I'm stealing it". Product overpriced = don't buy.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 12:43PM Hunter141072 said

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@Lerkero
well, welcome to the new age bro, piracy for the wii only requires a couple of software loaded to a memory card, plug a hd to the usb port and presto, 400 images for the wii.The xbox is the same i know a lot of guys who have the xbox up and ready to run copies and guess what?? NO CHIP ADDED, and they can play online without a problem no one has been banned. so that old, consoles are hard to hack is bullsh**t. Maybe that´s what billy wants you to believe but the true is completely different, piracy on the consoles is not as different as it is on the consoles.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 1:41PM The Nth Doctor said

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@Cleric How about the immersive atmosphere? Art design? Music? Plot isn't everything, especially in this medium.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 1:43PM The Nth Doctor said

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@Lerkero I wasn't really referring to the pirates with my comment on price, more the average joystiq commenter who is willing to shell out 60 bucks for say the newest bungie release but not 20 for something like this.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 4:08PM MasterGouken said

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@Lerkero

Newsgroups.... much faster... :D
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 6:41PM The Pumpkinmancer said

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@Dungeoncrawl

The point is you can steal something you don't want to buy it, people do, and they always will. Theft is part of an economy, always has been. Back in the day Magic the Gathering, which was terribly overpriced, was so ubiquitous with shop lifting that major stores would not carry it. Before the internet we had mixed taps, and recording entire tapes, or taping a movie off of TV and then copying that tape for friends. Piracy is not new, it's just more open now.

Now exists a chance for developers and publishers to communicate with pirates, as well as consumers, and try something to satisfy more people and create more revenue. This company is trying to do just that. They are trying to communicate with the pirates that have stolen game, and those that want to. Instead of threats and stepping on the toes of their buyers like Ubisoft has with their always online DRM and anti-PC mind set, these folks are offering an honest alternative. They get loads of respect from me.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 9:53AM mu93n said

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I for on will be purchasing this when I get home from work! :-D ty for the heads up joystiq!
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:02AM Poppa Qapp said

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Seems perplexing at first blush, I agree. However, I imagine the idea was that they had already lost the money for the games pirated; perhaps they thought some who had already pirated it and felt a bit guilty might pay $5 out of a desire for spiritual redemption...?

Yeah, you're right. It's bizarre.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:52AM clarinetJWD said

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@Poppa Qapp It's not really that bizarre or unprecedented. World of Goo was in the same situation of massive piracy, and had a "name your own price" sale to try and combat the losses a while back, and it was quite successful. These developers are trying to light the same fire, but eliminate all the $.01 crowd. I don't necessarily think it's going to work, but it's certainly not a new and bizarre concept.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 12:51PM A Moose said

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@Poppa Qapp
The developer's reasoning, according to an article elsewhere, is that they have lost some sales, yes, but it led to people discovering them as a studio.

"Amanita claims that a number of people contacted the studio, telling the developers that they had pirated the game and offering to pay the full price. In that spirit, the studio has announced a "pirate amnesty" sale."
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:02AM C1 said

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Put it on steam for this price and it will be the #1 seller (for a couple days). I've been waiting on a steam sale for this price
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 12:23PM harusame said

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@C1
Why can't you buy it straight from the developers? You can still add it to Steam as a "Non-Steam Game". Valve takes a share of all Steam sales and that means less money for the devs.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 4:28PM MrKlorox said

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@harusame Because Steam keeps a back catalog of all the games you own. I'll uninstall Machinarium when finished and forget that I own it when looking for games to play at a later date if it's on some obscure website. I already kick myself for buying things off D2D or Impulse or GOG.

Do you really think that those who pirated would care that Valve takes part of a percentage from what the devs would make?
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:15AM farlateal said

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Oh~ I had been considering buying this game for a little bit now after playing (and loving) the demo. Seems like this is my chance :)
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:19AM Pure Black World Tendency said

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Isn't this coming to PS3 soon? I shall buy it then.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 10:38AM ranhalt said

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World of Good did it first.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 11:00AM EvoHelix said

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In the great scope of human history the majority of media has been passed down from one person to the next by means of oral tradition. Stories and song were learned and recited for free, occasionally you would have somebody particularly good at performing a piece and was good enough to charge people money to watch him perform. Only in recent history has the infrastructure been created so that we can charge for each individual performance of a piece of media. But now that infrastructure is beginning to fall as we further integrate ourselves with the digital world and sharing between each other is easier than ever. Sharing stories is basic human nature.
Now I'm not condoning "stealing" in the traditional sense of the word but I think companies that produce these big expensive pieces of media need to come to realize that people will only pay what they feel you deserve for it. For example, tossing a few dollars into the hat of a musician on the corner. If that musician had a sign next to that hat with "$5 only" on it he would make far less money for the day. Some people would pay, some might not want or be able to pay that much, and others will just listen anyway.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 11:45AM Osnaz said

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@EvoHelix
Last I checked, it didn't take 1000's/millions of man-hours for old story-tellers to develop a song or story. This is called capitalism. Someone worked extremely hard to make something, even if the product is total garbage. They have all the right in the world to set their price, not you. If you don't want to pay, don't buy it.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 11:47AM EvoHelix said

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@Osnaz Oh, i'm not arguing that they have no right to charge what they want for it. I'm just saying that it's probably not the best idea.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 11:51AM EvoHelix said

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@EvoHelix They're missing out on the "some might not want or be able to pay that much" market.
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 12:25PM harusame said

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@EvoHelix
This is what pirates actually believe
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Posted: Aug 7th 2010 1:49PM EvoHelix said

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@harusame I have never pirated a game ever.
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