1st August 2006, 2:07 PM
Quote:(actually, there's a 4th, backup games in the event the original has been destroyed)
But, as all console manufacturers will tell you, backups aren't necessary. After all, no cartridge or CD has ever gone bad without user maltreatment, right?

... at least that's what Nintendo would like you to believe... legally you certainly should be able to make one backup of something you own, if you use a legal backup method, but console manufacturers would rather pretend that that's invalid and write liscence/service agreements that sound like all backups are always illegal...
Quote:Importing I fully agree with, but wow this guy doesn't. His excuse? "We think a lot about what games to release in a region." So? I'm sure you did, and I can understand that, but at the end of the day if you decided not to release the game over here, that's not a national edict. I can still legally obtain the game, and you are STILL getting money from the sale. What's the problem? I seriously can't see his argument. No one suggested they didn't "think about it", it's just that no one CARES. Do you actually expect us to import a Japanese system to compliment it? You say yourself that each system sold is a loss to you, so obviously that would hurt BOTH of us. Your argument seems to be, in it's entirety "we don't want these people here playing that game so they shouldn't be wanting to play that game". Yeesh, you'd think they would actually try to work within the importing community. They might find out that they made a mistake not releasing a game in some territory after all and be able to increase profits. Sorry, that's a stupid reason to say importing is "bad".
I find the anti-importing argument completely insane. "It's hurting the company because they base their future product release assessments on what games sell and buying something from another region hurts that"? But what if the game never comes out here, or comes out a year or two later... I should have to wait that long to get a game that has already been released? Simply ridiculous. And as for the first "pont" I made, that means nothing to the consumer and shouldn't. Also note that people who say those things are also usually strongly against the purchase of used games, for the same reason... another thing I strongly support. :) (I don't have any imported games, but that's simply because I don't buy things over the internet and don't really have the money for it... but I want them, and am sure that sooner or later I will start to get imported games.)
So yeah, I disagree with that reasoning in the strongest possible way. Importing is a great, great thing, and for as long as companies will refuse to release good games in regions where people want to buy them, people will, and should, import.
As for piracy, the main decent justification I can think of is for games where demos aren't offered and rentals are unavailable (most Gamecube games, some PC games, handheld games, imports...). All games should have demos available, like most (but not all) major PC games have had for the last decade...
Quote:Custom software, he actually seems to like the idea of except it has the potential to hurt sales of games they liscense themselves. Saying "and we sell those systems at a loss" is another point.
That they sell it at a loss is their fault, not the users'. That they are using a business method that the users would rather not support enough (buying software and not homebrew) isn't the users' faults.
Quote:Read that and the entire opinion it links to on that guy's b-log (what does the "b" stand for anyway?).
Uhh, DJ, blog is short for 'weblog'... common knowledge, I'd think...