Comments on: Question of the Week – What Would Piracy Mean For the PS3? http://www.leftstickright.com/index.php/2010/02/01/question-of-the-week-what-would-piracy-mean-for-the-ps3/ Go Forward Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:41:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: Shaun Hatton http://www.leftstickright.com/index.php/2010/02/01/question-of-the-week-what-would-piracy-mean-for-the-ps3/comment-page-1/#comment-6522 Shaun Hatton Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:19:51 +0000 http://www.leftstickright.com/?p=1616#comment-6522 Piracy, no matter what the system, seems to result in a larger install base. We'll also see a lot of Craigslist ads where people offer to mod PS3s and are also selling the system with like a hundred illegal games for a massive profit. With Sony, I can see piracy cutting significantly into software sales once recordable Blu-ray media and hardware drops in price. Sure, not everyone who pirates would have otherwise purchased the games they're pirating, and I've heard pirates say this as justification for their practice. But from a retail perspective, given the state of our economy this hacking comes at a crucial point. Most game stores make most of their money on software, and I'd hate to see the local indie shops suffer because of this. On the other hand - if there was a software hack that allowed the system to be backwards compatible, I can see Sony rushing to release their own software emulation (though both scenarios I deem unlikely). Piracy, no matter what the system, seems to result in a larger install base. We’ll also see a lot of Craigslist ads where people offer to mod PS3s and are also selling the system with like a hundred illegal games for a massive profit.

With Sony, I can see piracy cutting significantly into software sales once recordable Blu-ray media and hardware drops in price. Sure, not everyone who pirates would have otherwise purchased the games they’re pirating, and I’ve heard pirates say this as justification for their practice. But from a retail perspective, given the state of our economy this hacking comes at a crucial point. Most game stores make most of their money on software, and I’d hate to see the local indie shops suffer because of this.

On the other hand – if there was a software hack that allowed the system to be backwards compatible, I can see Sony rushing to release their own software emulation (though both scenarios I deem unlikely).

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