I know that I'm the only one that seems to care about the word "Pirate" as much too harsh, but if you don't stand for anything, you're fall for ... something.
Err, that's not the saying at all.
Anyhow, link: http://www.positech.co.uk/talkingtopirates.html
A popular article which replies to feedback from people who use "Unsanctioned Reproductions" (URs) of videogame software. It was very interesting, because few if any people have bothered with collecting any real data on the subject... usually, the *AA just pulls numbers out of Uranus or something. I mena, $750 USD as the cost of an Unsanctioned, compressed copy of a song? Freaking heck!
Anyhow, the score, if you were paying attention to my last blog, is now 21-19, the Flu being the 21, and me being the 19. I am functioning just one notch above "blob of useless human waste", or something.
I blame... Sony, for publishing at least some of the Persona games, although it has nothing to do with why I'm... a little bit... sick...( and a lot in denial about it!)....
You see, I sat in front of a fan in a room that was around 90 deg. F. The fan oscillated, and blew on one side of my body, but not the other. For like twelve hours staight, whilst I did nerdy stuff like write blog entries like I'm doing now, and... I dunno what the freak else.
On top of that, two people at my last part-time short-term assignment job thingy were sick. One so sick that she went home early, the other, the one sitting right next to me, boasting that she wanted to spread her sickness to everyone. I like a fool boasted about a "strong immune system".
Then there's the fact that University is starting back and I feel ill-prepared, and generally am going through some sort of social aversion issues.
However, I have been out of the house today and yesterday... and even made a bit of money... well, overall, I spent more than I made, by far... and I must say that I need to open my own PC/gaming shop, but whatever... that's another rant and I just don't have the endurance for it.
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label success. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Unofficial, not Pirate
I know that, over time, the meaning of words change. However, I'm still irked by the way "pirate" is used so universally to mean unofficial products based on "IP" which was once embodied in official products. Especially when the unofficial product has no official competitor.
For example, fan fiction is refered by some (most?) authors as "copyright infringement". I could go for trademark infringement, if, say, "Harry Potter" or "The A-Team" were registered trademarks, but to say that a whole ficitonal universe is the property of the creator is rather bizarre. Universes only exist when they're observed - wheter you believe in the physical, quantum physics, version of this or not, it is totally true for works of fiction. If Anne Rice writes a book and nobody reads it, then it only exist for the author, in their role as observer. From the time someone else reads it, there's not a copy of that universe - and, due the to differences of perspective, also, a derivative form of it.
I understand that creators intend to have their cake and eat it too. "Royalty", or the "ruling class", have been doing that since the beginning of historic times.
However, in an era of accelerated information, copying and deriving are even more common than basic necessities of life. I mean, you have anorexic people posting youtube videos for and against the deprivation of nutrition as a "lifestyle" or a "disease". The fact that people would rather create information, and spread their own opinions, then eat, a basic human necessity, is perhaps an extreme example but it shows that information creation is very important to people.
And in creating, we sometimes re-use things which went before.
Getting back to "piracy", the term orgionally mean physical theft, often accompanies with death and destruction of transportation systems (sinking ships which may take months or even years to build). Somehow, I don't see making an unofficial copy of a song or movie as having the same impact. At least, not to the creators. The makers of the unofficial copy, however, can be sued for more than their weight in gold (I don't exaggerate, gold is relatively cheap nowadays and the lawsuits start at $750 US per song, or some stupid thing like that), and imprisioned for several years.
Meanwhile, China, where large-scale organized unofficial production occurs, still has "most favoured nation" status in the WTO.
To reconcile this difference: the individual is persecuted, the nation is exalted, there's an obvious answer: the real crime is "being small".
Thinking Big is not just something to help you be creative in day to day life, apparently, it is also the key (or at least, part of it) to unlock the door to world domination. Large-scale production of unofficial goods by any individual is seen as seperate from their host country, and occasional "raids" to raise publicity obviously help both the producters (who are seen as victims of an Evil Empire) and the customers (who become aware that they should be supporting unofficial, rather than official products, since the official ones are more expensive).
Having said all that, I still like official stuff... I'm not one of those people who says their "only testing out" a game and don't buy it. I bought Bushido Blade, even in retrospect I can't say it was a great game for the money, I can still resell it... in the meantime, I can trade or borrow games if my money is low. Or I can use the time I would have spent playing games to make money, instead. Or educate myself. Or go to the beach.
However, the life cycle of "software", which I'm using to refer to not only games, but DVD movies, CD audio, and so on... is geared to be brief. The life cycle of the remixes, samples, and remakes could be longer, but the producers are mostly clueless and uninterested in this. THey don't even have "software maintainence" departments, and don't often keep their own source code.
No, really. FF7 hasn't been remade yet because Square lost the source code to it!
And there was a similar problem with the Japanese-language self-parody game, SGGG:
In a way, it is as if the wealth of knowledge, culture, and "IP" that has been created by the "game industry" is being lost through their short-term perspective... but, why should we really care, if we're living in a short-term era?
Well, I care because I see game-making as a part of the growing entertainment sector, and related to the growing demand for "Makers", be they Engineers, Artists, or Business builders... or even construction workers, Architects... everyone who can make something are going to be in higher and higher demand, for a few reasons:
For example, fan fiction is refered by some (most?) authors as "copyright infringement". I could go for trademark infringement, if, say, "Harry Potter" or "The A-Team" were registered trademarks, but to say that a whole ficitonal universe is the property of the creator is rather bizarre. Universes only exist when they're observed - wheter you believe in the physical, quantum physics, version of this or not, it is totally true for works of fiction. If Anne Rice writes a book and nobody reads it, then it only exist for the author, in their role as observer. From the time someone else reads it, there's not a copy of that universe - and, due the to differences of perspective, also, a derivative form of it.
I understand that creators intend to have their cake and eat it too. "Royalty", or the "ruling class", have been doing that since the beginning of historic times.
However, in an era of accelerated information, copying and deriving are even more common than basic necessities of life. I mean, you have anorexic people posting youtube videos for and against the deprivation of nutrition as a "lifestyle" or a "disease". The fact that people would rather create information, and spread their own opinions, then eat, a basic human necessity, is perhaps an extreme example but it shows that information creation is very important to people.
And in creating, we sometimes re-use things which went before.
Getting back to "piracy", the term orgionally mean physical theft, often accompanies with death and destruction of transportation systems (sinking ships which may take months or even years to build). Somehow, I don't see making an unofficial copy of a song or movie as having the same impact. At least, not to the creators. The makers of the unofficial copy, however, can be sued for more than their weight in gold (I don't exaggerate, gold is relatively cheap nowadays and the lawsuits start at $750 US per song, or some stupid thing like that), and imprisioned for several years.
Meanwhile, China, where large-scale organized unofficial production occurs, still has "most favoured nation" status in the WTO.
To reconcile this difference: the individual is persecuted, the nation is exalted, there's an obvious answer: the real crime is "being small".
Thinking Big is not just something to help you be creative in day to day life, apparently, it is also the key (or at least, part of it) to unlock the door to world domination. Large-scale production of unofficial goods by any individual is seen as seperate from their host country, and occasional "raids" to raise publicity obviously help both the producters (who are seen as victims of an Evil Empire) and the customers (who become aware that they should be supporting unofficial, rather than official products, since the official ones are more expensive).
Having said all that, I still like official stuff... I'm not one of those people who says their "only testing out" a game and don't buy it. I bought Bushido Blade, even in retrospect I can't say it was a great game for the money, I can still resell it... in the meantime, I can trade or borrow games if my money is low. Or I can use the time I would have spent playing games to make money, instead. Or educate myself. Or go to the beach.
However, the life cycle of "software", which I'm using to refer to not only games, but DVD movies, CD audio, and so on... is geared to be brief. The life cycle of the remixes, samples, and remakes could be longer, but the producers are mostly clueless and uninterested in this. THey don't even have "software maintainence" departments, and don't often keep their own source code.
No, really. FF7 hasn't been remade yet because Square lost the source code to it!
And there was a similar problem with the Japanese-language self-parody game, SGGG:
“I remember finding a pirate version in Brazil! Why the hell would such a version be made and sold, especially when you think about all the Japanese text? The Dreamcast used GD-ROMs – if the GD-ROM was used to its full capacity you could not make a copy of it on CD-ROM, so I bought one of these Brazilian CD-ROM copies and brought it back to Sega to analyze it. I realized that the content had been edited to fit the format; many things were missing or changed. But this pirate version had an interesting role afterwards as we were thinking about adapting the game for the mobile phones. We were lacking the source code and there was no possibility at the time to take it from the retail version: I recall thinking about trying to get it from the pirate version. But in the end we didn’t because the project didn’t happen."
(from an Edge story on SGGG)
In a way, it is as if the wealth of knowledge, culture, and "IP" that has been created by the "game industry" is being lost through their short-term perspective... but, why should we really care, if we're living in a short-term era?
Well, I care because I see game-making as a part of the growing entertainment sector, and related to the growing demand for "Makers", be they Engineers, Artists, or Business builders... or even construction workers, Architects... everyone who can make something are going to be in higher and higher demand, for a few reasons:
- People want more custom-made stuff. Look at the car aftermarker, but also, PC mods an even fashion.
- Entertainment, even if it is following a formula, involves a lot of creation, both for animation and live action
- Post-war areas would benefit from rapid re-building which avoids the problems of the past
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
I Never Buy Games....
The last game I bought was "Kartia", which I bought together with "Bushido Blade". They were expensive, since they were new and I bought them locally, for like $250 BBD total (about $125 US). However, I wanted to spend a lot of money on myself in an attempt to cheer myself up.
Since then, I've enjoyed Kartia but was disappointed by the abortion that was Bushido Blade. You can see the potential for a great game there, but they got too caught up in their "system" to actually make it... to date, no other game has had such free movement, not even the Dead or Alive series with its multi-tiered levels... but, Dead or Alive is actually fun to play; Bushido Blade makes you wonder if they ever heard of the concept "play testing", where actually people who aren't brainwashed by their "developers' reality distorition field" could tell them "look, this control scheme sucks. one-hit kills are interesting, but you need more play modes. you need tons more variety in the one-player mode "Slash".... why not reuse parts of the fighting arena?" and stuff like that.
Kartia was complete as a game but needed an enhanced sequel. It should have began a series, rather than being a stand-alone. I mean, they created this whole world, and only used it once? What a waste of "IP"(Intellectual Property)! Kartia needed something like an expansion pack, at least. However, that is something that never, ever happens with console games, until the recently released Persona 3:FES (P3:FES or just FES) for the PlayStation 2 (PS2).
Of course, sequels and enhanced revisions are released more often in Japan, but that doesn't matter as the people with the money (Middle America) don't speak Japanese.
So, since then, I've borrowed, traded, and otherwise acquired games. Technically, I don't have a console videogame system anymore: a friend lent me his PS2, part of his game library, and his DreamCast. I actually play the PS2 a bit but haven't set up the DC in forever. I just don't make the time.
You see, if I spend a lot of money on something, I want to feel that it was worth it... but game-making is an "industry", and there's something wrong with that. Contrast it with writing or singing. Yes, they're commercial publishing houses for books... but plenty of people write for their own benefit, or with the hopes of being paid in attention. Similarly, people sing in the shower. However, most people who make games in the "industry" are... delusional. The delusions vary. Some people love playing games, so they study, get a CS degree, and get hired, ridden like slaves, burnt-out, all the whilst lying to everyone, mostly themselves, that they are doing what they love.
Until people come out of the shower, or wake up from a dream, and express a game in the same way they'd express a song or a story, and moreover, at least a few of these people become obvious commercial successes, I can't say that game-making is really "mature". It is still a den of delusions....
Before I rant on, though, I do actually play some games... P1 (Revelations: Persona, now better know as Persona 1 since Persona came out) and P3 the most frequent on console, and I have a on-and-off relationship with StarCraft.... but most of all, I think about how games are made, or could be made. It fascinates me.
And, I think we (I) can do it better... and, in parallel, do something else: to liberate my mind from delusions, and rule over my own world. In other words, to "grow up". To mature. To balance. To attain the standard of life, rather than wallow in poverty or under-achievement.
So, blogs are a part of the expression, but there is a more powerful form of express, in the form of creation... poetry, prose, "moving comics", and ultimately, interactive audiovisual dramatic presentations (my view of what videogames can be, when done properly), are all forms of expression which I try at...
Most of the time, I fail to concentrate enough. That has bothered me for a while, but nowadays, it is less of an issue, because I clearly am expressing more, and more consistently.
In any case, I also need a stable, wide income stream in order to even consider buying games... right now, I am like a spoilt kid in that I get things which I don't directly work for... but I believe that by under-acheiving, it is as if I am burying myself, one wasted day at a time... so, I came up with a plan to "actualize" myself... and it basically goes like this: live long and strong, with frequent remembering of self, an the path to success will open itself.
"Hitman(2007)" quoted the Psalms when it said the same thing in another way:
Trust in the Lord,
... and everything you desire
shall become manifest.
(my paraphrase).
Since then, I've enjoyed Kartia but was disappointed by the abortion that was Bushido Blade. You can see the potential for a great game there, but they got too caught up in their "system" to actually make it... to date, no other game has had such free movement, not even the Dead or Alive series with its multi-tiered levels... but, Dead or Alive is actually fun to play; Bushido Blade makes you wonder if they ever heard of the concept "play testing", where actually people who aren't brainwashed by their "developers' reality distorition field" could tell them "look, this control scheme sucks. one-hit kills are interesting, but you need more play modes. you need tons more variety in the one-player mode "Slash".... why not reuse parts of the fighting arena?" and stuff like that.
Kartia was complete as a game but needed an enhanced sequel. It should have began a series, rather than being a stand-alone. I mean, they created this whole world, and only used it once? What a waste of "IP"(Intellectual Property)! Kartia needed something like an expansion pack, at least. However, that is something that never, ever happens with console games, until the recently released Persona 3:FES (P3:FES or just FES) for the PlayStation 2 (PS2).
Of course, sequels and enhanced revisions are released more often in Japan, but that doesn't matter as the people with the money (Middle America) don't speak Japanese.
So, since then, I've borrowed, traded, and otherwise acquired games. Technically, I don't have a console videogame system anymore: a friend lent me his PS2, part of his game library, and his DreamCast. I actually play the PS2 a bit but haven't set up the DC in forever. I just don't make the time.
You see, if I spend a lot of money on something, I want to feel that it was worth it... but game-making is an "industry", and there's something wrong with that. Contrast it with writing or singing. Yes, they're commercial publishing houses for books... but plenty of people write for their own benefit, or with the hopes of being paid in attention. Similarly, people sing in the shower. However, most people who make games in the "industry" are... delusional. The delusions vary. Some people love playing games, so they study, get a CS degree, and get hired, ridden like slaves, burnt-out, all the whilst lying to everyone, mostly themselves, that they are doing what they love.
Until people come out of the shower, or wake up from a dream, and express a game in the same way they'd express a song or a story, and moreover, at least a few of these people become obvious commercial successes, I can't say that game-making is really "mature". It is still a den of delusions....
Before I rant on, though, I do actually play some games... P1 (Revelations: Persona, now better know as Persona 1 since Persona came out) and P3 the most frequent on console, and I have a on-and-off relationship with StarCraft.... but most of all, I think about how games are made, or could be made. It fascinates me.
And, I think we (I) can do it better... and, in parallel, do something else: to liberate my mind from delusions, and rule over my own world. In other words, to "grow up". To mature. To balance. To attain the standard of life, rather than wallow in poverty or under-achievement.
So, blogs are a part of the expression, but there is a more powerful form of express, in the form of creation... poetry, prose, "moving comics", and ultimately, interactive audiovisual dramatic presentations (my view of what videogames can be, when done properly), are all forms of expression which I try at...
Most of the time, I fail to concentrate enough. That has bothered me for a while, but nowadays, it is less of an issue, because I clearly am expressing more, and more consistently.
In any case, I also need a stable, wide income stream in order to even consider buying games... right now, I am like a spoilt kid in that I get things which I don't directly work for... but I believe that by under-acheiving, it is as if I am burying myself, one wasted day at a time... so, I came up with a plan to "actualize" myself... and it basically goes like this: live long and strong, with frequent remembering of self, an the path to success will open itself.
"Hitman(2007)" quoted the Psalms when it said the same thing in another way:
Trust in the Lord,
... and everything you desire
shall become manifest.
(my paraphrase).
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