Well then, let’s talk about Codemasters, shall we? and if not..let’s talk about them anyways.

During the NES reign Codemasters started making and selling the rights to their games for a company called Camerica, this company had a penchant for bypassing the lock-out chip on the NES and releasing unlicensed NES games. The Dizzy series of games released for the NES? unlicensed. Naughty, naughty.

You see, Codemasters wanted in the market that was the NES but they didn’t feel like working within the system or paying Nintendo, instead they went behind the back of Nintendo and started releasing games for the NES without Nintendo’s permission to do so…even after Camerica shut down.

Does your heart bleed for the Japanese developers your sterling and oh-so-abused-by-the-nasty-pirates company you worked for stole from?

So Brucie, do tell, what would you call a developer who would do this sort of thing?

Maybe this isn’t enough for you, perhaps you need more proof of Codemasters shady ways of selling a product, well that’s not a problem because there’s more where that came from.

Codemasters would review their own games then pan it off as a quote from anothner source, the game Fruit Machine Simulator has a quote saying “This game is absolutely brilliant!”..that quote was from David and Richard Darling, the founders of Codemasters.

Next time you decide to point the finger,Brucie it would be wise to brush up on the company history that you were trying to defend..it’ll prevent you from looking like an ignorant prick.

Actually i take that back, i don’t think anything can prevent you from looking like an ignorant prick save for maybe God or a large bag.

I expect this comment to be deleted and never seen by the community that has the expertise to see through your bullshit. Lay-off’s, dismissal’s and walk-out’s in a development house are as common as mud and you know it.

Codemasters, Tengen, Camerica, Active Enterprises, American Game Cartridges Inc, American Video Entertainment, Caltron, Color Dreams, Home Entertainment Suppliers, Odyssey Software, S.E.I. and finally Wisdom Tree all have one thing in common…they were development houses that didn’t pay a single cent to Nintendo..and Tengen? that was a subsidary of Atari.

Time to get off your soap-box now, spanky…oh, and leave yourself-righteousness at the door next time, k?

This is the article you ought to read: http://www.bruceongames.com/2008/04/23/game-piracy/

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_3.html

Anyone who copies a game instead of paying for it is total scum.

About the 60 people who lost their jobs at your workplace- that’s a result of poor management. Sounds like upper-management gambled with the lives of employees while not anticipating that the game might not sell millions of copies.

What a mean spirited thing to do. He paid the price. He got what he deserved (well, that’s debatable). I see that’s not enough for you. You probably wanted justice to hang him. After waterboarding him. For months.

Go on with your black and white vision of video gaming. Just be careful it doesn’t cause you an ulcer. And happy new year, if that’s even possible for you.

Actually I think you owe him an apology – he asked you (quite politely – ‘please’, ‘if you would be so kind’) to redact his name and you not only refused but published another scathing attack on him. Is not the justice of the law and a $100,000 loss on his part enough punishment or would you like to organize a lynch mob to burn down his house too? This guy is obviously traumatized and upset enough, I really do think you should leave off.

As for your colleges loosing their jobs as a direct result of piracy – that’s simply a (poor) assumption made on your part, I’d love too see some proof. Studies have shown that piracy has a small impact on the final number of sales of a project.

The problems at the publisher you were working with were almost certainly caused by a poor strategy, lack of planning or indeed expected by the management. There is always a dip in profitability between console generations – it’s a part of the generation cycle and a well known part of our industry (yes, I’m a game developer). As a veteran in marketing you should know this.

It’s thought that people put off purchasing games as they save up to buy their next console. Games also tend to be discounted towards the end of a console lifespan and also have to compete with a (healthy) second hand market.

Having said all that the end of life of the PS1 (specifically) was actually pretty healthy. Publishers actually wanted titles that were cross platform with the PS1 and the newer consoles as there was such a strong PS1 market still. Perhaps because the installed user base was so high.

It’s sad when people lose their jobs – in this industry it’s happened to me enough times with whole studios closing and all the staff having to relocate. You lose friends and have to move families and it sucks. However I’ve never heard anyone misguided enough to blame it on piracy.

I grew up playing video games and copying them for my friends in the playground – as did nearly every other developer I’ve spoken with. I honestly don’t believe that the games industry would be where it is today without piracy.