Whats up with the terrible myth that PC piracy is more popular in 3rd world...

because the consoles are extremely expensive? I've seen this being posted here over and over like "OH MAN YOU KNOW, IN 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES, THEY DONT BOTHER PIRATING THE XBOX NU UH! ITS TOO EXPENSIVE THEY JUST TURN TO PC PIRACY WHICH IS CHEAPER TROLOLOLO" terrible missinformation right there.

3rd world problems :lol: well yeah most of the people who say that are from developed countries and tbh most of them seem to think that developing countries means "explosions every five minutes, toilet paper costs 100 dollars"

lets get something straight: im from a developing country (costa rica) and electronics are expensive as hell here, a new 360 videogame can cost 100 dollars here, while in the us it costs 60.

however the console itself is dirty cheap, literally, its like 250 dollars the console plus the pirate software and like 20 pirated games (you could pretty much say piracy is not illegal here...)

while a PC, a DECENT PC that wont even be able to max any current gen game will cost over 1000 dollars probably.

I bought my PC at amazon, from the US, and it costed me 1000 dollars when I bought it, in here, a PC that approached to mine (and it was still not better) costed 2000 dollars.

while an xbox, ps3, wii ranges from 100 to 300 dollars.

and the pirate copies cost like 1 dollar or they can be downloaded.

so stop believing all those "OH 3RD WORLD COUNTRIES HAVE MORE PC PIRACY BECAUSE THE XBOX COSTS 1000 DOLLARS OVER THERE!!!!" and yes this is the case in most latinamerican countries (and spain which is pretty much the "pirate capital")

believe me PC piracy here is not more popular than xbox piracy...

TC is right. Most of the console gaming on the third world is done with the help of piracy, also most of the PC gaming is also done with piracy. Of course, the diference is, most people there will actually game on consoles since (contrary to what some people here seem to believe) it is the general of electronics that is much higher (obv PC parts included), not just that of consoles.

Well my buddy used to go to Thailand and would get loads of pirated PC games for almost no money cause i think its 45 of their money per 1 US dollar and they sell them for way cheap.

Costa rica represents ALL of the 3rd of world countries......

Oh wait, it doesnt.

Maybe in Costa Rica that's so, but over here in Sri Lanka, consoles are expensive as ****. I can buy a good PC for almost the same amount as a PS3 here, so well, I wouldn't bother with the PS3 as a result. A console is just not worth that price. Most of us here can't afford a PC + console, so we opt for PC only cause a PC is like a necessity now. But it's true that pirated copies of games are available for the same price on consoles and PCs alike. So if someone buys a console and PC both, that person has almost equal opportunities to pirate on both.

Costa rica represents ALL of the 3rd of world countries......

Oh wait, it doesnt.

Led_poison

so what 3rd world country are you from?

also i just wanted to add that, while I agree with TC, I still think PC gaming is wildly overrated on this site and that there is no denying that a huge percentage of PC gamers (be it on the 1st or 3rd world) are pirates. :) I just wanted to add that.

Its true. I live in what americans call a "3th world country" (Bulgaria to be exact) and piracy is huge.People talk openly about it.Its almost not a crime over here.I completely disagree with that and buy all my games ofcourse but for the most part people are poor and they pirite.Not only games but pretty much everything.Form US TV shows to movies, games, adult movies,music.Every single intellectual property you can possibly think of.Its awful.

However by the looks of it USA is going waaaay down hill these days.Our "worlds" are not as nearly as different as they were.I would't be suprised at all if piracy has gone up a lot in America.

[QUOTE="Led_poison"]

Costa rica represents ALL of the 3rd of world countries......

Oh wait, it doesnt.

alfredooo

so what 3rd world country are you from?

also i just wanted to add that, while I agree with TC, I still think PC gaming is wildly overrated on this site and that there is no denying that a huge percentage of PC gamers (be it on the 1st or 3rd world) are pirates. :) I just wanted to add that.

I am not from one, but i have been to many, and i can tell you that PC gaming with pirated copies are very popular in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh. Xbox's costs too much there around. A 4gb slim costs 14,000 ruppees which is around 300 US dollars

And people want to wipe piracy out so that no person in your country will ever be able to enjoy a game again. Not that it gets them anything, they just do it to ruin your day.
Who is the real criminal here.

I believe in China game consoles are banned so people mostly game on PCs. And there's absolutely no protection for Western intellectual property so why bother paying for games?ActionRemix

I remember reading that Torchlight got pirated over 5 million times in China. Runic seems happy since they couldn't sell it to them anyway and when they make their torchlight MMO the Chinese will be a big market for them.

Because they have stores that sell pirated CDs and DVDs of games, and more people have PCs than consoles. SilverChimera

Some countries, they don't sell video games period. So the only way for them to get a copy of the game is to just simply pirate it.Steameffekt

[QUOTE="alfredooo"]

[QUOTE="Led_poison"]

Costa rica represents ALL of the 3rd of world countries......

Oh wait, it doesnt.

Led_poison

so what 3rd world country are you from?

also i just wanted to add that, while I agree with TC, I still think PC gaming is wildly overrated on this site and that there is no denying that a huge percentage of PC gamers (be it on the 1st or 3rd world) are pirates. :) I just wanted to add that.

I am not from one, but i have been to many, and i can tell you that PC gaming with pirated copies are very popular in India/Pakistan/Bangladesh. Xbox's costs too much there around. A 4gb slim costs 14,000 ruppees which is around 300 US dollars

Back in the PS2 era Piracy was king here, much, much more than the PC. You bought 50 games for like 50 dollars and everybody was happy. Even huge brand stores -like equivalents to Wal-Mart- sold the modded PS2. Since the start of this gen however the cost for videogames have risen so much, that nobody really bothered having one anymore. So instead of having rampant piracy, all you get is a largely shrinked user base. It is true that are a lot of people with a PS3 or 360 but I'd bet not one third of what there were before. It's getting harder to see street sellers anymore of pirate games, wich is a shame since they provided a better service than Microsoft, lol.

Back in the PS2 era Piracy was king here, much, much more than the PC. You bought 50 games for like 50 dollars and everybody was happy. Even huge brand stores -like equivalents to Wal-Mart- sold the modded PS2. Since the start of this gen however the cost for videogames have risen so much, that nobody really bothered having one anymore. So instead of having rampant piracy, all you get is a largely shrinked user base. It is true that are a lot of people with a PS3 or 360 but I'd bet not one third of what there were before. It's getting harder to see street sellers anymore of pirate games, wich is a shame since they provided a better service than Microsoft, lol.

Masculus

In my country xbox cost 400$ and games are 80-100$ as well.All shops have extremely large PC section while console section is very small.

[QUOTE="Masculus"]

Back in the PS2 era Piracy was king here, much, much more than the PC. You bought 50 games for like 50 dollars and everybody was happy. Even huge brand stores -like equivalents to Wal-Mart- sold the modded PS2. Since the start of this gen however the cost for videogames have risen so much, that nobody really bothered having one anymore. So instead of having rampant piracy, all you get is a largely shrinked user base. It is true that are a lot of people with a PS3 or 360 but I'd bet not one third of what there were before. It's getting harder to see street sellers anymore of pirate games, wich is a shame since they provided a better service than Microsoft, lol.

lightleggy

Haha, you can still get them alright. It is just that before I'd walk 50 meters anywhere and I would find at least ten. Now I have to take a bus and go to the popular markets around town. They are still easy to get, but i'd wager it's easier even to buy cocaine than pirate games these days, lol.

In my country xbox cost 400$ and games are 80-100$ as well.All shops have extremely large PC section while console section is very small.

sandeep410

I would guess piracy is highest in developing countries, because in the third world few people even own the hardware ...

I would guess piracy is highest in developing countries, because in the third world few people even own the hardware ...

KiZZo1

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

I would guess piracy is highest in developing countries, because in the third world few people even own the hardware ...

lightleggy

From wikipedia:

Due to many of the 3rd and 2nd world countries being extremely poor, it became a stereotype to where people refer to poor countries as "third world countries"

also I've been to colombia, venezuela, argentina, spain and bolivia and the situation is pretty much the same, everybody buys the console+pirate combo because its super cheap and rarely anyone has a good pc because its extremely expensive. in countries like thailand and china (and isnt china a developed country?) the PCs are very cheap because most of the parts are enssambled there, the remaining production eventually finds it way in the hands of cheap merchants or stores.lightleggy

Its true. I live in what americans call a "3th world country" (Bulgaria to be exact) and piracy is huge.People talk openly about it.Its almost not a crime over here.I completely disagree with that and buy all my games ofcourse but for the most part people are poor and they pirite.Not only games but pretty much everything.Form US TV shows to movies, games, adult movies,music.Every single intellectual property you can possibly think of.Its awful.

However by the looks of it USA is going waaaay down hill these days.Our "worlds" are not as nearly as different as they were.I would't be suprised at all if piracy has gone up a lot in America.

beganoo

I was in Bulgaria a few months ago on holiday (Obzor) and it was a very beautiful place so I hope things aren't that bad for you. Everyone seemed very happy and relaxed about life from my limited perspective. I did get the feeling that money was tight though because I accidentally broke a fridge magnet at a souvenir shop and the owner went crazy, it was only worth 1 LEV or something.

The way I see it is if the people can't afford to buy the real deal anyway then how are publishers losing anything?

I saw someone from Bulgaria or Yugoslavia here say he pirates games on his PC because of a poor economy, so I don't know. I think any and all kinds of piracy is going to be higher in poor countries to be honest.tomarlyn

Because 3rd world countries aren't rich, want to play videogames, and it's the only way most of them can. I thought it was a well known fact, considering almost everything there is expensive. DethSkematik

And people want to wipe piracy out so that no person in your country will ever be able to enjoy a game again. Not that it gets them anything, they just do it to ruin your day.
Who is the real criminal here.

KungfuKitten

[QUOTE="lightleggy"][QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

I would guess piracy is highest in developing countries, because in the third world few people even own the hardware ...

KiZZo1

From wikipedia:

Due to many of the 3rd and 2nd world countries being extremely poor, it became a stereotype to where people refer to poor countries as "third world countries"

Used to live in Pakistan. Console piracy is booming. But PC is much worse

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

[QUOTE="lightleggy"] uhm... 3rd world=developing countries. they are different terms, the "world" term was not actually related to poverty, it was the affiliation of the country in the cold war, 1st world were capitalist, 2nd world were communists and 3rd world were neutrals. the UN defines the wealth of a country with the development index, the terms are changed from developed, devoloping and not developed. and what you say is still utterly wrong the people in those "poor" countries do have the hardwarelightleggy

From wikipedia:

Due to many of the 3rd and 2nd world countries being extremely poor, it became a stereotype to where people refer to poor countries as "third world countries"

It doesn't have to be EVERY person. It's how the majority lives in a country, that determines where it belongs in that classification. A rough estimate would be GDP per capita. And when we talk about third world do you realize the amount of people that do not have access to electricity, sanitation, basic medic care, fresh water, etc. Example:

One-Quarter of World's Population Lacks Electricity

An estimated 79 percent of the people in the Third World -- the 50 poorest nations -- have no access to electricity, despite decades of international development work

Explain to me how they pirate without electricity?

[QUOTE="lightleggy"][QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

From wikipedia:

Due to many of the 3rd and 2nd world countries being extremely poor, it became a stereotype to where people refer to poor countries as "third world countries"

KiZZo1

It doesn't have to be EVERY person. It's how the majority lives in a country, that determines where it belongs in that classification. A rough estimate would be GDP per capita. And when we talk about third world do you realize the amount of people that do not have access to electricity, sanitation, basic medic care, fresh water, etc. Example:

One-Quarter of World's Population Lacks Electricity

An estimated 79 percent of the people in the Third World -- the 50 poorest nations -- have no access to electricity, despite decades of international development work

Explain to me how they pirate without electricity?

[QUOTE="lightleggy"]also I've been to colombia, venezuela, argentina, spain and bolivia and the situation is pretty much the same, everybody buys the console+pirate combo because its super cheap and rarely anyone has a good pc because its extremely expensive. in countries like thailand and china (and isnt china a developed country?) the PCs are very cheap because most of the parts are enssambled there, the remaining production eventually finds it way in the hands of cheap merchants or stores.cain006

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

[QUOTE="lightleggy"] you say it as if every person from every third world country is so poor that they cant even afford socks. well we are not, not every third world country is in extreme poverty, most of them arent actually, and some 1st world countries have actually more poverty than a 3rd world country, czech republic for examplelightleggy

It doesn't have to be EVERY person. It's how the majority lives in a country, that determines where it belongs in that classification. A rough estimate would be GDP per capita. And when we talk about third world do you realize the amount of people that do not have access to electricity, sanitation, basic medic care, fresh water, etc. Example:

One-Quarter of World's Population Lacks Electricity

An estimated 79 percent of the people in the Third World -- the 50 poorest nations -- have no access to electricity, despite decades of international development work

Explain to me how they pirate without electricity?

That you think Argentina is a third world country shows how much you know ...

[QUOTE="lightleggy"][QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

It doesn't have to be EVERY person. It's how the majority lives in a country, that determines where it belongs in that classification. A rough estimate would be GDP per capita. And when we talk about third world do you realize the amount of people that do not have access to electricity, sanitation, basic medic care, fresh water, etc. Example:

One-Quarter of World's Population Lacks Electricity

An estimated 79 percent of the people in the Third World -- the 50 poorest nations -- have no access to electricity, despite decades of international development work

Explain to me how they pirate without electricity?

KiZZo1

That you think Argentina is a third world country shows how much you know ...

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

[QUOTE="lightleggy"] you do know thats a minimal number in every country right? it says 79% of the people in the 3rd world (and I think those news are blatantly wrong) across the 50 poorests countries in the world which include a bunch of african war torn countries. it doesnt include every single 3rd world country, and thing is 79% people across 50% countries (most of them overpopulated) is a really small amount per country. also being 3rd world has nothing to do with the resources they have, costa rica, venezuela, argentina (not sure if argentina is 3rd world though) and panama have way better healthcare than the US and yes we can drink water from the faucet too, the water is clean even if you live in the most recondite region of the country. you have a terrible concept about 3rd world countrieslightleggy

That you think Argentina is a third world country shows how much you know ...

Argentina is a member of G20. That is very, very, very far from the third world ... And please, feel free to provide more accurate information, if you have. All I have to do is point out that India + China (developing countries) amount for more than a third of the world's population. Add Russia, Brazil, Argentina, plus many more and you quickly hit half of the world's population.

Venezuela and Costa Rica are developing coutries too. Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

http://www.ams.org/membership/individual/types/mem-develop

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/ngos/devel_list.cfm

[QUOTE="lightleggy"][QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

That you think Argentina is a third world country shows how much you know ...

KiZZo1

Argentina is a member of G20. That is very, very, very far from the third world ... And please, feel free to provide more accurate information, if you have. All I have to do is point out that India + China (developing countries) amount for more than a third of the world's population. Add Russia, Brazil, Argentina, plus many more and you quickly hit half of the world's population.

Venezuela and Costa Rica are developing coutries too. Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

http://www.ams.org/membership/individual/types/mem-develop

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/ngos/devel_list.cfm

What you just said shows my point as well...its 79% across 50 countries, most of them insanely overpopulated so the number of people with no electricity IN EVERY COUNTRY (not the whole aggregate) is relatively small.

also I NEVER said costa rica and venezuela were not developing countries, you fail to understand that 3rd world and "developing" are completly different things, both from different ranking methods.

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

[QUOTE="lightleggy"] it is though since it was non alligned. see? thats why I preffer to use the "development" index instead of the "world" concepts. also I stated that I was not sure if it was 3rd world or not, I still know a lot more than you because I live in one, you guide yourself with completly fake information and have a terribly wrong concept that every person here is dying from some weird disease and that we have to walk miles to get clean water and that we cant even get basic commodities. and your avoidance of everything I said shows how much you know as welllightleggy

Argentina is a member of G20. That is very, very, very far from the third world ... And please, feel free to provide more accurate information, if you have. All I have to do is point out that India + China (developing countries) amount for more than a third of the world's population. Add Russia, Brazil, Argentina, plus many more and you quickly hit half of the world's population.

Venezuela and Costa Rica are developing coutries too. Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

http://www.ams.org/membership/individual/types/mem-develop

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/ngos/devel_list.cfm

What you just said shows my point as well...its 79% across 50 countries, most of them insanely overpopulated so the number of people with no electricity IN EVERY COUNTRY (not the whole aggregate) is relatively small.

also I NEVER said costa rica and venezuela were not developing countries, you fail to understand that 3rd world and "developing" are completly different things, both from different ranking methods.

The terms "First World," "Second World," and "Third World" countries were used to differentiate between democratic countries, communist countries, and those countries that did not align with democratic or communist countries. The terms have since evolved to refer to levels of development ...

So "third world" is indeed related to developed and developing.

[QUOTE="KungfuKitten"]

And people want to wipe piracy out so that no person in your country will ever be able to enjoy a game again. Not that it gets them anything, they just do it to ruin your day.

Who is the real criminal here.spotofun

[QUOTE="lightleggy"]

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

Argentina is a member of G20. That is very, very, very far from the third world ... And please, feel free to provide more accurate information, if you have. All I have to do is point out that India + China (developing countries) amount for more than a third of the world's population. Add Russia, Brazil, Argentina, plus many more and you quickly hit half of the world's population.

Venezuela and Costa Rica are developing coutries too. Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

http://www.ams.org/membership/individual/types/mem-develop

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/ngos/devel_list.cfm

KiZZo1

What you just said shows my point as well...its 79% across 50 countries, most of them insanely overpopulated so the number of people with no electricity IN EVERY COUNTRY (not the whole aggregate) is relatively small.

also I NEVER said costa rica and venezuela were not developing countries, you fail to understand that 3rd world and "developing" are completly different things, both from different ranking methods.

The terms "First World," "Second World," and "Third World" countries were used to differentiate between democratic countries, communist countries, and those countries that did not align with democratic or communist countries. The terms have since evolved to refer to levels of development ...

So "third world" is indeed related to developed and developing.

Because they have stores that sell pirated CDs and DVDs of games, and more people have PCs than consoles. SilverChimera

[QUOTE="KiZZo1"]

[QUOTE="lightleggy"]

What you just said shows my point as well...its 79% across 50 countries, most of them insanely overpopulated so the number of people with no electricity IN EVERY COUNTRY (not the whole aggregate) is relatively small.

also I NEVER said costa rica and venezuela were not developing countries, you fail to understand that 3rd world and "developing" are completly different things, both from different ranking methods.

lightleggy

The terms "First World," "Second World," and "Third World" countries were used to differentiate between democratic countries, communist countries, and those countries that did not align with democratic or communist countries. The terms have since evolved to refer to levels of development ...

So "third world" is indeed related to developed and developing.

Its true. I live in what americans call a "3th world country" (Bulgaria to be exact) and piracy is huge.People talk openly about it.Its almost not a crime over here.I completely disagree with that and buy all my games ofcourse but for the most part people are poor and they pirite.Not only games but pretty much everything.Form US TV shows to movies, games, adult movies,music.Every single intellectual property you can possibly think of.Its awful.

However by the looks of it USA is going waaaay down hill these days.Our "worlds" are not as nearly as different as they were.I would't be suprised at all if piracy has gone up a lot in America.

beganoo

Bulgaria may be a relatively poor country but calling it a 3rd world country sounds a bit extreme...