ESA CEO Mike Gallagher has spoken out this week about both piracy and DRM in the gaming industry, and GamePolitics has made a nice summary of his remarks.
In regards to piracy:
“Piracy is a scourge. Piracy is theft, plain and simple, of the intellectual property and the creativity and the energy of the investors in this industry and the artists who make the great games. Period. Okay?”
“It’s a problem of such degree that it’s between two and three billion dollars a year that it costs our industry in this country alone. When you look at piracy across all of entertainment, it’s a much bigger number when you put in movies and look what it’s done to the music industry. So, the going-in proposition has to be a recognition that piracy is wrong, it’s illegal and it should be stopped…”
In regards to DRM:
“There are business models that say, ‘You know, we’re going to build our business model around giving it away for free and having the revenue come in in other ways.’ We [in the video game business] do that too. We do that too. But for those companies who go forward, they’re entitled to protect - using DRM - to protect their content. And I realize that it is a subject of some controversy with gamers and consumers because, like other similar types of devices, most often they negatively impact the law-abiding gamer.
“But it’s one of those things that we have to be vigilant about. It’s vitally important to preserve the ecosystem and the jobs in the industry and the next great game. If you don’t make money off of the games that are made now you’re not going to see the ones that come later like you saw at the press briefings already at E3.”
Result for: e3
Yesterday we reported that rumors were flying that a ‘redesigned’ PlayStation 3 was to be revealed by Sony at the upcoming E3 event.
Today, pictures of a possible ‘Slim PS3′ have been leaked, showing off a 120GB hard drive, two USB ports, and a heavily redesigned body that is completely slim-lined.
Sony has added that “We don’t know anything about the system in the photos, we currently don’t have any plans for a redesigned PS3″.
Result for: e3
Famitsu publisher Hirokazu Hamamura has today said that Nintendo is “likely to introduce a new version of its DS handheld” at the upcoming E3 event.
Without specifically mentioning sources, Hamamura cited “murmurings in the industry as well as historical evidence” as signs of an upcoming replacement. Nintendo has released a new or updated handheld every 2 years since the early 90s and the DS Lite was released in 2006.
Nintendo has not commented on the story, and “has nothing to say at this time,” according to a spokesperson.
There have been few details about a new replacement but many have speculated that a new upgrade would add “media functions, such as dedicated audio and video playback as well as an additional slot for removable storage.”
