Sony CEO blames piracy for low software sales
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jul 16th 2008 at 7:30PM }
Tretton told us that "we have been able to track with releases like God of War that hundreds of thousands of units in potential sales are walking out the door through piracy on day one. We knew exactly that only a few months ago. Unforutnately, there isn't much to do for pirates that are already getting their way. Millions of systems are already out there .. but there are "remedies" coming down the line. Perhaps a growing library of DRM-enabled downloadable titles will help Sony's cause. But for now, the situation looks rather bleak.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
cafecito @ Jul 16th 2008 7:49PM
Of course piracy hurts the PSP. And surely, it's hurting localization of some great japanese games. Dunno why so many people has been on denial regarding the matter all this time.
Hundreds of thousands of units! Ouch! :S
Christopher @ Jul 18th 2008 10:03PM
Please. People that truly want a game will buy it unless they're hardcore pirates. If they're hard core pirates, they wouldn't have -bought- the game in the first place. My PSP is modded to play homebrew and PS1 games. It's the only reason I modded it. I bought the game for everything I am playing.
So I do have some images that I am playing of the games I bought -primarily- because I don't want to carry the UMD's around. Technically, that makes me a pirate because I downloaded the ISO, thereby circumventing any copy protection which is a violation of the DMCA here in the US. So there you go. I legally own the item, yet I'm a pirate. That goes to show how screwed up DRM and the DMCA is.
There's not DRM out there that can lock down an IP from hardcore pirates. The only people who suffer and being stopped by DRM are the casual users who can't do what I'm doing, who are having their "fair use" right to backup their own bought games. If Sony wants to stop piracy for real, all they have to do is look in their OWN BACK YARD and get strike teams together with local police to stop the OPEN selling of game compilation disks in places like Akihabara.
Wrathbringer @ Jul 16th 2008 7:51PM
Not surprised at all, though it's a shame that the PSP is falling to piracy. It's a great system going down in a terrible way.
I for one will still support Sony and buy games, let's hope more people do the same.
lorddshadow @ Jul 16th 2008 7:54PM
yeah!
now the music industry...different story. they're screwed no matter what.
emirabal @ Jul 17th 2008 10:42AM
You gotta be kidding me, you guys really believe that the sales are down because of piracy, thats the biggest joke, he said it, hundreds of thousands, ill give him 300K gone cuz of piracy, what happens to all your other multimillion sellers.
The point is, piracy does not stop the sale of games, heres what stops it, bad advertising (and pretend that this sight doesnt exist, because pspfanboy does a great job of informing us of all new things), weak development, low end graphical games (iron man heres looking at you you piece o crap game), expensive expensive expensive.
I take GOWCOO and FF7CC as the perfect examples, they sold many many copies but realistically the only people who bought them were the fanboys, i mean come on. what are you expecting with the weak advertising you do, i look at japan and all the hot shit they get and we are looked at like second or third rate market.
Keep treating us like scum and you will only get the same in return.
ruibing @ Jul 16th 2008 8:12PM
And for all those people saying that they hack PSPs not just for piracy, I wonder if they also think that Christmas is not just about presents? Everytime anyone in a forum attacks these users, they actually shamelessly defend themselves by saying they wouldn't have bought the title anyways and etc.
Just remember people, great games are only going to come to the PSP if people are buying them.
bryansurvive @ Jul 16th 2008 9:24PM
christmas isnt just about presents! i remember the past 2 christmas i spent had no presents and no tree to bring me a smile instead i worked like a slave. ( i did get double pay though ) but i agree with most of what you said. you shouldnt test a game cus thats basically stealing. but its not anybodys fault that first or third partys neevr bring out demos etc. remember when psx had demos almost every month. that was excited but guess its to much work for them.
andwhyisit @ Jul 16th 2008 9:49PM
I have around 20 UMDs and three ripped PSX games that I have the original discs for. I have CFW and if you looked at the homebrew efforts that are bringing you No Gravity you would understand why I chose to use CFW.
bryansurvive @ Jul 16th 2008 8:25PM
i dont believe it, but whatever. if its hurting so much do something about it.... and not downloadable games i dont have space on my memory stick. i need it for music and movies.
Tep @ Jul 16th 2008 8:24PM
No! Couldn't be there are very games actually worth purchasing could it? Or that very few games are actually unique to the system that aren't dumb downed console versions or just eye candy. No, it is piracy which is the easy way out. Get real Sony!
Face it, hardly any games are worth the money. Piracy barely hurts it in anyway cause most people want the actual thing in there hands and not get caught pirating and caught with ridiculous fines.
I said it in that story they linked. This site has no right to talk about piracy and it's affects cause the moment something new happens in the hacking/homebrew scene, we're made aware of it and linked and told how to get access to it. Once again, I appreciate the irony of this article.
If PSP fanboy really cared they would stop reporting on homebrew and hacks and remove the articles altogether.
andwhyisit @ Jul 16th 2008 9:51PM
Homebrew is not some evil thing, piracy is. Never get the two confused. It isn't the fault of the homebrew community that CFW is misused for piracy, all they want to do is develop for the psp.
daniel-kun @ Jul 17th 2008 3:18AM
Actually he mentioned "people don't want watered-down PS2 ports" BEFORE piracy. But nice trolling :)
ronaldmonster @ Jul 17th 2008 3:54AM
Lol don't gimme wrong Daniel-Kun, I have a PSP and I love it! Probably one of the best purchases I've ever made. I'm disappointing at the lack of distinctive games on it. Lumines, GTA, Crisis Core, Daxter, Secret Agent Clank and a few others I can't think of at the moment are worth owning and that are glady worth the purchase. But mostly everything else is shovelware.
Christopher @ Jul 17th 2008 11:05AM
You are so off base here it's not even funny.
homebrew ≠ piracy
bryansurvive @ Jul 16th 2008 8:27PM
I forgot to add that I want some watered down ports. like....
resident evil
devil may cry
final fantasy
shadow of the colussus
more silent hill
i wont add more cus youll probably try to charge me 40 - 50 a titles and im not rich
todd mcfunbags @ Jul 16th 2008 8:52PM
The PSP is a great console, arguably the best handheld ever created, I just wish I wanted to do more with it than watch video and play SNES roms.
pixelator @ Jul 16th 2008 9:02PM
Sorry, but I disagree. You guys didn't know 'exactly that'. You knew access of a shared file on one service. Doesn't tell you how many completed the download, pirated the game in lieu of buying it, how many went on to buy it or how many wouldn't have bought it whether or not they pirated it. Download figures *imply* there may be a loss of sales, but what that actual number is simply isn't calculable with any accuracy. All you can really say for a fact is that some people downloaded the game.
Furthermore, I think it's safe to say that PSP piracy isn't any more prevalent than on the DS or GBA, so it's a moot argument anyway seeing as how those systems have/had no problems moving software -- Publishers will make money if there's games out there that people want to buy, even if there is piracy happening. End of story.
The PSP has a major drought of new titles now. Its visibility and popularity have plummeted in the US thanks to total apathy and lack of support by Sony (compared to how the JP market is being treated). SONY needs to accept responsibility on this, NOT blame their customers.
bryansurvive @ Jul 17th 2008 2:29AM
i tottally agree with you. number of downloads doesnt mean jack. i dont know how to hack my psp but i have tired downloading some torrent games to see what they look like and fail at playing them. the numbers might be accurate but the process could have failed. plus dude ps2 has had piracy since the start of its arrival and still to this day. developers just arent interested.... admit it sony and do something about it. just like that fool from pixeljunk game. he said he wasnt interested in bringing his game over cus it would sell. with that attitude damn right im not gonna buy it now.
andwhyisit @ Jul 17th 2008 2:29AM
I very much agree with this.
Sony can stay in denial all they want but I for one haven't closed my ears to the lack of support Sony (excluding SCEJ) gave for the PSP and their customers. Instead focusing on the PS3 and damn near ignoring the psp under the assumption that it would sell itself. I think they are starting to finally make an effort just recently, but only after damn near killing the system.
Saigon @ Jul 18th 2008 10:03PM
Yes, there isn't solid proof to show that alot of games are being pirated, but there also isn't ANY proof to they alot of game aren't being pirated. So basically, there could or couldn't be alot of piracy - no one knows.
I wouldn't compare piracy with psp to piracy on the ds or gba. The userbase of the gba and ds is significantly greater then the psp, so games sales, I'm assuming would be high enough that piracy would have little impact on them. The userbase of the psp is mostly teens and up - not mostly kids like the ds and gba - so most psp users are capable of learning how to install CW and how to download torrents.
I agree with everything else you said Pixelator. Sony is mostly to blame for psp's problems, including piracy.
MATT @ Jul 16th 2008 9:19PM
My PSP isn't hacked and I don't pirate games.
However, I only buy PSP games used because they're way cheaper that way... which is basically the same as piracy.
Hey, I know, MAKE PSP GAMES CHEAPER THAN $40 NEW AND MORE PEOPLE MIGHT BUY THEM.
andwhyisit @ Jul 16th 2008 10:05PM
True. Devs never get any money from used sales.
lonesomefolly @ Jul 16th 2008 9:42PM
QUESTION! How do they explain the PSP doing so good in japan then?
Christopher @ Jul 17th 2008 11:08AM
Exactly! :-/
Seba501 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:06PM
The piracy is the main reason for low softwere sales, its obviusly, if i can download a game.... free, why should i buy it ????.
I think sony need a PSP2, whit a fun on-line system, like on Ps3, and if u "unlock" your PSP, sony may ban u, like in xbox. but i would choise a strong system, almost "unlockeable" like on the Ps3 for a future PSP. if sony can do it whit the Ps3, he will can do it whit the PSP2
emirabal @ Jul 17th 2008 10:42AM
Agreed totally
Christopher @ Jul 17th 2008 11:13AM
Maybe if you learned English, you might have a rational thought.
As other people have stated, Japan, is a HUGE center of piracy right on their own door step. So why is PSP doing so well there then? Your logic is confused at best.
Parker @ Jul 16th 2008 10:12PM
I can't believe all of you people condoning piracy. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do something. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Piracy is stealing.
John @ Jul 16th 2008 10:43PM
Is it the same as going into a video game store and stealing one???
pixelator @ Jul 17th 2008 4:25PM
Please just shut up. If you want to be an apologist for a huge corporation blaming YOU for their mistakes, do it on your own frigging time.
Nobody here has CONDONED piracy. It's the same broken logic as saying that since there's people posting God of War to eMule, that must mean the publisher has lost exactly 150,000 unit sales.
In other words, Apples and Oranges are both fruit. Apples are red, so all Oranges must be, too, right..? Exact same logic.
anarkhy @ Jul 17th 2008 2:28AM
1) Doubt you find people watching movies or listening music on psp. Cell phones are mucher better for mp3.
2) Yes, PS2 ports sucks. We want original games, designed to be played on a handheld.
3) Every single console has piracy. With nintendo DS is the same thing, but they have tons of games. Xbox 360, PS2... you can download any game from torrent sites for any console.
The big problem is that sony failed to deal with game producers. Sony executives are ****. They need to change these people. They simple dont know how to talk and bargain with developers and publishers.
bryansurvive @ Jul 17th 2008 12:21PM
1) WRONG
2) WRONG
3) TRUE
Richard Terry @ Jul 17th 2008 5:05AM
They need to lower the costs of the games. I can't justify spending more than 20$ on a handheld game. every so often I'll do 30$ but that's rare. So typically I end up getting it used.
Currently I don't have any way of even pirating if I wanted to and I own 2 PSP games, the rest I've rented then returned once I was done with them. I've bought 1 game via the download system. Overall I haven't found any games worth keeping past the finish mark except the couple I own.
JM @ Jul 30th 2008 12:08PM
Good point. I wonder how much the advent of rental services like Gamefly have hurt software sales.
Richard Terry @ Jul 30th 2008 4:59PM
I dunno. I'm at a point in my life now where I'm not spending that much on video games like I used to so I don't think I would have even bought the system if there was no option to get games on the cheap. I waited till last Christmas to even get a PS2 so I could get all my games less than 20$ for that system too.
anarkhy @ Jul 16th 2008 10:32PM
Piracy is the same for Nintendo DS and they keep selling games.
Change the CEO in charge of PSP sales and development. Give better support for developers and homebrew. Give the job to someone who understand of videgames, not someone nephew...
halebound00 @ Jul 16th 2008 10:43PM
Sony just missed a golden opportunity to curb the piracy on PSP thing, at least a little, with the launch of this new video service thing. Apparently, 4.05 added somehting that made it possible to watch the videos we'll be getting. They could've done something to lock the system from CFW if you put that one on there. They need to add some feature that ALL people will want and then sneak in and lock the system to anything but authorized FW. But then again, homebrewers would find a way around it. They always do.
ReincarnationofRickAstley @ Jul 16th 2008 11:18PM
noob people can just download an mp4 movie and put it on their psp for free like ive been doing for 2 years hahahahahah
cafecito @ Jul 16th 2008 11:26PM
I bet that makes you feel manlier or something, right rickastley?
andwhyisit @ Jul 17th 2008 3:14AM
Or you could convert them yourself from your own movies.
Christopher @ Jul 17th 2008 5:45PM
No, then flash cards will just be used instead like with the DS. There is NO way for Sony to win this war through DRM.
cafecito @ Jul 16th 2008 11:24PM
LOL. It's funny watching so many of you guys trying to condone piracy by saying stuff like "it's not that serious" ... "it's the same on other systems" and whatnot. Bet you're pirates yourselves.
Anyway, I agree on the price drop thing MATT said. I'd love to buy more games myself, but sometimes my savings just won't do :P
botts @ Jul 17th 2008 3:04AM
It's a mix of lots of factors, I think. Personally I thought the last year was awesome for PSP games - Disgaea, FFT, Crisis Core, etc - and it was quite a chunk of change.
Piracy numbers on GoW was pretty awful, but... GoW was, what, 4 hours of play? I was all ready to buy the game until I heard that.
That said, I use CFW for PSX games that have yet to be rereleased. Thank god Chrono Trigger DS is coming, because I'll definitely buy that :)
andwhyisit @ Jul 17th 2008 3:05AM
So if someone doesn't agree with your point of view you then twist their words and label them as pirates? Real mature. *sarcasm*
I find it annoying how everyone blames SCEA's faults on piracy, maybe you are all working for Sony? Hmm..?
I also would like to point out that putting CFW on a psp goes from hard to near impossible. How the f**k can there be as many pirates as you say?
And someone f**king read my comments for once.
p.s. I am not a pirate, if you read my previous comments then you will know that already, I just have an open enough mind to not blame ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING on piracy.
Piracy made a bad mark on the psp but nowhere near as bad as what sony did (or didn't do) to their own system.
andwhyisit @ Jul 17th 2008 3:08AM
That was aimed at cafecito btw.
Someone fix this stupid broken commenting system.
mikelhend @ Jul 17th 2008 8:39AM
Reports are that the current newest PSP Slims (e.g. made this Spring and newer) cannot be hacked using the most common techniques. ("cannot" meaning "easily" or in a commonly-known way...) So maybe they're helping themselves here.
Meanwhile, on the DS, you can buy a $70 flash cart and pirate games at will without ANY modes to your DS system.
I don't pirate games because I'm a software dev. While I agree that some PSP titles should be cheaper, I think some titles (e.g. FF VII) on the PSP are every bit as well produced as the "big" consoles (ps3, 360). You can't compare DS titles to PSP titles, because the cost of producing higher-res art and audio on the PSP is higher than on the DS. Also, SQEnix charges $40 a pop for games on the DS, too, so the PSP is not alone in that arena.
Some of the Christmas game packs might help the PSP, though. I don't think many parents will buy their kids a PSP, unless the kids ask for it, which boils down to Sony advertising the living hell out of the system this holiday in the USA. Good luck, Sony... I want this system to succeed!
Dr Haisook @ Jul 17th 2008 4:58AM
Although almost every game system has had its share of piracy, I think the one to blame is dark_alex. Even though I'm thankful that he helped me play my favorite old skool games on the PSP, he also helped millions of users play pirated games on the system. His excuse was that playing games from the memory card is more efficient than playing them from UMD. He apparently lives in a utopia, because only a very few do rip their 'purchased' UMDs and put the games on their memory sticks. The rest just download the games.
However, I think that if this feature hadn't been implemented, both hardware and software sales would've been even less. Because the one who downloads games off the internet will never go buy them if they're not available, and so people will stop buying PSPs too.
yashamaru @ Jul 17th 2008 9:21AM
wrong dont blame dark_alex, He was not the first to make isos playable all he did was add it to the firmware ( devhook ). So even if he didn't people could and would still be playing isos. There are many reasons, other then free games for playing isos that range from power saving, dead or bad umd drive, faster game boot up and my fav broken umds ( they cost so much and are made so cheap ).
Quality is a big deal, yes the psp has some very nice games but whats the % far too much crap is getting released. If 2-3% of games are worth paying for, sure sales will be low even without Piracy.
Muhammad Sabeeh Ali @ Jul 17th 2008 9:16AM
I really don't believe piracy is the cause of low software sales. I own approx 17 titles for PSP, only 6-7 of them were bought new since the cost of these games is too high.
I believe used games market and rentals are eating into software sales. However, please remember if there is a good enough game it WILL sell. I paid full price for Final fantasy Tactics remake since I was very fond of the original. The same goes for Final Fanatsy 7 Crysis Core (although I am too busy to even open it). I also bought Jeanne D'arc and several other games (and enjoyed) after reading reviews.
The ones I bought used, were the ones I wasn't sure about. The used games market has been expanding greatly and we now see a lot of companies going into it. It doesn't necessarily mean it will hurt the games sales. It just means they need to make better games so that people will WANT to own them.
Turbo @ Jul 29th 2008 2:54PM
I would enjoy PS2 ports to the PSP! The whole GTA series mainly. I think Sony is using piracy as an excuse.