There’s not much there, though. I’ve seen (not downloaded) the following titles on it:
Season of Sakura
Three Sister’s Story
Runaway City
Critical Point
True Love
May Club
Knights of Xentar
Hentai Anime Poker
Tokimeki Check-in!
X-Change
That’s it. No recent titles. Those program are also going down in popularity, because the network is full of viruses, and the programs are getting full of spyware and adware.
quote:
Originally posted by Italicus:
@ EVERYBODY I.E.Whoever has pirated games using Kazaa or E-Donkey.Get ready to be tracked, guys.
Italian Police arrested an egiptyan who used these programs to get new matrix for masterizing illegal copies.
All of those who were in contact HAVE BEEN TRACKED AN DENOUNCED.
Well done Poly, way to go!!!!
That's great if people actually do get in trouble, but that's not really the point. I think more people need to actually support the anime and bishoujo games that they like so much instead of just taking them from the internet. It's just hard to draw the line. I mean, I download plenty of fansubs but I also have over 200 anime DVDs. With fansubs, if you don't download then you just don't see it. Nothing makes me more upset than to see people complain that a series gets licenced because it will be hard to find a place to download it. I mean, it's licenced so that it will be available to a lot more people. The point of fansubs is to spread anime. Once it has a region 1 release, mission accomplished! For games, I can understand downloading some Japanese games since they are so expensive and most people won't be able to read them anyway. It might be a good way to test them out and they're not really available unless you buy from a special store like Himeya Shop. I buy from Himeya Shop. As far as games that have already been translated and released in the US, people shouldn't even be trying to download them. They are released here just for people who want to play. People have jobs bringing these games here, and we like the games. Peach Princess and G-Collections are our friends! I can't understand stabbing them in the back by downloading games that have been translated just for the couple thousand of us fans.
quote:
Once it has a region 1 release, mission accomplished!
What about everyone who DOESN'T live in region 1? [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
Although I'm not the best person to ask, as I'm not very versed in DVD stuff (Don't own a DVD player. Partner has a DVD drive, recently acquired, in computer.) I understand there is a lobby group trying to make it illegal to buy international DVDs in the UK... and I can't find anywhere to figure out what actually is and isn't licensed in the UK.
Obviously, getting things released is good. I just wish I could find an understandable guide to licensing in this country.
quote:
What about everyone who DOESN'T live in region 1?
quote:
Originally posted by Benoit:
There's not much there, though. I've seen (not downloaded) the following titles on it:Season of Sakura
Three Sister's Story
Runaway City
Critical Point
True Love
May Club
Knights of Xentar
Hentai Anime Poker
Tokimeki Check-in!
X-ChangeThat's it. No recent titles. Those program are also going down in popularity, because the network is full of viruses, and the programs are getting full of spyware and adware.
I've seen just about every bishoujo game on P2P networks. Heck, that was the only way I aquired bishoujo games in the beginning.
The only games I haven't seen on P2P are Amusement Park and Day of Love. Those games are very large (several GB), and since they don't have any adult scenes, the interest in them are further diminished by the pirates.
[This message has been edited by AG3 (edited 05-09-2004).]
quote:
Originally posted by Benoit:
[quote] What about everyone who DOESN'T live in region 1?
Yes, exactly. My point about "mission accomplished" wasn't about the discs themselves being region 1, but about legit DVDs being sold with English subtitles. Of course, you need to BUY a DVD player if you don't have one. I have two. One good Sony DVD player and one crappy Cyber Home DVD player. Usually the cheaper DVD players can switch regions, and that's the purpose of the Cyber Home DVD player. I got mine so I could play R2s, but if you don't live in the US or Canada then you could get the same kind of player to play R1s. You can buy them at j-list, but if you look around you can probably find them for less somewhere else. I think that if you don't care about the industry as a whole, be it anime or bishoujo games or anything, you can't really call yourself a fan. That doesn't mean that everyone needs to spend tons of money, but if it's something that you really enjoy then you should support it when you can.
DVD players from big brands like Sony and Panasonic etc. usually aren’t that great… at least not when compared to the price you have to pay for them. DVD players of that kind cost almost or about 3 times the price of the one I bought! It’s better to buy one of the less known brands.
Mine’s from Bellagio, and it works very well.
Not bashing anyone’s choices, or anything else, just giving advice.
quote:
Originally posted by bishounen_blue:
That's great if people actually do get in trouble, but that's not really the point. I think more people need to actually support the anime and bishoujo games that they like so much instead of just taking them from the internet. It's just hard to draw the line. I mean, I download plenty of fansubs but I also have over 200 anime DVDs. With fansubs, if you don't download then you just don't see it. Nothing makes me more upset than to see people complain that a series gets licenced because it will be hard to find a place to download it. I mean, it's licenced so that it will be available to a lot more people. The point of fansubs is to spread anime. Once it has a region 1 release, mission accomplished! For games, I can understand downloading some Japanese games since they are so expensive and most people won't be able to read them anyway. It might be a good way to test them out and they're not really available unless you buy from a special store like Himeya Shop. I buy from Himeya Shop. As far as games that have already been translated and released in the US, people shouldn't even be trying to download them. They are released here just for people who want to play. People have jobs bringing these games here, and we like the games. Peach Princess and G-Collections are our friends! I can't understand stabbing them in the back by downloading games that have been translated just for the couple thousand of us fans.
Hmm, just a thought, how much money do Bishoujo game companies make in a year? And I don't like what people are doing. I mean the Bishoujo isn't like the music industry where they make billions upon billions a year. I mean theres like how many translated Bishoujo games out there? Its just shameless what those guys do but it is really hard to stop them. I mean piracy is like drugs, people wanna get there goods, I mean if you banned all the drugs in the world and destroyed all of them people will still find a way to get high. Same with Piracy, people will still find a way to get illegal copies. I don't know where I'm going with this but its just the matter of morality.
quote:
Originally posted by tiger_of_the_wind2040:
I mean the Bishoujo isn't like the music industry where they make billions upon billions a year. I mean theres like how many translated Bishoujo games out there? Its just shameless what those guys do but it is really hard to stop them.
I understand what you mean, but once you tread on this path you have a much harder time defending your position. It is better to stick with the point that making a copy in lieu of buying an available product is just not right, in and of itself, without qualification. It does not matter how lined their pockets are - they are entitled to the money.
The situation is more complicated than this (there are many reasons to bootleg, some more legitimate than others), but in general the fact that so-and-so can deal with losses from piracy - does not mean they somehow have to put up with it. Nor is it true to say that "well, I'm not hurting anyone, so it doesn't matter what I do".
The bishoujo game industry is TINY. It’s microscopic. If you’re downloading currently available English games onlne or any other way, you are flipping your middle finger at me and G-Collections and the others (the few others) and saying, fuck you. Instead, if you’d buy the games you’d like to see more of, cast your “dollar votes” so we know what you want to see more of (more Crescendos, more X-Change’s, whatever), you will help us continue to do our important work, and make sure more games of the kind you like will be brought out.
Obviously, I know that some of the “fans” on this site are really pirate-fans who hang out here to discuss games they’ve gotten for free. I have a short list of several members, although I won’t post it here since that would be rude. We watch IRC and the major hentai BBS sites and take what action we can, but obviously we know we can’t stop piracy. I try to let people know that we’re a tiny company with hardworking game translators, testers and sales staff, and hope they will support us since we’re busting our butts for them. I also remind people that if you buy a game and it’s not to your taste, sell it on eBay and you can get half your money back. I’ve never seen a bishoujo game that’s not worth buying for $50, playing through to all the endings and enjoying thoroughly, then selling at some future point, if you choose to do so. I know that many people got their first games online and then switch over to becomming supportive fans, and I am thankful to those people for helping us out, as I am to all true fans of bishoujo games.
Well, gotta stop typing and get back to work!
I think I’m going to send the URLs of the sites I have found so far to be pirating these games now.
But I’ve signed up for J-List emails, and twice for Peach Princess’ and JAST USA’s emails, but I still haven’t gotten them. I changed email address, you see. I’ve asked thes support staff of my email domain if they were blocking J-List emails, but apparently they’re not.
So if I get sent reply, I don’t know if I’ll get it. But it’s not important anyway, if only I can send it.
What about people who both pirate and purchase?
Randomly wandering back onto the DVD topic, I still want to know how to find out properly what things are licensed and how to recognise a bootleg DVD. There’s some guy selling “Complete Utena Collection” DVDs on ebay for what seems like a suspiciously low price, and the cover photo is rather dull, so I’m guessing this is some sort of boot, but I don’t know enough about the market to be certain. Pirated games are much easier to catch - a single CD containing 27 games from different companies is pretty obvious, even if ebay DOES always ignore me when I report them.
(Of course, the things I really want to vote with my dollars for aren’t available in the first place - I want sex-free romance! I want Princess Maker 3! I want a PC port of that Utena game for the Saturn!)
quote:
Originally posted by papillon:
Randomly wandering back onto the DVD topic, I *still* want to know how to find out properly what things are licensed and how to recognise a bootleg DVD. There's some guy selling "Complete Utena Collection" DVDs on ebay for what seems like a suspiciously low price, and the cover photo is rather dull, so I'm guessing this is some sort of boot, but I don't know enough about the market to be certain. Pirated games are much easier to catch - a single CD containing 27 games from different companies is pretty obvious, even if ebay DOES always ignore me when I report them.
Well, that's normally a warning sign to me. Check the disc count. For instance, I believe the Love Hina complete set bootleg is like 2 or 3 discs only, but the Bandai is 6 discs. Bootleggers tend to pack more episodes per disc than the actual licensed product. Another sign I normally take a look for is "region-free", licenses are generally for a specific region, I can't even think of any licensed series off-hand that are region 0. And normally if it includes both Chinese and English subtitles, there's also a good chance it's a bootleg. There are licensed versions with both those subtitles but I believe they're region 3. And lastly, for anime and such, you can check the legitimate information on the discs against sites like AnimeOnDVD. Since they include stuff like run-times, number of episodes, number of volumes, etc., it can help you sort out what is what.
Anyways, here's a link to a site that's helped me a bit when I was still trying to figure out what's pirated and what isn't:
http://www.digital.anime.org.uk/piratefaq.html
I also know some other websites have similar guides, they were mentioned here but I never wrote them down. Hope that helps somewhat.
Oh yeah, I remember that page! My friend showed it to me. It was quite an interesting read, and made me aware of the bootlegs out there… of which I bought some (music CDs) without knowing. :’(
Well i don’t really care about bootlegs of giant companies like those making PS2 games and music and crap or even movies, its the little guy that gets me.
quote:
Originally posted by tiger_of_the_wind2040:
Well i don't really care about bootlegs of giant companies like those making PS2 games and music and crap or even movies, its the little guy that gets me.
Yeah, I agree. A few thousand people downloading Halo isn't going to hurt Microsoft at all. But the same number if people downloading a peach princess game could outnumber the actual sales. All we can do is put in a good word for bishoujo games when we can, and continue to support the games. Hopefully, over time, there will be more of us.
Hopefully but so long as they are misunderstood as evidenced by that recent article, I fear the “black market” will continue to grow as more people actually want these games but because of the negative stigma don’t want to be know for buying these games.
quote:
Originally posted by SCDawg:
Hopefully but so long as they are misunderstood as evidenced by that recent article, I fear the "black market" will continue to grow as more people actually want these games but because of the negative stigma don't want to be know for buying these games.
Hellz why not? people buy adult movies don't they? I don't get the people who are ashamed to buy stuff like this. I mean come on whats there to be ashamed of? maybe if your trying to hide it from your girlfriend but they've got that covered cause guys are like batman when it comes to hiding their porn.
By the way, is it illegal to dl old abandonware games? cause I used to dl that and that got me started.
Yup believe it or not abandonware is illegal at least with in the U.S. At one time it was not, but not it is, since the people may not have the copyright anymore but the company retains it.
Is the black market adult movie business a multi billion dollar industry? If the answer to that question is yes, then we have nothing to fear expect finding such a black market, if the answer is no, and it goes that we then all of us that actually obey the rules are once more screwed.
As to being a shamed of it I quite agree there is nothing to be a shamed of in terms of buying these games, however that is why it is called a negative stigma, it might not be true but it can harm you anyway and that is why people try to avoid such stigmas.
Recently there is a new law that states that you can download old games that you can’t reasonably get access to through legal means. This includes some abandonware.