I think people have a problem looking at both sides of the issue. Peach Princess, as a serious company, simply CAN’T ignore piracy. Not just because of the loss of sales, but out of respect for their paying customers and the original creators. Not trying to do anything is the same as telling paying customers “we don’t care if people get our stuff for free so long as YOU pay for it”. And secondly, it’s the same as telling the original copyright holders “we don’t care that your software is flying all over the world for free and robbing you of your rightful royalty income”.
If Peach Princess don’t try to protect their releases they might sooner or later find themselves without games to translate, as the original creators will get fed up with their inability to prevent the huge (in corporate eyes) loss of potential income. Do you SERIOUSLY think companies will license their best games for translation while piracy is as rampant as it is? Current scale piracy might not hurt small titles all that much (though it does), but think about giant titles like Kimi ga Nozomu Eien with huge market potential, especially if/when the anime makes its tour in the western world. No company in their right mind would license the game when they see the number of pirated ero-games far exceeding the legally sold ones.
Yes, some customers are inconvenienced by this protection, but that’s what it’s like in the entire society. Your tax money is funding law enforcement and legal system because some people can’t obey the law. What if the police arrest you on suspicion of a crime you didn’t commit (and you’re later found innocent because the justice system works)? Would you then rather it was shut down? “We can’t prevent all crime anyway, so we might as well stop trying and stop wasting people’s tax money”? I know it’s a stretch comparing those two things, but they have something in common:
It’s there ultimately for everyones benefit, even if it’s inconvenient. Because some people can’t obey the law, the ones who actually do are also affected by the measures that needs to be taken. It’s weird using a phrase like “the greater good” when talking about ero-games, but in essence that’s exactly what it is. If Peach Princess can’t do something to curb piracy, it could very well mean their end, and also the end of translated ero-games for years to come. Which I’m sure no one really wants, not even the V-Mate incapable people who maybe a few months or a year from now will be able to play these games, either due to the protection system being refined and revised, or a change in their accessibility to an internet connection.
No one expects people who don’t like or can’t use V-Mate to appreciate it, but if it’s a choice between that protection or no ero-games at all, the remaining customers who CAN use V-Mate will have to get priority. It’s not going to stop piracy 100%, but it sends a signal to both creators and customers of these games that Peach Princess is doing what they can to stop piracy and create a system that is as fair as possible to everyone. Turning a blind eye towards piracy is a grave injustice to every paying customer, while V-Mate might be an “injustice” to a select few of them.
Meh, I’ve ranted enough now.
[This message has been edited by AG3 (edited 04-19-2005).]
