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People don’t buy hardware, they buy software.  Now whether you agree with this statement or not, I’m going to show you how in some ways it is true. What decisions lead you to buy one console over another? Is price the most important thing?  How about the specs of the system? I’m sure you take both of these aspects into consideration but the one thing you’ll be doing with the console you decided to buy is play games.

We are gamers and thus that’s what we care about.  Games are very, if not the most important thing we look at when buying a console.  The PS3 has not been selling well and many believe it’s because of the price and that’s half the reason but the other reason is for lack of good games.  What if the games that we want to play so much could be bought for $2.50?  That may sound like a dream but for people living in Thailand it is a reality.

In Thailand, pirated games are sold on the streets in broad daylight.  You can find pirated games in department stores and there are even a few dedicated to selling nothing but pirated games.  How can they operate like that without getting caught?  Well, they can’t or at least, they shouldn't be allowed to.  Corruption is widespread here, just like in many other countries and the pirated game vendors simply pay off the police to stay in business.  It's become impossible to leave your house and travel for more than five minutes without seeing something pirated for sale.

Why do so many people here buy or sell pirated games?  I believe that the main reason why there is so much piracy here is because the average salary of a Thai worker is between $100 and $150 U.S. a month.  Software and hardware brought to Thailand is sold at American prices but the Thai people with their salaries simply can’t afford to buy them. They’d have to spend almost half of their monthly income just to purchase one game. That's why piracy is so popular and strong here. They sell these illegal items at rock bottom prices that everyone can afford.

Pirated Wii games can be purchased here for $1.50 to $2.50 USD.  That’s less than it costs to even rent games. Official games cost U.S. $39.99 to $49.99 normally. So for the regular price of a legal copy of a game you could get 40 to 50 pirated games that would play exactly as the originals do.  What this causes is temptation.  That is such a huge temptation and it’s one that many people give into.  If you could purchase Nintendo Wii games for $2.50 or less without any chance of getting caught, would you do it?  Before you answer think about it and answer honestly.  For the price of a game rental you could actually own the game.

I have not written this article to debate whether or not piracy is good or bad or if it can even be justified. I’ve written it to shed some light on how the gaming industry works here and how it could affect the future of the gaming industry. To give you guys some idea of how it is over here I’ve conducted an interview with an unnamed game vendor that has a store that sells both real and pirated games. Neither the store name nor owner’s name will be revealed because I promised I would keep their identity confidential if they gave me the interview.

WiiLoaded: Which Wii game is currently selling the most in your shop?

Game Vendor: The two best selling games at the moment are Wario Ware and Rayman.

WL: Which Wii games are you most asked about?

Game Vendor: Well before it was released I was asked about Wario Ware all the time. After it was released I get asked mostly about Cooking Mama, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and Super Mario Galaxy.

WL: What about Metroid Prime 3?

Game Vendor: In Thailand FPS games are not really big here. No one has asked me about it.

WL: On the hardware side, which console is selling best right now?

Game Vendor: If you asking about all of them I would have to say that the PS2 is still selling the most here followed closely by the PSP.

WL: That’s interesting that the PSP is still selling so well. What about the “next gen” consoles?

Game Vendor: The Wii is selling the best right now and the Xbox360 is the next best selling console.

WL: I know that the Nintendo Wii has modchips available for it. Could you tell me which ones are available and which ones are selling the best?

Game Vendor: Right now there are just two modchips available for the Wii. There’s the Cyclowiz, which is only version 1.0 and the Wiikey. Of the two the Wikey is the most popular by far.

WL: Do consumers seem to buy a system more once it has been cracked and can play pirated software?

Game Vendor: Absolutely. The amount of consoles sold normally doubles or triples after modchips and pirated software comes out for it.

WL: Which do you prefer to sell more of, the real games or the pirated copies.

Game Vendor: I sell a lot more pirated games compared to real games so I’d have to say pirated games. The volume is so much that I get more profit from it.

WL: Could you tell me the ratio of pirated games vs real games sold in a day.

Game Vendor: It’s incomparable. The closest I could come to a number would be that I sell a minimum of twenty pirated games a day and the most I could ever get, maximum for real games would be no more than seven.

WL: So almost triple the amount?

Game Vendor: It’s actually more than that. That would be a best case scenario for selling real games in a day.

WL: I really appreciate all your time and have one final question for you. You’ve been in the video game business for quite a while now. Could you tell me your prediction for how the system battle will turn out in Thailand?

Game Vendor: I would say by the end of this year that the PS3 will catch up and perhaps pass the Nintendo Wii in Thailand. Most people here know the Sony brand more. They know the PS from the past, the PS3, which is still the best selling system here and they know the PSP. I have so many customers who come to my shop asking about the PS3 and they’ve never even heard of the Wii. I think once the PS3 is cracked and pirated games are available that it will have a tremendous effect on hardware sales. A lot of people are still waiting for that. The other reason I say that the PS3 will take over here is because of the graphics. The control of the Wii is fun but it eventually wears off and you can’t help but notice how bad the graphics are. The PS3 doesn’t have any killer games yet but once they do have some then it will give them a big sales boost here. (There is also a) “dark side” of the industry that most gamers don’t see.

WL: The dark side?

Game Vendor: There is so much that goes on behind the scenes that determines what price the game vendors will sell software and hardware at. You’d be shocked at some of the things that go on behind the scenes.

I learned a lot from this interview.  I've always been a Nintendo supporter and I do own the Nintendo Wii but the comments about the PS3 coming back strong near the end of the year has got me wondering.  He made many valid points and he does see everything from a different perspective.   I've always said that for the PS3 to succeed that it would need to have must have exclusives and I still believe that but now knowing that many once-exclusive games are going multi-platform it's hard for me to see a bright future for the PS3.  Does that mean what he said is impossible?  Not at all.  I will say that a  lot of the games that are currently out or coming out soon for the Wii are looking a bit...rough.  Graphics aren't everything but you can't ignore them forever.  For Nintendo's sake I hope they do keep coming up with great games that will make me continue to not care about graphics.  How long will that last though?

Click here to have your opinion heard by discussing this in our forums and voting in the poll.

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wow, some really eye-opening stuff there...I'd have to think about what choice I would make on whether to get pirated games or not..a lot of this stuff goes on with movies and computer games everywhere..pirating is really big and impossible to eradicate..awesome interview though and information, a really nice read

Thanks! I just wanted to give everyone an idea of what goes on in other parts of the world.

Very Well Done!

Dugg!

Awesome read. Good work ManaBurnX, this is so being dugg.

We could get a double digg effect if both our most recent articles become popular at the same time.
*crosses fingers and hopes the server won't explode* >_<

Oohh, It's edging closer and closer to popular time

Uhoh... I should sleep, but I want to stay to see what happens.

Wow! I had no idea that stuff went on!
Very nice read dude!!

it really depends on the quality of the copy. If its the full game with a good translation why not? But if its a crappy quality/translation then no way in hell.

I will tell you that the games look and play exactly as the real ones do. You can't tell them apart at all.

this reminds me of walking through Central Park and finding all the people with their DVDs on sale from their blankets on the sidewalks and the corners...everyone does it, nobody gets caught/brought up on charges... one of my buddies in the NYPD buys movies from them when he's off duty cause there are a few people who get great quality.

if they started selling games like that, who know...i might, i might not buy from them. if the quality and gameplay are exactly the same, i'd do it now and then. not all the time, cause i'd feel like im cheating the game companies...if it's a game i know that i'll enjoy i'd buy it full price, but if i don't know how to feel about a certain game, id buy from them so i dont completely waste my money.

*CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP*

Man awesome article. This is friggin' professional standard! : D

This is so Dugg. GOOD JOB. I loved it great read.

That's crazy though. That would be pretty friggin' tempting.

I wouldn't go for pirated Wii games for the reasons that there is always the possibility of there being glitchy functions due to the fact its pirated.

Much like any pirated software (3ds Max for example) you're taking a risk of losing important hidden files that might not seem important at first, but later on down the road turn out to be something crucial. For example, I lost the a buttload of my 3D models in Max because I was using a hacked copy. They are convenient if you're in dire financial straights, however due to experience in my profession I would much rather shell out the money for an official copy of something and have that reassurance that if there is something faulty with the software it can be replaced rather than trashed, leaving one in a state of frustration, even if it is only over a few dollars.

So Mana, not that i'm just curious but when I read the interview it made it very tempting to buy the Pirated copies and was wondering if you ever fallen into the temptation? I know I would.

Wow, thanks a lot. *blushes

Let's just say 99.95% of the people here buy pirated goods all the time including movies, games, music, clothing, etc...

On a side note I think some people are being honest or are not thinking about it. If you were surrounded by games for $2.00 and the normal price for original Wii games here are jacked up to $75 - $100 each I'm sure the temptation would prove to be strong. Oh, I forgot to mention that you can't get any Wii game that is original newer than Wario Ware here because once a system is cracked they stop getting the real ones to sell. It's very bad for the game companies but very good for hardware sales. For all of you that voted no I'm just curious if you've ever downloaded an MP3... ?

good interview, and not surprising...with the amount of human trafficking and other illicit activity that goes on in thailand a little VG piracy does not come as a surprise

if the average workers making 150 bucks a month, he aint buying any video game machine at all, hes buying food,shelter, clothing, cracked system or not.

Actually, even though the average salary is low the people here are very materialistic. I see people taking the buss for 10 baht (about a quarter) and using a $500 mobile phone. They have to have the latest when it comes to gadgets. They save for a long time and then buy it. They'll pay in installments if they can but if they can't then they'll save up to get it. One thing you have to know is that here even after people get married, they live with their parents. They don't have bills except for their mobile phone bills because their parents pay for everything else.

I voted No, just on the condition that I've always preferred original games >_<

I do occationally download MP3s though

I voted Yes(the second option).  Its like seeing 999 billion dollars fall out of a celebrity's bag.  It would be very tempting.  I also download mp3 too, so you don't have to feel guilty.