To most people, videogames are viewed as a fun way to pass time. In fact, approximately 1.2 billion people [1] across the world play videogames as a pastime. However, the international success of video gaming, paired with the rise of global connectivity via the Internet, means that many ethical issues can arise. Video games have existed since the 1950s, but their popularity first boomed in the 70s. A company named Atari dominated the industry, until various high budget games caused them to go bankrupt, and gave video games a bad name in the western world. In the 80s, Nintendo, a Japanese company, reignited the western world’s love of gaming when they released the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Nintendo held industry dominance until the
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The industry is becoming less about making an entertaining product for people, and more about making a product that sells well. If pre-orders had been popular in the time of Nintendo, they could be trusted, but for that reason they weren’t used, as pre-orders themselves are a questionable marketing tactic. But people still buy them, willing to blindly pay money in an attempt to get what is shown to them, and time and time again, they are disappointed. Corporations see that people buy these things, and they don’t care what people think of them as long as they make money, so they continue to make them, and they keep trying to release less honest marketing tactics. Usually, these tactics are rejected by the community, but sometimes an issue arises. Sometimes, a very good game is made by a AAA developer, which may contain some dishonest marketing tactics. These tactics are naturally rejected by the community, but they still buy the product, because they are willing to look past the marketing. This means that the corporation tries to apply the tactic to another game, and over time gamers get used to it. This is happening with DRM, a tactic used to stop piracy that always never works. Games are starting to require a permanent Internet connection, which many people object to, but they tolerate games which use it, so the tactic flourishes. In the end, corporations win the users’ money, and the cycle
The industry is becoming less about making an entertaining product for people, and more about making a product that sells well. If pre-orders had been popular in the time of Nintendo, they could be trusted, but for that reason they weren’t used, as pre-orders themselves are a questionable marketing tactic. But people still buy them, willing to blindly pay money in an attempt to get what is shown to them, and time and time again, they are disappointed. Corporations see that people buy these things, and they don’t care what people think of them as long as they make money, so they continue to make them, and they keep trying to release less honest marketing tactics. Usually, these tactics are rejected by the community, but sometimes an issue arises. Sometimes, a very good game is made by a AAA developer, which may contain some dishonest marketing tactics. These tactics are naturally rejected by the community, but they still buy the product, because they are willing to look past the marketing. This means that the corporation tries to apply the tactic to another game, and over time gamers get used to it. This is happening with DRM, a tactic used to stop piracy that always never works. Games are starting to require a permanent Internet connection, which many people object to, but they tolerate games which use it, so the tactic flourishes. In the end, corporations win the users’ money, and the cycle