Microsoft has obviously been inspired by the success of the music business on how to fight piracy…. Oh wait! The music business is the main example on how NOT to fight piracy. Check out the news over @ BBC news

Microsoft might be big enough to pull this one off though, but I have a feeling they’ve just lost those 1 million customers that got a permanent ban unless they buy a new unmodified console to play on.

Why does several businesses out there insisit on fighting piracy head on? Instead of working around it?
Look at steam, I know dozens of has-been pirates that now buys the games instead, over steam. Of course, if it’s not on steam, they might end up downloading it unless the game is available for digital purchase online.

I was of the impression that Xbox live also was one of the good ways to stop piracy. Make games easily available online to download unto your console. I am sure most of the games from Xbox live is not subject to piracy, though I don’t know the statistics….
The most ironic thing is that the ban is only for Xbox live, which means they cut them off from the only thing that probably keep them from pirating ALL games…
They can still play offline, so what’s keeping them from still pirating games to play offline? Heh….

And I can actually understand why someone would want to pirate the store-games.
First of all; people like to be able to buy their games online without having to go to a store.
The Xbox games usually cost ALOT for any average gamer, which would also end in piracy.
And there has been so much crap games out there at times, that you feel really ripped off when you had to pay $60 for a game that just sucked.
Discs are fragile things, they can handle some beating, true, but I know myself that I like to have a digital backup of it anyway. Just in case.

I have a feeling this initiative from Microsoft isn’t gonna end in a good way….

Gamecareerguide has posted a new Ask the Experts feature post: Ask the Experts: Console vs. PC Development[^] that I find very informative for anyone who wants to start developing indie games.

Consoles might be a nice platform to develop for, when it comes to possible profits, but as Jill Duffy points out, it’s usually alot more expensive to develop for them. In addition, you need to get access to the development ki, which means another money sink AND a meeting with the company making the console; Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft.

Our [Kybernesis] games will be made primarily on PC, and maybe ported to consoles when we can afford it. Cause I have the same philosophy as the panelists mentioned in the feature points out in the end. Keep costs to the minimum… At least in the start-up phase!

Gamasutra has also posted a Postmortem: How Puzzle Quest Saved Infinite Interactive[^] which gives some very good insights into developing Indie games, specifically a casual puzzle game. But their experiences could very well fit any kind of Indie developed game.