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Interestingly, the online version of these shops tend to have pretty much any PC title available to buy. I'm thinking specifically of Game and GameStation in the UK.

ORIGINAL: Jim_H

... Interestingly, the online version of these shops tend to have pretty much any PC title available to buy.

ORIGINAL: Zakhal
.... And the court system is a joke. They cant close the d/l sites or prosecute the d/lers. Its like people have right to d/l games for free. Its like communism where everything is shared.

ORIGINAL: Joe D.
Recently I bought a new strategy game at a retail store; not only did the clerk have to find the game disk for me, but he also had to retrieve the game's activation code; the store actually cut the activation code out of the game's manual as some players were "borrowing" these codes to activate their own pirated copies.

ORIGINAL: Lützow

Franky, I won't shed a tear when all those shooters, rts and action-rpg's finally disappear from pc platform, as the industry tires of piracy.

In online gaming for example, the use of serial numbers for verification of ownership has been very successful in reducing the incentive to pirate them. This is one of the secrets behind World of Warcraft's success which has 11 million subscribers, and also the reason for the sales success of predominantly online games such as EA's Battlefield series which has sold 17 million copies.

The Culture of Piracy

In researching this article I read literally hundreds of articles, studies, forum posts, blog posts and general comments from a wide range of people. What disturbed me more than the blatant misinformation and falsehoods regarding various aspects of the debate was the unashamed 'Culture of Piracy' which now appears to be prevalent around the Internet. Not only are the people who are pirating games openly bragging about it, they're flowering it up with a range of excuses, even suggesting that it's their right to do so.

Back in the 1980s when my friends and I swapped copies of Amiga games, we didn't blame the copy protection for forcing us to do it, we didn't blame copyright laws, or assume it was our right to copy any game we want in the name of 'freedom', we didn't even make a point of openly advertising that we did it. We copied games for one simple reason: because we could.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and piracy has apparently somehow become a political struggle, a fight against greedy corporations and evil copy protection, and in some cases, I've even seen some people refer to the rise of piracy as a "revolution". What an absolute farce. Truth be told I have the greatest respect for the people who simply come out and just say that they pirate because they can, no more, no less. At least then I know I'm dealing with someone who's being honest and has got their head screwed on straight.

Piracy is the result of human nature: when faced with the option of getting something for free or paying for it, and in the absence of any significant risks, you don't need complex economic studies to show you that most people will opt for the free route. However to back this up, the data presented in this article shows quite clearly that DRM or no DRM, good game or bad game, demo or no demo, available via Steam or not, cheap or expensive, whether sold by an independent or a major publisher - all games are being pirated on a massive scale. The most significant determinant of which games will get pirated more is how desirable they are. No surprises there.

http://www.tweakguides.com/Piracy_10.html

ORIGINAL: Terminus
Not my experience. The ratio of PC to console games on sale in the shops has been more or less constant here for several years.

ORIGINAL: JudgeDredd

**off topic**
How are you finding DCS Black Shark Hertston?

I too bought it and think it's bloody difficult but there is alot of game in there and it's very atmospheric. I had one mission where I had to escort a unit from A to B (early in the campaign) I was staying pretty close but ahead to check out the valleys etc. Turns out the forces were ambushed behind me! When I finally worked out what was going on and where the preverbial was hitting the fan, there wasn't alot left!
**end off topic**

I used to go to my local Electronique Boutique store (then to Game when they changed hands) every Friday to see what new games were out...I always looked forward to a Friday lunchtime. Now, it's never worth it. Either it's the same old crap or it's a new game but, well...the same old crap!