3 ms·
> but e-books can be purchased pretty much anywhere in the world. I'm in Sweden Sorry, but by "pretty much anywhere in the world" you clearly mean "first world
by reisse 4y ago
> but e-books can be purchased pretty much anywhere in the world. I'm in Sweden
Sorry, but by "pretty much anywhere in the world" you clearly mean "first world". If you live outside of US/Canada and EU it is much harder to obtain books legally. Publishing agreements usually cover specific countries, and no-one cares about, for example, selling books in English in Central Asia. So even if you have means to pay for the book (which can be challenging - and I'm not talking about "having money" here, I'm talking about "technical possiblity" - Visa and Mastercard are not as universal as they might seem from the first world), most of the time no-one can or wish to sell it to you legally.
Interesting that Steam solved most of that problems for game distribution though. They have worldwide publishing agreements, regional prices AND good support of local payment providers in many countries. I think a lot of people underestimate how these factors allowed Steam to overtake piracy.
- lezojeda 4y ago>Interesting that Steam solved most of that problems for game distribution though. They have worldwide publishing agreements, regional prices AND good support of local payment providers in many countries. I think a lot of people underestimate how these factors allowed Steam to overtake piracy. Sadly it is being ruined by people from first-world using VPNs. Many AAA stopped using regional prices and we're stuck paying the same cost as in the first world.
- Calamityjanitor 4y agoFrom the other side it feels just as unfair. When I lived of ~AU$200 a month, $100 towards rent, a new game was ~$100 in Aus. It was often much cheaper to buy physical copies from Asia and import.
- anhner 4y ago> If you live outside of US/Canada and EU it is much harder to obtain books legally I completely agree and even though I imagine countries outside of these have it much worse, even within the EU you can find massive differences between countries. For example, there is a much smaller selection in Eastern European countries vs. Western, and books are the same price or sometimes even pricier while wages are significantly lower.
- deafpolygon 4y ago> allowed Steam to overtake piracy Let's not forget the pricing, as well. Older games are actually priced lower than most books and movies, which are still being artificially inflated by their respective distributors.
- SergeAx 4y agoLet's also not forget Steam pricing policies for different regions. Until recently same games in Turkey were priced 5 times lower than in Switzerland.
- Auracle 4y agoTo be fair, I’m guessing books have a longer tail than games. The vast majority of game sales for AAA games are at release.