Venetica - Review @ Games32

Dhruin

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I'm not clear what version this review is based on, being an English site and all. Still, Games32 has a review of Venetica with the reasonable score of 76% - although the only real criticism I see is the performance. Here's a snip:
The entire storyline in Venetica revolves around a very intriguing premise, stating that Death is not necessarily a grim figure, but a common man chosen to fill in this awkward position. Our heroine, Scarlett is the daughter of Death and without even knowing she is embarks on an epic quest to restore balance between the nether world and her own. Apparently a fragile young woman with no expertise in combat, Scarlett gradually grows into a fierce warrior capable of delivering indiscriminate justice to any foe, living or undead.
Adopted by a kind woman who is unwilling to reveal her sinister origins, the main character lives a peaceful life, until some assassins storm in the village and kill most of the inhabitants, including her lover. The death of Benedict is the catalyst for her evolution and the hope of reuniting with him drives her forward on this dark path. Initially we are trusted with some minor missions around the village premises, but these are just a prelude for the more exciting quests waiting to be completed in Venice.
More information.
 
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Clearly too low score, especially the author doesn't criticise much. The performance is indeed not great, but it's under control since the latest patch. The boss fights are well explained in the story and it's usually clear what you have to do. The one in Risen was more frustrating.
 
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I'm not clear what version this review is based on, being an English site and all. Still, Games32 has a review of Venetica with the reasonable score of 76% - although the only real criticism I see is the performance. Here's a snip:

More information.

It might be the "reloaded" version, if you know what i mean. ;):p
 
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Yeah, I always wonder who supplies the scene groups with the material before release. Venetica was out the 21st on p2p. How do they do it?
 
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The official Polish version is in English.
 
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There is also a program you can get on the DTP forums that increases performance further.
 
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Excuse the ignorance, but when is the scheduled to be released in the states? U.S. stores and press seem pretty silent on this one.
 
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It's the fault of the publishers. I must admit I installed this leaked version to my PC (out of curiosity :) ) I like the game (it's a decent Fable-like experience) and I'm definitely going to buy the legitimate version (if they will ever release it in the english speaking territories, shame to the publishers). But, most of the players who installed the illegal version won't buy it, I'm afraid, and as I said it is the fault of the publishers.
 
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Excuse the ignorance, but when is the scheduled to be released in the states? U.S. stores and press seem pretty silent on this one.

There is not a single word about when UK or US version will be released I'm afraid.
 
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Yes, but what is this "leak". Do they have people with connections who send them copies, or do they hack the companies and download a copy, or whatever?

Well, I don't know specifics - but what usually happens is that someone connected with the developers gets a copy, or some review-copy gets out due to lax security. I suppose that's a lot more common in certain eastern european countries, though.

Really, any number of ways.
 
Often the leak is in the replication facility. There are many opportunities to burn a copy of the master disk or grab one of the manufactured disks. The number of disks replicated is not 100% precise. The machines are working to fast that it's only possible to manufacture,say, 500k units + a couple of dozen.
The reason for sneaking out a copy is simple: money. These guys get paid.
 
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Even worse: There is kind of an industry around "selling" and distributing those "leaked copies". Especially within markets/countries where the law enforcerers don't go much after it.

The imho worst thing I ever read is from a real-life report (I write so to stress it was a *real* event !) of a meeting of European ISPs with Rusian ISPs.

The quote went like this :

European ISP: "And now let us talk about spam."
Russian ISP: "What's the problem with it ? It's our business !"

This report appeared in the German magazine called "c't".
 
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The reason for sneaking out a copy is simple: money. These guys get paid.
So you're saying warez groups are paying them? And do these warez groups make any profit themselves? It's not like they're selling games, they're just cracking 'em.
 
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Yes, I could very much imagine they are selling the cracked games - and the manual on how to crack them, too.

Remember, there are countries where cracked versions of games are sold large-scale. On small markets, on flea markets, for example.

Who gets the money of this - or, in other words: Where do these cracked versions come from ? The problem is not only to crack them, but also to burn the cracked versions on CDs/DVDs …
Okay, here's an example. Let's say a craced version of a game is being sold by 5 Dollars somewhere. You can let's say crack a game, and then mass copy the cracked version. The burnables still cost let's say 2 dollars. So, each one of them is a definitive 3 dollars profit. And then multiply this by … let's say 100 …


Shady crackers or their henchmen aka "warez groups" might even sell loads of these mass-copied cracked versions in boxes. A shady shopkeeper might get let's say a box full with 300 of them. No manuals, no goodies, of course.

The crackers or someone else might sell this box containing 300 copies for let's say 3 dollars per copy. 5 minus the burnables of let's say 1 Dollar per copy. Which is a profit of 2 Dollars for each copy. Now, 300 multiplied with 3, how much is this ? It's 900 Dollar.

Of course, the shady shopkeeper would sell them for let's say 5 dollars each. He would get a definitive profit of 2 Dollars for 300 copies.
Which would still be 600 Dollars.

I'm not sure whether my calculation is right, because I'm extremely weak in maths.

But anyway, this should give you a view on what's going on in … let's say Russia, for example.
 
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So you're saying warez groups are paying them? And do these warez groups make any profit themselves? It's not like they're selling games, they're just cracking 'em.
Of course the guy who brings the master disk usually gets money. If he gets caught he (a) will be prosecuted, (b) will probably have to pay for the damage, which means he will be ruined, (c) will lose his job effective immediately (if his job is related to games) and (d) is at risk to never find a job in the same industrie ever again. It would be stupid to take such a risk without significant compensation.
My guess is that a leaked Sims, 3 weeks before release, could be worth several 1000 bucks. Maybe even enough for a car.


A couple of years ago one of the German print mags had a series of articles on the background of piracy. I don't remember all the details.
It's big business with clearly organised structures. There are specialists for everything, who do their part of the job and nothing else. Somebody organises the master disk, somebody else forwards it to a cracker (group). Even the distribution channels are defined - they are trying to avoid uncontrolled spreading via torrent for as long as possible. Crackers are highly skilled. The author estimated that not more than a few dozen people worldwide are capable of doing it on a consistent professional level. When they're caught they often change sides and work as piracy specialists for publishers - a job they're obviously perfectly qualified for.
Everybody in the chain gets money or money equivalent, depending on his value for the project.

Money can be made for example through …
- premium customers who get everything earlier than others.
- flat rate customer who get everything for say 50$ per month.
- ads on torrent sites, etc.
- burned disks.
- mass replicated disks. We're talking up to several 100k disks here, to be sold for example in Eastern Europe, Turkey, Greece and countries without developed markets for full price games.
- nowadays: it seems the PS3 has been cracked. The majority of the users doesn't know how to make a copy work on a console - but they know how to insert a disk. ;) Expect console piracy to explode.



The point to remember is:
Piracy is a multi million $ business. The times of enthusiasts who do it "only for the credit" are long gone. People are in it to make money.
 
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So this guys release cracked versions for free in all ftp/p2p media but they also sell them , very interesting ; also they are very bad at controlling the spread via the internet because most games appear online on release date and many times their download speed (as reported to the sites) kicks gamersgate's sensitive rear.

So what happen to +orc , he retired or changed sides ?

Living in a country with undeveloped market i have to say that the "hood's pirate" that used to sell for 5€ games that otherwise costed 60€ is no more , why? because why paying for what is free?

My set on this : You not gonna make any money from people that will pirate the game anyway but they can spread the word to people that will.
Have you ever browse a pirate site ? they have the best lists of games , daily updated with links to reviews and everything ,i have buy several games unknown to the masses by just reading such portals ( mount & blade, the witcher , Anno series…even Derek Smart made games !!!!! ) ; it is just another way of doing business without paying for advertisement .
 
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So you're saying warez groups are paying them? And do these warez groups make any profit themselves? It's not like they're selling games, they're just cracking 'em.

So this guys release cracked versions for free in all ftp/p2p media but they also sell them , very interesting ; also they are very bad at controlling the spread via the internet because most games appear online on release date and many times their download speed (as reported to the sites) kicks gamersgate's sensitive rear.

So what happen to +orc , he retired or changed sides ?

Living in a country with undeveloped market i have to say that the "hood's pirate" that used to sell for 5€ games that otherwise costed 60€ is no more , why? because why paying for what is free?

My set on this : You not gonna make any money from people that will pirate the game anyway but they can spread the word to people that will.
Have you ever browse a pirate site ? they have the best lists of games , daily updated with links to reviews and everything ,i have buy several games unknown to the masses by just reading such portals ( mount & blade, the witcher , Anno series…even Derek Smart made games !!!!! ) ; it is just another way of doing business without paying for advertisement .

They earn money from advertisements on websites which distrubute the games too.

Besides in a country like china, it is much easier to buy the game for a few RMB's on the street instead of going through the trouble to download it on a slow and often blocked internet connection. The pirate market in china is enormous ( probably one of the biggest economies in the world ) that goes for everything not only games.

They even sell pirated windows CD's which most chinese people own, and even windows update etc works on them, since pirates have their own servers!
 
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I'd like to see this thread being pinned in this forum or so, because this is so far the best analysis of this stuff we have had here in this forum.
 
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