Interesting Statistic

[Pez D Spencer]

I hit up Torrent Freak and they had some BT stats published by a German company. The study revealed that only 3.68 percent of .torrent files are for games. This number is MUCH less than what I would have guessed. My guess would have been more in the area of 25 percent or more. The article didn't mention what type of games they were such as PC or console.

However, the article goes on to state that although these statistics show the amount of .torrent files for each type of file (game, movie, tv show, etc) are on the popular torrent sites, it doesn't show how many people are actually downloading or distributing those files. For example, games might only 3% of the total amount of .torrent files available but 50% of the people on BT could be distributing the 3% of files those .torrents represent.

Nonetheless I found it interesting anyway.

Maybe P2P won't be the downfall of PC gaming after all...

EDIT - Forgot the link:

http://torrentfreak.com/bittor...ular-than-ever-071009/

 

[Schadenfroh]

I wonder if it also includes freeware demos, mods for games, patches, etc? (aka free (legally) downloadable game content?)

Maybe P2P won't be the downfall of PC gaming after all...

Overzealous DRM (like StarForce and Sony's SecuROM) will be more of a downfall than piracy. But, dont expect those two to go away anytime soon, these numbers (when shown in a certain light) backup Sony's claim that SecuROM greatly reduces piracy.

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
I wonder if it also includes freeware demos, mods for games, patches, etc? (aka free (legally) downloadable game content?)

good point, that might be the 'other' and why it's so damn big

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i think tv shows and movies would be by far the largest majority.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i think tv shows and movies would be by far the largest majority.

The "big three" will probably always make up the vast majority of pirated content: Pornography, movies / TV, and music.

 

[ShawnD1]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i think tv shows and movies would be by far the largest majority.

Especially if you're talking about banwidth. I know quite a few people who download an entire TV series because they don't feel like paying $100 for a box set at Best Buy. For some simple numbers: Arrested Development is 10gb, Mythbusters is 30gb and growing, Family Guy and P&T Bullshit are at least 10gb each. This stuff adds up very quickly.

That "other" is mostly World of Warcraft, I assume. Blizzard's entire patching system relies on BT. 500mb patch * 10 million users = lots of bandwidth.

 

[Golgatha]

Final Fantasy Music should be part of the other category.

http://ff7.ocremix.org/downloads/

I like it!

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: ShawnD1
Especially if you're talking about banwidth. I know quite a few people who download an entire TV series because they don't feel like paying $100 for a box set at Best Buy. For some simple numbers: Arrested Development is 10gb, Mythbusters is 30gb and growing, Family Guy and P&T Bullshit are at least 10gb each. This stuff adds up very quickly.

That "other" is mostly World of Warcraft, I assume. Blizzard's entire patching system relies on BT. 500mb patch * 10 million users = lots of bandwidth.

Personally, I download a show so I can find out if I want to buy the first season or whatever, but I do buy plenty of box sets for series that I download. But what really grinds my gears is that even when I buy them, they're 100% worthless to me. Why would I watch a DVD when I can watch a 720p HDTV rip on my 720p HDTV? The only season that I've bought recently that was released in HD was Heroes. I buy shows like House (I own seasons 1 through 3), but I also have the HR HDTV rips (and this season I'm upgrading to 720p) which are arguably better quality.

I don't think it's necessarily WoW patches as they said they were checking torrent sites for .torrent files where the WoW patches have their own downloaders with the torrent files built in.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

yeah, i think they should release more shows in HD formats. in any case, they need to be cheaper. 40 bucks for a simpsons season makes me sad.

also, having a whole season on one disc would make it much more convenient. could a blu-ray disc hold a 20 ep season of a 1 hr show in 720 or 1080i?

 

[homercles337]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
But, dont expect those two to go away anytime soon, these numbers (when shown in a certain light) backup Sony's claim that SecuROM greatly reduces piracy.

Yea, i get what youre saying, and only have this to add

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
could a blu-ray disc hold a 20 ep season of a 1 hr show in 720 or 1080i?

Possibly. It'd still be far fewer disks than a regular DVD set. Probably carry a higher price tag too.

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
also, having a whole season on one disc would make it much more convenient. could a blu-ray disc hold a 20 ep season of a 1 hr show in 720 or 1080i?

I doubt it. These 720p HDTV rips aren't even the same quality and they're 1GB a piece. We're talking about 1080 here which are much larger (and rarely made available because of how big they are). I don't mind multiple discs, but why would I want to buy something that's broadcast for free in HDTV when the thing I buy is of a lower quality.

 

[biostud]

Online content is in most cases not possible with pirated games. Who would want to play QW only against bots?

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: biostud
Online content is in most cases not possible with pirated games. Who would want to play QW only against bots?

Seriously, even though the bots are a step in the right direction, they still seem to get nothing done other than piss me off with perfect aim.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
also, having a whole season on one disc would make it much more convenient. could a blu-ray disc hold a 20 ep season of a 1 hr show in 720 or 1080i?

I am not sure what's the optimal bit-rate for 720p/1080i content. I do remember some articles from when HD DVD/Blu-ray first came out and the gist of it was most 1080p Hollywood movies are encoded between 15-20Mbps.

Anyhow, here's a table I just made (hopefully I didn't mess it up): approximately...

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: biostud
Online content is in most cases not possible with pirated games. Who would want to play QW only against bots?

Seriously, even though the bots are a step in the right direction, they still seem to get nothing done other than piss me off with perfect aim.

I really do believe that bots could be better, but the folks don't make them that way or there would be more people who wouldn't pay for it.

 

[invidia]

At least 80% of the torrents out there are movies and anime shows.