[Review] Gamers of the 3rd World

[jGLZa]

An article from the latest issue of my favorite online gaming magazine - The Escapist #253.

Title: Gamers of the Third World
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Michael Thomsen

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The Escapist Magazine

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Gamers of the Third World

Once again my attention was caught by the title of this article as I skimmed through my escapist newsletter, being from a third world country I was interested to read about the opinions of a 1st worlder on the subject.

It turns out that the author has actually spent a large portion of his life living in 3rd world countries and thus was writing about his experiences. He begins his story in asia where piracy is apparently rife, far more than I have ever experienced here in SA.

He points out in the article that the majority of game developers make and sell games predominantly for the western (US) and eastern (Japan) markets and that everybody in between are pretty much ignored. Something I completely agree with.
He retells of his first encounter with pirated games when he was teaching in Korea and stumbled upon a man selling copied discs of pirated software out of a bin in a back alley and how given the salary of a teacher, he would never have been able to afford it from the shop around corner.

I particularly enjoyed the article as it gave me a feeling of nostalgia as he recounted how he went about getting and playing games in different countries, from downloading ROMS to playing PS1 off a car battery. At times it made me smile as I recalled that that was exactly what I did (or still do). He doesnt out-right endorse game piracy but does justify that in circumstances it is a necessary evil.
The entire article isnt only about him retelling his life story though, on the last page he speaks of how in recent years that some gaming companies have tried to produce cheaper gaming means and what possibilities lie ahead in terms of gaming companies embracing Facebook and the internet.

I enjoyed this article, although it was a tad on the long side but enjoyable nontheless. It just makes you realise that we have progressed a great deal from whence we came.

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Gamers of the Third World

[NeoN]

Interesting read (referring to the above post, not the 3 pages on the other site). lol