Offers a solution to criticisms of 4-5 month delays of PAL region games arriving in far off "down under" locales like New Zealand and Australia, even going so far as to suggest users "download PSP games, it’s up to you."
Apparently Sony gamers "down under" in New Zealand and Australia are so far removed from their European cousins that they regularly experience 4-5 month delays in getting shipments of new PAL region game release titles.
The experience has been frustrating for gamers trying to legally purchase copies of the latest and greatest games that are released each month and the issue was raised recently with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO David Reeves at E3, the annual trade show for the computer and video games industry.
In an interview with Buttonmasher he offers some solutions to this distribution lag that are so shockingly honest and realistic that it makes you wonder if there’s an ulterior motive at work here.
He starts off by saying that there will continue to be a 4-5 month delay for Sony gamers in New Zealand and Australia.
"I think honestly you will continue to do that because I don’t think that the localization is controlled enough in the USA to be able to put it into New Zealand," Reeves comments.
So what’s his advice? Download the games from BitTorrent.
"We are a PAL market and we are going to do it in PAL and we are going to do it properly, you can wait for it and you can have it in good quality, you know you can get the stuff from Bittorrent if you want to and download PSP games, it’s up to you," he continues.
Shocking right? He even promotes the downloading of PSP games from BitTorrent which makes it all the more curious. I’m not sure that he’s promoting piracy per se, but I do think he’s one of those rare types of people who acknowledge the reality of content distribution and is merely suggesting what many in both New Zealand and Australia already do.
He understands that people don’t want to wait 5 months to get their hands on new game releases when they could just as easily get it for free and at the same time as everybody else. It already happens in Australia when it comes to TV shows and movies.
I just can’t figure out why Reeves didn’t give a standard "we’re looking into it" answer. It really does make you wonder if there’s a catch, or maybe years of being an active file-sharer has just made me a tad paranoid.
Either way, "Cheers" to David Reeves for being an honest man.
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ah…a rare diamond 7up for Sony Europe then…I like people with intellect
I would download the game off bittorrent if it wasn’t sold legally for 5 months after release! crazy
Sounds like a possible trap. First they would probably sue anybody who distributes their games without permission. Second Australia has some strict (oppressive) censorship laws which can make the mere posession of content not authorized by the government a crime.
New Zealand gets screwed the worst when it comes to games. They have to wait for Australia to get it then maybe they’ll be lucky enough to get the game some time later.
As for censorship in Australia is it not odd they let Underbelly be broadcast as well as that show about hookers called Satisfaction on the air?