I really haven't been that much of a fan of the new free-to-air sports channel, One, until these past few weeks. I wasn't really interested in anything other than the poker shows before then.

However recently they've started showing live baseball from the States and I'm loving it. I have no idea why I like watching professional baseball so much, some might say it is the American equivalent of Cricket (which I generally despise watching). I guess I like the plays, the banter, the way a single inning can turn a game, and generally the length isn't anywhere near as bad as your average cricket game.

I don't really follow particular any team per-se, I just like watching any game that is on at the time.

Moving on to a totally different topic, i've been meaning to post a link to this article for a while: 10 Ways to Fight [Video Game] Piracy posted at The Escapist Magazine.

It's an extremely good write-up with some very practical ways for video game publishers to fight piracy.

The first big thing is to drop DRM. If the music industry can do it with stores like iTunes etc, then so can the video game industry. I know that I'm buying a lot more music legally online now because it is so much easier to end up with a format that I can use wherever and however I want without onerous and pointless DRM getting in the way.

Another big point is to drop the prices, something which is especially relevant in Australia where we pay in the tens of percent more than the US does for games. There's no excuse for this; even when the dollar was at close to US$0.50 games were generally still more expensive here, let alone to what the Aussie dollar buys now. Someone is pocketing that difference, and it sure as heck isn't me!

The final point that is also extremely relevant to not only video game publishers but all other piracy-affected industries, is to be open and honest about piracy.

To quote the article:
Piracy is hard to track, and most of your [the publishers] numbers are guesswork. More importantly, not all [illegal] downloads are lost sales. If a million people downloaded your $60 game, you did not lose 60 million dollars. When you say things like this gamers conclude that you're either a bunch of idiots, or that you think they are a bunch of idiots. Either way, they will tune you out instead of joining you in your lamentations.