u/NYstate

First of all, let’s get this out of the way: I’m not condoning or endorsing piracy at all.

But I was thinking about Night School Studio, the indie studio that made Oxenfree, Oxenfree II, and Afterparty. Recently, Netflix shut them down. The studio is done, it’s no more. In my opinion, it’s okay to pirate their games. The studio won’t be hurt by it, and Netflix would likely not make much, if any, money from future sales.

I’m not saying that piracy is hurting Netflix. They obviously didn’t need the studio, which is why it was shut down in the first place. But before Night School Studio was shut down, sales would have definitely helped the developers. The better the sales, the more valuable the company would be and the less likely it would be to close.

The famous quote by Gabe Newell is, “Piracy is not a pricing issue. It’s a service issue.” That’s something I inherently agree with. The Steam Deck has been a godsend to me. I have been playing games that I wouldn’t have had the ability to play before, namely Eternal Darkness, a game that sells for the kingly sum of $100. That’s a lot of money for a 24 year old GameCube game.

By emulating the game, who am I really hurting? The studio, Silicon Knights, went bankrupt, so they’re not getting a cut of the sale. Is Nintendo missing out on sales? I say no. If I buy a used copy off eBay, what portion of that sale does Nintendo get? If I buy a used GameCube, what is Nintendo’s cut?

The game is not easily accessible unless I sail the high seas, so that is the very definition of a service issue. If it were on Switch or Switch 2, it would be easily obtainable, but sadly, it isn’t.

Lastly, the Corpse Party Tetralogy Pack comes to mind. Basically, it’s a collection of the four Corpse Party games. The collection was released in Japan; however, the North American release was basically cockblocked by Nintendo, with the devs, XSEED, stating that the game didn’t “comply with (Nintendo’s) current platform guidelines.” Which is bullshit because it’s available in Japan on Switch/Switch 2.

Certainly, Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Japan can, and most certainly do, have different guidelines, but how different can those guidelines be? Now, if I want to play it, I have to import it from 3rd party sites like Play Asia or buy it on eBay with a markup. Service issue.

Emulation would send a message to Nintendo, and the devs wouldn’t be hurt because the game is only available through third-party means, meaning they wouldn’t get a direct cut. Ultimately, I decided to just buy the games on Steam. It's still sending the same message while helping the studio at the same time.

From Steam:

Welcome back to Thimbleweed Park.

Thimbleweed Park 2 is coming in 2028, and it’s more Thimbleweed Park than ever.

This time the dead body is at the Edmund Mansion, and Agents Ray and Reyes are back to investigate… or are they?

In a point-and-click spoof of a classic whodunit, everyone in the Mansion is a suspect and the murderer will be confronted by our detectives. If you can find them. Spoiler: It’s not the butler.

By the end of another long, strange night in Thimbleweed Park, you’ll have more questions than answers.

Not really a sequel. Not really a prequel. It’s more Thimbleweed Park and just as weird.

And just like last time, in a town like Thimbleweed Park, a dead body is the least of your problems.

Wishlist today, and follow along with behind-the-scenes dev blogs at the Thimbleweed Park 2 website!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4932120/Thimbleweed_Park_2/

How is it? I haven't played either it or the original Corpse Party but it makes me wonder how the format would translate into a visual novel

The visual novel is here:

https://madnessway.itch.io/corpse-party-bloodcovered-visual-novel