Does it suck to be an Indian gamer?

[NoasArcAngel]

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
(C) Copyright 1985-2001 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\SAMSUNG>tracert 59.178.178.178

Tracing route to triband-del-59.178.178.178.bol.net.in [59.178.178.178]
over a maximum of 30 hops:

1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms 192.168.1.1
2 20 ms 12 ms 23 ms triband-del-59.178.191.254.bol.net.in [59.178.19
1.254]
3 23 ms 21 ms 21 ms triband-del-59.178.178.178.bol.net.in [59.178.17
8.178]

Trace complete.

C:\Documents and Settings\SAMSUNG>

No it doesnt suck to be an indian gamer. Even with moderately high pings if one has skill he can pwn . although i agree that a lot of improvement is required in the broadband sector specially low pings, and low downtime and less chokes and losses. Then there is the issue of hosting gaming servers, if the hardware is not proper there is no use of playing.

Yes as one of the above pointed out the only way to reduce the cost of games further is not in your hands, because of the high duty and taxes on the media which is imported games are much more expensive in India. But pc games have become cheap because the licences for manufacturing have been given in india and that way we can produce the cds in india which leads to a very cheap game production cost. compared to original games for the ps3 and the xbox 360. The ps3 games are made in austria, there were some reports that sony might start making games in india that way they would become dirt cheap here.

as the cost of labour is high in austria and the number of games produced is also limited it pushes the prices higher

then there is the low availability of high end hardware, to be truthful it has improved a million times. I remember 4 years ago when the 8xxx nvidia series of gfx card was launched they were available in chennai / mumbai . in delhi very few people had them. I had to pay a 5k premium on a 8800gts fatal1ty edition to buy it in delhi and only smc international in nehru place stocked that card. Nowadays many vendors in delhi stock such stuff because there is an increase in demand and the concept is rising. In my times it was difficult to get performance parts because no one knew about them, others imported them from abroad.

Lets face the hard facts , most of us here are from middle segment or the richer middle segment families. And video gaming is addictive. Our parents want nothing but the best for our future. it is hard for most of us to understand this fact. but when you pass from school and you have no degree in hand and nowhere to go then you will wish you had studied. IT IS the hard fact that you have to study and to succeed in the competition you have to work. So i guess parents are not wrong in telling their children to study it is very important. You dont want to be working as a waiter in some cafe shop to earn a living and still play games...? playing games becomes secondary, once you start the real life, once you start living on your own you earn money.

Gaming is just a phase in life, like when you become a teenager the attraction / shyness in front of girls. if you are sensible after some years you will not be addicted to gaming. The sad problem in India is that there are not many career oppurtunities if you are a gamer. You have to work real hard and even then you will have a very low income, because of the less number of tournaments.

So gaming now and no job later, it is up to you to decide and act. I do not condone gaming , Hell what would i not give up for playing 16 hours a day . But i cant and i understand that so i manage as they say there is a time and place for everything.

[Psychosocial]

To begin with, yes being an Indian gamer sucks. Now this is my opinion. I think its bad because most of the gamers here are teens or young adults. The money they are spending is not their but their parents's. Parents dont allow their children to spends 1-2k on single games. Hence piracy rules here. Piracy = less mp (on consoles atleast). Even if everyone was buying og games, the internet plans are simply pathetic. Only i know how many times inwas kicked out of a CoD4 game because my ping was too high.

Secondly hadware is a pain in the ass to find in this country. The situation is not so bad for people living in cities but for people like me who live in small cities/towns, its just pathetic. Shop keepers have no idea of what they're selling. When you ask them about the products they dont have, they'll just try to market the crap they have in store. Also worth pointing out is how expensive hardware is.

Another thing is that gaming is frowned upon by most people. Especially elders. I am thankful that i have a dad who is a gamer too. But i have seen my friends' situations. They are not allowed to upgrade their PCs, they are not allowed to buy consoles and some lost their internet connection because their parents found that they use it to play online games.

[Krishna]

it sucks a lot as everyone told here..!!
first is that poor internet connectivity and we have no other options left and are bound to use costly broadband plans and 3g data packs...!! and unlike other countries we are given a limited usage and that too of very less bandwith...
Secondly there are no any game shops in smaller cities like varanasi(up) and other cities.. we are bound to make our way for online shops..
Thirdly power failure prob's sucks us and surges our components..!!!
So conclusion is:-there is no doubt that it sucks to be an gamer specially in developing countries..!!!

[thejunglegod]

I don't think it sucks to be a gamer here in Idnia. The scene here is pretty much the same the entire world over. People in the US have to deal with high ISP rates as well.
The only major gripe I have is the availability of certain games. For ex. I wanted to get myself a copy of Anno 2070. However, every game shop I visited did not even know such a game existed. I tried around 4 stores then switched to Flipkart only to find it out of stock. I guess it still is out of stock. Also, Blizzard. It pisses me off to no extent that Blizzard never "officially" releases games here in India. Had to get my copies of WOW,SC2 & D3 from Playasia. Other than that, I guess our country is definitely stepping up as far as the games realm is concerned.