Wrote another diatribe about piracy and its role in the industy. As the initial thread is now closed, I'll post it here:
I'm a Chinese gamer. I didn't notice what happened until someone told me “Switch was hacked”.
Before last year, I always played piracy games on my 3DS. Indeed, hacking brought me a lot of translated games. I can enjoy them while pay nothing. A large reason is that Nintendo didn't come to China. Still, I bought my Nintendo Switch from Japan. I thought that I could use my poor English and poorer Japanese to play games but Nintendo released a lot of Chinese games unexpectedly last year.
From then I started to buy authorized games and software. "Maybe it's a good chance to enjoy a ' real console'" . I think.
However, I received the new of " Nintendo Switch has been hacked" a month ago. It's a good news? Surely, I could get those free games again. But should I do that? I have stole so much games on 3DS. I am not willing to be a thief again. Homebrew is a good thing, but piracy games not! Piracy could destroy a good platform and a company.
Please let off a growing platform.
I understand the guy. Nintendo just started to get into the Chinese market, and he's worry about how it will affect Nintendo presence in the long run now that the Switch is hacked and people start pirating games eventually.
It's a similar situation as here in Argentina (but nowhere near close), Nintendo never had a strong precense in our country, but now they're slowly starting to pay some attention to the Argentinian market due to the success of the Switch.
If being able to understand the games is your main concern, if you keep practicing your English, I think you will do just fine playing games in English.
That's what happened to me, I may suck at writing/speaking, but my English is serviceable enough to allow me to understand almost everything.
Maybe you can use the money for the games and pay some English lessons instead.
What the thread creator in here is describing is "market making" in different regions of the world via piracy. Nintendo did decide to not publish in a certain region of the world, because they saw no market there - then vendors started grey importing devices at high cost, while software was distributed "for free" amongst buyers - and suddenly the companies position changes, and it begins to localize software, because it sees, that their products are well received.
Piracy never was "stealing" to begin with, because copying isnt stealing - and never was or will be in the history of humankind. Regardless of what the TV spots, or cinema ads will tell you. If it turns out that you can double "property" by clapping your hands, why would anyone "steal" it?
That sad, a heavy onset of piracy, that is not accounted for in business models, can impact a companies expansion to new regions, or business plans in a major way. So its not all roses.
But - nowadays all gaming console companies have a healthy margin embedded in their hardware prices as well - and piracy always has a "free pr" angle to it as well.
This is mostly how it goes. The people who really "need" or "want to" get stuff for free - do it. The rest of the population cant be bothered to look into it. If there is an easier way ("enter credit card number here"), they will do it. If the thing got mass market appeal. With small scenes (different support structures) its different.
But heres the good news, companies like Nintendo dont go into markets, if interests are limited to smaller "scenes". They are looking for mass appeal.
That said - in the european union two recent studies surfaced that showed no negative effects of movie piracy on the bottom line of studios whatsoever - despite on big blockbuster titles. Engagement in the brand, or a product in the case of "pirates" was way higher than with normal users, as was the overlap of piracy users and "whales" (people who choose to spend large junks of their desposable incomes in that sector).
Also - at some point in their lives, people reach a point where "getting to know how stuff works" sounds more complicated to them, than simply "buying that thing and pressing three buttons", so the most significant throughline of what drives their behavior you can draw - is ease of use.
As long as piracy doesnt become as easy as "buying that thing" - or "installing that thing your friends are talking about", impact isnt very high in general. Under mass market audiences. And the niche markets usually benefit more from free distribution, and people talking about their stuff to expand their audiences, than they would from their innitial limited sales potential (turns out "free" is a great attractor, so is "forbidden").
That said, if piracy happens too early - in regard to what a company has planned, it can wreck their business models. But with Nintendo now selling you cardboard cutouts, I dont see this happening anytime soon. Piracy is just part of the "new reality" software companies have to deal with. And usually they do.
They dont clap their hands together over their heads and proclaim "everything is lost". They work with and at the same time against it.
That said - the negative image, and tangent "fear" is essential for mitigation. So its necessary to keep up, if you dont want widespread use.
The first time, people realize that they cant play the new Pokemon MMORPG online with their friends, is when 80% of the mass market audience decides "its not worth it".
Also - Nintendo now makes money by getting most of the revenue on Youtube videos of their product, selling cardboard, building a social media following, and engaging an audience that is very brand loyal - and young. To them you start while you are five years old, and dont leave the brand until your in your fourties. Chances are, that in this time you will spend money on it, if its that important to you. Like in your case - where you pirated, and also bought some products, as one of the earliest adopters in the chinese market.
You are not the exception. You are the rule.
That said. Piracy is still bad - mkay?
(Even if it pries software out of todays walled gardens manufacturers created.)
It has to be. At least ambivalent.
Also, in most regions in the world its not so much considered "a crime" than "an actionable offense" - not so much in written law, but in how the law is actioned. if you dont make money with it. If you choose to do the entire force of the entertainment industry and the legal system will be upon you - because you are meddling with industries, not respecting a concept called "intellectual property" (that never existed before the onsets of the 19 hundereds and never was enforced on a state level until much later -), or because you are removing software protections you are not allowed to remove, a concept that didn't exist before the 1990's if I am not mistaken. But its there to allow those industries to prosper. Mostly so no one can just "rip them off". If the "ripping off part" is done by their own consumers, it becomes a little murkier, as far as executing their legal rights goes. F.e. it might not always be in the companies best interest to do so...