See title.
The general argument behind why piracy is a bad thing is that it hurts game developers and publishers. Somebody had to make that game, right? By pirating a game, you are cheating the developers and publishers out of money for their hard work. This can, in turn, potentially lead to studios going under, or less games being made in general. Not the good!
Well, buying or trading used games has the same effect. Picking up a game from the used section at your local Gamestop sees exactly $0 going back to the original developers/publishers.
It is also worth pointing out here that with most modern software, it is understood that when you buy something like a disk or a game cartridge, you are not necessarily buying the actual physical item. What you are buying is a license to use the software it contains. I haven't read up on the fine print, but I am skeptical as to whether or not your license to play a game is also transferred along with the disc if it is traded in or sold. If not, there could end up a situation where you still own the license to a game even though someone else is using the disc, making them a... pirate.
Beyond this, as a general case, with warez distribution, no one is directly profiting off of it. The IP is given away and shared around for free. With used game sales, large corporate entities are actually profiting off of the activity (millions or billions of dollars).
The general argument behind why piracy is a bad thing is that it hurts game developers and publishers. Somebody had to make that game, right? By pirating a game, you are cheating the developers and publishers out of money for their hard work. This can, in turn, potentially lead to studios going under, or less games being made in general. Not the good!
Well, buying or trading used games has the same effect. Picking up a game from the used section at your local Gamestop sees exactly $0 going back to the original developers/publishers.
It is also worth pointing out here that with most modern software, it is understood that when you buy something like a disk or a game cartridge, you are not necessarily buying the actual physical item. What you are buying is a license to use the software it contains. I haven't read up on the fine print, but I am skeptical as to whether or not your license to play a game is also transferred along with the disc if it is traded in or sold. If not, there could end up a situation where you still own the license to a game even though someone else is using the disc, making them a... pirate.
Beyond this, as a general case, with warez distribution, no one is directly profiting off of it. The IP is given away and shared around for free. With used game sales, large corporate entities are actually profiting off of the activity (millions or billions of dollars).
Last edited by PityOnU,