Is piracy justifiable?

[SlyGuy]

Can piracy be justified? I got into the modding scene with the purchase of my DS last year and I have downloaded my fair share of games. The lack of renting options for the DS means it's pretty damn difficult to just 'try out' a game. That's reason one why I pirate games. Reason two is because it saves me money - of which I don't have a tonne! Does that justify unauthorized copying? No...but consider this. I never would have even purchased a DS if it weren't for the availability of flash carts. So without piracy my contribution to the DS project would have been $0. As it stands now, my contribution is the price of a DS lite. Not to mention I've convinced two of my friends to buy DS's so they could play with me.

I am going to mod my Wii this weekend, and I will be pirating games for it. Does this hurt the industry? In a way, yes. In a way, no. My previous console - a PS2 - encouraged me to buy a grand total of 6 games. I probably rented 4 dozen more. I bought zero peripherals. The Wii is a system that, by design, will likely have many peripherals. With less of my money being devoted to buying software (I'm sure I'll still rent from time to time), I will have more cash to buy peripherals. Sure, I may pirate Guitar Hero 3, but I will lay down the cash to buy two GuitarHero Guitars! I may pirate Mario party, but I'll buy 4 controllers with nunchucks from Nintendo. I'll have Dance Mats, WiiGuns, SteeringWheels and who knows what else coming out my YingYang simply because I have the disposable income saved from pirating games. Essentially, I am contributing to the industry... just in a different way.

Is that justification...or just a load of BS?

 

[VVoltz]

Interesting.
I'll edit this entry later on.

Edit: Can't, I have too many games to think about to give a straight answer.
Edit2: BTW, piracy doesn't make dumver.

 

[BoneMonkey]

i say yes

yay pirates !

 

[spokenrope]

Do what you want 'cuz a pirate is free. You are a pirate.

/500 posts

 

[lagman]

Load of BS.

Now read spokenrope's post again.

 

[Mangofett]

It's always justifiable by the fact that they are faceless corperations trying to make a profit off of you.

 

[[M]artin]

People always ask this question and I always respond with:

Are you insane?! THIS SHIT IS FREAKIN' FREE!!!

 

[Veho]

It's a load of BS. It's just the stuff you tell yourself to help you sleep better at night. Piracy isn't justified. Yes, I download games, but I don't say it's the "right" thing to do, or that I have a right to do it because of this and that. Yes, I'll buy three extra controllers, but how does that help Ubisoft, whose games I'll play? It doesn't. So it doesn't justify downloading games.

 

[leetdude_007]

Pirating is in the gray area due to the current order of how the world markets work... and these little things called LAWS (that need to get a bit of pruning for 2007+). Buy your games, you will be happy that you earned your material goods proper.

The answer in short is that, yes, it is wrong. Long answer, it's a complex situation if you just think about it (considering recent pushes for free trade, exchange rates, industry expectations for profit in video games, etc.)

 

[JPH]

Well...if you pirate Xbox 360 games you're actually hurting Microsoft. I read that ms loses money on making xbox 360 so they think that if you buy software for their console it can make it up. also other things like add-ons and live subscriptions can make up for it...but that's ms. i think blockbuster and hollywood should allow people to rent ds games, i remember renting gbc games...

 

[shaffaaf27]

ur trying to justify something that yiu now is wrong....but hey, if it werent around, i doubt gbatemp would be around.


as i have said a million times, downloading roms in the uk, w/o the intent to sell, is legal. the only time you here about pir8s being caught is when they are "sharing" (read uploading).....

justifies or not, in the uk, its allowed.

 

[lagman]

If you pirate your xbox 360 you're hurting developers.
Microsoft is losing money anyway

 

[shaffaaf27]

It's always justifiable by the fact that they are faceless corperations trying to make a profit off of you.

wouldnt you feel pissed off if you were makign a game, and instead of poeple buying it, they stole it?


of corse these corporations sell the games at profits, thats what happenes in the capitalistisc world today.

you would alos sell you games, in the hope that you would make a profit.

 

[Hitto]

As a pirated artist myself, I say it's nothing more than the circle of life. You pirate, someone pirates from you, or you work a shitty job and are paid maybe 10% of what your boss will make from your hard work and experience...

*Everybody* steals. People who have guilt pangs over this were born to be slaves.

 

[lagman]

It's always justifiable by the fact that they are faceless corperations trying to make a profit off of you.


wouldnt you feel pissed off if you were makign a game, and instead of poeple buying it, they stole it?


of corse these corporations sell the games at profits, thats what happenes in the capitalistisc world today.

you would alos sell you games, in the hope that you would make a profit.

He was being sarcastic

Right Linkiboy?

 

[sbassix]

Just by buying the consol itself is enough to contribute to the companies profit...

Im sure that the DS, Wii, and anyother game platforms are all priced at more then they cost to manufacture.

And besides there are plenty of people who buy the games instead of pirating them so im sure the companies are content with the income they get from there actual game sales.

 

[Darkforce]

Well one can justify anything if one want to, it doesn't make it right though.

Just remember that whilst you are "supporting Nintendo" through their hardware as you say, third parties developers/publishers don't benefit.

Also the price of downloading a game hurts the industry more so than the few bucks of profit the publisher, developer and Nintendo lose out on. Games cost millions of dollars to develop and most of the money made through a sale of a game cover these development costs.


At the end of the day though even with piracy and personal downloading the industry still makes money - companies wouldn't be in business otherwise. They just learn to adapt: in game ads, micro transactions, subscription fees, movie/tv/product licensing, steam, deluxe edition boxsets, licensing of game engines/tecnhologies etc...

 

[mcp2]

Some people pirate because they can't afford the games, some people pirate because they're cheap. Whichever way due to the current laws in this world it's illegal.

Pirating has its benefits and its downsides. It's down to YOU and YOU only to pirate a game or not.

I say pirating RULES!!!


Think about it, if a copy of a game is downloaded, was that game ever going to be bought in the first place? So are the companies actually losing money?

 

[ceraphis]

I think I would try and put a little of myself into every game I made and would be happy that even more people than usual got to see what I did with myself. Sure, it would also be nice to make money off of people playing my creation and of course I could see it differently if/when I am a game developer, but my dream has always been to make a lasting impact and affect people's lives and be known for that, obvious e.g: miyamoto or kojima...if I could do that through creating compelling video games instead of any other medium, that'd quite simply be awesome.

 

[Hadrian]

Now before all this baby stuff came along and I didn't have to save my cash I brought what I liked, reviews are usually bullshit in the world of gaming so the only way I can tell whether I'd like a game is by actually trying it. A lot of people do this, a lot don't.

Now I don't always buy what I like, in fact last game I bought was Puzzle Quest a few months ago, maybe I'll buy Brothers In Arms if its any good though most likely wait for it to come down in price but for a game to be worthy of my hard earned money it must rate about 8/10 in my mind. For me its about supporting the developers and letting the publishers know that I want more games like the ones I buy.

Music is a different matter I do buy a lot but then on online stores its about £6 for a CD so its not a massive dent but I still download them first as well I'm impatient and rather listen to a record now than wait for it to be released. Why should I wait when reviewer and record industry insiders don't?, DVD's I'll pirate and maybe later in the year I'll by it for under £5, or even just get a pre-owned copy for less.

Piracy to me means selling downloaded/copied CDs, Games, DVD's and thats wrong. Now if it was me who made these games then I might be a little miffed if people downloaded and love my games but wouldn't pay for it as it might mean that I might get dropped by my publisher or I will have to make crappily made movie tie ins with a development time of 2 months.