Pirating vs. Purchasing

[1NOOB]

no free game , i woudnt buy the console...

 

[War]

My reason for pirating is simple; I just can't afford to buy the games.

I don't get an allowance, I can't find a job, and my mom is unemployed. I still want to be able to enjoy games, even if I can't afford to buy them. That's why I just download them. But if I DID have a job, and if I wasn't in such a crappy economical situation, I would definitely buy games. In fact, about 2 years ago, I had about 15 or so DS games. Things just haven't gone too good for my mom and I, so I've resorted to pirating.

 

[wchill]

My reason for pirating is simple; I just can't afford to buy the games.

I don't get an allowance, I can't find a job, and my mom is unemployed. I still want to be able to enjoy games, even if I can't afford to buy them. That's why I just download them. But if I DID have a job, and if I wasn't in such a crappy economical situation, I would definitely buy games. In fact, about 2 years ago, I had about 15 or so DS games. Things just haven't gone too good for my mom and I, so I've resorted to pirating.

Stole the words out of my mouth. Except my mom is employed. But she's stuck in a $550k debt hole. Not good.
Plus using a flashcard is more convenient as I don't have to have all my games at once.
Plus there are thieves all over the place, so I have to make things as inconspicuous as possible (i.e. not having 500 DS games jiggling around in my pack)

 

[Heran Bago]

Maybe we should have a serious legal discussion thread for people who have studied law?

 

[juggernaut911]

Maybe we should have a serious legal discussion thread for people who have studied law?

But who studies law better than pirates?!?!

 

[aragon]

Interesting thoughts being shared here. Here are my two cents.

One reason for using a flashcard is being able to play hacked or translated roms. Starmen's translation of Mother 3 is a shining example for a fan powered release of a brilliant game. I think the big companies should pay more attention to their audience, not only looking for sales numbers, but for what the gamers would like to play.

I really despised SE for taking down the Crimson Echoes project. If you take a close look at the games released, there are lots of shamelessly recycled titles (like, how many releases of FF or Ys?). OTOH, games which have not been released outside of Japan for decades find their way mostly by fan translations.

Innovative titles like "Big Bang Mini" or "Soul Bubbles" get lost in a sh*tload of carelessly ported games and movie licences or Im*gine crap. If I go to my store, there are lots of titles missing that I would prefer to buy.

Release strategies will always be a complete mystery to me. Why can't I buy "Dark Spire" in Europe now? Why would I have to wait?

All this adds up to why I see people using flashcards.

 

[BlackNeedle]

One reason for using a flashcard is being able to play hacked or translated roms. Starmen's translation of Mother 3 is a shining example for a fan powered release of a brilliant game.

I'd also like to say that despite there already were some "uhh rep3torz alr34dy g0t tha 100 timez" I found it quite nice to hear other peoples' opinion on the topic.
And to continue riding the homebrew-wave, you also wouldn't be able to use emulators without flashcards. By the way, emulating the GBC for example is also piracy. If we were to follow Ninty, none of us would be able to play Dragon Quest Monsters nowadays!
~BlackNeedle

 

[quepaso]

The truth is, the games being released are not worth their asking price, not by a long shot. Also, hardware is overpriced. Its really the only reason to own a Xbox 360, since the hardware is made out of straw, the software is buggy and overpriced, and their customer support is a joke. No one should support such douchery, but burning the games is a good way to tell microsoft how you feel.

 

[Islay]

Who says it pirates doing all the damage, to be honest pirates are just a focus point as there easy to blame.


heres an example:
A store buys new game/DVD, from there owners, Say MGS12 or something *we all know it will get to 12 or something lame like that*
Any bunch rich people walk in buy load of copys for friend and what not, then then trade them in for cash *which a lot of place do*

Do u buy the second hand copy for 40e(A) or a new one at 70e(B).

I think we all know that were going to pick (A) right, lowering the number of new games that are need to keep up with sales.

this is just my 2 cents.

 

[IzzehO]

I have never been fully convinced that piracy leads to a lost sale. I can honestly say that of the few hundred odd games I've booted up on my DS - I would not have bought ANY of them. I would simply borrow from a friend or well.. sell my DS.

The example fits on any platform, be it PC games, which has always been a more clear example of this as there are many free alternatives to playing games on a PC. Movies (Seriously how many out there would have just waited for it to air on TV?), TV shows (the same) and so on.

I just can't justify piracy stealing any where near as many sales as Nintendo would have you believe.

 

[DSGamer64]

I buy games worth paying the money for, and my issue is that especially with a new game that potentially could be a series and in the case of the DS, a lot of games seem iffy to me at first until I play them, I mean I played GTA Chinatown Wars before my cart bricked on me and while I was waiting for a new one I bought it and have purchased other games in the past after trying them out on my flash card as well. Really though, these days I am disgruntled as a gamer because while there are good games for any console, major developers still constantly put out tripe games. Nintendo continues to put out crap that a real gamer like me doesn't give two shits about like Wii Fit, honestly their idiotic mentality has also ruined their big name franchises or they just turn around and milk them. Ubisoft, Nintendo, EA and a number of other developers are guilty of just ripping off consumers with sequals or "new" games, I laughed at anyone who thought Assassin's Creed was a new idea cause it's just Prince of Persia with some stealth fighting involved and a different character. Seriously, give me something new to play that is challenging to the point where it's almost impossible, I mean like Super Mario Bros 2 difficult, not half assed rehashes with slightly better graphics. I was expecting more out of games like Super Mario Galaxy and LoZ:TP but instead they disappointed me because they were easy, simple and lacked the challenge and depth that their predecessors had. I remember when Ocarina of Time and SM64 actually challenged me, maybe because I was younger but they were still hard regardless, I pretty much threw a fit trying to clear the Spirit Temple back then.

I don't feel developers deserve to get supported with the constant flow of garbage games being released like movie and TV show tie-in's or rehashes of the same old game *coughGuitarHerocough*, the idiots will actually buy them, the smart people won't until developers lose sales and get it through their skulls that people don't want crap. Sadly as long as people are gullible enough to buy the garbage games (especially parents), they will continue to exist and publishers are too dumb to not publish them even if they suck cause it's all about making a buck.

 

[silent sniper]

maybe paying $50 for a game is just a douchebag price

 

[crookedmouth]

I know this is about piracy but I think we should remember that just using a flashcard on the DS is illegal according to Nintendo so, where should our "morals" direct us? To stop using homebrew altogether? I think not, I don't play commercial games really, I own three commercial games for the DS, Space Invaders Extreme, New Super Mario Brothers and Jam Sessions.

 

[Rayder]

You know, I could make up a bunch of excuses as to why I pirate instead of purchase. The fact that you can't take a game back if it sucks, the fact that a game not working in your PC isn't a good enough reason for a return. The fact that some programs (particularly PC apps) are priced far beyond insane. I could come up with a million excuses as to why I pirate that, from a certain perspective, might even sound valid.

But I'd be lying. I pirate simply because I can. Free better than pay. I don't care about the companies producing the software or their profit margins, nor do I care what anyone thinks about me. I'm just an immoral rat-bastard who finds it more ridiculous to pay for something you can get for free so easily. God knows no one gives a rat's-ass about my wants or needs.

 

[Pizzaroo]

I buy games if I want to play the multiplayer. Literally no games today let you play multiplayer if you pirate it. So I'm planning on buying Damnation and Bionic Commando when it comes out

 

[Lazycus]

Bah, this is the same troll post that shows up every other week. This entire site is based on piracy. If the OP really wanted to read discussion of Pirating Vs. Purchasing he could go back and read the numerous threads already posted here and across the internet. Nothing has been added that hasn't been posted before.

@ OP - You are a pirate. There is no grey area. If you have one mp3 you are as guilty as a pirate who has every rom/iso for every system out there. Using backups of games you already own on a flashcart is the same as a game you don't own. You may 'feel better' about it but it's all the same. I pirate DS/Wii games because I can't afford to buy them. Piracy makes games available to me that I would never have the opportunity to play. Same with MAME and other emulators - games I could never play again or never had the chance to play in arcades are all available to me. At the very least I'm honest with myself. Look down on me and continue with your smug replies, but at the end of the day I know you're as dirty as me.

 

[leiger]

Bah, this is the same troll post that shows up every other week. This entire site is based on piracy. If the OP really wanted to read discussion of Pirating Vs. Purchasing he could go back and read the numerous threads already posted here and across the internet. Nothing has been added that hasn't been posted before.

@ OP - You are a pirate. There is no grey area. If you have one mp3 you are as guilty as a pirate who has every rom/iso for every system out there. Using backups of games you already own on a flashcart is the same as a game you don't own. You may 'feel better' about it but it's all the same. I pirate DS/Wii games because I can't afford to buy them. Piracy makes games available to me that I would never have the opportunity to play. Same with MAME and other emulators - games I could never play again or never had the chance to play in arcades are all available to me. At the very least I'm honest with myself. Look down on me and continue with your smug replies, but at the end of the day I know you're as dirty as me.

I'm not attempting to be "smug" with my replies.

As far as whether I am a pirate, in Nintendo's eyes, of course I am. Simply owning a CycloDS puts me in that position, even if I didn't use it. I'm lucky enough to live in a country that isn't so tough on 'piracy' for game consoles. Americans can be arrested for making copies/dumps of their own games, whilst Australians cannot under current law. That doesn't make it wrong or right, it's just fact.

Obviously, piracy is a huge topic, and almost anything discussed on this website could be considered to be piracy-related as it covers so many different aspects of gaming, movies, etc. For this particular topic I'm assuming that making personal copies of your own games is perfectly legal, and owning a flash cart or other device that cracks the DS security is also perfectly legal. I'm assuming that downloading and playing games that you did not pay for is illegal and morally wrong (except those, I guess, that download them just to test the games then buy or delete them).

All of that is actually against the law in 99% of the countries represented by GBAtemp members, but for the purposes of this topic I'm making a few exceptions. Otherwise this topic would turn into exactly what others have said it would, a flame war.

I purchase a CycloDS, and recently bought an Acekard 2i as well. I dump my own games, and play those. I download homebrew games, and play those. The only homebrew app I use is Moonshell, apart from a few dedicated to backing up games and game saves. The reason? a To keep all of my games in one, easy to access place b To keep my games in perfect condition, stored away in a cupboard c To have some fun with cheat codes whenever I want to try something different for a while. d To play my game dumps that haven't been translated to English I consider that, for the purposes of this thread, to be legal. Of course, it's actually something that I could be arrested for in a country like the US.

 

[blueskies]

I pirate simply because I can. Free better than pay. I don't care about the companies producing the software or their profit margins, nor do I care what anyone thinks about me. I'm just an immoral rat-bastard who finds it more ridiculous to pay for something you can get for free so easily. God knows no one gives a rat's-ass about my wants or needs.

This. I've read through this thread, thinking about why I pirate. Rayder sumed it up nicely, I pirate because I can. It's easy, convenient, and free. My only justification is that I rarely finish games I download because of the 'pirate syndrome'. I have too many games to play, and don't care much about the ones I download. If I spent the money on the game, I'll make an effort to finish it.

On a side note, I recently got rid of my XBOX360, Wii, and PSP, all hacked, because I just didn't have time/energy to play the multitude of games I had for them. I've been buying PS3 games recently, and I notice that I dedicate more time to them, and actually want to play them. I still have DS and GBA flashcards though.

 

[DSGamer64]

maybe paying $50 for a game is just a douchebag price

Prices for video games have been drastically inflated over last gen. GC/PS2 and Xbox games were like 40-50 dollars, now next gen games sell for 59.99 and up, I am glad I don't own a PS3 or 360 because the prices are retardedly expensive. I don't care if the cost of development has gone up, the price of a game shouldn't be inflated by 30 dollars. PC games are still pretty cheap by comparison to console games, at most you wind up paying 40 dollars for most games, however there are some games like Elder Scrolls IV was like 80 dollars here when it originally came out.

 

[FAST6191]

Who says it pirates doing all the damage, to be honest pirates are just a focus point as there easy to blame.


heres an example:
A store buys new game/DVD, from there owners, Say MGS12 or something *we all know it will get to 12 or something lame like that*
Any bunch rich people walk in buy load of copys for friend and what not, then then trade them in for cash *which a lot of place do*

Do u buy the second hand copy for 40e(A) or a new one at 70e(B).

I think we all know that were going to pick (A) right, lowering the number of new games that are need to keep up with sales.

this is just my 2 cents.

Wait is this an argument against second hand games? No second hand games: everything is then a rental and if you feel like paying what amounts to a good percentage of a months wages for most on a rental then more fool you. Also can you name me any other industry (including other "intellectual property" type industries) where the same thing happens.
I will say on this I first saw this argument a couple of years ago and dismissed it completely, I am rather alarmed that it has gained somewhat of a foothold. To my mind it is but half a step away from "open source/freeware is making it hard for us to sell our software".

QUOTE(Pizzaroo @ May 30 2009, 01:42 AM) I buy games if I want to play the multiplayer. Literally no games today let you play multiplayer if you pirate it. So I'm planning on buying Damnation and Bionic Commando when it comes out

Two words:
VPN - (hamatchi is one)
hacked servers.
Most will support one or the other in some form. You also have the option of waiting 3 months by which time the game should be patched and likely on sale for pocket change (then you can just grab the serial if a keygen has not already appeared).

Back on topic we have had this debate many times over the last few months/years and I am not up for tapping out a wall of text right now. I will say the game industry as a whole has rather little sense of business:
"this game cost us X million to make and we may not get that back"
Any other industry:
If your return on investment is less than 1:1 and you are not doing it as a loss leader then you messed up; if there is a next time spend less/do it better/pay attention to your projections.

I guess my response will be something like:
"I pirate therefore I am"; his whole game features some of the best programmers, engineers and the like anywhere and giving that up would be a mightily foolish decision.