Piracy is not so bad

[Luke]

And I'm sad to see Luke refuses to understand about the difference between theft and copyright infringement. Well, no matter what either of us says or does, the truth is the truth. No way to change hard reality.

If someone physically steals Luke's car, or if they use a magical cloning machine to copy the car for themselves but leave the original car untouched, it's the exact same thing in Luke's mind. They both suck, sure. They are both illegal, yes. But would you prefer to still be able to drive yourself to work, or would you prefer to take the bus?

I'll see you at the flagpole, as I don't want to argue on a message board, and others might have something relevant to contribute. I'll try to summarize my thoughts on taking what is not yours succinctly.

Izzy, I do understand what you see as the difference, I just disagree with your ethics. You think that there is a difference between taking something and copying something. The problem is, duplicate does not equal copy. Perhaps FRIENDS copied SEINFELD, but it wasn't a duplicate. Downloading games is taking a duplicate of others hard work.

Why is my car illegal?

[fastbilly1]

Im not sure why Luke's car is illegal, but all I know is I really want it now.

[noiseredux]

Why is my car illegal?

did you forget to renew the registration?

[MrPopo]

Why is my car illegal?

did you forget to renew the registration?

Renewing the registration is a scam.

[Luke]

I just renewed my registration and passed the emissions exam (my car, not me) in September. There is a ton of dog hair in it though...

I'll call my mechanic.

[Hobie-wan]

I just renewed my registration and passed the emissions exam (my car, not me) in September.

Oh good. I'd be worried if you didn't pass your emissions test.

[pepharytheworm]

I don't emulate on the computer but I have burnt games before. I would never burn a new game though. I don't think piracy helps any company but I do understand some countries where its real prevelant because either they never got the game there or the price is astronomical.
I will list the times I pirate games:
1. The game is very rare and hard to find
2. Was never released in my country
3. The game is priced to high for me to afford (Panzer Dragoon Saga)
4. Games that haven't been rereleased. For instance I never burnt a Mario or Sonic game but I would burn Android Assault.
5. Not sure about the game before I buy and there is no other option to try it.
6. Games I really want but haven't found it yet but when I do I purchase it
7. Games I would never buy (strip poker CD-i) but just wanted to see the game
I have about 200 burnt games most of them NeoGeo CD games. When ever I find an actual copy at a price I like I throw away the copy.

[corn619]

I'll make it simple to understand Inazuma. When you pirate a game your stealing money the game could be making. Companies kinda need this money for things like development costs, profits, future game R&D. So your stealing money, simply put.

[vash23n]

I understand piracy is supposed to rip the creators of the games off, but the gamers have been getting ripped off for years.

Where exactly are gamers getting ripped off? Every time a gamer buys a game, it is completely voluntary. You choose to buy a game at a particular price. If you think the price is too high, just wait. Most games depreciate worse than automobiles.

The only way I can see a gamer getting ripped off is if he buys a game and goes home to find that it is empty or contains "Barbie Horse Adventure" or something.

I feel like there was a period of time in the music business where prices of CDs kept going up because music stores like FYE had an almost collective monopoly. They all realized that if someone wanted music they had to go to them. They decided they could charge whatever they wanted. People decided they would figure out a way to work around the system and they did so very successfully. Once it became illegal file-sharing companies that still charged a fee (but much less) came about and we have entered a whole new era in music distribution. So piracy helped the evolution, in my opinion. Everyone who should be making money is doing so again (even places like FYE who still have some loyal followers, but who realize they have to sell the music for a fair price).

With gaming, I feel like this same thing is happening. I do feel like games are being sold for more than they should be - maybe rip off was a wrong choice of words, but my main point is that piracy is becoming more and more common so change is going to have to come about like it did with the music business. My question is if that change will lead to an all download and burn yourself gaming industry (like it did with the music business) or not. It's definitely not on the lines of a political revolution where families are tired of paying too much for bread so they start stealing it, but the idea is kind of the same.

[noiseredux]

I can see burning stuff that you CAN NOT get any other way. Meaning, a game was only released in Japan, for a last gen system. I can see burning a patched fan translation. But I can't really understand, "oh this game is readily available, but I don't think it deserves $24 so I won't pay for it."