When is pirating ok? (discussion)

[guyver2k]

Just signed up after lurking a long time!

Don't say never, I'm constantly reading people here saying they would never do it. Well I believe a few people wouldn't but we all know 98% of people here are drooling over the possibility of playing free roms more so than homebrews themselves. I know with new touch screen consoles, the possibility for more interactive homebrews is a fun and cool idea. But We all know we originally bought the consoles for the games they offer (minus the hackers who wanna open up the consoles to decode them asap lol).

Anyways back to the title.

I myself in my entire life of video gaming from sega master system to today's consoles. I have almost never bought a game that was brand new. I mean with the exception of Black ops 2 recently (even though I have a hacked 360 that goes online). And Socom 3 for ps2 back in the day.
What I'm saying is I'm almost completely a used game buyer soley. Nintendo, microsoft, sony don't make money off me except for map packs, and if they have a game Im absolutely dying to try the first day including the new south park game to be released.

I download some games for free or pirate if you will. There I said it! I don't hoard them, I never download games I will never play. I'm not a software glutton and I own more used games than pirated ones (minus the wii).

I've had a used 3ds for over a year and a half and still only play a used copy of streetfighter i got on craigslist back when i bought it lol. I look forward to the 3ds being hacked for that. Its a neat system but not worth $40+ a game! ANY GAME!

So that being said the question is, if the game and console corporations aren't going to make money off you REGARDLESS is it ok to download SOME games??? This is for those who own everything used as far as consoles,games and accessories goes or even orders 3rd party accessories from china to save a buck.

I'm sorry but for me who has only paid for a new ps2, socom 3, black ops 2, and soon to be south park the stick of truth. I have no qualm with downloading a few games that don't WoW me. At the end of the day, Im playing my preordered copy of black op2 2 95% of the time.

At least I'm honest. Who wants to be honest with me?

 

[osaka35]

Is it illegal? Yes
Is it immoral? Probably
Is it justifiable? Possibly
Does it effect the industry? Debatable

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Oh god not this thread again.

Just saying these never end well.

 

[Chary]

Pirating is ALWAYS okay!
*Hugs HDD with questionably illegal downloads.*

 

[Tekken179]

Oh god not this thread again.

Just saying these never end well.

Have to agree with this, although to stop the inevitable flame war this will most likely get locked, I suggest you find a better site to discuss this upon. Most of us know the truth about half the users here (no offence to everyone) and tbh I think most of us don't care, free will, your own risk etc etc.

 

[BORTZ]

Oh god not this thread again.

Just saying these never end well.

Yep. This thread again.

 

[dragonmaster]

i knew it that as soon as the hacked tag was on the corner flame wars and trolls were going to sprout from the ground .
the question was asked many times and we all have different opinions.prior to posting you could have just look around the forums .

 

[Just Another Gamer]

Hope these 2 answer the question
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/campaign-piracy-farce-opinion/
http://www.blog.last-save.com/2010/08/why-pirating-doesnt-hurt-video-game-developers/

 

[emigre]

The piracy discussions are pretty funny when you take into account GBAtemp's original purpose was to distribute roms.

 

[jakeyjake]

I don't think there is much of a difference between buying a used game and pirating a game. The result is that money that could have gone towards a video game publisher did not go towards that publisher.

That being said, I will never, and have never, bought a brand new handheld game. I bought a brand new console (ds lite, 3ds) but that's as much money that they will make from me. If I were to buy a game, I'd get it used. Even then, there aren't very many games that I want to play on handheld. For some reason, it just doesn't keep my interest. I may have 100+ downloaded games that I never paid for, but, I've played my ds for a total of like 4-5 hours in the past year. I'd say 90% of my games haven't even been launched. Even games that I heard so many good things about and my friends all convinced me I should get aren't as spectacular as I thought they would be. I would be a very angry, and much more poor, video game enthusiast had I purchased these games used. Either way, the game maker would not have actually made any money on the deal, just gamestop or random people selling at tag sales/flea markets. To be honest, I think the game companies would rather they not make money as well. I would say we're in agreement about that.

For consoles though, I have never hacked/pirated. I love xbox live, and I don't want to jeopardize that. I spend a lot of money on xbox live, and I do purchase new games simply so that my friends and I can play them while they're popular (which is when they're the most fun). Even for ps2, I could have looked up a hack back in the day and put a hard drive in it and stored my games etc, but now I can let my friends borrow my old games, and just owning them in a huge collection is cool. My children will be forced to play video game consoles in the order that I did. (atari, nes, sega genesis, super nintendo, n64, ps1, ps2, gamecube, xbox360)

tl;dr pirating = buying used games handhelds I pirate and don't play, consoles I pay for and play a lot

 

[back25]

maybe when you're 7 y/o and ask daddy for a game boy color and the seller offers you a 27 games in 1 cartridge.
or when your local video game rental store says games only work on "chipped" consoles.
Not that i wouldn't do it in other situations, though.

ps. this thread was uncalled for

edit: i mean chipped PS2 consoles

 

[pwsincd]

When my 3 yr old daughter says "daddy daddy , will you download me that barbie movie?" i wonder where she gets it from

 

[Valwin]

it never is

 

[Guild McCommunist]

The whole thing with the "piracy doesn't hurt gaming" thing is a gigantic assumption that anyone who pirates a game wouldn't have bought it in the first place which is an absolute load of crap.

Regardless of how you look at it affecting the industry, you're still taking someone's hard earned work and playing it without a single dime going to them. Do people say the same on movies you pirate or music you pirate? In the end it's a similar situation: you taking someone's hard work, using it, and them not receiving any reward for their hard work.

 

[SuzieJoeBob]

Before this gets out of hand (as usual), I will honestly say that I pirate games, but only for a few justifiable reasons (except for the last one, depending on your viewpoint).


1) If I bought the game, but lost it and can't find it. I'll delete the pirated version if I find my copy. I will then make a backup of it if possible.

2) I bought the game on one system, and it has been re-released on a newer one. For me, I have the original PS1 games and GBA/SNES games that are on their respective company's online store.

3) I want to try a game before I buy it. I don't feel like pay $50 or more for a crappy game and not having enough for a good one.

4) I just down-right feel that the company doesn't deserve it. For me, this is mainly Nintendo with Mario Bros. It's the same thing over and over again, using the same programs/engines used to make the previous one. All they did was rearrange a few things.

 

[Yepi69]

I only pirate when I don't have the money to buy the games, but as soon as I get money I'll buy the games I downloaded and liked, I've been playing Pokemon Emerald on emulators and last week I just bought a used cartridge of Pokemon Emerald and I'm still loving it 'till far.

The same goes for Wii games.

 

[jakeyjake]

The whole thing with the "piracy doesn't hurt gaming" thing is a gigantic assumption that anyone who pirates a game wouldn't have bought it in the first place which is an absolute load of crap.

Regardless of how you look at it affecting the industry, you're still taking someone's hard earned work and playing it without a single dime going to them. Do people say the same on movies you pirate or music you pirate? In the end it's a similar situation: you taking someone's hard work, using it, and them not receiving any reward for their hard work.

Buying used is paying someone else for another person's work. Not a single dime of that transaction goes to the maker of the work.

 

[hundshamer]

Arrr matey. That should clarify my position on the subject.

One of the funniest things I've seen recently is one guy saying he doesn't want to play ROM's on his 3DS. He wants homebrew so hey can play emulators. What I find ironic about that is the fact that those emulators usually, but not always, use illegal ROM's themselves.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Buying used is paying someone else for another person's work. Not a single dime of that transaction goes to the maker of the work.

I'm not saying buying used is any better but it doesn't diminish the fact that piracy is still bad.

And at least when you buy used you can buy DLC or online passes that goes towards the developer.

 

[ferret7463]

WAAAAAAY back in the day, when i was young and the Dinosaurs roamed freely across the land, Intellectual property was considered stolen....IF....You were making copies and SELLING it. Other wise it was sharing your product with others. We used to make each other cassette tapes of music we had and VCR tapes of movies that our friends had. There was no real fuss.
Then came the day... SONY screamed to the public that we,( the common people) did own what we bought but merely rent it from them. At first, the public said "That's Stupid." But now after years of constant yelling by the corporations that if you share then you are a thief. The public has been slowly persuaded that it's true.
I, for one say, it is not as big a deal as these companies make it out to be. Where i see it, most people don't want to bother with the technical mumbo jumbo and just pay for the product out right. I have had literally 100s of conversations with other parents who at first complain about the cost of DS games for their kids. I would then tell them about the R4 and how they could just get the Rom and install it on a micro SD.... Then they just say..."I'll just buy it."
I did not mean to make a rant, but i say it's alright and these companies are just brain washing you to think other wise.