Why You Shouldn't Pirate Games - News
by Arthur Kabrick , posted on 22 January 2011 / 17,861 Views
Video game piracy is quite a controversial topic at the moment. Its detractors say that it hurts the industry by depriving developers of precious revenue, while its (relatively few) supporters argue that many people can't afford to game, and so they have no option. But can piracy ever really be justified?
Film piracy has existed for a very long time. It was originally just someone with a camera in a cinema hall. Those who watched pirated films had to endure that awful shaking, and occasionally somebody standing up and leaving in the middle of the film. Gradually, however, the field advanced, and with this advancement, game piracy began. Copying cassettes,cartridges, and discs that followed was a very easy process. You could make thousands of copies for the price of thousands of units of storage medium and sell them for $5 or so, thereby making an enormous profit. It was a business. A business full of people taking money from consumers in exchange for work that did not belong to them.
However, piracy has changed yet again. Whilst back in the day you needed to pay that small amount of money to get your illegal copy of the game, you can now do so with a simple free download from any number of websites, which - for obvious reasons - I will not list. The people who upload game files often make no profit whatsoever. You can then burn these onto the relevant disc format yourself, or with certain handhelds, copy the file straight over. Piracy is easier than it ever has been and since nobody is making a profit, it's fine. So, everyone does it. Right? Actually, no.
First, a logistical problem: it's fairly easy to go into a store, buy a fake game, and leave. You're highly unlikely to be strip-searched on the street. It's even more unlikely that a SWAT team will break down your front door with sniffer dogs and demand to see your game collection. On the internet, however, it is very easy for a company to track you. Every byte of data you download goes through your internet service provider (ISP) and they therefore have it all on record. If a publisher requests that data, the ISP is legally obliged to provide it. For a first offence, you get a sternly-worded letter. The second offence could lead to an enormous fine, or even a prison sentence. This puts a lot of people off – the simple fear of being caught.
And on top of that, the console manufacturer knows as well. Microsoft has handed out thousands of console bans for people who have pirated high-profile games and had the lack of foresight to play them online before official release. When you connect to the internet, Sony can tell whether your PS3 is running official firmware and can completely disable your console. Part of the reason why PS3 piracy may never take off is as soon as you go online you can be found by Sony. Thus, you need to stay offline and not log on at all. No online gaming. No store. These things didn’t even exist in previous generations.
Although, in arguments about piracy the aforementioned horrible consequences are often brought up by detractors, moral arguments are more common. Potentially, hundreds of people have put several years of their life and perhaps over $10 million developing a game. A lot of games aren’t profitable. When you buy a game, the developer and publisher get around $35. When you pirate it, they get nothing. Do you really have the right to enjoy their game without giving them anything for it, especially when other people (the majority) have paid good money to buy it?
A common argument against this is the “I never would have bought it anyway” defence. Try that when you’re stealing a car from a showroom. If you didn’t want the game, you wouldn’t have put the effort into pirating it. If you want it enough to steal it, you really ought to want it enough to buy it or at least rent it. Chances are, if you’re reading this you have more than enough money. But I’ll get to that later. Incidentally, this also challenges the whole “The company is not losing anything physical, so they haven’t lost anything at all” excuse: given a few million people who pirate a big game, at least a few thousand of them would have bought it if piracy had been completely stamped out. It’s still money.
Everything comes down to money in the end and without a doubt the most common justification of piracy is that the person “cannot afford to buy games”. Of course the statement is completely ludicrous. I can’t afford to buy a private jet; that doesn’t mean I go and steal one. The ability to play video games is not a human right or anything close to it. If you can’t afford to buy, rent. If you can’t rent, don’t play. The people who made the game need money, too. That’s why the patent and copyrighting system was created – to reward the people who worked hard to create something.
And yet, this is where some doubt creeps into my mind. In the scenario of somebody who genuinely can’t afford games (rather than the comfortable and well-off Americans and Europeans who make up the majority of those who make the claim), the company isn’t actually losing anything. This is disregarding that if they can afford high-speed internet with which to download the games they can probably afford the games themselves. Perhaps they pirate at internet cafés?
In any case, the latter is a grey area. In a day and age where pirating is free and does not fund the underground black market, you’re actually not harming anyone by pirating a game that you genuinely cannot afford. Where do you draw the line? At what point can you “afford” a game? It’s impossible to say.
If at all possible, avoid pirating games. It’s easy to get caught, and the repercussions are severe. Making games is hard work. Thousands of hours are put in so that you can have an enjoyable experience. The least you can do is give them your $35 (it’s really not a lot) as a reward and a token of thanks. They deserve it, and quite possibly need it, more than you do.
Disclaimer: This article is the work of one writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of gamrFeed, its staff, or management. However, gamrFeed does not condone the piracy of video games.
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Good article.
Ok rebuttal for the sake of it.
Firstly the 'horrible consequences' argument doesn't work as those consequences don't exist in practice. The vast majority of pirates never get in any trouble at all and the vast majority of those who do merely get a sternly worded letter as you said. Also most people playing online on a PC can do so on private servers, I know several people who illegally play WoW for free.
The comparison to stealing a car is also highly flawed. It's something that's often bought up but the difference in circumstances is huge. One is a physical product, the other a bunch of data. In one case there is something physically passing from one owner to the other, in the other case there is only a copy being taken. It's just a nonsensical comparison.
Same thing with the private jet comparison, comparing breaches of copyright to physical theft doesn't make sense.
Also your warning at the end of the newspost is just scaremongering. Reality is, if you pirate you almost certainly wont get caught. If you do there are unlikely to be any repercussions at all unless you keep on doing it.
The monetary cost thing is almost certainly true though, the games industry can't survive without any money coming in. Anybody who pirates instead of buying games has to think about whether they're crippling the industry that gives them pleasure.
So yeah, I kind of agree with your point but think the article is scaremongering and terribly written. It reads like a load of propaganda.
I'm like a locust baby, I'll keep on pirating until gaming is done for.
Why are people talking about pirating black ops?
It was a mistake M$ made this gen about hyping online gaming in the hope that Halo series succeeds through out. CoD is more than the match and has raked more sales and capturing online on every platform. This online thing coupled with huge marketing budget is killing the industry.
On to Piracy, yes it kills companies simply because cost of production is high. Activision would kick out any studio that don't make profit and sends the workers on the streets.
In the emerging markets, you could get people who earn as low as $500 a month and a console, which costs $1000 and games over $100 as old as 3yrs, available as the option. The internet is available mostly in cafes and ads of games flies about on various sites. Bandwidths are the lowest so they can't even update the firmwares.
In the states people can earn $500 in a matter of hours but still would pirate.
It's fifty-fifty and i would advise those with money to buy so that publisher would do well to expand into developing countries.
Sorry, I said I only condone piracy on high profile games like Call of Duty, I meant I don't condone piracy on those high profile games. Smaller volume games really need support, but High profile game developers need to stop ripping us off.
It's not just games too, Iphones cost $12 to develop, I think charging $600 for them is criminal in itself, especially since labor costs are essentially slave rates, and suicide rates in Taiwan factories verify that. If you could get an Iphone for $30 it would be far more ethical to do that, and donate $20 to a foreign charity.
I never realized how expensive games were in countries outside North America, Europe and Japan, and even then in some European Countries like Germany. If they are selling a game for the equivalent of $100US, on your shores, when you can order the game on eBay for $60, then it still makes sense to order off eBay. I understand that in some countries like Germany, games like Gears of War take a couple extra years to cross over. Why? I have no clue.
However, if you live in a country where the average income is lower then in the states, then the games should be sold at a lesser price there. Publishers cannot expect to sell a game for the same price in a country where the average yearly salary is $700 a year, compared to a country where the average salary is $30,000 a year. After all, the physical cost of a game is under 50 cents (a plastic box and a plastic/glass disk). So what people are paying for is labor costs.
Think about it, are 10 video games ever worth an entire years salary? Isn't that a bit over-board?
As for larger gaming countries, I still think publishers are ripping us off. Wagram keeps saying games are not that expensive, but when you think about it they are. $70 for Call of Duty new in Canada, plus $35 DLC in the first year the game is sold. Thats $105, and for what? a 4 hour long campaign, and some multiplayer? Say I spend 40 hours in total on the game, in campaign, and multiplayer, which is more then the average Call of Duty gamer. That makes the game cost $2.50 an hour to play. Isn't that a little ridiculous? I bet a significant portion of gamers only make $10 an hour. I mean TV is 20-40 cents an hour, talking on the phone is even less, and music is free when you use the radio.
That said, I only condone piracy on high profile, over-priced titles like Black Ops (which happens to be the most pirated game). If developers didn't want people to pirate those games, they would make DLC free (or a lot cheaper), and have the games price drop well before the sequel comes out. You shouldn't pirate smaller games like Front Mission since they come down in price fast, and could really use a few more online participants.
Before anyone mentions the cost of games, I offer that people should consider looking for free games. Anyone pirating a game, is a person who has a computer and an internet connection. So that means you already have a game capable device. There are dozens of free games out there, that aren't too demanding, but shine up nicely if you have a powerful system.
Suggested Free Games That Don't Suck:
Glest (RTS)
Nexuiz (FPS)
Chromium BSU (Shoot 'em Up)
Savage 2 (MMO RTS)
League of Legends (Action/RTS)
There are plenty of options.
TL:DR
"If you have a job, then you should pay for the games you play, if you don't have a job, you should be looking for one rather then playing video games." This!
"I find it hilarious that the article states the reasons why you shouldn't pirate and yet you have those same excuses being made here in the comments section. Some people are truly pathetic."
I was just saying almost the same thing to a friend of mine. It just proves imo that pirates just want free illegal stuff and any other BS that comes out of their mouth is just them trying to feel like they are not commiting a crime in doing so. It's rationalisation and there is NO good reason for piracy.
@ NSS7
So you support the industry by playing there games and giving them no monies?
If you have a job, then you should pay for the games you play, if you don't have a job, you should be looking for one rather then playing video games.
Too bad The Escapist beat you guys to the punch about a week ago. Not only that, but they cover basically the same points. Maybe it is just the industry realizing that it is soon to implode on itself for a number of reasons (apathetic pirates, a plethora of sequels, lack of in game innovation etc).
@ NSS7
I don't, and your reasoning for pirating is horrible. Just buy the damn games. They aren't that expensive.
First off i would like to thank vgchartz for having an article that wont promote fanboy wars. Even tho reading through the comments, i see some people have tried. It's nice to have no arguments.
Now.....if multi billion dollar corporations want to stop piracy, they really need to stop ripping us off first. The movie/music industry do it to us all the time. When you buy a movie, they come out a month later with an "extended edition" for the same price. Like they just found that extra footage lying on the floor somewhere.
When you buy a CD, you get 1 or 2 good songs these days, all the rest is filler. Because the artist just wants to throw out a CD to make some quick cash.
Now video game companies are doing the same.....DLC. You go out and spend $70 or so dollars for an incomplete game? The only way they should be able to get away with it is if the media it is written on is completely full. I know they do not fill up the discs. And what about the poor bastards that do not have internet?..... they cant get the full game now. Stop ripping us off and it will get better for you.
As for stopping it completely, i think the big 3 need to sit down and use a common media disc that all 3 can use. They need to stay away from DVDs and Blu-ray where anyone can buy the drive and rip it. An industry wide disc drive that will not be sold for home use, and the discs can only be read by game consoles.
@PH85
Everything you said is true. This article might be relevant if you live in Japan or USA but not in 3rd world country. Most gamestore here dont sell original games. Usually only about 10% (most are PS3 games, console or accessories) of product sell here are originals. Unless you are looking for popular titles like COD, FF or Mario it is almost impossible to find niche games like Valkyria Chronicle. I always pirated games since PS1, PS2 and now PSP but I also buy originals games especially for my favourite games. Without pirated games I might not even here or playing games at all. So piracy also act as free ads for us who only dreaming to see any game ads on TV. I might hurt the industry but at the same time I also support gaming industry. Same for music industry. I dont believe anyone here never download any song for free from internet or watched any illegal video in youtube (which not taken down yet). Everyone must have at least one illegal content in their PC.
Simple, just don't do it.
There is something seriously wrong with this article. This article is assuming that you live in either Europe or USA or Japan. What about third world countries? I live in a third world country. It doesn't mean I don't have money. I do have money, but the thing is that original copies of the games I want on the 360 come very late and I don't want to wait for it. Also, the internet here is soooo weak that Xbox Live is out of the question. And the original games are more expensive than 60$. So, games come out late. Expensive. And no online. So why do I want to buy the original copy whereas the pirated game comes out before the game is even released in USA, get it for free from the internet, and no one would follow you here, even if I send Microsoft or the developer or publisher company my home address or IP address. It's not like they are going to come to my house and take my console and games away. So I don't see why I should buy original games and not play pirated games. If I live in the states, then yes I want to play online, so I would buy non pirated games. But I don't see the reason for original games in third world countries. Even when the game sales are released to the public, they don't count how many units have been sold in third world countries. You don't see how many copies have been sold in Africa, or the Middle East, or South America. Its only North America, Europe, and Japan. So companies don't care if they make money in third world countries. So pirated games are better.
I find it hilarious that the article states the reasons why you shouldn't pirate and yet you have those same excuses being made here in the comments section. Some people are truly pathetic.
Very good and thought out article. Quite possibly the best I have read in awhile. I agree with everything stated.
As I said in a similar thread, the only video game I ever pirated was Call of Duty: World at War on PC, and that was after buying the legal PS3 version.
Unfortunantly, I am thinking of starting to pirate games on my 360 as my friend keeps talking about how easy it is and most games are not worth $60 anyways. I would still buy the games that deserve my money and that is till a lot of games.
Baalzamon:
yeah well, Germany doesn't belong to Switzerland, I could also import from UK or US ;) but that doesn't even matter, the pattern is the same everywhere, as soon as the hype's gone suddenly all the prices get much cheaper. I mean, of course this is obvious, but I think it's a scam. and it only works because nobody breaks out of the line - kinda resembles a (price fixing) cartel, which, IMO, is never good.
Since my parents don't support gaming, I only have money from what I don't use for lunch at school, so there is no way I would buy more than two original games per year. Yeah, very good options I have there.
@Vagabound: I still disagree about the overpriced. Who are we to decide what a company charges for their video game? Not to mention, I decided to look up Little Big Planet 2 on Amazon-Germany, which I'm 99% sure will ship to Switzerland, and it turns out its the equivalent of ~$65...not quite sure how a brand new game is that cheap if they cost $80-$100.
How can this article claim that it's "easy to get caught"?? Haha lol, right.. so that's why thousands of games get downloaded hundred thousands of times (and millions of time in some cases) and there are only an handful of people who ever got fined/jailed AND it's because they were resellers!
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Jumpin:
"Yes, it is not just copying, it is stealing because you are benefiting from someone elses work without giving them any form of compensation."
No, there's a fundamental difference. If you steal, the original product is away, so you can't sell it anymore to others - if you copy, the original is still there, waiting for the guy that buys it. And yes, this is a big difference.
"From another perspective; chances are much lower for you to buy a new game, if you are already occuppied playing around with a bunch of pirated games."
Possible. But also possible that it makes you an even bigger fan of gaming so you'll spend more money for consoles, controllers, and legal games.
"Rental and used markets are different; you're buying or renting a game which was already purchased. The producer already benefited from the initial purchase, and the end user just passed the purchased item onto someone else. It is more than likely that the seller will use the funding to purchase new video games."
Do you think copies just suddenly come to existence? they're called "copies" because they were copied from a real game, so in the beginning there's always a guy who rips it. Rental/used markets and copying/downloading's only difference is, that you give money to some other guy (who's also not connected to the people who made the product) instead of getting it for free.
If you want the game, buy it, don't steal it.
To those using the argument "I wouldn't have bought the game anyway;" I call complete BS. If you weren't going to buy that particular game, then why did you steal it? Yes, it is not just copying, it is stealing because you are benefiting from someone elses work without giving them any form of compensation.
If you didn't pirate, and didn't buy the game that you were supposedly not going to purchase anyway; chances are much higher that you would purchase a different new game. From another perspective; chances are much lower for you to buy a new game, if you are already occuppied playing around with a bunch of pirated games.
Rental and used markets are different; you're buying or renting a game which was already purchased. The producer already benefited from the initial purchase, and the end user just passed the purchased item onto someone else. It is more than likely that the seller will use the funding to purchase new video games.
@mchaza: Completely right. And why not extend this cars? As soon as you drive too fast, your motor explodes. That will teach them a lesson. Sounds fair and logical, right? No, it does not. Just like your method. By the way, your method will have zero effect, since it is easy as hell to check the downloaded the content for such things. And flooding the torrent servers? Dude, you have SO no idea what you're talking about.
Since we are on the whole topic of "Hurting the industry" when can I expect the "Do not rent your games" and "Do not buy your games used" news articles?
It is also true that nobody seemed to give a shit at all until PS3 got opened up.
Where were these articles for the last 4-5 years while 360 and Wii have been experiencing rampant piracy?
This whole situation is getting incredibly overblown.
Lack of understanding of the situation and lack of facts make this article absolutely horrible.
I tend to agree that piracy is mostly in the gray area. Up until 2 years ago, it was impossible to get many games in Poland, either because no company wanted to import them or they never made it to the old continent.
I do pirate games that are not sold anymore and are not re-released or at least i have no knowledge of it at the time.
A different thing altogether is when i have to pirate software that i need for studies. some 3-4 years ago i was studying urban management and i needed Autocad to complete my final project for one of my courses. The university didn't allow us students to get a copy from them and there were no student incentives of any kind which would allow me to buy the software at a lower price.
At the same time it wasn't possible to download the software from the company since they didn't have the option for Poland. That left me with only 2 possibilities, to either shell out over 1000@ for the software in a store or pirate it. Given that the average wage right now is some 700$ in Poland, you can see just why i decided to pirate.
Were there any reasons for me to buy a program that costs so much just for that one single course i had? There were none. That unfortunately was the reality and in some cases it still is a reality.
With games it's not so bad. Sure a lot of Wii games are just not available, even xbox360 games as well, but i can now import them, so it's not such a problem.
Here is an plan to solve console piracy at the moment
what companies like MS and SONY with there consoles could do is create dummy torrent sites that have easy to access piracy links and those downloads are all dummy and once played on the console they set up an warning to not pirate again. Then to avoid having the sites marked by pirates keep changing the sites and flooding bit torrent sites with these dummy downloads and if an pirate tries to run the dummy on the console an second time its bricks there console.
What will result is alot of consoles being bricked.
What then is to be created is that there is an haze of doubt and fear of trying to download games for free in case your console gets bricked.
Also those dummy downloads should be made to detect hacks or modifications and other pirated software and if the case is high then brick the console.
That is an solution if able to get working could solve the piracy issue if they manage to fine an way to detect hacking offline and able to brick an console once trying to install.
I agree with the article, developers have spent hard work and their livelyhoods depend on the sales of games. however i also agree with what some other people have said, i dont mind buying all my games here (in the UK), but its unfair for people living in foreign countries with jobs that dont pay as much to afford the same affluent lifestyle.
so i think in those places Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo should let it slide, or sell their games cheaper there, after they've releases here and made enough profit.
the other thing is companies like Activision, who release a new COD every year, about 6 hours long, then make you pay £10.00 for some DLC, when you've paid £40 for a 6 hour game. a company like is disgusting, it made a billion out of COD Black Opps, but their greed is so much they'll never stop exploiting gamers.
i dont mind paying for the upcoming Castlvania DLC, that was a long game, which i really enjoyed, i can see the developers worked really hard.
Baalzamon:
yeah, or you could buy some wooden toy for less than a buck and play with it and pass it down for generations to come.
"overpriced" simply means, that something is being sold with a too high profit margin. here in switzerland, a new game costs about 90 to 100USD, a few months later 30 to 50USD - do you think they would still sell games at that price if they wouldn't profit?
the whole "uuuh everything got so expensive, we have to demand high prices"-bla bla bla is, for the most part, lies. like someone said earlier, it's just the same with CDs. digital distribution helped a lot there though.
btw. i have much more original than pirated stuff, but i'm not blind to think that piracy is just the pirate's fault. it's also the companies.
WHY SHOULD ONLY THE RICH PEOPLE ENJOY THE GOOD STUFF?
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Its time Games being run by advertisments like tv shows.Capt Mactavish drinking Dew and using Facebook...:P
Seriously,in game Advertisements like billboards can bring down game price thanx to sponsorship.
Secondly,Piracy ain't always wrong.Today,the the whole Silicon valley,Internet,Outsourcing,BPO's,Software Developers are running just cuz some Gifted Asian could learn the basics of computer thanx to piracy otherwise no one there can afford a $300 software(Win+Office) bundle just for education sake.And they give back a thousand times what they had pirated earlier as 16 hour a day work time.
Solution: Open Source OS+softs.and why the frick Bill gates makes Win XP free?its already run its course and made enuff money....Captalist Satans..
Piracy is explainable. I'm not going to say it's right, but it is certainly explainable.
First, the good itself is not physical, so they can drop the price if the demand is high or when it's too low to try and sell a bit more. However with the exception of USA and part of Europe, games are too expensive so people who have the necessary look for an alternative. They will either rent it, buy it used or pirate it. I have done all of those, so I can tell.
Piracy will really hurt the industry when you talk about potencial buyers. Otherwise, I'd say it can even help. I'll give some examples:
Potencial buyers: A friend of mine at the time had a modded Wii and wanted New Super Mario Brothers Wii, he tried to pirate it and it didn't work and he said, "If I can't get it to work I'll buy it". This case of his would hurt the industry, because he was willing to actually pay for the game. If it was a game he would probably play for 30 minutes and never touch again I can hardly say it would hurt anybody.
Help the industry: I at the time of Batman Arkham Asylum thought the gamed looked fine but I was on the fence about it. Luckily I had my friend's modded Xbox with me so I played the game and loved it. S guess what I did ? I liked it so much I actually bought the game.
Sure, I know most pirates and most games would justify this but still I bought the game.
About price, in south america games are outrageously overpriced and not only here. Japan doesn't have a cap limit like the US does, games can range from about 40 to 99. Australians know how this feels because they charge more than they should've.
This is a natural response of people. If something they want is too expensive, they try to find an alternative. If you want an MP3 player and can't afford an iPod you'd buy that crap made in china. The same analogy applies to games. You'd happily pay for the game if it had a reasonable price.
I know I won't justify it with a simple and small post but try to think outside the box. Once again I'm not saying it's justifiable but it is understandable.
PS3 piracy has already taken off, now people can play online with a heavenly modified console, some people even use this to cheat. Sony can probably ban though, but just like with Xbox 360 pirates will just find a way around.
2ndly most people who download games also download other stuff (movies, music etc) you are at much higher risk to get caught for pirating that, than games. Plus in some countries your ISP don't have to give out your download history unless you are suspected of very strong offenses like child pornography. I am not saying you should pirate, nor that its safe. Just saying that the downsides are not the risk of getting caught, but rather, that you are running the industry and online experience (if you cheat)
Good article, however there is a MAJOR flaw in your thoughts: Copying =/= Stealing.
I hope this video explains it a bit:
http://tinyurl.com/3x3ytv3
And for things like UbiDRM, are you saying people should have actually used their copies that were impossible to play on wireless networks due to their nature and when you weren't connected to the internet at all? When Pirated copies are easier to run than the ones you're supposed to pay for their is no reason you should be stuck with an inferior copy because of some company's insane DRM polciy.
I'll be honest; I have pirated a lot of games in the past and present; whether that be NES games on emulators or games I was trying out on PC. Yes, I have downloaded a few games I didn't own before, but i've picked up most over the years on steam sales. Other games that I have are on scratched CDs or ones where I'm missing the install disk. I don't see anything wrong with downloading a game if you've already bought it once, or more than that in some cases.
why should PC gamers made to pay for games?
The companies already suck $1000 in form of graphic cards and processors that need to be upgraded every 12 months if u really wish to play a games as it is supposed to.THe console guys have paid $300 once and can play all games ...
Thismeintiel - I agree with you about old games, I played and eventually beat Chronology Trigger as a ROM during the PS2 era because I hear so many great things about the franchise, and I liked the game so much I bought Chronology Cross for PS1. It didn't make sence to pay $100 to buy a used copy of the game, and I'm glad I best the ROM. This is an example is IxisNaugus's comment in play, and I think it helps the gaming culture and developers too. Front Mission was also the dame story, however how many franchises that are that old still exist?
This article was ruined by the disclaimer. show some balls. It is posted on your site there for it is your sites responsibility.
I am against console gaming piracy.
But I can see why people do it. Some do it because they like storing game isos. Some do it because game prices are too high. In Australia PS3/360 games are $120. Our dollar is on parity with the US. I can understand when our dollar was worth half the US 5years ago, then it was fair. Now we are just getting ripped off. Recently retailers have started selling these games at a more respectable $89. However still high.
However PC I couldn't care less because they made it too hard for LEGITIMATE GAMERS to play the original games they buy. I have had to patch original games because NERO had install a virtual drive on my machine. Or because I have reinstalled the game too many times it complains.
I hope they don't ever make games you need to be online to play a single player mode to verify your copy.
Get rid of this BS and I will feel bad for pirating on PC too.
I believe an easily overlooked detail of this topic is that those who play pirated games are being exposed to the video game they've chosen to pirate and play. Exposure is not a bad thing, really. Like how advertisements are exposing people and raising awareness, playing a pirated game is a form of exposure. Of course, I know it's definitely not the same situation and can't be compared on the same wavelength, and that is not my intention here. I'm saying these individuals who pirate games may enjoy the game enough to be inclined to purchase future media within the franchise or sequel to the game, especially if they are no longer in a position to pirate (too difficult to play pirated games on a specific console, piracy fighting firmware upgrades etc.), like when the current generation of consoles first came about and hackers had yet to crack the consoles. If they liked the game a lot, and come across a future installment, they may feel safe with the title name and purchase. Even if it is years down the line, that previous exposure to that game, that piracy, could lead to future purchases at any point, is what I'm saying here.
Of course, that doesn't mean everyone who pirates will one day buy the game or future games from that developer or publisher, I'm aware that there are those who simply refuse to pay for whatever reason and will pirate to convenience only themselves. I know far to many people who do so already, and my words won't sway them, simply because they don't wan't to pay.
It's a deep subject, certainly not as black and white as the article writer makes out. But I honestly can't find a solution to this issue, and evidently, neither can the rest of the world.
Baalzamon - How much do you pay to watch an hour of tv, or a movie off Rogers on Demand? $30 a month for cable, so if you watch say 3 hours a day thats 33 cents an hour. $3 is a lot, especially when you make only $10 an hour. Does it really make sence to work an hour only to be rewarded with 3 hours of play?
I'm against pirating but PC pirating is my leniency. For most PC games if I pirate its because I plan to get game shelf real copies in the future but cannot atm. Otherwise pirating games doesn't anybody, you get more than your money's worth for most games you buy and with games costing up to 50m this gen we should be more supportive. On the other hand I am Canadian so this article does not quite apply to me "law-wise".
The only time I feel piracy is ok is when a game has been out of print for at least a generation, so the only way you could pick it up would be used, which wouldn't go to developers/publishers anyway. I'm talking about games from Atari on up to PS1 (maybe older PS2 games). And yes, some of these game may be re-released or remade on future consoles, but I don't think having the older version emulated on your PC would stop anyone from buying any future releases. I know it didn't stop me from buying Sonic's Genesis Collection or rebuying FF7 for the PS3.
But pirating games that have released this gen is just ridiculous. I can somewhat understand the pricing issue people have in smaller countries with crazy taxes and low wages, but I also think most pirating happens in larger countries, like the US or UK. Places where we have plenty of stores that offer deals and people have plenty of money if they budget themselves. If you think games are so overpriced, why not send them a message by not buying them until they are forced to drop the price? And they really aren't going to get that message if you pirate one game using the price excuse, but then turn around and buy a bunch of other $60 games because they were games you were hyped about getting. You have to be consistent.
And the weakest excuse would have to be "well I wasn't going to by it, anyway." Like the article said, you must have at least had enough interest that you wanted to try it. Couldn't you have waited for it to come down in price or maybe rented it? And if you truly were never going to buy it, what gives you the right possess that game?
@Vagabund: You have to be kidding me. If you actually analyze what a game offers, they are incredibly cheap. Lets say you go and buy a random game for $60. With this random game, you are given all sorts of goals and whatnot to achieve, and will take 20 hours to beat the game getting all achievements. That is $3 for an hour of entertainment.
How much do you pay for a beer at a bar that lasts you 20 minutes, or how about to go see a movie? How about for a pack of cigarettes. This isn't to mention that if you have 2 people that play the game. This would lead to 40 hours into the game, and $1.50 for an hour of entertainment.
Games are not too expensive, and if somebody truly can't afford them, then they shouldn't be playing them, because we are not entitled to video games. And I know the private jet example is a little different since it is physically gone then, but you are still stealing a game that they put a lot of hard work into, there is no reason this should be justified.
I am strongly against Piracy. As a kid I did buy a pirated version of Pokemon Red. Since then however I have been against most piracy. The only time I pirate a game is if the game is not availible to me for purchase.
Example I did pirate Pokemon games when they were released in Japan. I didn't want to wait a year to play so I'd download the game put on the english patch and play. However in every single case I bought the game when it was made availible to me in Canada.
The one game I pirated and never bought would be Mother 3 (EarthBound 2) mainly because Nintendo never localized it. I downloaded the rom and patched it so I could play in english.
But fact is piracy is theft their is no good justification. I make less then 500$ a month which is very low for Canada. Yet I still buy almost all the games I want. I am poor but not poor enough to steal. I buy a game a month usually and I can afford to do so.
Their is nobody who can justify piracy from being poor at least not in Canada. You can apply for Welfare and they will give you about 500$ to survive each month. Then if games really matter to you just budget, maybe not eat out, drink alchohol or smoke because if you can afford to do any of those you can afford to buy a single game each month!
Vagabund - my thoughts exactly. Black Ops is a perfect example
that article is a little ridiculous.
"I can’t afford to buy a private jet; that doesn’t mean I go and steal one."
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if you steal a jet, it's away. if you download a game, it's just a copy you download - no comparison.
also that sentence: "Its detractors say that it hurts the industry by depriving developers of precious revenue, while its (relatively few) supporters argue that many people can't afford to game, and so they have no option."
relatively few?! maybe in the US, but not other parts of the world.
let's be serious, games are simply overpriced.
@palancas7
So true...the gaming community on VGchartz isn't happy with PS3 getting hacked.
dont pirate games thats all
I also want to add that, some people pirate hundreds of games an never play them. That's just being greedy, and I do condone that. However if people pirate 5 overpriced games a year, but still buy 5 others, then I don't condone that.
Personally my own personal objection against piracy is quality. Mod a console, and your warranty is invalid and you can't get it repaired anymore. Mod a game, and maybe the developer is smart enough to have the game cut off or corrupt your save file. It's also fun used game shopping, and I love to own the box and disk.
I just wished XBL and PSN charged the same for games as Steam. Had that been the case then Console Game Piracy may become obsolete.
People would pirate games if they were sold for $50 new like they used to be, and if used game prices actually drop. I buy 90% of my games discounted, but one of the main reasons I don't play Call of Duty is because it's overpriced. It doesn't cost that much money to make a CoD title, it's essentially the same engine designed before with people making new maps and levels.
I understand why people pirate, $70 for Call of Duty (I'm Canadian) and they typically make about $30 of DLC. So it cost $100 a year to play Call of Duty, that's nuts and there is no way to avoid it. Wait a year, and the game is still $50, and DLC is still $30.
So it's not so much of a matter or can people afford it, are the publishers asking for a reasonable amount of money for the game. Publishers want to make as much money as possible for a game, so they purposely sell it at the highest price people accept, and only drop price when demand drops, but by then a Call of Duty title is as least 2 years.
Movies are a much bigger rip off, thank god for Netflix. $20 for 1 DVD, say I want to get 15 movies a year, is $300 a year reasonable for someone who only want to watch 15 films?
So in the end, publishers bring it on themselves. However I will agree withthr author that people shouldn't pirate small budget games. Those games always drop in price in a matter of months, I mean I got Front Mission Evolved new for $20 only 3 months after release and it was worth it.
That's my two cents, I think rentals should be free (say a 1 hour unrestricted demo), and new games should cost $50 with free access to all future DLC (for people who buy the game new, no carryover between profiles). If that were the case, I would get a lot more games brand new, and support th authors view, but game publishers are far too greedy.
E.G. An IPhone cost $12 to make and they charge over $600 for them, is that fair? What about all those slave labour workers? Damn CEO's are too greedy, so if you can get an IPhone for $30, by all means do it, and if you feel bad, give $20 to Amnesty International. CEO doesn't need more money....
It's funny how everything was ok... until the PS3 got opened. Now all of a sudden piracy is a hot topic in many websites. The gaming community is not happy...
Excellent article.
The problem of buying games in Brasil is that games get huge import taxes. Even though this may work well for some, you may agree that this is not a solution to the problem and that not every brazillian gamer should have to buy on ebay. I, for one, usually buy my games either on ebay or ask for friends and family to bring them to me from the USA.
Brazilians why don't you buy your games from Ebay? Some sellers have really good prices (Fallout New Vegas 30$ shipping included) or why don't you buy games from "Mercado Libre Brasil" some sellers there have almost decent prices.
I'm from Ecuador and I just bought Lost Planet 2 and Borderlands new and sealed for 15$ each! (shipping included), also bought Black Ops (a current popular game) for 52$.
Games made so we can enjoy them? That's not true, like people often like to point out, companies exist to make money and nothing else, and that should hold true even here. You can't change these things depending on the situation at hand. Not to say I know the writer's stance on this specific thing...
Also, easy to get caught? On HD consoles it's true, everywhere else it's totally NOT true. Usually some of the more common reasons for pirating are the ease of the act and that being caught is highly unlikely.
As for not being able to afford games, that could be true, too. True, even being able to pirate requires some investing but on the other hand, practically everyone needs a PC and a net connection anyway so they're practically neccessities, much more than some other things. You just need them, you can't afford not to pay. But like it was said, games aren't a necessity so paying for them might not be so easy. I don't mean to say everyone saying they can't afford games is telling the truth but obviously many are.
And finally, while pirating games is definitely wrong, it's not as evil as it sounds here. It's not theft: Theft removed the original copy so it can't be sold, piracy creates a copy but also retains the original one so that it CAN be sold. Also, IF the pirate wouldn't get the game anyway, there's no harm in pirating it. And read that big IF there please! Anyway, being interested in something doesn't mean one is willing to pay just about anything for it. There are games that are worth a few bucks at most, then there's games that are worth a lot more. I can be interested enough in a game to want to play it but I can also know it's not worth more than a couple of bucks (or euros in my case) so it's not entirely impossibly I decide to pirate it (not to imply I would do so).
Games are too expensive. So are music albums.
Also, it's pretty easy to pirate them so why fucking go outside in the cold to go get them game while you can stay on your ass in front of your screen and wait till your download is complete? hmmmmm.... Yeah steam w/e still costs moneh.
Yo ho ho, a Pirate's life for me
lol as im downloading mass effect 1 for the pc XD, Im only downloading it tho cause its not on ps3 and i wanna play it b4 i pick up the ps3 version .
foreword: this isn't a defense of piracy.
while i don't agree with some of the ways its stated" you wouldn't steal a jet would you" type stuff. ill just put it on the table that used games are just as bad as piracy in the "developers don't get anything" line of thinking. which is what this mostly is.really, rentals are in that area as well. ill admit i pirate, but i dont try to justify it. i know what im doing is considered unethical. but i honestly dont care.
I live in Brasil, where a game can cost up do 150 USD. This is simply absurd. The minimum wage here is of about 300 USD. People in a decent job can earn 1000, maybe 2000 USD. It is simple to see why around here almost everybody does pirate things. I used to do this as well, but now I prefer to buy the games, but to get me a library of 10 games and a PS3, I spent 2 months worth of salary, which is insanely much. And I spent this (only this) because asked someone to bring it to me from the USA. If it wasn't for that, I'd have spent more than twice that much.
I'm just trying to make everybody see what it is like here. I know it's not an excuse, but still...
This also applies to music. If you can buy a music on Apple Store, etc, for 1 dollar, imagine filling up your iPod (a small one can contain up to 800 songs). This would cost almost 3 time the minimum wager here.
So the point for us brazillians is: would you rather spend 10% of your salary on a game, or just download it from the internet?
Also, the thing that was said about "This is disregarding that if they can afford high-speed internet with which to download the games they can probably afford the games themselves." is just BS. A high-speed internet (which is still expensive) costs about 30 USD per month. A game 120 to 150 USD. Everybody needs internet. I am a student and therefore need it. And I can afford it. But can I really afford spending 4 to 5 times that amount to play one game?!
I am just expressing my opinion, not really trying to justify myself. As I stated before, I did some pirating on PS1, PS2 and PSP, but I am now trying to be correct and buy all my games.
Pirating games isn't illegal in a lot of countries...so getting caught is not an issue for a lot of people.
One should come to a morally based decision not to pirate in my opinion. All this, its wrong cause you will go to jail talk...is like saying masturbation will make you blind
In a perfect world piracy would not exist. But as it exists we should try to understand why.
For example, where i live (Brazil), a game costs U$ 150. If it cost u$50 dollars i'm pretty sure there would be lots of people who'd happily buy one.
I know that this isn't the main reason why people pirate but let's face it. Would you buy a game for that much?
In poorer countries probably 95% of all games are pirated. If this didn't happen, probably nobody would buy hardware. So, for gaming exists here, "piracy seems to be the best way"... Maybe goverment could cut taxes (which i'm pretty sure will not happen anytime soon)...
What do you guys think? Is it this bad?
Since Steam came out, piracy of games has been looking less and less like an option. Why would I pirate a game when I can buy it for less than €5, thereby supporting the developers and getting quite a few perks for it?
If a product has a price, either ones pays for it ans has the right to take benefit of it or you dont pay it and have no right to take benefit of it. Availability, price too high, not enough money, etc. are just excuses. The principle still stands: if you pay for it, you are entitled to benefit from it, if you don`t, you have no right to take benefit from it.
Most gamers in my country buy pirated games and opt for offline single player games!
This is because we get an average of 1.5$-3$ per hour, and 100$ for one game is downright unreasonable!
and btw, 98% of Lebanese homes don't have the internet connection strong enough for online play, so you can't blame pirates here!
If someone is pirating software, they can certainly afford the internet connection they're using to pirate, as well as the hardware they're pirating on. Much more importantly, simply being poor does not entitle someone to steal a luxury.
Should people be legally entitled to break into someone's house for free, simply because the house owners are not currently there to use their home?
I agree with this article.
Is it right to charge for a new game 70€ in France, 40 pounds (47€ ) in the UK and 59 dollars (43€) in the US ?
I think the greediness of editors is partly responsible of the problem. The games have to be made available at a reasonable price.
I praise Steam for doing it with the holiday/weekend/midweek madness sales.
Piracy in the game world is always bad. The only thing I have ever "Pirated" is a game song that cannot be bought ANYWHERE! However I see no scenario where pirating a modern game is not completely unethical!!! FUCK PIRATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there is no defense for pirating games, you cant decide if its right or wrong, if the company doesnt want you to pirate it, then dont. its not your decision to make if its right or wrong.
I see nothing wrong with pirating games that are hard to find somewhere to legally purchase them. Then its the publisher's fault for not making their games easily purchasable. Luckily thanks to services like Steam and Nintendo's Virtual Console the number of games like this are lowering. But still System Shock 2 needs to be put on steam cos I want to buy it but there's nowhere to buy it from which isnt second hand and after a quick search the only copies of that game are used and more expensive than a new game, and because their second hand the publisher/developers arent getting any more money so pirating that which truthfully i havent done mainly because i cant be bothered seeing as I have a tonne of games i legally own which i have yet to play huge backlog I dont want that backlog getting bigger.
In Summary Pirating games once they go out of print/stop making money for the publisher/developer is morally okay according to me.
One sided, as always with this issue. Piracy is not some clear cut issue, there are many valid scenarios where Piracy is not a bad thing. Aside from the most common arguments (lack of money, foreign game prices, etc) there are many others where pirating games really isn't that bad of a thing. Older games for one are the biggest area defenders of pirating overlook. You can't go out and buy most retro games new, so when you do buy them, you are buying them used (developer sees no profit from this, as they already got what they were getting out of that copy of the game) and in many cases older games are priced insanely high, used. Now yes recently many of these games have started to show up on online stores for new consoles, but only the most popular games usually. Pirating in this scenario is perfectly acceptable. Another case would be pirating games that have been re-released. For example, if I own a PS1 game, which i bought legally, and Sony re-releases the same game, no changes for the PSP, I feel I should not have to buy that game again, considering I can convert the game I already own into a file that can be played on the PSP exactly the same way.
I should add however that in my country, there is a TAX on GB of data for blank mediums or drives... that tax is made to compensate the music and film industry... but it's still illegal to copy... so you pay for something you're not allowed to do anyways... nice double standard..
Oh and no if I recall that tax doesn't do anything for software...
you failed when you started by comparing software piracy to film piracy... what are VCRs for if not for making a tape of a movie? what did the industry thought people were going to record? commercials? same for audio tapes.
Software is totally different than these other two mediums as it is not distributed freely in the first place as movies, series and music are on the air waves. (oh and yeah I do live in a country where most major motion picture and TV series is shown on free TV).
the rest I didn't read as well it's really your opinion and based on that first failure I didn't want to bother.
I agree, and you shouldn't get a free pass because the games are so expensive in places like Argentina. They are theifs and should be sent to jail.
I don't know if it's that easy to get caught, but I agree with the morals. Don't pirate something and say you wouldn't have bought it anyway. If you're not prepared to pay, you have no right to the product, and then you're just freeloading for no reason. If you genuinely can't afford it, it's more gray, and I would say it's more down to the developer's stance on the matter to say if it's okay.
But people who pirate without a really good excuse shouldn't be gaming imo.
