How do you feel about illegal game downloads?

[Mephisteus]

Most people do it because games are too expensive (which means you should get a job so they aren't anymore, you'll need less games to fill your time and have the money to buy the games that do), some because they genuinly want to try it out (I do this myself for heavily hyped games such as Spore, which I didn't buy because it sucked and Fallout 3, which I did buy because it didn't suck).

I refuse to buy games that have heavy copyright protection which never works and thus only annoys people who pay for it and the distributing companies simply should avoid them for that very reason. And the only way to reach *them* is by not giving them income. This is however not a license to go download and play without ever paying. If a game has copyright protection that I disagree with yet the game itself is freaking awesome I buy it when the price dropped.

Downloading has its bad reasons and its good reasons.

Most people do it for the wrong ones.

PS
Not exactly the most orderly post, but meh

 

[ragestreet]

No. Not everyone hates you tuna. Just haters and people who are firm believers in anti-pirating.

 

[mike1921]

We are talking about unbelievably steep system requirements.

You know, with a better processor I could probably play that game on high.

By the way, if a game has a DRM , I'm not just going to pirate it, I'm going to pay people planning on buying it 60$ to pirate it instead.

Also, if it's allowed could someone please email me a pirate site?

 

[darktheif28]

I think that it is ok when you download a game that is really old. Like games on the snes or 64 you can't really find games for these consoles any more so i think it's ok, but doing it for a game that you can easily find is worse

 

[Bagaloo]

I've done it before. I now pay for my games. And no, I didn't do it to make a statement. I didn't do it because I hate the company that made it. And I didn't do it because its a seemingly victimless crime. I did it because it was ridiculously easy and fairly low risk (what are the actual odds of getting caught, anyway?).

I'm in no way defending it. Morally I'm against it, hence why nowadays if I can't pay for a game, I wont play it. I missed out on a lot of decent titles because of this attitude, but its just my own opinion and my own set of morals that are behind that decision, its up to everyone else to weigh up their opinions of piracy and come to their own conclusions before deciding on whether or not to do it.

And on a side note, I just honestly can't believe the people who say the pirate in order to get a "full demo". If you like the game enough, you will get immersed into it enough to follow it all the way to the end. At what point of a really good game you pirated would you stop and think "Wow, this game really is amazing. I think I'll stop now, remove it from my computer and go and buy a legitimate copy". I can't foresee that happening very often. So most of the time your "full demo" will end up being a complete run through of the game. Now would you really go out and buy the full copy just for whatever replay value the game has left in it?

Maybe I just have bleaker view on the behaviour of humanity than is necessary. Maybe there are some honest and decent people left in this world who would go and pay for something they already own via illegal means. I just don't see it happening.

If you are that unsure about a game, take some time to think about it. Instead of leaping onto a site to get a copy illegally, try reading some reviews, play a demo if its available, look at some screen shots, go to a mates house who already owns it, just do the best you can to decide if you want to buy it or not, and then commit.

And if you make a mistake and don't like the game, its all part of the learning process and your wiser for it.

 

[RhinoTuna]

Get off your pedestal. Why do people who legitimately buy their games look down upon those that pirate them? You snub your noses at us and act as if we're scum. Get over yourselves.

Oh, and for the record, i betcha most of the people who download games only download games that they know they wont buy (I know i do). I would never have experienced Fallout 3, FarCry 2, Crysis and Spore (To name a few) if i didn't download them.

 

[mike1921]

We are talking about unbelievably steep system requirements.

Also, if it's allowed could someone please email me a pirate site?

I hope you're joking.

No. I'd only use it on DRM games and old ones that I couldn't buy right though (AKA, spending 50 cents on ebay with a 4$ shipping charge and waiting a few months).

 

[GuerrillaClock]

I've played old SNES and N64 roms of games I don't own before, it's no big deal because the company wouldn't make any money off it anyway.
My friend pirates games often, he has a family to support and I'm sure the £40+ he saves on games does more good than if it was in the pocket of some executive at Activision.

 

[bkd69]

Also, if it's allowed could someone please email me a pirate site?

Here you go:
http://www.icc-ccs.org/index.php?option=com_fabrik&view=visualization&controller=visualization.googlemap&Itemid=89

 

[Byers]

First of all, you're all pirates. I'm fairly confident there's not one amongst you who didn't at one point pirate a floppy disk or burn a CD with some music tracks, or a piece of software. Most of you did a lot of it, when you were younger.
And if you are going to take this kind of zealous morality stance here, when you're actually in a place in your life where you can afford to pour money into frivolous things as computer and video games and given a chance to feel superior to the lowly pirates, you should at least acknowledge this.

The only reason why it's such a gigantic deal right now, is because it suddenly became big business, and thus enter the big corporations with their five thousand dollars an hour lawyers. When there were a lot less money involved, while it was still as morally unjust, nobody cared. Now suddenly you have posters who are preparing the gallows in comical outrage.

Without trying to justify downloading, it is a part of the information age. Nobody wants to pay huge sums for something they're not sure they're going to enjoy for very long. Whether they go out and buy it later or don't find it worth the money is less relevant. We're finally at a stage where what the consumers buy aren't dictated by the marketing campaigns or game media in bed with the corporations (hello GameSpot). There's no going back, and this should be cause for celebrations, not a lynching mob.

Finding the real quality games without having the benefits of piracy, while staying on a tight budget, is next to impossible. With reviewers across the board giving putrid crap like Dead Space, Halo and Gears of War top marks, there is not much reason to put your trust in gaming journalism. Reviewers seem to have grown content with copy/paste mediocrity with storylines that would make Uwe Boll flinch. What remains, however, is people's chance to decide for themselves, which is something to be savored.

The consequence of not everyone supporting these true gems that are worthy of their money, once they find them, is far less negative than if the opportunity to find them wasn't there to begin with. Except for the multi million corporations that own the game developers, that for the most parts care nothing about gaming, but rather see us as a way to remodel their kitchen, or put in that jacuzzi in the backyard.

 

[Trekky 1700]

I refuse to pirate games, but I think if companies want to stop piracy, they need to change the way they sell their games. I've never really understood why movie companies like Paramount spend an average of $60 million on a movie and take 2 years to make it, then sell the DVD for $20. While the average game costs $15 million and 2 years, then sells for $60. I think what mostly happens with piracy is people figure if they can't afford it, the companies not making money either way. If companies made video games more accessible, I think more people would buy them legally or new.