Piracy when you own the game...

[chuckman1]

Note: I do not pirate or condone piracy

So I've been thinking what the general consensus is and what individual opinions would be to this question, how do you feel about pirating a game if you own in on another console?

Example: You bought Oblivion on the ps3 you have played through it many times and would love some new content, you here all this fuss about mods on the pc version. Should you pay for the game again? Should you download it for free since you've already payed the admissions price?

Personally I think multiplatform games should be double sided with a ps3 and 360 side and come with a free download for the pc version. Possible problems with this could be people selling the pc download code thus lowering profits for the makers of the game.

Side Note: Do not admit to piracy on the forum or you will get probation or suspension.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I'm fairly certain that goes against the license. In other words, I have paid for this on the PC, to play it on the PC. So no.

 

[gabe12301]

If you own the game and the console and don't start telling everyone about the download side then I wouldn't have a problem with it. Although I wouldn't do it myself unless the console broke and displayed some kind of colored light. Good thing that never happens.

 

[Radeonx]

I don't see any problem with it, but if you wanted to access content on another platform you should have bought it for that platform in the first place.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Only when procuring an Undub would such a venture become moral as far as I'm concerned.


Why do you need to play a game you own on one console in another one? Why wouldn't you buy it on the system you wished for it to be on...and why would you want it to be on more than 1 systems anyway?

 

[Vausch]

Not really. I'd find it a bit more reasonable if you maybe sold the original first then bought the new version. You just really have to accept you made a choice you regret and either hope the other version goes on sale or you have a friend that's willing to give theirs up.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Oh. I thought this was going to be about pirating games you'd bought legally, but the disk (or whatever) had been damaged. This is not that.

Yeah, I think, technically, if you bought the game on PS3, you only bought the rights to the PS3 version, not any other version.

 

[jesskit]

I have an interesting spin to put on this. what about a game you buy on PC, and then find there is a mac version (yes i use a mac and sometimes game on it, gasp shock horror). I have often thought about this, as many of the mac publishers, way over price the mac versions of games, just to make some extra money, when in some cases all they do is take the pc version and bundle it in the cider wrapper. Its not technically a totally different platform as such, so what do people think in this regards

 

[DeadlyYellow]

You pay for the version you get. Best bet is to wait for it to be back on a Steam sale or pick up a cheap copy somewhere (not sure what DRM is on it,) if you still want to claim the moral high ground.

Mac User

I don't know if it does this for all games, but I remember getting a both version on a few titles when purchasing a compatible game from Steam. Though, bizarrely, while using for and installing the Windows version, Steam's default desktop shortcuts link to the Mac version.

 

[Biosophilogical]

If you bought the game on a console, then you paid for 'the game on the console', not 'the game on the PC with all these awesomesauce mods'. I could understand if your disc broke or something, and you only got it on PC because you don't want to risk jailbreaking your console or something, because you are just playing the game you bought in the closest approximation you can manage.

 

[ninja51]

Eh, I can honestly say I believe if you have purchased a game, you can pirate it or fuck with it however you want as long as it doesnt deal with multiplayer content on open servers. Once you buy it that game is your property, you can do with your property whatever you like, download it, upload it, mod it, crack it, break it, whatever you want

 

[jesskit]

I don't know if it does this for all games, but I remember getting a both version on a few titles when purchasing a compatible game from Steam. Though, bizarrely, while using for and installing the Windows version, Steam's default desktop shortcuts link to the Mac version.

Some companies do have steam play versions of their game, where you can buy the pc and mac as one thing, however many mac games (my latest in this situation was borderlands goty which was $7.50 on sale at steam for pc, where as feral interactive its GBP35 which for me is like over 60) the mac publisher is different to the pc publisher and the mac people dont allow their version on steam

 

[Grabbin Keelz]

Don't know why you bought it on a console if you plan on playing it on a different one, but sure.

 

[Nargleblarg]

If you physically own a copy of the game it is legal to torrent a game as long as it is for yourself. (why you would do this though is beyond me)

hard to say for other consoles but I would think that this phrase would be flexible

 

[Sudenak]

There's a few games where I'm so utterly pleased with it that I've purchased multiple copies. If one were to look at my Pokemon collection, they'd be baffled as to why I own two copies of each game up to Crystal. I've worn down those copies to the point where they all have comical flaws. The best one being my backup Pokemon Yellow, which I have dubbed Pokemon: Extreme. If you shake the gameboy, the cartridge, or shift it too much, it completely erases your saved game. Thus playing it and then stopping play is a surefire way to lose, so you have to play it all in one sitting.

That being said, I see no problem with pirating a game that you already own. If you're pirating it because your game broke and you don't see why you need to shell out another $60 for the game, then I don't see what the fuss is about. We're not allowed to make copies of our games, after all. Imagine if we couldn't copy CDs to our computers. Sure would be fun to purchase the same song six or seven times, right? Gotta love disposable income.

As an aside, I think the game industry could really win on this particular piracy front. If they made it so that you could make a backup of your game that was missing a tiny piece which is in your game system, then you could make a few backups of the game you like and never have to worry about running out. It's got no better or worse chance of being pirated when compared to the original copy, and it gives legitimate players an out.

Frankly, it just seems like common sense. If my shiny-new-game breaks four years down the road from me loving it too much, I'll be heading to the used games store. The original makers won't see a single penny from this, and all it amounts to is a net loss for me. This is further exacerbated by my inability to break a game quick enough, apparently. Some of the games that I've worn down are so old that you can't find a copy anymore, used or new. Some of them are floppy games, and I don't even have a floppy disk drive anymore >_> Some of them don't work with anything older than Win XP and I have Win 7. All of them are no longer available from the maker, so my spending money on a new copy does nothing.

Another aside: The way that id software and Raven Software handled the Doom, Doom II, Heretic, and Hexen ip is just slick. I really wish that others would follow along. They basically allowed the user to do whatever they wished with the game, so long as they purchased it. I now find myself with a delightful handful of backups, and with access to the j-series of these games which is fanmade that allows the games to run on modern computers with optional improved graphics/music. All of this without them banging down our doors and demanding we give them fistfuls of cash so they can spend it on hookers and blow. At least in the case of PC gaming, I wish more companies would go this route.

But back to game systems.

In Nintendo's case, they actually got this right with the Wii. Holy barking quackers, I know. If you register your game on their website, you can give them a ring when your disk stops working and they'll send you a new one. Even when my Wii Fit wasn't registered, I still found the number and rattled it off to them, and they agreed to give me a new disk at a steep discount. Pretty slick.

 

[chuckman1]

For the record I own oblivion on pc I actually just got it on ps3 a few days ago.

 

[Flamey]

I only play on the PC. And I always use a NO-CD crack. Anything to get rid of the rediculous DRM.

DRM is the devil.

 

[Vault101]

*sigh*.....Piracy will surely destroy us all