"Pirating" a game that was never released in your country/language

[Ninjafire72]

I think this kind of argument also applies to games that are simply not in production anymore. Short of downloading them, how would you manage to get your hands on them?

OT: I can say from experience that region locks and localizations have been the bane of my existence. Being born in Japan I can play the games without any trouble, but getting them to work in Australia (where I live) is a downright pain due to the region-locks, NTSC and PAL difference, framerate difference...

If all it takes is 2GB of download to avoid that much misery and problems, then I personally think it's justified. (Note how I said personal)

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Is it morally wrong? No. They weren't going to get money out of you anyway.

Is it legally wrong? Yes.

Make of that what you will.

 

[Charli]

Legally still wrong. Moral grey area. Done.

*tap dance* Ebee bee debe that's all folks. *continues to tap dance out.

 

[Maxtro]

How else was one to play Seiken Dentsu 3? (Secret of Mana 2)

It's a gray area for me.

 

[Yopaz]

As others have stated. Morally this is OK, legally it's not. Personally if a company doesn't want your money then they don't deserve it either. I can't believe they are actually trying to keep freeloaders or other tools to play region locked games on consoles from other regions. These tools expand their area of customers with no extra expenses in publishing.

 

[Tanakh]

and in what way ordering from japan is a problem today? just buy it, and the ROM it.

This, no gray area at all, you are pirating and it's illegal. Maybe before the internet getting a rom of an unaviliable game was gray, now? No, you are pirating a game you lova and if you think piracy is worng, then you are being hypocritical. You want the game, really want it? Order it from japan.

My japanese from highschool is a bit (A LOT) rusty, but lets see, go to amazon jp in english here:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/In-English/b/ref=topnav_switchLang?ie=UTF8&node=1094656

do a search for "Fire Emblem"

chose the right "Fire Emblem"

buy it and proceed to checkout, get it, profit.

I am not sure of the details about the shipping, but i know i can buy from Amazon US without too much hassle being in another country, you should be able too.

After that it MIGHT be a gray area if you actually use your own ROM or one from the netz, before that? Nop, regular pirate.

Edit: How can people say it's a grey area when all you need is to order it from the netz is beyond me. Well... it's a grey area for me because pirating has ALWAYS been that IMO, but if you think it's wrong to pirate a game that is on steam, or on origin, or on Gamestop, i don't see how a game from amazon.jp is ok to pirate.

The context of this thread is in the frame of reference of a single individual that wants the game and is not being offered it.

Sup mate! And he IS offered it, here is the direct link to the game he wants.

 

[Sansha]

For fuck's sake.
Pirating is stealing. There's no grey area, excuses or whatever else. You took something you should have paid for in the most convoluted way possible, with whatever excuses as 'I wouldn't have paid for it anyway' and 'It's not stealing because it's not a physical item', without paying.

The bottom line is you stole something. What part of this confuses you?

 

[Taunta]

Yes, it's legally wrong, and I'm a hard-ass about piracy anything, but even I will make an exception for games that you cannot physically obtain otherwise. The only games I've pirated in my life were Mother and Mother 3. (And thanks Japan, for never releasing Mother 3 to other places but still putting Lucas in Brawl.)

For fuck's sake.
Pirating is stealing. There's no grey area, excuses or whatever else. You took something you should have paid for in the most convoluted way possible, with whatever excuses as 'I wouldn't have paid for it anyway' and 'It's not stealing because it's not a physical item', without paying.

The bottom line is you stole something. What part of this confuses you?

I hate to be the one to call this out, but my Straw Man alert is going off. I've yet to see anyone in this thread question whether or not it was stealing, or use any of those excuses.

and in what way ordering from japan is a problem today? just buy it, and the ROM it.

This, no gray area at all, you are pirating and it's illegal. Maybe before the internet getting a rom of an unaviliable game was gray, now? No, you are pirating a game you lova and if you think piracy is worng, then you are being hypocritical. You want the game, really want it? Order it from japan.

My japanese from highschool is a bit (A LOT) rusty, but lets see, go to amazon jp in english here:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/In-English/b/ref=topnav_switchLang?ie=UTF8&node=1094656

do a search for "Fire Emblem"

chose the right "Fire Emblem"

buy it and proceed to checkout, get it, profit.

I am not sure of the details about the shipping, but i know i can buy from Amazon US without too much hassle being in another country, you should be able too.

After that it MIGHT be a gray area if you actually use your own ROM or one from the netz, before that? Nop, regular pirate.

Edit: How can people say it's a grey area when all you need is to order it from the netz is beyond me. Well... it's a grey area for me because pirating has ALWAYS been that IMO, but if you think it's wrong to pirate a game that is on steam, or on origin, or on Gamestop, i don't see how a game from amazon.jp is ok to pirate.

The context of this thread is in the frame of reference of a single individual that wants the game and is not being offered it.

Sup mate! And he IS offered it, here is the direct link to the game he wants.

While this is a good suggestion, not all of us can speak Japanese.

 

[Thoric485]

[vimeo=1665301]

Hey, look, Ubisoft designed a bench!

 

[Scrustle]

I'm pretty sure it's illegal to pirate anything no matter where the thing you are pirating was released, or not released. But I don't believe it's morally wrong. If a company decided not to release a game in the country someone pirates it in then they are not losing money, since there isn't a legal way for you to be able to buy the game where you live. You could import, but given how they put region locks on games it seems they would rather you don't do that either. Either way, they can't say they are losing money since the company hasn't invested any money in releasing the game in the country in question. If they really think they are losing out by someone pirating their game somewhere where it's not available then they should make it available!

 

[cynicthnkr]

Just because someone is unwilling (or too lazy) to sell you something doesn't mean you got the right to steal it from him.

 

[LilithSlave]

Just because a game isn't "officially" released in your country, doesn't mean you should pirate it. Rather, I'm not against piracy, but if I made any exceptions, games from other regions would be the last thing I would make an exception for.

If anything, while I support piracy, of any and all games, I certainly support buying of Japanese region games. If anything, I'd be irritated if someone went out and paid $60 for Skyrim while never buying and paying a cent for a new Japanese game that was never released here on the grounds of "it wasn't mean for me anyway". Just because it's not released in your region doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it, and it doesn't give you an excuse to not buy it while you shell out money on more Western games.

Pirate Japanese games, fine. But don't stick to just pirating and go out and buy a copy. It really irritates me how people around here equate pirating with "not buying". I support pirating, and I also support buying. I especially support buying when it comes to import gaming and indie gaming.

The only time I am comfortable with not buying(I said not buying, not "pirating"), is when only used copies are available and exist. And even then it's fairly easy to get your hands on many classic titles cheaply. Japan is the inverse of the West, while in the West, new titles are often cheaper than old ones, in Japan new titles are insanely expensive, while retro games that would cost a pretty penny for a Western version, are relatively cheap in Japan.

doesn't mean you got the right to steal it from him.

Do you have any personal thoughts of you own? Or do you only like to repeat the idiocy that goverments and corporations spoon feed you on a daily basis?

Piracy is not stealing. And the claim that it is, has got to be one of the most ridiculous and cheezy slogans ever put out by the corporate media. It's on par with those drug PSAs, and they think we're so stupid that we can be brainwashed by pathetic claims like this.

That some people actually believe, and even parrot this ridiculous claim they make, similar to how some people actually believe Glenn Beck, show how dangerous the corporate media is. And how desperately it needs to be deconstructed and destroyed.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I think at this point it's still a darker shade of Grey...It would be more expensive to try learning enough Japanese to play through the game (although honestly, if you're skipping the story getting the gameplay down is just a matter of trial and error) and importing a copy. If this game was released in Japan on the Gameboy, Color or, Advance than I could kind of see the justification for getting a rom but I honestly don't see the justification quite yet. I can see why am American player would seek out a rom of say, Bahamut's Lagoon but that would still be a grey choice whereas a Star Fox 2 rom download would be the most justified example I can think of (if justified at all).

 

[x EvilErmine x]

No it's not wrong IMO, and really it's a case of where the law is black and white but the issue at had is grey. If you really want to cover your ass then send some money to the publishers with an explanation.

 

[UltraPic]

Piracy is not stealing. And the claim that it is, has got to be one of the most ridiculous and cheezy slogans ever put out by the corporate media. It's on par with those drug PSAs, and they think we're so stupid that we can be brainwashed by pathetic claims like this.

Piracy is stealing, and you have been brainwashed into thinking sharing is piracy. But if you read the small print on media, sharing is prohibited just the same.

 

[LilithSlave]

For the love of God can we ever have anyone on the Escapist who doesn't think pirating and not buying are almost or the very same thing?

It's like every Escapist imagines every pirate as someone who downloads a torrent instead of going out and buying a latte.

Worse yet the Escapist is like every other gaming community where people pressure people to play and buy certain games and not play and not buy certain others. Play this game, no excuses! But if you don't have the money to do so, "piracy is STEALING, you wouldn't download a CAR!", "No excuses! You don't get to play video games."

And being against the law has nothing to do with whether piracy is wrong. People ought to play video games, and people ought to buy video games. I feel sorry for anyone who lets foolish anti-piracy arguments get in the way of them playing video games.

 

[renegade7]

Nintendo decided they don't want you to have the game

Sorry but this "They don't want you to have their game" thing is BS. They didn't decide that any individual or group of infdividuals should be excluded from having their game, they just decided where they're going to sell them.

That doesn't mean they "don't want other people" to have the game, only that for some business related reason they decided to limit where it's being sold.

So please. If a game is region locked, don't come out with "well they don't want you to play it". Seriously. If it, legally, was about who they want to have their games, you'd be committing a felony by buying in Japan and taking it home with you.

It's not about "not wanting you to have it". It's about it not making enough of a profit in a local market and therefore not offering it on said market, but you can still have it if you find a way around it. They're not trying to prevent anyone from getting it.

He's commenting on how Nintendo didn't really seem to have a good reason for denying the US market the Operation Rainfall games ( Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower, etc), despite selling them in Japan, Europe, and Australia, even though the US game market is almost as strong, if not stronger, than all of those combined. Maybe there was some arcane business reason behind it. But the fact remains: if they 1.) flatly refuse to release a game in your region and 2.) region lock consoles so it is impossible to play that game, then they have no claim to any of your money.