Reknoc wrote:Most of Matty's excuses were pretty weak.
Funny, I thought this was a no-judgement zone... Least that's what the OP said :/ I found Matty's reasoning to be perfectly fine, though still different than my own.
Tossing in my toonie on the matter, I only pirate games that are very old and just can't be found in stores where I live (ex: Bomberman 64 The Second Attack, Earthbound/Mother) and while shopping online would help, I can't buy online yet. When I can that will make a huge difference. And if there's a game I know I want i'll buy it once the price is affordable.
I have this personal rule I try to stick to -nothing beyond a certain era of systems unless it can't be found in the stores I frequent. Even the ones way out there. And the one time i've broken it It lead to me purchasing a brand new copy of the game because I loved it that much(Persona 3 FES), and placing a couple others on my absolute to-get list.
But getting to my point, personally I think of pirating as a double-edged sword. People who do it can get a taste of whatever they're interested in, or a game that while amazing, has a low chance of making it overseas...
and if they like it they can buy it and support the developer or even become a fan! -But they can also just choose not to, it's like a more effective form of advertising that way... Albeit with the obvious risk of lost money.
Or if enough people find out about a game that devs weren't planning to translate but like it they can let them know and push for an overseas release.
In short, it's not an entirely good thing for the industry but it
does have it's upsides, and while you can't guarantee a purchase in an instance where the game
can be pirated, you still can't guarantee one where it
can't be, either.