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Does anyone know what the latest progress on chipping PS2's is? When they first came out it was supposedly possible, but now i hear that there is no safe way to chip PS2's.
Does anyone know? It would be the greatest thing ever if it was...
Does anyone know? It would be the greatest thing ever if it was...
Page:
You can't take a definative argument against piracy off SegaWeb. It's like taking a definative arguement for terrorism from an IRA board.
He has good points in his article though, but this subject is VERY misty.
90% of all Russian/Asian games are copies.... That is because of organised crime, which I am very much against.
+ I should imagine Russians have more important things to spend their money on, like food.
I take it you have a job FM and can afford games like me. That's nice for us.
Remember don't get angry with me, I'm just trying to provoke discussion!
He has good points in his article though, but this subject is VERY misty.
90% of all Russian/Asian games are copies.... That is because of organised crime, which I am very much against.
+ I should imagine Russians have more important things to spend their money on, like food.
I take it you have a job FM and can afford games like me. That's nice for us.
Remember don't get angry with me, I'm just trying to provoke discussion!
Tellah wrote:
> As a programmer also, you have to
> admit that your knowledge in the main comes from copying other
> peoples code and design examples, and re-working them for yourself
> (illegal if without permission). It's all part of developing your
> own style.
Ah, yes - but the key word is 'adapting'. By the very nature of programming, there are few ways of achieving a given result, so some lines of code will be the same.
But this example would have you writing your own version of the game, rather than directly copying someone elses!
So... go and write me your version of MGS2, and let me have a copy for nothing!
> As a programmer also, you have to
> admit that your knowledge in the main comes from copying other
> peoples code and design examples, and re-working them for yourself
> (illegal if without permission). It's all part of developing your
> own style.
Ah, yes - but the key word is 'adapting'. By the very nature of programming, there are few ways of achieving a given result, so some lines of code will be the same.
But this example would have you writing your own version of the game, rather than directly copying someone elses!
So... go and write me your version of MGS2, and let me have a copy for nothing!
It's not the same though...
It's more like:
FM sees Tallah's nice house.
FM can't afford a house like that.
FM thinks Tellah is filthy rich.
FM builds a copy of Tellah's house.
Would you not agree??
FM
> sees Tellah's nice house. FM can't afford a house like that. FM
> thinks Tellah is filthy rich.
FM takes Tellah's house.
It's more like:
FM sees Tallah's nice house.
FM can't afford a house like that.
FM thinks Tellah is filthy rich.
FM builds a copy of Tellah's house.
Would you not agree??
FM
> sees Tellah's nice house. FM can't afford a house like that. FM
> thinks Tellah is filthy rich.
FM takes Tellah's house.
Yeah. Fair points which I agree with in the main.
I would like to see some figures to see exactly how much is lost through casual copying. NB: Actual loss, i.e. games that would have been paid for that were copied. That way we would actually be able to see how much the industry is loosing, not claiming to lose because of the number of copies made, which in no way reflects loss to the industry.
The only people the police, sony etc. are interested in is organised piracy. Would the police be interested in talking to me if I admitted having a copied PS game? I doubt it, so why should we?? Maybe a quick call to see who I bought it from if I didn't do it myself. I don't know, I have to admit to guessing here. Maybe they would give me 5 years ;-).
As a programmer also, you have to admit that your knowledge in the main comes from copying other peoples code and design examples, and re-working them for yourself (illegal if without permission). It's all part of developing your own style.
As a note, I had a very happy period in my early teens, where I had a Super Famicom and a Magicom game copier. I amassed around 100 snes games, which I would never of been able to have bought, and they made me very happy.
I would like to know that other kids could do as I did (and you did), and get poor quality copies of games if they want. There will always be the majority of people like you and me in our older age, who will buy the games because we can afford them.
Do you honestly want to see 10 year olds only being able to get 1 or 2 games a year when we were getting 40-50? Even gameboy titles are 30 quid.
'Think of the children!', 'Do it for the children!' ;-)
Good discussion by the way. :-)
I would like to see some figures to see exactly how much is lost through casual copying. NB: Actual loss, i.e. games that would have been paid for that were copied. That way we would actually be able to see how much the industry is loosing, not claiming to lose because of the number of copies made, which in no way reflects loss to the industry.
The only people the police, sony etc. are interested in is organised piracy. Would the police be interested in talking to me if I admitted having a copied PS game? I doubt it, so why should we?? Maybe a quick call to see who I bought it from if I didn't do it myself. I don't know, I have to admit to guessing here. Maybe they would give me 5 years ;-).
As a programmer also, you have to admit that your knowledge in the main comes from copying other peoples code and design examples, and re-working them for yourself (illegal if without permission). It's all part of developing your own style.
As a note, I had a very happy period in my early teens, where I had a Super Famicom and a Magicom game copier. I amassed around 100 snes games, which I would never of been able to have bought, and they made me very happy.
I would like to know that other kids could do as I did (and you did), and get poor quality copies of games if they want. There will always be the majority of people like you and me in our older age, who will buy the games because we can afford them.
Do you honestly want to see 10 year olds only being able to get 1 or 2 games a year when we were getting 40-50? Even gameboy titles are 30 quid.
'Think of the children!', 'Do it for the children!' ;-)
Good discussion by the way. :-)
A definitive argument against piracy? Here's an edited article straight off SegaWeb by Abbas Anwar, I've just taken the main points from his discussion, feel free to read the whole thing at the link at the end.
"Why is piracy so bad and can it actually be put to an end?
Some of you probably don't know why software piracy is such a horrible aspect of the gaming industry. You might think that burning a game won't cause much of a problem for a big gaming company since you're only ripping them off one game. If that gaming corporation is ripped off 40 or 50 bucks because of you its no big deal, right? Not really. Once you get the hang of copying games, you don't stop. In truth, most development house are actually quite small businesses, usually consisting of only 50-100 employees. If you think about it, the development cycle is 18-24 months and even up to three years to create a grade 'A' title. Those are long hard months in which developers put in hours of their precious time just so you can have some fun.
Furthermore, creating any type of game is extremely expensive (Shenmue anyone?). Game production may cost upwards of 2 to 3 million dollars and that doesn't even take into consideration paying around $40k to $50k to an average of 30 employees every year. Then you look at marketing and manufacturing which is another million dollars or so. Finally, development houses will spend hours of extra time doing the little things such as building and updating websites, making demos, press releases, interviews, and much more.
Yet, there are still people that claim that they copy games because buying them off the shelves is just way to expensive. Some even say that game prices are rising and finding a good price is almost impossible. Well, that's just plain ludicrous if you ask me.
First of all, paying $40 to $50 for a game that took a diverse group of programmers, designers, artists, producers, product managers, manufacturers, and testers a good two years to create might not be as expensive as it sounds. Seriously, $40 or $50 is actually a generous price if you consider the hard work, hardships, money, and creative thinking that make up the complex development process.
Secondly, game prices have actually dropped significantly in the last four or five years. I remember back when the Nintendo 64 was first released you couldn't find a game for under $50 or $60. Actually, back then the game prices were one of the main reasons I did not purchase a Nintendo 64. Nowadays, though, most games are released with a low to mid $40 price tag, a notable drop in prices.
However, some people will still argue that they can't afford that kind of money (mostly the younger types). Well, there are many ways to make money, including something called a job. If that's not in your league, you can always wait till the game comes out used. Used games are considerably lower than new games, usually $10 to $20 less. Even more, you can find many games online for cheap prices. Yet there are still lousy game pirates out there who continue to copy games illegally and sell them. Personally, I think it is a disgrace to the gaming industry if a customer would rather buy a pirated game than pay a measly $20 extra.
Here are some disturbing stats on game piracy: According to the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) piracy losses exceeded $12 billion worldwide in 1999. In addition, piracy losses topped $59 billion during the past five years. These software piracy estimates indicate that more than one in every three software applications in use in 1999 were pirated copies. In Russia and Asia alone, the most active pirate markets, 90% of all software sales were pirated copies.
With these shocking numbers, pirated games may not only effect game developers and publishers, but the whole gaming community as a whole. Piracy diverts the hard earned money from the legal retail sales that fund the future gaming research and projects. That means the money lost due to piracy could have helped to develop thousands of new and unique games for the people that play by the rules. In addition, not only will game prices rise as a result, but game quality will deteriorate as developers won't have substantial funding to create a great game. In the end, pirates not only hurt game developers and publishers, they also hurt the consumer and that's why it's such a terrible part of the industry."
Full Article at http://www.segaweb.com/ features/piracy.html
"Why is piracy so bad and can it actually be put to an end?
Some of you probably don't know why software piracy is such a horrible aspect of the gaming industry. You might think that burning a game won't cause much of a problem for a big gaming company since you're only ripping them off one game. If that gaming corporation is ripped off 40 or 50 bucks because of you its no big deal, right? Not really. Once you get the hang of copying games, you don't stop. In truth, most development house are actually quite small businesses, usually consisting of only 50-100 employees. If you think about it, the development cycle is 18-24 months and even up to three years to create a grade 'A' title. Those are long hard months in which developers put in hours of their precious time just so you can have some fun.
Furthermore, creating any type of game is extremely expensive (Shenmue anyone?). Game production may cost upwards of 2 to 3 million dollars and that doesn't even take into consideration paying around $40k to $50k to an average of 30 employees every year. Then you look at marketing and manufacturing which is another million dollars or so. Finally, development houses will spend hours of extra time doing the little things such as building and updating websites, making demos, press releases, interviews, and much more.
Yet, there are still people that claim that they copy games because buying them off the shelves is just way to expensive. Some even say that game prices are rising and finding a good price is almost impossible. Well, that's just plain ludicrous if you ask me.
First of all, paying $40 to $50 for a game that took a diverse group of programmers, designers, artists, producers, product managers, manufacturers, and testers a good two years to create might not be as expensive as it sounds. Seriously, $40 or $50 is actually a generous price if you consider the hard work, hardships, money, and creative thinking that make up the complex development process.
Secondly, game prices have actually dropped significantly in the last four or five years. I remember back when the Nintendo 64 was first released you couldn't find a game for under $50 or $60. Actually, back then the game prices were one of the main reasons I did not purchase a Nintendo 64. Nowadays, though, most games are released with a low to mid $40 price tag, a notable drop in prices.
However, some people will still argue that they can't afford that kind of money (mostly the younger types). Well, there are many ways to make money, including something called a job. If that's not in your league, you can always wait till the game comes out used. Used games are considerably lower than new games, usually $10 to $20 less. Even more, you can find many games online for cheap prices. Yet there are still lousy game pirates out there who continue to copy games illegally and sell them. Personally, I think it is a disgrace to the gaming industry if a customer would rather buy a pirated game than pay a measly $20 extra.
Here are some disturbing stats on game piracy: According to the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) piracy losses exceeded $12 billion worldwide in 1999. In addition, piracy losses topped $59 billion during the past five years. These software piracy estimates indicate that more than one in every three software applications in use in 1999 were pirated copies. In Russia and Asia alone, the most active pirate markets, 90% of all software sales were pirated copies.
With these shocking numbers, pirated games may not only effect game developers and publishers, but the whole gaming community as a whole. Piracy diverts the hard earned money from the legal retail sales that fund the future gaming research and projects. That means the money lost due to piracy could have helped to develop thousands of new and unique games for the people that play by the rules. In addition, not only will game prices rise as a result, but game quality will deteriorate as developers won't have substantial funding to create a great game. In the end, pirates not only hurt game developers and publishers, they also hurt the consumer and that's why it's such a terrible part of the industry."
Full Article at http://www.segaweb.com/ features/piracy.html
Tellah wrote:
> but when it comes down to it.
> I see people that cannot afford to pay for games they want, and I
> see filthy rich developers and retailers like Dixons making
> millions. Theft it may be, but it is information theft, and I
> believe the Nissan metaphore, as with any physical product, is not a
> good one as nothing tangible has been taken. Perhaps copying
> someones essay / homework etc. is a better one?
FM sees Tellah's nice house. FM can't afford a house like that. FM thinks Tellah is filthy rich.
FM takes Tellah's house.
> but when it comes down to it.
> I see people that cannot afford to pay for games they want, and I
> see filthy rich developers and retailers like Dixons making
> millions. Theft it may be, but it is information theft, and I
> believe the Nissan metaphore, as with any physical product, is not a
> good one as nothing tangible has been taken. Perhaps copying
> someones essay / homework etc. is a better one?
FM sees Tellah's nice house. FM can't afford a house like that. FM thinks Tellah is filthy rich.
FM takes Tellah's house.
Tellah wrote:
> I wouldn't say that because I have Star Wars on VHS that
> I recorded a long, long time ago off the telly, that I am
> hurting George Lucus's wallet. Would you?
No, but then again, that equates more (though not completely) to the 'emulation' aspect of games; whereby you can't actually buy the original product any more, so downloading them is the only way to get hold of them.
Of course, you could buy Star Wars on video, but as you can see the movie 'free' on TV at least once a year, they won't make such a big deal out of it. However, copying the DVD when it finally becomes available may be viewed differently.
>I understand what you are saying Wookie, but when it comes down to it.
> I see people that cannot afford to pay for games they want, and I
> see filthy rich developers and retailers like Dixons making
> millions.
Game prices could be lower, and maybe that would reduce piracy - but you're still going to get those who want games (or movies or music) for free. If I spend weeks/months/years developing a game (a) for your enjoyment, and (b) to earn myself a wage, what gives you the right to take it for nothing? I will eventually think "Sod this!" and go and do something else.
> The developers profits more than make up for casual pirates.
Sorry, but that's still an excuse to avoid paying for it, IMHO.
> Cracking down on the organised piracy, as they do with
> the music and video industry, that's the key.
Now that I agree with. If they crack down on those, then they can lower the prices, which *may* at least in turn reduce (if not remove) the casual home pirates.
> For anyone to feel strongly against home piracy, IMHO, is miss-placed.
Well, I wouldn't say I felt strongly about it. As I said earlier, I have been there and done it myself, so I can't exactly put people down for it. The arguments I'm making here are just really documenting how my opinions have changed, and saying that I hope others will at least consider buying legit games when they are able.
Also, as a programmer, I know how long it can take to develop software, and I know how I'd feel if some git just decided they didn't want to pay fo my work.
Of course, these days, you can rent games for next to nothing, so some might argue that there's even less reason for casual piracy!
> I wouldn't say that because I have Star Wars on VHS that
> I recorded a long, long time ago off the telly, that I am
> hurting George Lucus's wallet. Would you?
No, but then again, that equates more (though not completely) to the 'emulation' aspect of games; whereby you can't actually buy the original product any more, so downloading them is the only way to get hold of them.
Of course, you could buy Star Wars on video, but as you can see the movie 'free' on TV at least once a year, they won't make such a big deal out of it. However, copying the DVD when it finally becomes available may be viewed differently.
>I understand what you are saying Wookie, but when it comes down to it.
> I see people that cannot afford to pay for games they want, and I
> see filthy rich developers and retailers like Dixons making
> millions.
Game prices could be lower, and maybe that would reduce piracy - but you're still going to get those who want games (or movies or music) for free. If I spend weeks/months/years developing a game (a) for your enjoyment, and (b) to earn myself a wage, what gives you the right to take it for nothing? I will eventually think "Sod this!" and go and do something else.
> The developers profits more than make up for casual pirates.
Sorry, but that's still an excuse to avoid paying for it, IMHO.
> Cracking down on the organised piracy, as they do with
> the music and video industry, that's the key.
Now that I agree with. If they crack down on those, then they can lower the prices, which *may* at least in turn reduce (if not remove) the casual home pirates.
> For anyone to feel strongly against home piracy, IMHO, is miss-placed.
Well, I wouldn't say I felt strongly about it. As I said earlier, I have been there and done it myself, so I can't exactly put people down for it. The arguments I'm making here are just really documenting how my opinions have changed, and saying that I hope others will at least consider buying legit games when they are able.
Also, as a programmer, I know how long it can take to develop software, and I know how I'd feel if some git just decided they didn't want to pay fo my work.
Of course, these days, you can rent games for next to nothing, so some might argue that there's even less reason for casual piracy!
The games industry is turning into something much more like the music or film industry, where piracy is common place. I wouldn't say that because I have Star Wars on VHS that I recorded a long, long time ago off the telly, that I am hurting George Lucus's wallet. Would you? I also have a copied George Michael tape, but Sony wouldn't prosecute me would they?
What is the difference with games?
Perhaps it is because games cost more? I'm not sure.
I understand what you are saying Wookie, but when it comes down to it. I see people that cannot afford to pay for games they want, and I see filthy rich developers and retailers like Dixons making millions. Theft it may be, but it is information theft, and I believe the Nissan metaphore, as with any physical product, is not a good one as nothing tangible has been taken. Perhaps copying someones essay / homework etc. is a better one?
The developers profits more than make up for casual pirates. Cracking down on the organised piracy, as they do with the music and video industry, that's the key.
For anyone to feel strongly against home piracy, IMHO, is miss-placed.
What is the difference with games?
Perhaps it is because games cost more? I'm not sure.
I understand what you are saying Wookie, but when it comes down to it. I see people that cannot afford to pay for games they want, and I see filthy rich developers and retailers like Dixons making millions. Theft it may be, but it is information theft, and I believe the Nissan metaphore, as with any physical product, is not a good one as nothing tangible has been taken. Perhaps copying someones essay / homework etc. is a better one?
The developers profits more than make up for casual pirates. Cracking down on the organised piracy, as they do with the music and video industry, that's the key.
For anyone to feel strongly against home piracy, IMHO, is miss-placed.
Tellah wrote:
> If I am not going to buy the game
> because it is sub-standard, or too expensive then why not own a copy
> of it?
But is a game is sub-standard, why would you even want an illegal copy of it?
> Did the moment you stop copying games coincided with you
> getting your first paid job at 18 WM?
It did indeed.
> I would predict that the
> people on these forums that are against piracy can afford a game
> when they want one. The rest are at school / uni, or can't afford
> the originals.
While that may be very true, the fact that you can't afford something does not give you the right to take it without paying for it.
> I don't think that copying a game is like walking
> into a shop and stealing an original. Surely it is more like taking
> a copy of someone elses original? You're not inflicting retail,
> individual production losses etc.
You are, because the developer loses out on their share, and the retailer loses out on theirs. If I bought one copy of Onimusha and copied it for everyone I know with a PS2, my local store would lose out on hundreds of pounds. If everyone did the same with other games around the country, the retailer would go broke; apply this logic domino-style, and you end up with no retailers to buy your game from to copy in the first place.
Think of a games store as a car showroom. I want a Nissan Skyline, but I can't afford one. Does that give me the right to steal one from the showroom?
> If a game is good, people are going to BUY it because of the reasons I
> mentioned above, and the company is going to do amazingly well.
> I always believed it was the companies that produced rubbish that
> folded.
Like you, I prefer to buy games so that I have the manual, box etc. But not everyone is like that. Most people these days are of the opinion "why should I pay for it if I can get if for free?" Let's face it, if that weren't the case, casual piracy wouldn't exist!
>I seriously believe that Sony could reduce piracy if they
> really wanted to by having global release dates.
I think that would certainly help quite a bit, but it wouldn't eradicate piracy.
> Let's face it, the reason I would think about getting my PS2 chipped is to play GT3 a
> month or so ago, and MGS2 pre 2001. I.e. to play imports.
That's a fair point, but personally I'm patient enough to wait, especially as sometimes the delay allows for improvements - take Tekken Tag for instance, which looked much better after they'd tidied up the graphics.
Also regarding imports... I know you can get US imports, but I've never understood the desire to get Japanese imports months before the US/UK release. Something like the Resident Evil games or MGS (1 or 2), which are driven by fairly hefty plotlines, would be useless unless you could read/understand Japanese. For me, a marginally slower game with borders is a small price to pay in exchange for a proper English version.
> If I am not going to buy the game
> because it is sub-standard, or too expensive then why not own a copy
> of it?
But is a game is sub-standard, why would you even want an illegal copy of it?
> Did the moment you stop copying games coincided with you
> getting your first paid job at 18 WM?
It did indeed.
> I would predict that the
> people on these forums that are against piracy can afford a game
> when they want one. The rest are at school / uni, or can't afford
> the originals.
While that may be very true, the fact that you can't afford something does not give you the right to take it without paying for it.
> I don't think that copying a game is like walking
> into a shop and stealing an original. Surely it is more like taking
> a copy of someone elses original? You're not inflicting retail,
> individual production losses etc.
You are, because the developer loses out on their share, and the retailer loses out on theirs. If I bought one copy of Onimusha and copied it for everyone I know with a PS2, my local store would lose out on hundreds of pounds. If everyone did the same with other games around the country, the retailer would go broke; apply this logic domino-style, and you end up with no retailers to buy your game from to copy in the first place.
Think of a games store as a car showroom. I want a Nissan Skyline, but I can't afford one. Does that give me the right to steal one from the showroom?
> If a game is good, people are going to BUY it because of the reasons I
> mentioned above, and the company is going to do amazingly well.
> I always believed it was the companies that produced rubbish that
> folded.
Like you, I prefer to buy games so that I have the manual, box etc. But not everyone is like that. Most people these days are of the opinion "why should I pay for it if I can get if for free?" Let's face it, if that weren't the case, casual piracy wouldn't exist!
>I seriously believe that Sony could reduce piracy if they
> really wanted to by having global release dates.
I think that would certainly help quite a bit, but it wouldn't eradicate piracy.
> Let's face it, the reason I would think about getting my PS2 chipped is to play GT3 a
> month or so ago, and MGS2 pre 2001. I.e. to play imports.
That's a fair point, but personally I'm patient enough to wait, especially as sometimes the delay allows for improvements - take Tekken Tag for instance, which looked much better after they'd tidied up the graphics.
Also regarding imports... I know you can get US imports, but I've never understood the desire to get Japanese imports months before the US/UK release. Something like the Resident Evil games or MGS (1 or 2), which are driven by fairly hefty plotlines, would be useless unless you could read/understand Japanese. For me, a marginally slower game with borders is a small price to pay in exchange for a proper English version.
This is an interesting topic, and I have a few views on it you may (or may not) be interested to hear.
I don't think that someone's mate who owns a CDW is going to use the profits from copying games to start an international drugs/gun running cartel. Although I see your point FM that people who mix with illegal dealings have their fingers in one or more other pies. Copying the games yourself or with friends would then surely eliminate this problem.
I would like to backup my games incase of damage, and CDs are relativly easily damaged. It's perfeclty legal to backup games, and illegal to stop people backing up games (by introducing copy protection). The millions that are spend in copy protection is infact illegal, and the way the manufacturers get away with it is because they call the copy protection 'back up bugs' (faults with the game).
Why do I buy games? I'm going to buy games for the whole package if I want it. I'm going to buy it for the box, the instructions, the sleeve etc. All are part of the product, not just the game. I would say the game itself is 85% of the fun, 5% is wanting it and buying it from a shop, 2% opening it, etc.
If I am not going to buy the game because it is sub-standard, or too expensive then why not own a copy of it?
Did the moment you stop copying games coincided with you getting your first paid job at 18 WM? I would predict that the people on these forums that are against piracy can afford a game when they want one. The rest are at school / uni, or can't afford the originals.
I don't think that copying a game is like walking into a shop and stealing an original. Surely it is more like taking a copy of someone elses original? You're not inflicting retail, individual production losses etc. No one is any the wiser.
I have never heard of a games company / film company / music company etc. going bust because of piracy. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. If a game is good, people are going to BUY it because of the reasons I mentioned above, and the company is going to do amazingly well.
I always believed it was the companies that produced rubbish that folded.
I seriously believe that Sony could reduce piracy if they really wanted to by having global release dates. Let's face it, the reason I would think about getting my PS2 chipped is to play GT3 a month or so ago, and MGS2 pre 2001. I.e. to play imports.
If my machines is equiped to play imports, then it is likely to play backups too at no additional cost.
Feel free to argue, but please refrain from personal insults.
I don't think that someone's mate who owns a CDW is going to use the profits from copying games to start an international drugs/gun running cartel. Although I see your point FM that people who mix with illegal dealings have their fingers in one or more other pies. Copying the games yourself or with friends would then surely eliminate this problem.
I would like to backup my games incase of damage, and CDs are relativly easily damaged. It's perfeclty legal to backup games, and illegal to stop people backing up games (by introducing copy protection). The millions that are spend in copy protection is infact illegal, and the way the manufacturers get away with it is because they call the copy protection 'back up bugs' (faults with the game).
Why do I buy games? I'm going to buy games for the whole package if I want it. I'm going to buy it for the box, the instructions, the sleeve etc. All are part of the product, not just the game. I would say the game itself is 85% of the fun, 5% is wanting it and buying it from a shop, 2% opening it, etc.
If I am not going to buy the game because it is sub-standard, or too expensive then why not own a copy of it?
Did the moment you stop copying games coincided with you getting your first paid job at 18 WM? I would predict that the people on these forums that are against piracy can afford a game when they want one. The rest are at school / uni, or can't afford the originals.
I don't think that copying a game is like walking into a shop and stealing an original. Surely it is more like taking a copy of someone elses original? You're not inflicting retail, individual production losses etc. No one is any the wiser.
I have never heard of a games company / film company / music company etc. going bust because of piracy. Perhaps someone could enlighten me. If a game is good, people are going to BUY it because of the reasons I mentioned above, and the company is going to do amazingly well.
I always believed it was the companies that produced rubbish that folded.
I seriously believe that Sony could reduce piracy if they really wanted to by having global release dates. Let's face it, the reason I would think about getting my PS2 chipped is to play GT3 a month or so ago, and MGS2 pre 2001. I.e. to play imports.
If my machines is equiped to play imports, then it is likely to play backups too at no additional cost.
Feel free to argue, but please refrain from personal insults.
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