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"Gaming in a criminals world"

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Tue 07/08/01 at 23:25
Regular
Posts: 787
I have just had this idea. Don't really know where it came from but i'll write it down. Don't know if it is worth the read but if you have time please read it. The other day I wrote a topic about piracy, In everyones view piracy seems to be a bad thing but there are others who disagree with everything that has been said before. They are the criminals who copy the games and sell them on to make themselves a pretty penny (usually quite alot of pretty pennys).

So why am I telling you this, don't really know. I myself used to copy games, before you judge me please read on.
It was a long time ago, I was about 12 maybe 13 and I owned an Amiga. At that stage everybody I knew that owned an Amiga copied games and gave them to friends. I didn't even think twice about doing it as I didn't know it was wrong. Sometime I used to go to a market in Glasgow on the weekends to get copies of the newest games at dirt-cheap prices. These guys made a living out of selling games and it wasn't until a few years later I realised just how bad piracy was and the real effects of piracy.

Piracy is a major problem but its a problem that will never go away. No matter how good the technology to stop it is there will always be a way round it. The main problem lies within society itself. Until the people who buy and sell them realise that its wrong it will never stop. So why am I going on about this, The other day I was walking through the street and a guy asked me if I wanted to buy a PS2 game. It obviously wasn't his and since you can't copy them (yet) how would he make his money, he steals then sells them for £10 less than the shops. I turned him down and walked away. I stopped and looked back and waited to see him approach a few more people before a few policeman shouted then chased him and arrested him for stealing.

All this made me think, are some people really that bad, the answer is yes. But is there a victim in all this? Ok so stealing and piracy is wrong but these large companies can afford the effects, if they couldn't then they would stop making games. Do you honestly think if piracy stopped and no longer happened that game prices would drop, I don't.

Im getting a bit side-tracked so I'll get back to the main point. People who copy games. Recently I went back to the market that I used to buy amiga games. I used to buy imports for my PSX (they weren't copies but I don't know if they were stolen or not) The same guys were now selling PSX games (copies) I decided to ask why they sold them.
He had no problems telling me, Here is roughly what he said.
Why should you pay £30 for something you can buy for a fiver. Or with PC software something that costs over £300 that I can sell for £15. This is how I make my money. People copy music onto tapes for friends, copy videos and dowload music and films from the web. What I do is no different other than the software companies make such a big issue over it. If all the money went to the people who made the game It would be fine but it dosn't. It gets split and alot goes to the people who sell it which is wrong. The only reason they make it a big issue is because they are greedy and want more money from people like you gamers. They don't care about you at all.

I wasn't sure if he was just trying to get me to buy games or if he truely ment what he was saying. But how much of it is actualy true. I don't think people understand the true issues of piracy enough. Its wrong plain and simple and more should be done to get this message across to the people, not spent trying to modify hardware to stop it. Also do the developers really care about us, as long as we buy the games they are happy. I'll stop now as I have probably bored you all. : )
Thanks for reading.
AliBoy
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:56
Regular
"+34 Intellect"
Posts: 21,334
Yeah,if games were cheaper piracy would become inpractical, because more people would buy games and consoles.
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:48
Regular
"Want a cd key.."
Posts: 3,443
If the high street prices would drop maybe piracy would die down a bit. It will never die but hell its worth a try.
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:39
Regular
"Picking a winner!"
Posts: 8,502
One thing about the amiga now that you mention it again. How succesful do you think it could have been if piracy wasn't such a huge problem for it. Do you think they would continued to work on games and consoles and still be pretty succesful?
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:38
Regular
"+34 Intellect"
Posts: 21,334
On piracy i take the same stance as the man you talked to at the market, piracy may be wrong, but so is ripping people off!
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:37
Posts: 15,443
I'm glad you mentioned the Amiga in there.
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:33
"I love yo... lamp."
Posts: 19,577
Piracy is a problem. It weakens the gaming market. But if it was not there it would probably not be better for the consumer or the maker. I do not buy pirates but I can understand the temptation to do so. I do not know what the solution is. Other than making the hard ware more sophisticated until it can tell if it is a copy or not piracy will not go away.
Tue 07/08/01 at 23:25
Regular
"Picking a winner!"
Posts: 8,502
I have just had this idea. Don't really know where it came from but i'll write it down. Don't know if it is worth the read but if you have time please read it. The other day I wrote a topic about piracy, In everyones view piracy seems to be a bad thing but there are others who disagree with everything that has been said before. They are the criminals who copy the games and sell them on to make themselves a pretty penny (usually quite alot of pretty pennys).

So why am I telling you this, don't really know. I myself used to copy games, before you judge me please read on.
It was a long time ago, I was about 12 maybe 13 and I owned an Amiga. At that stage everybody I knew that owned an Amiga copied games and gave them to friends. I didn't even think twice about doing it as I didn't know it was wrong. Sometime I used to go to a market in Glasgow on the weekends to get copies of the newest games at dirt-cheap prices. These guys made a living out of selling games and it wasn't until a few years later I realised just how bad piracy was and the real effects of piracy.

Piracy is a major problem but its a problem that will never go away. No matter how good the technology to stop it is there will always be a way round it. The main problem lies within society itself. Until the people who buy and sell them realise that its wrong it will never stop. So why am I going on about this, The other day I was walking through the street and a guy asked me if I wanted to buy a PS2 game. It obviously wasn't his and since you can't copy them (yet) how would he make his money, he steals then sells them for £10 less than the shops. I turned him down and walked away. I stopped and looked back and waited to see him approach a few more people before a few policeman shouted then chased him and arrested him for stealing.

All this made me think, are some people really that bad, the answer is yes. But is there a victim in all this? Ok so stealing and piracy is wrong but these large companies can afford the effects, if they couldn't then they would stop making games. Do you honestly think if piracy stopped and no longer happened that game prices would drop, I don't.

Im getting a bit side-tracked so I'll get back to the main point. People who copy games. Recently I went back to the market that I used to buy amiga games. I used to buy imports for my PSX (they weren't copies but I don't know if they were stolen or not) The same guys were now selling PSX games (copies) I decided to ask why they sold them.
He had no problems telling me, Here is roughly what he said.
Why should you pay £30 for something you can buy for a fiver. Or with PC software something that costs over £300 that I can sell for £15. This is how I make my money. People copy music onto tapes for friends, copy videos and dowload music and films from the web. What I do is no different other than the software companies make such a big issue over it. If all the money went to the people who made the game It would be fine but it dosn't. It gets split and alot goes to the people who sell it which is wrong. The only reason they make it a big issue is because they are greedy and want more money from people like you gamers. They don't care about you at all.

I wasn't sure if he was just trying to get me to buy games or if he truely ment what he was saying. But how much of it is actualy true. I don't think people understand the true issues of piracy enough. Its wrong plain and simple and more should be done to get this message across to the people, not spent trying to modify hardware to stop it. Also do the developers really care about us, as long as we buy the games they are happy. I'll stop now as I have probably bored you all. : )
Thanks for reading.
AliBoy

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