Piracy: When is it ok?

Obviously pirating recent releases on PC for instance is wrong, bad for the industry as a whole, and a big problem.

But what about SNES games that would cost you over $100 to buy out of rarity, of which none goes to publishers, as well as the inconvenience of keeping an old system connected? Or hard to find rare PC titles from yesteryear, such as lucasarts adventures?

Buying these games often doesn't mean supporting the industry, since publishers won't make any money from them, but gives gamers a whole pool of titles to appreciate and enjoy. Is it still wrong to pirate them? Or is it good for gamers to enjoy older titles and good for games in general that these titles can still get played, simply for their own merits, as opposed to being products with a bottom line?

Never.

I think it is still wrong to pirate them, indeed. Of course, it's nice to enjoy older titles, but that doesn't make it right, even if the games are not available elsewhere. The justification for piracy is silly. If I can't get a product, I live without it.

The only understanding I can see from pirating would be if you live in a country that will never see some games or the pricing is ridiculous because publishers do not support the country. The developers wouldn't be getting money from these people anyway. Even so, it's still wrong, in my opinion. You have to live without some things you want, so why can't you live without a game?

Most people are too morally bankrupt to be able to distinguish between when it's "ok" and when it's "not ok", even if there's some sort of standard in place.

I don't think there is anything wrong with pirating a game that you would have to buy from someone off EBay or some other stupid re-seller. There are games out with no companies to attach the names to, so who would you be stealing from, if you consider piracy stealing? Nobody.

Obviously, playing older snes or any other older system on my your pc is illegal.  So, in a sense, piracy is never "ok".

However, if you are trying to justify your decesion to pirate something, then I think that it's ok to do so when a game is out of print or production.

People against pirating older games often work in a similar industry or just really believe in upholding the copyright law, even though it doesn't necessarily hurt anyone. 

I buy products I think are worth the money, for example, I own all the LOTR films in special edition and have seen them all in the cinema.

"Never.

I think it is still wrong to pirate them, indeed. Of course, it's nice to enjoy older titles, but that doesn't make it right, even if the games are not available elsewhere. The justification for piracy is silly. If I can't get a product, I live without it.

The only understanding I can see from pirating would be if you live in a country that will never see some games or the pricing is ridiculous because publishers do not support the country. The developers wouldn't be getting money from these people anyway. Even so, it's still wrong, in my opinion. You have to live without some things you want, so why can't you live without a game?"

When it comes to those old NES, SNES, Genesis type games, ones that have been LONG out of print, I don't considering downloading a ROM to be "piracy". If I download Yo! Noid, Capcom and Nintendo aren't losing out on any money at all.

"Obviously, playing older snes or any other older system on my your pc is illegal.  So, in a sense, piracy is never "ok".

However, if you are trying to justify your decesion to pirate something, then I think that it's ok to do so when a game is out of print or production.

People against pirating older games often work in a similar industry or just really believe in upholding the copyright law, even though it doesn't necessarily hurt anyone. "

A lot of you out there saying pirating old games is ok must be unaware of the fact that Nintendo sells a lot of old games and more of them every day on the virtual console.  If you can't get it there, then you can't legally get it.  And as the young man up there said, that's life.  If you have games you're emulating with your computer, it is illegal and probably not a moral thing to do under any circumstances.

All of you saying "Who am I robbing if I would have to get the game off of ebay?"  The answer is simple, the person who originally purchased the game, kept it in good condition, and now wants to sell it to you on ebay.  So what if the company isn't getting a cut, they at least get the notoriety of having a "rare but desiareble" game.

When it comes to games, when there's no way to buy the game from the publisher.
If you can't, what does it matter?  The devs won't benefit from it.

Sure, it's against the law, but I think you could see the merit to that.  The truth is that there should be no reason for something being rare.
A digital version doesn't exactly end up in a collection anyway

"A lot of you out there saying pirating old games is ok must be unaware of the fact that Nintendo sells a lot of old games and more of them every day on the virtual console.  If you can't get it there, then you can't legally get it.  And as the young man up there said, that's life.  If you have games you're emulating with your computer, it is illegal and probably not a moral thing to do under any circumstances.

"A lot of you out there saying pirating old games is ok must be unaware of the fact that Nintendo sells a lot of old games and more of them every day on the virtual console.  If you can't get it there, then you can't legally get it.  And as the young man up there said, that's life.  If you have games you're emulating with your computer, it is illegal and probably not a moral thing to do under any circumstances.

All of you saying "Who am I robbing if I would have to get the game off of ebay?"  The answer is simple, the person who originally purchased the game, kept it in good condition, and now wants to sell it to you on ebay.  So what if the company isn't getting a cut, they at least get the notoriety of having a "rare but desiareble" game.
"

It's true that piracy and buying used games both have the same consequence for the developer (speaking of games that are still in circulation). They aren't getting that money. The difference is that buying used items is not illegal and piracy is.

I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer.

There are several older games (PC at least) that have been declared as freeware by developers, and I think it would be good if companies announced their older titles as freeware as well, IF they don't plan on re-releasing the title again.

"It's true that piracy and buying used games both have the same consequence for the developer (speaking of games that are still in circulation). They aren't getting that money. The difference is that buying used items is not illegal and piracy is.."

"I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer."

"Obviously pirating recent releases on PC for instance is wrong, bad for the industry as a whole, and a big problem.

But what about SNES games that would cost you over $100 to buy out of rarity, of which none goes to publishers, as well as the inconvenience of keeping an old system connected? Or hard to find rare PC titles from yesteryear, such as lucasarts adventures?

Buying these games often doesn't mean supporting the industry, since publishers won't make any money from them, but gives gamers a whole pool of titles to appreciate and enjoy. Is it still wrong to pirate them? Or is it good for gamers to enjoy older titles and good for games in general that these titles can still get played, simply for their own merits, as opposed to being products with a bottom line?"

I would say its okay when you can't find a really, really old game like from the SNES or NES era.

It's never REALLY ok, but I don't think anyone is going to worry too much if you download some abandonware game.

When it doesnt affect the sales of the original content. I.E. recording a live concert and distributing it.

brukaoru said:

"I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer."

Hogwash. Prove it.
"

"I think this is kinda true actually. There's no proof, but once people pirate a game, perhaps an older rom or something, and break that barrier, it's not such a big step to do it with a major, recent release.
"

"Jayge said:

brukaoru said:

"I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer."

Hogwash. Prove it.
"

I think this is kinda true actually. There's no proof, but once people pirate a game, perhaps an older rom or something, and break that barrier, it's not such a big step to do it with a major, recent release.
"

"It's true that piracy and buying used games both have the same consequence for the developer (speaking of games that are still in circulation). They aren't getting that money. The difference is that buying used items is not illegal and piracy is.

I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer.

There are several older games (PC at least) that have been declared as freeware by developers, and I think it would be good if companies announced their older titles as freeware as well, IF they don't plan on re-releasing the title again."

"But what about SNES games that would cost you over $100 to buy out of rarity, of which none goes to publishers, as well as the inconvenience of keeping an old system connected? Or hard to find rare PC titles from yesteryear, such as lucasarts adventures? "

"The only understanding I can see from pirating would be if you live in a country that will never see some games or the pricing is ridiculous because publishers do not support the country. The developers wouldn't be getting money from these people anyway. Even so, it's still wrong, in my opinion. You have to live without some things you want, so why can't you live without a game?"

When is it ok? When I can't find the game I want. Nah.. piracy is never really OK.

"Most people are too morally bankrupt to be able to distinguish between when it's "ok" and when it's "not ok", even if there's some sort of standard in place."

"AlwaysCrashing said:

"Jayge said:

brukaoru said:

"I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer."

Hogwash. Prove it.
"

I think this is kinda true actually. There's no proof, but once people pirate a game, perhaps an older rom or something, and break that barrier, it's not such a big step to do it with a major, recent release.
"

See: Slippery Slope Fallacy"

"Jayge said:

brukaoru said:

"I think a big problem I have is that most people who do pirate older games that are not obtainable by any other means tend to start pirating games that are currently in circulation, which is in fact, "robbing" the developer."

Hogwash. Prove it.
"

I think this is kinda true actually. There's no proof, but once people pirate a game, perhaps an older rom or something, and break that barrier, it's not such a big step to do it with a major, recent release.
"

Never

Never. If you do it you should be aware that you are doing wrong. It really annoys me when people act like they're being righteous for pirating something (Spore), although your intentions are more admirable. Let's put it this way, I wouldn't blame you for downloading an old NES game.

"How is pirating those games illegal if the copyright holders do not exist anymore? If the rights to the properties were not bought out by another company, it's impossible to prosecute someone for pirating an older game."

"Maybe you should read more instead of looking down on everyone else."

"But that is an assumption. You can't simply say, "oh because they pirated this game, they are going to pirate more." For example the only game I've ever pirated was Earth Worm Jim, simply because I couldn't find it anywhere else, and no longer have a SNES or Genesis. Pirating that game didn't suddenly give me a taste of some forbidden fruit and make me want to pirate more. It all depends on the individual. If the person is willing to pirate a game from this generation, then he is willing to pirate anything, but not all people are out to pirate all games."

Well, when I was younger I pirated A LOT of games, mostly for the SNES, but GB, GBC, GBA, PC... you name it.  I mostly did this because I'm from a country where videogames are scarce and overpriced, and I really didn't have that kind of money.  I for one am grateful for pirated games because without them I probably woulden't have been the videogame enthusiest I am today, plus it got me a chance to play some of the gratest games: Super Mario RPG, The Sims, Harvest Moon, Fire Emblem, Advance Wars, Mario Kart, and the list goes on and on and on.

I played a pirated copy of The Sims and a summer I went to visit family in America, I bought The Sims,  The Sims: Livin' Large and The Sims:  Hot Date; even now I'm planning to buy The Sims 3, all because of that one pirated game I played.  SMRPG led me to buy Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones led me to buy the title for GC and Wii, I bought two Harvest Moon games, Advance Wars for DS and Mario Kart for bothe the GBA and the DS.  This is just the tip of the iceberg, as most of the franchises I am invested in stem from a pirated copy I tried out.

Now that I'm older (and now reside in the U.S), I don't really play pirated games anymore, I just buy them.  The only reason I would pirate a game today is because I am sceptical, but interested in a game.  For instance, I was really interested in Spore but not sure if it was "for me", so I downloaded a pirated copy to see if I should buy it.  As it turns out, I played the game off and on for about a week (got to the Civilization stage) and was done with it, if I had bought that, I would have been out $50. 

"There's no "one answer fits all here," it really depends on when the game was released, the publisher and the developer licensing. Forgive me for not knowing copyright laws exactly, I am not sure how long copyrights hold out for."

Honestly with many older console games, N64 or previous consoles, it's pretty much impossible for you to buy the game in a way that the proceeds would go to the developer or creator or anyone at all affiliated with the game. And in the end if the money isn't going to them and the price exceeds that of current gen games, then I don't see that big of a problem.

As for Snes games, hope and prey they're released for the VC.

When you can't buy it anymore. Some games can't be found anywhere, not even Ebay(and even then it's no money for the developers).

You can search and search for some older games but they weren't sold ANYWHERE. It's either pirate or don't play it again.

Also if your disc is damaged. If you bought it and want to install it again, I see no reason to buy it again.

It comes down to this, you either consider pirating games in general wrong, as in you yourself won't do it, or you have done it/do do it, its not us against them or anything. As said above, there are plenty reasons when pirating a game isn't even illegal when you can't get it elsewhere, but the people going down some kind of moral high road are just ridiculous. Its pirating a game, not commiting murder, get the hell over it. You don't have to do it yourself at all, or agree with it.

"Never."

I don't ever pirate things. If I don't want to pay for something, I will ask it from a friend, or, for music, get a CD from the library and rip it. I actually asked the librarian about that and they said that it is fine. I hope so because I have done it a lot.

Borrowing a CD and ripping it is just as bad as pirating.

I don't mind people who illegally download games, just for themselves, but it is very wrong to sell them for profit.

When I do it.

It is always illegal, but it is up to you to decide in your own heart if it is wrong.

I think it's funny that people try to justify piracy. Really, you're doing it for the free shit, don't try to morally justify it.

It is never o.k. to be a pirate

Never...

"I think it's funny that people try to justify piracy. Really, you're doing it for the free shit, don't try to morally justify it."

It's never ok ffs

People are stupid, what are ya gonna do. Everyone that has such a hard negative response like that knows even less than everyone else here, and is totally not fit to even try to act like they have a real statement on this topic, or are right for that matter.

Pirating is okay for old games imo. And games published by EA =D