Really...?

So Rage has apparently been leaked onto the internet. No surprise there I suppose although it's more than a little frustrating that pirates can obtain the game on the format of choice, several days before release. But what really got me this time is this comment taken from a less than reputable site offering the game:

downloading it now for 360.. i think reading they locked out some side missions for pirated/2nd hand versions, oh well we still get the full main story for free unlike the dumb suckers forking out $60

Nice. Not only has the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same, they've also thankfully reminded the decent members of the gaming community that they weren't 'clever' enough to take advantage of this fantastic way of obtaining the game.

An entire generation growing up with easy access to free games, complete with the notion that they will never be punished for it, is concerning to say the least. Kids and students don't exactly have a lot of money and it's not hard to imagine this kind of thing becoming standard fare for them. It's not they're going to grow up and suddenly decide to start paying for their games either, not when they've always felt entitled to get them for free. Steam offers and integrated online services have gone some way to preventing a mass exodus from the consumer market but comments like these always make the future a little uncertain.

Still, if all else fails the gaming community can collectively call them a dick and forever shun them. They probably don't even know what a Hadouken is.

So Rage has apparently been leaked onto the internet. No surprise there I suppose although it's more than a little frustrating that pirates can obtain the game on the format of choice, several days before release. But what really got me this time is this comment taken from a less than reputable site offering the game:

downloading it now for 360.. i think reading they locked out some side missions for pirated/2nd hand versions, oh well we still get the full main story for free unlike the dumb suckers forking out $60

Nice. Not only has the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same, they've also thankfully reminded the decent members of the gaming community that they weren't 'clever' enough to take advantage of this fantastic way of obtaining the game.

An entire generation growing up with easy access to free games, complete with the notion that they will never be punished for it, is concerning to say the least. Kids and students don't exactly have a lot of money and it's not hard to imagine this kind of thing becoming standard fare for them. It's not they're going to grow up and suddenly decide to start paying for their games either, not when they've always felt entitled to get them for free. Steam offers and integrated online services have gone some way to preventing a mass exodus from the consumer market but comments like these always make the future a little uncertain.

Still, if all else fails the gaming community can collectively call them a dick and forever shun them. They probably don't even know what a Hadouken is.

The developer gets no money from either second hand or pirated sales, so it's close enough.

I don't think it's a generational problem, or even a problem particular to games. There's always going to be people who are too stubborn or cheap to give an honest person their hard-earned money.

My neighbor is something like 40 years old, works as a carpenter for a living, and has the largest collection of pirated games I've ever seen. I'm talking petabytes of data. My co-worker has a J-tagged 360; talk about any recently-released game with him, and his response will be "Sounds cool, I'll download it when I get home." Hell, my uncle is in a freaking Usenet circle that downloads massive Blu-ray rips and shares them locally on flash drives. Pirates are a societal issue, games just happen to be easily shared.

They aren't going away, and there's nothing that developers can really do about them without taking away from the legitimate user's experience. Getting over that is going to be the industry's next big hurdle, one way or another.

Assholes are a fact of life.

@HandsomeDead said:

The developer gets no money from either second hand or pirated sales, so it's close enough.

^

Yep. But seriously, support the developers and buy the game. (not used tho)

I used to pirate games... every game. I flashed my 360 and had burned tons of games for free. I also got tons of pc games for free even easier. That was when I had no extra money, working a minimum wage job, sometimes no job at all. A few years ago I started making a lot more money, and have been buying games ever since - a lot of games. I'm a software developer (not games, but still) and realize that it costs a lot of money to pay developers and everyone in between that makes the game, so the $60 price is justified. I think that, if you can pay for it, then pay for it and give back to the person who brought this game to you... if you can't, then download it, but at least remember to give back when you can.

tl;dr : not everyone's an asshole and some people will give back to the developer's when they have the money to.

I don't care if you paid back years later, there's no good reason to pirate. At all.

I used to do it, and I would say "Well I don't get paid enough/don't have a job so its not my fault!" But later on you realise "If I couldn't afford it I should've worked harder until I COULD afford, not just taken the lazy man way of just pirating it illegally"

@duggshammer said:

I used to pirate games... every game. I flashed my 360 and had burned tons of games for free. I also got tons of pc games for free even easier. That was when I had no extra money, working a minimum wage job, sometimes no job at all. A few years ago I started making a lot more money, and have been buying games ever since - a lot of games. I'm a software developer (not games, but still) and realize that it costs a lot of money to pay developers and everyone in between that makes the game, so the $60 price is justified. I think that, if you can pay for it, then pay for it and give back to the person who brought this game to you... if you can't, then download it, but at least remember to give back when you can.

tl;dr : not everyone's an asshole and some people will give back to the developer's when they have the money to.

ummm if you can't afford something then you do with out, not steal it. we punish hungry people for stealing food, i can't afford a new truck every year so can i steal one until i can start to pay for it?

Back in the day of no income of my own I used to pirate games all the time, was the only way I could play them and as a kid I figured why not, I don't hurt anyone by downloading Call of Duty (the original).

As I grew up though and started getting disposable income I gradually stopped pirating games and I don't think I've pirated a game in about 4 years.

So I think it's kids and cheapskates who pirates and they won't buy the games anyway so it kinda doesn't matter, not saying it is right but it is what it is.

I still pirate music like a scumbag though, but I think Jay-Z will survive.

I don't know man. as a kid, I would pirate games without a moment of guilt. Now it's a different story because I know (and imagine) what goes into these games and the devs deserve that money. Same with shoplifting and making sure people don't get hurt for my selfish behaviour.

Judging by the comments here, I'm willing to bet that the younger generation comes to the same revelation after getting off of their asses and being employed: video games are hard work and worth paying for. They'll probably lament the generation that comes after them that pirates everything just as they did.

Never forget the Hadoukens.

I have nothing to add to this, but YOU have a nice avatar, and goes well with the online now bar.

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

ID is responding by adding level 150 raiders that spawn randomly.

@shinigami420 said:

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

Oh really...

@Axxol said:

@shinigami420 said:

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

Oh really...

Yeah, kinda... Money that should be going to the developer goes to some store chain, and the developer doesn't see a dime.

Now I'm not against used game sales when the price is adjusted accordingly, but when you have a used copy that only costs $5 less than the new one, and you have everyone go for that just to save that little... Yeah.

@SlasherMan said:

@Axxol said:

@shinigami420 said:

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

Oh really...

Yeah, kinda... Money that should be going to the developer goes to some store chain, and the developer doesn't see a dime.

Now I'm not against used game sales when the price is adjusted accordingly, but when you have a used copy that only costs $5 less than the new one, and you have everyone go for that just to save that little... Yeah.

K. But one thing is legal and feeds into the economy. The other isn't and leeches from it. So its not the same. And its certainly not worse.

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

@ryanwho said:

@SlasherMan said:

@Axxol said:

@shinigami420 said:

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

Oh really...

Yeah, kinda... Money that should be going to the developer goes to some store chain, and the developer doesn't see a dime.

Now I'm not against used game sales when the price is adjusted accordingly, but when you have a used copy that only costs $5 less than the new one, and you have everyone go for that just to save that little... Yeah.

K. But one thing is legal and feeds into the economy. The other isn't and leeches from it. So its not the same. And its certainly not worse.

Fair point, if we're widening the scope here. But as far as a developer/publisher's bottom line is concerned, it's identical.

@SlasherMan said:

@ryanwho said:

@SlasherMan said:

@Axxol said:

@shinigami420 said:

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

Oh really...

Yeah, kinda... Money that should be going to the developer goes to some store chain, and the developer doesn't see a dime.

Now I'm not against used game sales when the price is adjusted accordingly, but when you have a used copy that only costs $5 less than the new one, and you have everyone go for that just to save that little... Yeah.

K. But one thing is legal and feeds into the economy. The other isn't and leeches from it. So its not the same. And its certainly not worse.

Fair point, if we're widening the scope here. But as far as a developer/publisher's bottom line is concerned, it's identical.

I still don't see what's wrong with buying a copy of a game that someone no longer plays. The developers/publishers have already received money after the initial purchase and the consumer can sell or lend out his/her copy as much as he/she wants. What's your stance on all the other used items up for sale (clothes, cars etc.)?

@Axxol said:

@SlasherMan said:

@ryanwho said:

@SlasherMan said:

@Axxol said:

@shinigami420 said:

@YoshiKart64 said:

the user lumped pirated versions and second hand copies as one and the same,

Its pretty much the same thing but buying used games are even worse you do not give any money to the developer and you give money to some shitty asshole store like gamestop

Oh really...

Yeah, kinda... Money that should be going to the developer goes to some store chain, and the developer doesn't see a dime.

Now I'm not against used game sales when the price is adjusted accordingly, but when you have a used copy that only costs $5 less than the new one, and you have everyone go for that just to save that little... Yeah.

K. But one thing is legal and feeds into the economy. The other isn't and leeches from it. So its not the same. And its certainly not worse.

Fair point, if we're widening the scope here. But as far as a developer/publisher's bottom line is concerned, it's identical.

I still don't see what's wrong with buying a copy of a game that someone no longer plays. The developers/publishers have already received money after the initial purchase and the consumer can sell or lend out his/her copy as much as he/she wants. What's your stance on all the other used items up for sale (clothes, cars etc.)?

As I said before, I don't mind used game sales (or other objects for that matter), but I can see how they're similar to piracy strictly from a developer stand-point. And I can see why a developer would loathe it more than piracy when a supposed customer actually shells out money on the product (and often very close to the price you'd buy it new), but instead it goes to someone else.

Its a complicated issue and no one answerer is the right answerer. You can do your part, and some will have problems whether it be because of money or what have you. dose that mean that it is right to take from some one elses wallet no. but that is the reality of it. and its complicated.

Used sales obviously aren't as bad as piracy (for what should be ball-achingly obvious reasons) but this thread title just might be.

I had experience with your last line, not knowing what a hadouken is, just this week. I'm working on a poster for a college in my state and there was a reply from someone saying "I have no idea what a "hadouken" is, but I know what this snap is: AWESOME"

Kids these days.