Game piracy question

cycophuk

cycophuk

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First off, I don't advocate it. Just wanted to get that out there first so I don't get flamed.

I'm curious as to why it is illegal/wrong/looked down on to pirate software (console/PC) that is no longer sold/out-of-print. I'm talking about games you can't walk into a brick and mortar and by new. Games that are 5-10-15+ years old. The games that you can only by online from collectors thinning their collection, people that buy games just to turn around and make a profit, or second-hand stores like GameStop/EBGames. By pirating an old game, who loses money? That is why piracy is such a major issue, is the loss of profit. I can understand this. But if I want NFL 2K1 for the Dreamcast, how does Sega lose money on it if I pirate the game? Hell, GameStop can't lose money on it since they don't even sell DC games anymore. The only ones that loses anything are the people on ebay.

OK, now that I have announced my complete ignorance of gaming piracy, I'm hoping that I can be educated with out having complete jerks coming in and acting like arrogant asses.
 
That sort of software is usually referred to as abandonware and is usually not looked down upon though nfl2k1 is too new to be considered abandonware.
 
You've forgotten about the actual publishers of the games originally.

By pirating, you've reduced the possible audience for a disc featuring a compilation of old games, or charging you $5-12 for a virtual copy this generation
 
What if I buy a collector's edition of a game I want to keep sealed, and I download/play the pirated version. Is that illegal?
 
[quote name='redroversk']What if I buy a collector's edition of a game I want to keep sealed, and I download/play the pirated version. Is that illegal?[/quote]

That would depend on a couple of things.
If a crack is used to play the game then you're violating the DMCA even though you're probably not breaking copyright laws.
If you torrent the game then you're simultaneously downloading/distributing it with the distributing part being illegal.

The safest thing (outside of removing the shrinkwrap) would be to ftp download a game you own that does not require a crack to run.

That being said I doubt anyone would go after you or say you were doing something immoral by cracking a game you own for your personal use.
 
No matter what, the publishers will not want it to happen even if there's no way they can make money. If you accept it after a game is a few years old, then that just opens the door up for more reasons to pirate.
 
If a game is no longer sold new (and that includes things like compilation disks and virtual console releases) I don't have a problem with someone pirating it, especially if it's rare and expensive.
 
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