Should people pirate games that they already own?

glennmagusharvey · 2011-10-23 19:50:54

Let's say I've bought a DS game. Aside from the legal issues, do I philosophically have the right to download said game's ROM?

Alternatively, if I've downloaded said game's ROM without buying it, and assuming that this is a wrong thing to do, can I buy the cartridge itself and by that be absolved of the wrong?

Discuss.

Moerin · 2011-10-23 19:52:21

Actually, it's fully within your legal rights to download a copy of a game you already have, so there's no legal problem here at all. :P And if there's no legal problem, there's no real philosophical problem either. You already own it, you're just making a back-up, that's all.

Radd · 2011-10-23 19:54:27

No, you own that copy and that copy only. But philosophically, I don't see why not.

Electivirus · 2011-10-23 19:55:50

Legally, I don't think so. Otherwise, do whatever.

glennmagusharvey · 2011-10-23 20:01:02

^^^ Actually I think there's a legal distinction between creating the backup yourself, using your original hard copy, and obtaining a backup copy from elsewhere.

DYRE · 2011-10-23 20:21:39

Legally, no you can't.

Philosophically, I think it's alright even if you don't own a physical copy, so of course it'd be alright if you do own it.

Malkavian · 2011-10-23 21:06:38

I had a case with about $500 worth of CDs when I was 19.

My sister threw it out the window of a moving car.

I downloaded them all online.

I already paid for them, so philosophically I see it as okay.

BlackHumor · 2011-10-23 21:09:07

Philosophically it's obviously fine. You have the actual legal right to copy it yourself, why wouldn't you have the right to make a copy through some means other than literally copying the file you own?

Codename_M308 · 2011-10-23 21:28:42

What about arcade games when you have the port of said arcade games?

The reason I'm asking is because I have R-Type I and II on MAME and I have both the PS1 physical copy and the PSN digital copy of the R-Types compilation that contains both games.

Chagen · 2011-10-23 22:37:09

"I had a case with about $500 worth of CDs when I was 19.

My sister threw it out the window of a moving car."

Da fuck

Malkavian · 2011-10-24 00:31:51

My sister is fucked up to say the least. She doesn't live in this house anymore, thank god.

Fortunately, my other sister is a sweet girl.

Waltzy · 2011-10-24 00:34:22

Sheesh, that's crazy. Who does that? D8

Malkavian · 2011-10-24 00:36:35

Vindictive brats.

MillerCross · 2011-10-24 00:38:00

And why was she "vidictive", pray tell?

Also, I agree that you should pirate a game if you had payed for it. It's not fair to make you buy it again. And the only benefit is to keep a physical copy. Which is entirely valid, mind you, but something that you can't always afford.

Malkavian · 2011-10-24 00:45:52

Hell if I know. Normally I'd chalk it up to sibling rivalry but she treated everyone in the family like that.

LouieW · 2011-10-25 16:40:53

glennmagusharvey,

I think it is pretty tough to give people "philosophical advice" online, but I guess someone could argue that by downloading/keeping a ROM you are encouraging the people that make ROMs available to continue to do so. Thus, regardless of whether or not you own the game or plan to buy the game, downloading the ROM may help support a practice that helps other people to play the game without ever thinking about buying it.

I guess you could use the same argument against watching fansubbed anime too.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 17:42:38

I've heard a good argument that pirating is less harmful than buying used.

After all, when you pirate, nobody gets money, but when you buy used, people who compete with the developers get money.

I don't do either, for the record.

RedEyedAbyss · 2011-10-25 17:44:58

Egad, used games. That's pure upper-class angst.

glennmagusharvey · 2011-10-25 19:41:24

Then again, one could argue that the popularity of fansubbed animé is frequently something the localization industry pays attention to, to judge whether a series might be financially successful, so watching fansubbed animé might be good for the industry, in at least some cases. ROMs don't have a similar function--at least, none that I know of. I haven't read or heard any stories of companies localizing games because the ROM downloads indicated they had an untapped audience.

One might argue that some of Atlus's "faggy anime game" releases are an example of exactly this, and if that's the case, then awesome, but I would like to see evidence to back up such a claim.

Edit: Oops, yeah, this post is in response to @LouieW.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 19:43:21

^Ah, no, I'm not talking about whether ROM downloads are okay ethically or not, just how they compare to buying used games.

MillerCross · 2011-10-25 19:44:02

I think he's addressing Louie

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 19:44:25

-facepalm-

Oh. Right.

RedEyedAbyss · 2011-10-25 19:48:42

"Then again, one could argue that the popularity of fansubbed animé is frequently something the localization industry pays attention to, to judge whether a series might be financially successful, so watching fansubbed animé might be good for the industry, in at least some cases."

Is this speculation, or is there actually a citation for this? If it's the former, then the argument is null, but if it's the latter, then the argument is validated.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 19:49:32

^Haruhi is one example that's explicitly confirmed to have only hit the US because of popular piracy.

RedEyedAbyss · 2011-10-25 20:03:35

I have also heard that music piracy tends to bolster interest, and thus sales of an artist's work. Only the record company "suffers".

MillerCross · 2011-10-25 20:05:05

And then there's the whole concert argument.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 20:05:20

Indeed. I can personally attest that I've bought quite a bit of music from bands I discovered through listening to them on Youtube.

Malkavian · 2011-10-25 20:42:29

"After all, when you pirate, nobody gets money, but when you buy used, people who compete with the developers get money."

Also, buying used is much more widespread thanks to Gamestop.

The crazy thing about buying used is that you can actually get better deals online from places like Amazon.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 20:44:41

I know. I really don't get why anyone supports Gamestop these days.

Hell, I've seen a new game on Amazon for less than the same thing used from Gamestop at least once.

MillerCross · 2011-10-25 20:51:10

Many people still expect to be raped by giant black man called "Ricardito" when they buy online.

ClockworkUniverse · 2011-10-25 20:52:04

Yeah, but I generally consider gamers to be more technologically aware than that.

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Should people pirate games that they already own?

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