Question about piracy...

[skeletor]

Argument with some friends about this, my view is that piracy isn't worth it in the long run but some friends use the following when I hit them with the 'losing money' arguement.

Ok so I'm not going to deal with the moral or legal aspects of pirating games....most people agree that it's wrong and illegal so that's that.

But I'm curious as to why, say for example, Microsoft could claim to be losing money or be harmed in any way by the following:

A person sees that XBOX or playstation games are copyable with the right know-how and so decides to buy an XBOX and do whatever needs to be done to it to make the games copyable. This person then rents games and copies them. He buys a few add-ons for the machine so that he can play with some friends. he doesn't bother with the online element of the machine.

So assuming that the person in question would NEVER have bought an XBOX or any games or any peripherals if the games weren't copyable. Hence MS would never had made money on this guy anyway, so what do they lose if there was NEVER any buying potential there?

MS loses some money on each console bought and hopes to regain that in the purchase of games and this person is never going to buy games so bingo they lose some money. But don't they only lose money up and until the console starts shipping in higher numbers? And either way, if this guys buys 3 extra MS controllers I'm sure that will go some way to lessening the loss MS made in the sale of the console.

The game producers? Well they would never have sold a game to this guy anyway and the game was rented and returned so do they lose out?

I'm stumped but I'd LOVE to have a killer point that would prove my friends wrong. What's missing in the above equation? Remember...this isn't a moral or legal arguement....on those fronts I've won every arguement!

 

[her209]

You have to realize that with the internet deez daze, you don't have to go out and rent the game to copy it. Also, the renter buys the game and rents it out so MS does get their money that way.

 

[skeletor]

Very true...never thought of the store initially paying for it.


So, assuming the internet isn't used. Does anyone lose out on the above scenario?

 

[BillGates]

I totally agree with the idea in the first post, 100%

 

[skeletor]

Originally posted by: BillGates
I totally agree with the idea in the first post, 100%

See?! Even Bill Gates can't see a problem..

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: skeletor
Very true...never thought of the store initially paying for it.


So, assuming the internet isn't used. Does anyone lose out on the above scenario?

The amount of pirates outcompete the amount of video games purchased by rental agencies.

 

[MrBond]

MS still loses money on consoles. I would bet money that Sony breaks even on the ps2, if not makes money.

Eventually console manufactorers hope to hit the break even point. Sony had pretty much hit that point about a year ago, because they had developed technology that could shoehorn all the stuff from several chips to one chip in the ps2. Before the price drop, I am nearly certain they made money on every console.

 

[edro]

I know MANY people who have bought a PS2 ONLY because you can burn games. If you couldn't have burned games, they never would have gotten one. Therefore, Sony never would have gotten that money from them.

I don't see the big deal.

 

[skeletor]

So, assuming the internet isn't used. Does anyone lose out on the above scenario?
The amount of pirates outcompete the amount of video games purchased by rental agencies.

Not 100% sure what you're saying here. If a game is rented by 100 people, it doesn't matter if 99 of them are pirates, as long as those pirates don't spread their copied versions. Correct?

 

[BD2003]

That argument works until a point.

The fact of the matter remains that people would be forced to buy more games if they couldnt copy them. Its not 1 to 1, but its a significant hit.

People will tell themselves anything to justify stealing, LOL.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: skeletor
Not 100% sure what you're saying here. If a game is rented by 100 people, it doesn't matter if 99 of them are pirates, as long as those pirates don't spread their copied versions. Correct?

The software company is still losing on the deal. Although the rental agency earns their money, the software company has only sold those 2-3 copies.

 

[Ketteringo]

Microsoft is losing $50-$100 on each console. They make it back with a $10-20 lisence per game disc that gets made. Most people prolly buy 5-10 games, thats anywhere from $50-$200 that M$ gets. Plus whatever other peripherals (controllers, DVD package, Xbox live, etc.) you buy from M$ is prolly mostly profit for them. They lose money on the console and if people dont buy games they cant recover from those loses. Simple as that.

 

[0roo0roo]

just think about it ethically, is it ethically sound to steal the work of others? if you don't like the price or product don't use it right"? its not about making or losing money.


its just nfunny how pirates try to jsutify their acts atleast admit your just stealing because its hard to get caught.

 

[ReiAyanami]

conversely if they cut the prices to reasonable levels, say $10-$20 piracy would fall off greatly. its all about economics.

 

[0roo0roo]

thats right. no one would steal cars if they were 5 dollars.