Piracy is a tool, it doesn't make a person greedy or selfish. That is up to the calibur of people. Even if such a scenario was a technical and unescapible reality, which it could realistically be someday. Atlus would require benifactors to donate to their studios to keep the games coming. Which is actually the way art has been done for the glut of the existence of the human race. When you consciously choose to purchase a game, you are in essence making a donation to Atlus. You can't regulate morality. When a government tries to it only makes people bitter and more likely to take acts like piracy for granted. This has been the case ever since consumer tape recorders hit the scene for example. Industry shit itself over those too, but their profits only soared. Piracy is basically exposure. If the product is good, the people will embrace it. If it is not, piracy is a way of miitigating the false introduction of shotty commodities into the market place.
It is true with console games you can generally rent first. Consider theatrical releases though for example. Reviewers are great, but what if you are a sort of person with completely other values than reviewers.
Piracy also forces the industry business model to catch up with evolving technology. That is the problem the music industry is facing right now. People pirate music, not to be thrifty, but because it is so infinitely more convenient. The industry has to find new delivery mechanisms for music. They are trying, but the price they are asking is still at least three times too much, and the restrictions are absurd, so that industry will continue to grapple with piracy until it catches up with the realities of the 21st century.
Btw, these lengthy ideological posts are largely rhetorical. I enjoy the chance to think through these ethical dilemmas and am happy to share as long as the question is posed. But please don't mistake observation for an invitation to spar over personal belief systems.
And just for the record, large questioonable institutions like Disney would be the most likely to faulter under the pressures of long term piracy, and are most likely where the heavy handed resistance to piracy originates.
I do think this topic is quite relevant to the thread btw, but I encourage anyone to not persue a personal stake in it.
For the record...I also made the below statement.
When it is right? Maybe if you plan to buy the original product when you can and are broke now it is acceptable or it is the "only way" you can get certain things in your country. I don't think entertainment should be for just a select few but at the same time to do it just for bragging rights or as a status symbol is juvenile and stupid.
Lastly this discussion has nothing to do with the topic which is the UK possibly getting Persona 3 or the Festival variant. By most rules in a forum people should keep post related to what is being discussed. Piracy has nothing to do with an annoucement that P3 might be coming to the Unitied Kingdom through KOEI.
Personally I'm damn happy with P3 even without the extra content. I'm curious about the new stuff but not so much I feel devastated I did not receive it.« Last Edit: September 25, 2007, 10:21:20 PM by nightsavior »
