Video Game Piracy

I only really pirate Nintendo 64 games and GBA games, because I see it as anywhere I'm going to be buying it from won't be paying out dividends to the creators, as it's going to be second hand.
That said, I do sometimes pirate games that I'm thinking of buying, like Skyrim, then if I actually like it I'll go and buy it.

I personally don't support piracy during the launch window of a Game's release. But, I don't consider it an act of stealing. Stealing is taking something and preventing the original owner from keeping it. You're not necessarily doing that with piracy. The owner of works usually want to prevent piracy so that they could get more money, and some companies are definitely money hungry when they release broken games and wonder why people don't want to pay for the games(i.e; E.A and Capcom.). I don't have enough posts to link to a video that explains it better than I can.

As others mentioned, I see pirating as a "try before you buy" deal. If I don't like the game, I won't buy it, and the "pirated" copy was more of a "demo" than anything. If I do like it, chances are I'll buy it if I can. For example, at one point it was hard to get a copy of Tales of Vesperia for '360. I pirated it and played it, but as soon as I saw it at 20$ at EB Games, I bought an actual copy - because it was worth it.

Going on that last statement, one game that I will play and I will never buy is The Sims games, expansions and stuff packs. They want an absurd amount of money to complete the game, and then some for Sim Store items. The base game was 60$ and all stuff / expansion packs are another 25$/ea for flimsy items, esp. since I only use a handful in the pack itself. Expansions are a little more worth while, but imo some things in these expansions should've been base-game included, and they're just trying to milk a recycled idea as best as they can. Well, not me. I love The Sims. But to have to pay 400$+ to "complete" the game with expansions like university, seasons and pets, well, no thanks.

Another cash cow is EA Sports games (and other companies' sports games, really). Every year they come out with a new version of FIFA or PES, and for what? Team adjustments? A little better graphics? A slight play tweak? You can't say that that crap is worth 70$ (yes, 69,99$ unlike most games, which are 59,99$ at release - not including 15% tax), compared to games like Resident Evil VI or Dragon's Dogma, Skyrim, Tales of Vesperia, etc. which are actually innovative, new and better-looking and are sold cheaper. Not to mention, the price never drops from 69,99$ until the new one is released - then it drops to 39,99$ or 49,99$, but then everyone buys the new one and the old one is never played online anymore. Wth! Again, EA is a culprit of multiple cash cows.

Some people might see pirates as wrong because what they're doing is more or less "stealing" in the law's eyes. Well, overcharging for a poorly designed game or recycled idea in an attempt to milk a franchise is stealing from the public. Plus, with all the music pirates out there, it's obviously not hurting anyone's salaries! You don't see Red Jumpsuit Apparatus or Eminem begging for food on the streets, and needless to say their stuff has been mass Torrent'ed or Frostwire'd.

It's not hurting anyone. It's not good to make the rich richer anyway. I don't really believe in capitalist dreams. If there was a way to implement Marxism, without deterring inventions or work habits (due to earning more or less the same regardless), I'd be all for it. Living well and healthy is better than living too rich or too poor.

As for games that can't be bought "New" anymore i.e. Epic Mickey for Wii (according to Videotron), there's no issue in pirating it instead of just second-handing it, simply because the developers already got their share for that title. Now it's just second-hand shops like EB Games and random pawn dealers that are making money off of it. What I really don't get in that situation is why the game is taxed again. The government already received their tax money for importing that product; why are they requesting more, if the due has been paid? Silly.

I personally emulate old games if I need to play them or if it's a PC game I might download it illegally before purchasing it (rare occurrence since I'm not usually interested in any PC games).

The one exception to this is that I currently have a ROM for White 2 because I sold my DS when buying a 3DS then sold that because it was crap, so I'd rather play it illegally now and buy it when I get a 3DS for X&Y than waste £50 on a regular DS just to play it the fair way now.