Comments on console chipping or other piracy related talk.

Caporegime
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It is indeed legal to make backups of media you own......... however, it is illegal to circumvent copy protection on media.

Added to that, AFAIK, you have to make the copy yourself, from your own original copy. So in the case of old console cartridge ROMs, none of them are legal to download. From what I read (and somewhat understood!) that is.

Also you aren't allowed to play a ROM on PC just because you own the original (say on your Megadrive). Makes sense really. If you own both a PS3 and XBox you don't feel entitled to buy just for the one platform and then download a copy for the other...

Of course the law and common sense aren't always hand-in-hand... in the case of old games which are not available for purchase anymore, what are you supposed to do? The law says you simply can't play them. You'd have to wait for the copyright to expire sometime in 3099 ;)

However this thread is about the discussion of piracy... and really, anyone with an interest in circumventing the law needs only Google. Discussion of ROMs and the like really doesn't need to be done here, and even if we had a blanket ban on anything vaguely related no one is going to suffer too badly.
 
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I used to use pirate software but not anymore. It is indeed wrong and immoral and I regret my actions in those days.

It is but people who argue its a lost sale dont quite get it. I have quite a few friends who play pirated games but had they had to buy those games they simply would not of played them. They bought the console just to flash it and so forth. Now, it is wrong that they do that but that inturn has led them to buy the odd title and opened them up to a lot of things they would have been otherwise unaware of. MS didnt lose any money from them doing it and they actually gained from them as without piracy they would not of recieved a penny from any of them. I'm not condoning piracy just saying that it's not as straight forward as a lot of people think.
 
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Because they sold the game and made their money. I know what you are saying about the whole IP thing but these companies are in bed with the same people they are complaining about selling second hand games.

Exactly this.

Look at any other industry, do Sapphire start charging users who sell their cards on Ebay? Do Ford charge drivers who seel their cars to garages? Do Samsung charge users for selling their TVs? (i could go on like this all day)

The only industry who is bothered by "the second hand market hurting their industry" is game publishers (heck even Developers aren't bothered by it), these are the same people who sell their product at massively inflated prices in the first place and then charge gamers on top for day one DLC which should have been included with the product and continue to charge them months and even years later for additional content which 5 years ago would have been given away for free. Publishers are crippling the industry with their relentless pursuit of £$£$£$£$
 
Caporegime
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Exactly this.

Look at any other industry, do Sapphire start charging users who sell their cards on Ebay? Do Ford charge drivers who seel their cars to garages? Do Samsung charge users for selling their TVs? (i could go on like this all day)

Is a 2nd hand Ford identical to a new Ford? A 2nd hand gfx card identical to a new card? This is why software and music are licenced not sold like physical goods. They are not the same thing at all.

If Steam is anything to go by, the best thing that could happen to video games is for the 2nd hand market to die.

Best for everyone - not just pubs/devs.
 
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Soldato
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The onus is on you to explain why they should receive additional compensation for the sale of second hand copies of their games, because of how out of touch with normality it would be compared to other industries.

Is a 2nd hand Ford identical to a new Ford? A 2nd hand gfx card identical to a new card? This is why software and music are licenced not sold like physical goods. They are not the same thing at all.

If Steam is anything to go by, the best thing that could happen to video games is for the 2nd hand market to die.

Best for everyone - not just pubs/devs.

No, just no.

The second hand items are not identical no, but because of that you pay a lesser price.

But that's irrelevant, movies, games, music, if it's in a digital format, the content doesn't degrade in anyway, only the medium of transport does, however you won't typically be buying second hand copies of games on release, or close to release, and it assumes there will be an infinite supply of cheap "used" copies going not long after release, which just isn't realistic.

This sort of stance and attitude is online with "a developer should be paid full price for each person that uses said game", which is an angle some of them want to make a reality.
 
Caporegime
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[snip]
This sort of stance and attitude is online with "a developer should be paid full price for each person that uses said game", which is an angle some of them want to make a reality.

The developer should be paid for each person that uses the game. Absolutely.

But who said full price?

If you wait for a Steam sale you can get games for peanuts. It's legal, you get to play the game, the dev makes some money.

If everybody wants to play the game at or close to release, then yes, everybody should pay the dev the full price.

The 2nd hand market is a really bad idea for digital commodities which, as pointed out, don't degrade over their lifetime. A 2nd hand copy is identical to the brand new copy - unless you care about the box, which most don't.
 
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The developer should be paid for each person that uses the game. Absolutely.

But who said full price?

If you wait for a Steam sale you can get games for peanuts. It's legal, you get to play the game, the dev makes some money.

If everybody wants to play the game at or close to release, then yes, everybody should pay the dev the full price.

The 2nd hand market is a really bad idea for digital commodities which, as pointed out, don't degrade over their lifetime. A 2nd hand copy is identical to the brand new copy - unless you care about the box, which most don't.

Consider the fact that without pre owned games highstreet games stores would not survive. The likes of gamestop threatend to stop selling consoles if MS went full digital and stopped pre owned games. If we did manage to do away with pre owned then digital prices would be rough as it would be a monopoly a few years down the line when the brick and mortar shops have gone
 
Soldato
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The onus is on you to explain why they should receive additional compensation for the sale of second hand copies of their games, because of how out of touch with normality it would be compared to other industries.

Why should anyone other than the publisher/dev and the seller benefit from the resale of goods they made?

These retail stores are making a killing from the second hand market. How are their sales benefiting the games industry?!
 
Caporegime
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Why should anyone other than the publisher/dev and the seller benefit from the resale of goods they made?

These retail stores are making a killing from the second hand market. How are their sales benefiting the games industry?!
Exactly this. No one would mourn the loss of high-street games shops like no one mourned HMV and the like for music. Digital music hasn't become a monopoly and prices have not sky-rocketed in a digital marketplace.

Consider the fact that without pre owned games highstreet games stores would not survive. The likes of gamestop threatend to stop selling consoles if MS went full digital and stopped pre owned games. If we did manage to do away with pre owned then digital prices would be rough as it would be a monopoly a few years down the line when the brick and mortar shops have gone
 
Soldato
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Then these hightstreet stores need to change their business plan. I'm telling you it's daylight robbery.

They can sell a game at rrp. Then buy it back from the customer for 70% of the Rrp then put it back up for sale at a couple pounds under the original rrp.
 
Caporegime
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Then these hightstreet stores need to change their business plan. I'm telling you it's daylight robbery.

They can sell a game at rrp. Then buy it back from the customer for 70% of the Rrp then put it back up for sale at a couple pounds under the original rrp.

Yeah I was agreeing with you. But I quoted two people with different views so as to be as confusing as possible. Success!

I have no love for 2nd hand game shops. They're parasitic.
 
Associate
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Then these hightstreet stores need to change their business plan. I'm telling you it's daylight robbery.

They can sell a game at rrp. Then buy it back from the customer for 70% of the Rrp then put it back up for sale at a couple pounds under the original rrp.

Yeah I was agreeing with you. But I quoted two people with different views so as to be as confusing as possible. Success!

I have no love for 2nd hand game shops. They're parasitic.

The same can be said about pretty much most things. Take phones for example. Go to a store buy a new phone, few months later take it back to "recycle" or sell and they would do the same.

I do agree and disagree to some extent, and FoxEye not all 2nd hand game shops are parasitic! Some of the indie ones, who actually look out more for customers do quite well. I say that from experience because I did some part time work for an Independent game store. The owner would always give freebies when he could, some even exclusives from publishers etc. When it came to buying and selling would try his best to give more back to customers, sometimes even making no profit or loss even. A lot of customers would come to the store as opposed to other high street well known stores.

And I do agree with dungeonseeker, it's all about squeezing more and more money.
 
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