   How much does piracy actually affect the industry?
  I was thinking, how much of a hit is piracy to the industry? Does it even affect it all, i read in the newspaper that there was some research done (into music however) that the songs which people download are the ones which they wouldnt normally goto the shops and buy, so the music industry isnt affected at all. Because they would actually buy the albums/songs they really _want_. I was wondering if this is the same for the games industry, and that its not affected a great amount by piracy (or atleast, not as much as made out).Discuss ^_^   
  Before anyone posts statistics or anything, I'd just like to point out that you can't actually measure the effects because some pirates wouldn't buy anyway, some would and don't, some wouldn't before they pirated but then decide to... There are too many confounding effects for anything they put out to mean anything.Be especially wary of things put out by the RIAA-type organizations.   ;  Why would you buy a game if you beat it using some pirated version? Music can be replayed and still have a nice aspect to it. Games tend to get repetitive therefore the effect is more great.[Edited by - GDKnight on November 30, 2005 4:18:56 AM];Quote:Original post by GDKnightWhy would you buy a game if you beat it using some pirated version? Music can be replayed and still have a nice aspect to it. Games tend to get repetitive therefore the effect is more great.Because you liked the game, and want a "proper" copy of it?I know people who have done that several times. Who pretty much use piracy as, well, demos. They get to try out the game, and then they either buy it, or delete it again.But yeah, as Puzzler183 said, you can't really measure the effects of piracy. It gives some people an option to not buy stuff they'd have bought otherwise. Sometimes it gives people an option to try, and get hooked on, something they otherwise wouldn't have bought, but which they suddenly end up buying, because the pirated version was awesome.There's been dozens of surveys made that showed all kinds of contradicting results.Still, on the whole, it *probably* does lower sales. The question is how much.And GDKnight, I tend to replay my games a lot. And even when I don't, I still want to *have* the game, even if I already completed it. That's also why I never sell my games. Not even to afford new ones. [wink]   ;Quote:Original post by SpoonbenderAnd GDKnight, I tend to replay my games a lot. And even when I don't, I still want to *have* the game, even if I already completed it. That's also why I never sell my games. Not even to afford new ones. [wink]I suspect you're in the minority here.  A sizeable chunk of console sales end up being sold back in order to afford the next big hit.  PC games [which, I assume, are most of what is pirated] not so much, obviously.CM   ;  Personally I think with regards to music, it's the big names that suffer from piracy. "Artists" like Britney Spears are the ones that see big losses in sales. On the other hand, I think that file-sharing is very good for underground music genres, because it allows the real fans of these genres to find bands that they would never be able to find any other way. Back in the days of audiogalaxy, when it was easy to get mp3s, I bought hundreds of CDs that I never would have found otherwise. To a real music fan like me, an mp3 is no good, I want the actual CD. With regards to games, I would imagine it would be PC games that lose the most sales from piracy. I'd say that the people that have their consoles modded are probably in the minority, especially with things like Xbox live, that punish people with modded consoles.I do think that losses from piracy are greatly exaggerated, because they always assume that 1 download = 1 lost sale. It doesn't work like that. Firstly, it assumes that the person would have bought said item if they hadn't have downloaded it. Secondly, rightly or wrongly, many people use piracy as a form of try before you buy.   ;Quote:Original post by GDKnightWhy would you buy a game if you beat it using some pirated version? Music can be replayed and still have a nice aspect to it. Games tend to get repetitive therefore the effect is more great.I wont lie. I pirate a lot, but not in any real traditional sense. I buy the game, and then get cracks for it so I can actually play it.Halflife 2, I'm looking at YUO.I bought that, and for the longest time it just sat there and tried to connect to Steam for over 30 minutes. So I said "hell no" and cracked it.   ;Quote:Original post by OxyacetyleneI do think that losses from piracy are greatly exaggerated, because they always assume that 1 download = 1 lost sale. It doesn't work like that.No, the people who download it tend to share it with their friends.  So it goes from a fraction of a lost sale [because it's impossible to rationalise that _everyone_ who downloads music or a game wouldn't buy it otherwise], to probably more than 1 lost sale per download [when you share a game among 4 or 5 people].  It saddens me when people pirate games that they 'have to have' and really enjoy.  Particularly so when they would buy it otherwise.Of course, it's also impossible to quantify something that doesn't exist as a 'loss', so I think of each person who pirates a game or music as one less potential consumer.I remember reading quite an interesting article by some guy who put together quite a strong argument that people wouldn't normally buy the record, I think it was linkied from slashdot or something, but his first argument was that people who pirate wouldn't buy it and his second was that it served as free advertising to the studios because the people would buy the next album.  A lot of the arguments pro-piracy are [edit:] paradoxial like this IMO.Similarly, the arguments on the other side of the fence are just as bad.  The ad campaign before movies that we get over here literally states "piracy is stealing".  I disagree with that.  Piracy is piracy.  You're not putting negative financial pressure on pirating a movie, like you would be stealing a video from a video store [where they have to spend money to get a new copy].  But it's still illegal, and for good reason.Don't copy that floppy.--CJM   ;Quote:Original post by CJMSimilarly, the arguments on the other side of the fence are just as bad.  The ad campaign before movies that we get over here literally states "piracy is stealing".  I disagree with that.  Piracy is piracy.  You're not putting negative financial pressure on pirating a movie, like you would be stealing a video from a video store [where they have to spend money to get a new copy].  But it's still illegal, and for good reason.Don't copy that floppy.--CJMTbat reminds me that on the front of every iPod says "Don't steal music" instead of pirate music. I doubt they mean "Don't go into that store and steal CDs" but rather, "Download from iTunes music store rather than pirating music". So they also believe and state to everyone Piracy=Stealing.   ;  The "try before you buy" theory is seriously flawed. For games, demos exist. For music, radio stations exist. You can often visit an artist's website and download samples from there. "Try before you buy" is just a dirty rationalization used by dirty, pirate hippies.   