On Piracy...
I have a lot of friends who pirate games, particularly for the DS.
It kind of breaks my heart a bit for several reasons.
As a creative type, I like when my art is acknowledged and admired properly, especially if it's something people are paying for. I know that it's not as large a scale as those involved in the gaming industry, I know how it feels to have something you've worked really hard on just go to waste or be ripped off somehow. It sucks.
It's not only that. A lot of them use those exact excuses that were mentioned; "too poor", "wouldn't buy the game anyway"... and yet, I see them with an R4 card full of games that they only play a small portion of. Out of the 50+ games they have, they probably only play about less than 10% of those that have been pirated.
In fact, I know a friend who has sort of changed their ways. She's decided that when Capcom puts out a game that she likes, she'll pay for it instead of pirating... it's a small step, but it's still a good one.
I've had friends pirate copies of Pokemon to do a Nuzlocke run because they didn't want to lose all the pokemon they've caught in their actual cartridge. I'm semi-okay with this, but still... it hurts a little.
What really bothers me most about the whole piracy issue is that with the plethora of information out there, it's easy enough for someone to find any of the information:
-What games are being released
-When games are being released
-What the game looks like
-Reviews of the game in question
With the endless well of game blogs/vlogs/sites out there, it's easy to find out whether or not a game is worth your time.
But let's play Hypothetical Situation for a second and say that you're a huge fan of "Game Franchise X." X could be anything... Mario, Sonic, Pokemon, God of War, Halo... whatever.
You find out from a visit to a local retailer that there's a new game out and immediately your mind is set spinning on what plot is going to be, what new things are going to be introduced, etc.
You have every game in the franchise for whatever system/s you own and you're not going to miss out on it, so you immediately go out and buy it.
You take it home, unwrap it, and start to play... only to discover it's a stinking pile of garbage. Glitchy. Buggy. Bad plot, if any. Horrible control scheme. Hands up if this has ever happened to you. I'm sure it has.
So what do you do?
You like the character/s and the franchise, and you don't want to see it die, do you?
You also don't want to see this happen again, a bad game can leave a sour taste in one's mouth and never make them want to return to the franchise again. How many of us stopped playing a game because they changed the mechanics, took out a feature, added an annoying character, and countless other excuses that just made a bad game?
Sure, you could have played the demo first... but in some cases, it's a crap shoot because some systems don't offer demos of games.
The only thing I can suggest is to do the research before you buy.
I am an impulse buyer and I know it's hard to not have something on opening day, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care. Sure, I'll buy Pokemon Black/White when it comes out in a month or so... why? Because I like the franchise... but also because I've done enough research to know that I will like this game.
It's a classic case of "Buyer Beware"... and hey, three outcomes can come from a bad gaming experience...
1. You tough out the game and discover it's not so horrible and actually like it.
2. You can trade it in for a different game.
3. You start a Vlog, write a review, or do a "Let's Play" of the game so other people know what to expect in it's badness.
It's not a hard thing to do, but sometimes a bad game makes for a better experience for us all.
Thanks.