^^ One download does not equal a lost sale, that's the industries oversimplifying.

I couldn't tell you how many average-or-worse films, game, mp3s, TV shows I've downloaded then deleted after 20 minutes because they were just total garbage. Do you really believe I was a lost customer? I was not gonna buy it, ever.. the "demo" just concreted the fact.

Worthless study. They went out to prove what they wanted to be true. Commies.

The study doesn't prove a thing. Obviously people who pirate are more of the enthusiast type than your average Joe (or nerds if you like) and therefore much more inclined to spend their money on media & entertainment rather than going out to a night club or spend money on clothes & fashion.

I pirate myself to save money. That money I spend on PC hardware and things completely unrelated to games. It's as simple as that.

lol absolutelly.... but how do you prove that? just cause yu say you downlad a game and like it then buy it were suposed to believe you? Those numbers is what the industry sees... can you balme them for being mad? remember that over a billion dollars or taxable goods... the government dosent like that too much eather....

Edit: BTW this does not include movies, music and software..... the number only multiplies dramatically.....

^^ I didn't say that!

There are many things I don't ever need to demo first (The Beatles Rock Band, Futurama, Star Trek, Infinite Space, Final Fantasy, Tales games, classic RPGs etc).

However, I don't see why I (or anybody) should plonk down cash for entertainment that really doesn't suit me, based on their hype-bombardment machine successfully semi-convincing me I might like it.. (hi Glee, God of War, Killzone, REM, Batman Begins). So my downloading episode 1 of Glee was never ever going to equal any sale or rental whatsoever.

TLDR: I only download "Maybes". "Certainties" get bought, often day 1. Most "Maybes" get binned, and rightly so because on closer inspection, they're not for me. No sale either way!

Yea that would be my take on it as well.  They aren't just pirating these things for the sake of pissing developers off, as they obviously have an interest in what they are getting.  Not everything they want can be obtained illegally and they probably want a lot of shit so that would make them more prevalent customers than the average. 

Oh... well that changes everything.... So if you dont have the money to buy something its ok to just take it as long as youre interested in it? lol....

I pirate because i want to.. and if people get pissed off about it, im even happier.

@ Zucas  ^^^ lol

In Latin America, where games are really expensive, most people cannot afford their whole salary to get a console, or a quarter of it to get a new game. The same happens in african and some asian countries. Therefore, piracy is the only mean to enjoy games.
As an example, a PS3 in Argentina costs almost U$S 500, and Wii and X360 are around 400, but when I got my Wii, two years ago, I had to pay U$S 700.
Partially, I blame Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft for this situation. They never cared for a market that is avid for games. If they made consoles and sell them cheaper somehow in our countries, I know lots of people would rather buy originals.
I know lots of guys in Argentina who bought a PS3 to play originals because of brand fidelity, when they can get a chipped X360 for less money.

One pirated copy doesn't equal one lost sale. Just because you pirate something doesn't mean that you would be willing to buy it (or even rent it) if you couldn't pirate it.

I have a DS flash card. So for me, I don't think twice about downloading DS games that might seem interesting (unless it's utter shovelware like Imagine Babyz and crap like that) and try them out. If flash cards didn't exist, I wouldn't buy the majority of the stuff I've played. But because my Xbox 360 and Wii aren't modded, I am a lot more picky about what I play. Even if it's just a rental. Because when you have to put down money on something, all of a sudden your standards go up. I own about 22 Xbox 360 games. If I had a modded Xbox 360 (which I don't because I don't want to get banned from Live and what not), I assure you that I would be pirating a shitload more than just 22 games. I'd pirate just as indiscriminately as I did with the PS1 and PS2. Therefore piracy is not 1:1. When you put a price to something, your standards go up.

Basically you don't want to spend $50-$70 on a video game and then find yourself dissapointed by the game. Even if I spend $20-30 on a game that ended up dissapointing me, I feel burned somewhat. Let's face it. You're not going to know 100% if you are going to like a game by looking at videos of gameplay, listening to word-of-mouth or reading reviews. So your standards for buying games are definitely going to be higher than just trying out a game you downloaded for free (or burnt onto a DVD-R/CD-R that cost you a quarter). Even for rentals (I'm not as picky about what I rent compared to what I buy), I still have higher standards than piracy because if I end up not liking a game, I basically just lost about a week of my time. Compared to piracy where you don't lose too much of your time if you download a DUD unless your download is going slowly.