I know people won't believe it, there is a taboo around the subject on a lot of mainstream gaming sites, but I think the general idea of how much damage piracy does to the industry is way off base.

Did you know that Black Ops has been pirated less than Modern Warfare 2 in the same time span and also sold much more?

I guess some of those who pirated (And possibly purchased later on) last year went ahead and flat out purchased it this time around.

Doesn't mean piracy is justified at all. You keep defending piracy when it doesn't help and only serves to hurt.

(The only time I think it is justified to pirate is when you can't get the game anymore because it isn't being sold anymore.)

yay for Euphoria

good answers

I am not justifying it, I am only showing how the claims of what it does it overblown and I would like someone to prove it wrong instead of only responding with "Stop defending it, it hurts the industry".

I remember when people said it was going to kill the Music industry, even when things started to go digital. 

Then the Music industry grew.

Do remember, even if you chose to not believe it, the pirates who so many hate tend to purchase more games than majority of the people on this site.

he didn't justify it, he showed the argument that piracy is not only hurting sales, but can also promote them.

if there is no piracy and you have no money, you won't play MW2... but if you play it and are hooked on it, despite having troubles to play online properly with your pirated copy, then the next year you have money and BO comes out, then you don't think twice and just buy BO.

it's not a justification, it's showing an ignored aspect of piracy.

People agree that borrowing a game from your friend can possibly lead to a future purchase.

People agree that renting a game from Gamefly can possibly lead to a future purchase.

People don't think that piracy can lead to future purchases? *scratches head*

All of these have the same effect on the industry initially, which is no new game sales or revenue to the developers or publishers. Same goes for the used game market.

We should hate them all.

I'll answer by public libraries as an other wonderfull bend to copyright laws...

used game market is different though... it should be only between individuals, as making a business of it (like of used books) is basically one less sale for the publisher (editor)

Oh I absolutely agree with you. I was just showing how all of them do technically "hurt" the industry according to the thoughts of so many here going by their stance on piracy.

Public Library is also a very good example by the way since they also allow rentals for games and movies while having zero subscription cost.

That aspect is not big and it still hurts more than it helps. Games with small margins die because of piracy.

Software Piracy rates are huge in some countries, upwards of over 80%. Even countries in Eurpoe like Spain have huge amounts of piracy. Piracy is a problem, and it most definitely is not a small problem that if you act like it is small, it might become that way.