i wonder about the strange effect of piracy on console sales, as it seems that if a machine's software is heavily pirated, it tends to get a dramatic boost in hardware sales.

the playstation 1 and 2's format made it really easy for people to mass produce their software, and it seems the hardware was gobbled up even despite that fact. it looks to me that piracy actually pushed harware sales.

in contrast, the playstation 3 isn't realistically a haven for piracy and its having a hard time penetrating the market. could the lack of pirated software be the cause?

or am i just being delusional in thinking that piracy can actually be a good thing..

I heavily, Heavily disagree. Piracy is never a good thing, any pirate who claims to be a gamer using naught but pirated games needs to go to prison or get a hefty fine. Piracy damages the very gaming industry that I, and everyone else should pay 40-60 bucks a game for.

Don't wanna pay that much? Wait to buy it used or for it to drop in price.

I don't believe piracy was a hardware pusher. It does more damage than good.

One thing piracy does do is lower prices, via creating competition. I'm not saying whether it is ethical or not but economically thats an effect of piracy.

So from a hardware perspective piracy can have three beneficial impacts, an increase due to gamers who only want to pirate software, an additional increase due to gamers who come into the market due to the lower software prices (that occur due to the competition from piracy) and finally the social aspect (my friends have one so I need one too).

That said the big three earn most of their profits off software sales so none of this benefits them. At the end of the day piracy is potentially good for the consumer, although not so good for the producer.

It is not that piracy brings the sales up. It just happens that the most popular console is the one that most console hackers will invest their time in to find their flaws.

Piracy is stealing. And thats a bad thing.

Even it it did push hardware, that's a crap argument for it being a good thing. Consider that Sony still isn't making a profit on PS3 and then if someone were to only play pirated games (not sure if you can even do that on PS3 yet), how could Sony make any money off that customer. Less profits for the industry = badness for the industry.

LOL... let me share some history with your before your foot disappears too far down your throat. Without piracy, Blizzard wouldn’t be here today because no one would have ever played warcraft. Period. That’s a fact. Back then computer games were so remote that no one would have purchased a computer game without trying it 1st. Mettallica and many other late 80s early 90s bands would have flopped outright (for better or worse I leave you to decide). You can also make the argument for Bioware, ID and many other companies. Hell, all of gaming in general wouldn’t be where it is today if people didn’t make it popular by what you call piracy because those same pirates popularized a lot of obscure games and software.

Let me ask you this my blindly opinionated friend, if it wasn’t called piracy would you feel as strongly about it? Do you think its a mistake that the lawyers labeled it "piracy?" What if the action was labeled "free advertisement." Would you still be saying what you are saying if that’s what people called it? Nope, because you’re a mindless lemming. Get over it and learn. This type of thing is done all the time. One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. I am not going to stand here and say piracy or "free advertising" is good, because ultimately you need to turn a profit but don’t you dare stand there and tell me that lying companies are any better and frankly, I for one, refuse to be a victim of shoddy programming and lies. I will try a game and if i like it, I will buy it just like most any pirate who can afford to do so. Let the rich conglomerates take some responsibility for their product for once. I am sick and tired of all the bleeding heart advocates and the lack of accountability & responsibility of corporations who fail because they make shoddy products.

Don't delude yourself, you're not doing anyone a favor by copying software.

If a developer wants you to try before you buy, they'll release a demo or a shareware version.  That decision is theirs, not yours.  Copyright laws favor creators, not leeches.

This isn't directed at you personally, but I've always been curious about this (Warning: philosophy ahead!).

Why are people perfectly ok with buying used games, yet pirating is a horrid crime which people should suffer for? Neither gives the developer any more money (which is why DRM is being used to kill the used games market*).

For example lets take this to the extreme:

1) Only one person buys a copy of a game. They go home, crack it, upload it to the internet, and everyone else who wants to play it just pirates it. Total number of copies sold: 1.

2) Only one person buys a copy of a game. They go home, play it, finish it, then sell it on ebay to the next person, rinse and repeat for everyone who wants to play the game. Total number of copies sold: 1.

In both cases the developer has only sold one copy, yet morally (even for myself) 1 is 'bad' and 2 is 'ok'.

*On a side note, DRM removes the rights the consumer has in regards to copyright. If developers/publishers want people to respect their rights in regards to copyright, then perhaps they should repects the consumers rights.

Except for the fact that demos dont always exist and are usually not representative and yes 95% of games are complete garbage. This wouldnt be a issue is that were not true. Furthermore, developers are not the ones who should be making the call. We the people are the ones who should have a voice and it seems to me people are making their voices heard so please dont delude yourself into thinking that software should be copy protected to begin with because guess who made that law up. There is a reason why some countries dont even recognize intellectual rights because in a way they are arbitrary and based on how much you paid a lawyer rather than their true merit... Oh wait I keep forgetting, this is no longer the home of the free, its america and you are free to do whatever the rich guy pays to have you believe. Again, I am not saying to go pirate everything but I am saying use your brain. If someone cant afford the software then you can still capitalize on them by turning them into "free advertising" or pirates as you would call them. This is exactly what happened when Hollywood and music experienced its greatest booms and it happened for many game manufacturers as well.