I used to create iso files of all my games as well, but that was before it became cost effective for the cost per Gb.  I ended up deleting most of them and burning copies of a lot of my games to CD/DVDs.  Threw the copies in a little binder so I could carry them around for lan parties and the like.  The next box I get/build will likely have a Tb or two of HDD space so I might go back to iso, but for now phsyical works best.

You are missing alot of the advantages for the Legal Purchases. Here's how is should be:

Advantages of Piracy

1)  It's free.  You save anywhere from $1 to a whopping $50 on everything you pirate.

2)  No DRM.

Advantages of Legal Purchase

1)  You get the manual.  Games often come with extra media like manuals, maps, collectible cards, and more.  Buying it legally gives you extra goodies in the case of a lot of games.

2)  No hassle of storage.  You get the game and the case so you don't have to worry about storing one or more giant .iso files on your HDD or having to burn them to DVD.

3)  You care.  You're supporting the developers and all the people who worked hard to create the game by buying a copy.  You are increasing the likelihood of getting another game you like by supporting existing ones.

4)  It's faster.  Piracy is essentially direct download (via torrent or P2P) while if you're buying PC game you have a choice to get it on several faster services, such as Steam.

5) It requires less effort. You can just order the game through a digital distribution service and you're good to play just after a couple of hours.

6) It works. Many pirated games are often times buggy or unpatched, and they often can't take advantage of features only accessible on legal copies. Case in point, Spore and GTA IV.

7) No porn/spyware/viruses. You will never be affected by malware from a legal copy of your PC game.

8) Liability. in the slim chance that you are investigated, all your stuff is legit and no one comes cracking down on you.

9)  Self respect.  You have it.

It's even easier for a honest PC gamer to just download the game from a DD Service, like Steam. Faster downloads and never, ever needing to to keep an ISO on the HDD.

5) Pirated games have usually more bugs/problems than the legit copies. Have you never played the pirated copies of Spore and GTA IV? It's fine and dandy if we're talking about old PC games, but nowadays they're more complex and need more work to make a pirated version be fully proper.

6) I got a nasty from Piratebay...

Replayability is important.
If the game is one that get people to replay, it gives them more reason to buy it.
So, in a sense, they "tried the full game" and then decide to buy it.

Some of my PC games are sealed, but I d/l the DRM free version. So, I get to keep my original and play, too.

I especially dislike the requirement of having the cd/dvd in the drive in order to play. It makes unnecessary noise and a bother when I just want a quick session but having to spend 10x the amount of time to hunt for the disc. Allow full install option damn it, we got plenty of HDD space nowadays. 100GB install is fine, too!

Most games do not worth the full retail price and when I get burned on disappointing games, I get wary and lose the impulse buy. Have you purchased a $60 game only to play it for 10 minutes? Many times?

The 3 main reasons stopping me from impulse buy are price, time, and DRM. When you already lack time to play, and then made to put up with DRM...

I'm glad you're obsessed with Steam but contrary to your belief, it does not have nearly all the games for PC I enjoy.  A good majority of those still need to be purchased the normal way which pretty much kills any argument of it being faster.

I wasn't only talking Steam. I meant the Digital Distribution in general. Steam, D2D, Gamersgate, GoG.com, Metaboli, Amazon, etc... there are far more PC games coming out on DD than Retail, and the ones on Retail are also on DD.

lol. So you confess that you're a pirate too!

You're gonna burn in hell with the rest of us.

Spore and GTA4 had numerous problems for legit buyers too. Valve was even offering refunds on GTA4 for people who were suffering from all the issues. That said, the pirated copy of Spore I tried ran flawlessly (though I didn't play it for more than a few hours, so who knows) and while I haven't personally played GTA4, a few guys at work have had no issues with their pirated copies.

And Piratebay, while it contains a lot of stuff, is hardly a quality source.

I think we all have pirated at some point..... be it games, music or movies.  But some people are just cheap and want everything for free.  I can understand why people pirate in the third world, as games can cost anywere like 50% of their wage and more.  What I don't understand is why people pirate stuff in the west e.g (USA, UK, France etc).

I buy most of my games on Steam now and I tend to buy 2 to 4 games a month.  I work hard, do overtime, run a home, pay my bills etc.  A game is like 12% of my weekly wage but I have friends who earn more then me but still pirate games.

Even though it is not an excuse, I have heard that prices for video games in places like Australia and Europe can be double what they are here (USA).