Yet another argument where arrogantly both sides claim victory.
Yes piracy is legitimate in some cases, here's why!
1. Games released day one have bugs. I pirate games to see if I like the game, and if so I buy it. I usually wait till I finish the game, till all DLC's are out and buy the Game of the Year Edition with all patches and DLC applied. Saves me from buying the game and being a unwitting Beta tester.
2. If you play a game to the end, you MUST buy it. Many pirates do, do this but most do not. That is shameful and kills the industry.
3. Sometimes I buy games day one due to the track record of the company. I bought Fallout 3 Collectors, the huge box one, pre ordered. I did pirate the game first why? Because I had already bought it and it was out 5 days before I could get it. Impatient, thats all.
4. Hype machine! Games are hyped, sometimes even lied about. Hellgate? The game companies are out for your money and a big fuck you afterwards. Some companies deserve piracy.
5. You cannot return a game, due to serial codes. They say this is to cicumvent online gaming piracy etc. Well, last time I played Bad Company 2, 3 guys got kicked for aimbots. So that is a lie that serials stop anything.
6. You can't resell some games. This is by design, and no advantageous to the gamer. Once again the game companies taking advantage of the gamer.
So don't blindly defend one side or the other and NEVER dismiss piracy outright. You both are knee jerking the situation.