I pirate games. I might get banned for saying that, but what do I care, I haven’t written a Bitmob article in six months. I haven’t even visited the site in that time and boy have things changed. Brett Bates became an editor, Andrew Hiscock’s a community manager, and a whole slew of writers got “jobs”. So I won’t really miss Bitmob if and when I get banned. This article could change that though. Maybe I’ll get on the front page and return to my lost love, who knows! But I digress.
As you know, I pirate games. Not all games, though. I pirate Wii, DS, and PC games. I do so because I’m sixteen, barely employed, and videogames are an expensive hobby. I’d like to buy all game, but I barely buy any. I use gamefly to play my PS3 and Xbox 360 games, but I have no justification for what I’m doing. I’m stealing, and there’s nothing good about it. But there’s something you guys might not know when you pirate games. Every single download comes with a little document explaining the process to install the game. And at the end of every document without fail is one sentence in all caps.
“SUPPORT DEVELOPERS, IF YOU LIKE THE GAME BUY IT!!!!11!!1!!one!!1!!”
Or something to that affect, because the people who steal these games are nice guys. The thieves that benefit from them, such as me, are douche bags. So next time you complain about pirates just acknowledge that the men behind the curtain are supporting the industry that we are allegedly killing, all they want is an extended demo. Once again, I’m not looking for justification, just explanation.
Now don’t get me wrong, if I pirate a game, I will never buy it. I won’t even buy a game if I rent it, because I don’t replay games. Also if you weren’t aware, games are really expensive. Once again, I am not trying to justify theft. So I propose a new method for us pirates. I propose the joy of giving. The next time you pirate a game and want to support the developer, buy the game and give it to your friend. This puts money in the developer’s pockets as well as spreading their vision to a wider audience. Of course you guys could all think this doesn’t make up for our ‘travesties’ at all, but what do I know, I’m a damned thief.
If you enjoyed this post you can read more at my blog, my tumblr, or my twitter.
