Dreamcast Piracy Issue

Lately there has been much buzz in the newsgroups and message boards relating to pirates being able to now copy Dreamcast games. The once thought as un-copiable GD-Disc has been cracked and some of Dreamcast's hottest titles have been released (ie. Soul Calibur, Crazy Taxi). Now there are two sides who have emerged, those who are for and against (naturally). Here is a look at both sides:

For:
Those that are for the copying will state the most obvious, free games. But there are those who view this as much more of an economical issue. They feel that by having the Dreamcast more widespread and having the opportunity to get games, more people will go out and pick up the hardware. While companies make no money off hardware sales, these would in turn, attract third party supporters and gain much needed support. It is true that many games would be copied and this would also gain legal sales by having more hit titles going to the system. There have been some who have went as far as to suggest that Sega themselves had a hand in releasing necessary tools and products that would help to copy titles. This would seem to be a fairly good situation.

Against:
This would be the party which seems to be gaining in numbers. There are many who view this as theft, nothing more and nothing less. Those who spend their hard earned $40 on a game are outraged at those who will merely download and burn a game or buy them for a measly $5 leaving the legit buyers to pay for their deeds through increased prices. If others wish to get the same game, then they should pay the same prices. Fair is fair. There was also a nice little segment I read in a newsgroup signature that said Sega spent $40 million on Shenmue, money nor the game grows on trees, so buy the game... it was along those lines. This is one of the best examples of how piracy can hurt, in a large case like Shenmue, money is crucial to see that further titles of such a degree are made.

My personal stance is that piracy should not continue. The US appears to be the last chance for the Dreamcast and piracy will not necessarily help its situation. It appears to be too big of a gamble in its fragile state. Buy the games legally, give Sega your money...you love em, so please support them.

Go To Page: 1

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic