"Pirating" a game that was never released in your country/language

[NightHawk21]

1) is it right, wrong, or morally grey to "pirate" such a game (note this encompasses ALL JP-only games, or on the flip side if you're Japanese, US/EU-only games)
and
2) from a more legal viewpoint, CAN you even pirate such a game? it was never released in your area, or language. and the only translation is from a fan patch that HAS to have a ROM to function.

1. Its morally grey technically since you are still likely committing a crime, but it would be such a small crime that no one cares about, and you quite frankly aren't hurting anyone, or at least not that bad.

2. I believe it is still technically illegal since you are pirating the game, and you could potentially acquire the game through imports (the language thing might change this a little)

IMO I say go for it. Quite frankly I really don't see the harm in it.

 

[Praetox]

I'd say just import the Japanese version from an online store and then download an English ROM. That way, you can argue legally that you still bought the game and just needed it in a different language. That way the creators get your money, you don't have to second-guess yourself, and you get to play the game in the way you want to. Everyone wins

 

[zombieshark6666]

If it's not available to you, you can't play it. Tough shit.

 

[Jandau]

Buy and import the Japanese copy, then pirate the english version? You paid for the game and you get to play it in your region on your language. There, morally acceptable. Also, I think it's legally OK as well, since ROMs are legal if you own a copy of the game (or something like that)...

 

[OldNewNewOld]

IMHO, anyone who wants the game should go for it.

In this case, the company isn't losing anything in anyway. You can't buy it anyway. So there is no lose. Not even a potential lose.

It is still illegal, but from my moral point, it's nothing bad. And as a future developer, I wouldn't mind people pirating my stuff because I decided not to make it available for you. As I said, I won't be losing anything.

 

[Legion IV]

I don't understand why the fuck people think pirates would stop if their self-justification doesn't hold up. I could tell you it's morally wrong and illegal, but you wouldn't listen.

And I wouldn't blame you one bit. I don't have an issue with people claiming to pirate. As long as you never think what you're doing is in anyway justified, I don't take issue with it (because there's just too many people to combat if I do).

well... in this kind of case anyway, it is kind of justified in its own way (not the typical justified as though you're Robin Hood of gaming...) in the sense of "it's their own damn fault they don't want my money." if they released the game in my area, regardless of whether i already had the ROM or not, i would buy the game. (honestly i'd buy it even if the game sucked on the ROM because i'm that big a FE nut) but no, Nintendo dosn't want to sell their game to me. but i'm gonna play it anyway. it's its own kind of justification that (at best) is still admittedly on shaky ground.

EDIT: i will agree though, most of the time piracy is in no way justifiable... if you don't have money to buy games, you shouldn't be spending time on games, you should be working so you CAN buy games. and various other examples. but when it's flat out impossible to get the game otherwise (or at least in your language so you can actually PLAY) then i think it's justifiable in at LEAST a slim way. i think that applies to non-localized games, and games out of print (like N64 and older, you can still find GameCubes and their games at game stores)


Captcha has a dirty, dirty mind - usedAss exemplary

it is pirating. Import it, then since you cant read it, import it, then pirate it. you spent your money you supported that shit.

Thats what i use to do back when i couldn't speak a lick of anything Japanese but i dont steal from series and refer to myself as a huge fan.

 

[ablac]

If you cannot legitimately get it then yeah 'pirating' it is fine because it is impossible for you to get it legitimately. I mean if you cant get it then is it really piracy? I wouldnt say so because the act of piracy requires it to be possible to get it legitimately. At least thats how I view it. You cant steal it if it isnt there and if the sale isnt possible then who can you harm? Although if it can be imported then do that and put up with the language barrier or pirate a translated version. Like I said only if buying it is impossible.

 

[Halceon]

I don't think translation is a valid reason to start considering piracy. If, however, that is coupled with the game being restricted from being available to you. As in, not only isn't it sold in your area but it's even blocked on online retailers (I've had that happen), then you have no moral obligation to pay anyone for the service that they aren't delivering. You might as well send some money directly to the head of development, if you wan't to be fully upstanding.

 

[Vegosiux]

For fuck's sake.
Pirating is stealing. There's no grey area, excuses or whatever else. You took something you should have paid for in the most convoluted way possible, with whatever excuses as 'I wouldn't have paid for it anyway' and 'It's not stealing because it's not a physical item', without paying.

The bottom line is you stole something. What part of this confuses you?

I don't hate anything more than I hate overzealous, bad and incorrect arguments for a position I happen to agree with moderately.

There was no talk about "I wouldn't buy it anyway", nor was there any talk about it not being a physical item, where are you coming from at all?

 

[Sansha]

For fuck's sake.
Pirating is stealing. There's no grey area, excuses or whatever else. You took something you should have paid for in the most convoluted way possible, with whatever excuses as 'I wouldn't have paid for it anyway' and 'It's not stealing because it's not a physical item', without paying.

The bottom line is you stole something. What part of this confuses you?

I don't hate anything more than I hate overzealous, bad and incorrect arguments for a position I happen to agree with moderately.

There was no talk about "I wouldn't buy it anyway", nor was there any talk about it not being a physical item, where are you coming from at all?

To be perfectly honest I skimmed over your post. Posts asking about the moral implications of downloading games is all the same rubbish about the stuff I said.

I stand by my ignorance, if only out of blistering hatred for game pirates. You're no different.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Piracy is eeeeeeevil, man. That's why I'm sure nobody on this thread has watched a music video on youtube or sung "Happy Birthday To You" in a public location without paying royalties.

 

[Aprilgold]

if it wasnt released in ur country i dont rly see a problem with it its the developers fault for not releasing it in that country so they apparently dont care about ur money

OH MY SWEET ZOMBIE BABY MESSIAH OF DEVILS, USE SOME LETTERS MATE, THIS AIN'T YOUTUBE! YOU HAVE TONS OF SPACE TO WRITE!

Anyways, for this I'm going to tackle both aspects.

Morally: No, its not wrong. You can't buy / play their game without some serious issues getting in your way, so you wouldn't have bought / couldn't have bought it anyway.

Legally: Yes, but if its only released in one country and your getting it in another, then they can't pursue you legally unless they have a business station set up over there.

I'm a strong believer that you should be allowed to pirate if there is no physical way to get the game without financially hurting yourself. In some places, the price is so high that it is unreasonable to expect anyone to buy it without taking out a loan, and in some other places there is no way to buy the game without having to ship it, which also costs tons.

I think pirating Mother 3 is fair since there is no way to get the game and enjoy it without learning another language, also, fanhack that was made for free so people in other languages can enjoy it.

Piracy is OK if you at least support their company when they make a new game.

Why not import the game? You could do that with ebay, amazon, or anime/gaming conventions.

Because they can't understand the language, making it very difficult to enjoy.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

It's illegal, but fuck that, I think it's also ok. Because any pirating of a game that was not released in your country is definitely not depriving anyone who made it of a sale. No, you may not be entitled to all of that hard work, but if you cannot get access to this game any other way, it doesn't hurt them that you have it. I think it's your duty to explore other ways to get the game first, but if that fails, sure, pirate it.

 

[DeltaEdge]

It's wrong. No amount of justification will make the illegal obtaining of that game right. If you actually ordered it online, at least you've bought the game and they haven't "lost out on a potential sale". That being said, I don't have any problem with you getting the game like that. They refuse to make things easy for you and allow you to get the game in your language legally, so you decide to get it illegally. It's wrong, but if you really want the game that badly, then I wouldn't bother trying to justify the getting of the game, just get the game, and play it and have fun . If your moral code really prevents you from pirating the game, then just don't get it.

 

[Kahunaburger]

It's wrong. No amount of justification will make the illegal obtaining of that game singing of "Happy Birthday To You" in public right.

Morality =/= legality.

 

[hoboman29]

While emulators are technically illegal I personally don't see an issue with getting a game that will never be localized or would cost you your first born child to buy.
I'm not too sure on the second issue so I can't answer that

 

[DeltaEdge]

It's wrong. No amount of justification will make the illegal obtaining of that game singing of "Happy Birthday To You" in public right.

Morality =/= legality.

I just sang that song to my teacher today, how many royalties do I owe? I may have misworded that, but I was just trying to say that even though it's legally wrong, I don't have a problem with it morally. I don't think it's morally right, but not morally wrong either. It just seems sort of like the OP wants to feel more justified in having the game, not necessarily being legal right about it.

 

[TheIronRuler]

The Fire Emblem game (and i love Fire Emblem), Fire Emblem: New Mysteries of the Emblem -Heroes of Light and Shadow- (phew long name) was released in Japan a year or two back. and has basically been denied a US release. I did a little looking (because the game sounds awesome but i'm not here to pimp a FE game)and found a Fan-Made Translation patch underway and pretty much almost complete (about 75% there it seems) now i'm just curious as to what you guys think.
1) the game was never, and foreseeably WILL never be released anywhere but Japan
2) i dunno about you, but i know *I* can't read Japanese. and i'm pretty sure many more fans of such games count as well
3) for a translation patch to work you HAVE to have a ROM copy (technically pirated) and an Emulator (at least to my knowledge... of course you can use a Flash Cart instead of an emulator but it's still basically the same)

now here's the discussion value
1) is it right, wrong, or morally grey to "pirate" such a game (note this encompasses ALL JP-only games, or on the flip side if you're Japanese, US/EU-only games)
and
2) from a more legal viewpoint, CAN you even pirate such a game? it was never released in your area, or language. and the only translation is from a fan patch that HAS to have a ROM to function.

i know that personally, i'm downloading the ROM and translation as soon as it's finished. but if Nintendo happens to finally decide after so long to release it in my area, i will GLADLY part with money to buy it legitimately.

.
I'm glad I don't like JRPG.
Paradox Interactive can't circulate it's games in physical format here, since all of the importers think their games are for a niche crowd. But I love them, so I buy them online.
Your problem here is that the game itself is in a wrong language, nothing else.