That argument doesn't sit well with you because you misunderstood my hobby. I said that "I keep my finger on the pulse of the gaming industry", which is to say, of course I'm up to date. There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying older games; in fact, I have a nice collection of classic games. But for me it's not about having the latest and greatest as a status symbol. The excitement comes from following the progress of the industry as a whole, not just the simple joy of playing a game. Now, say I were to take your advice, and solely play old used games that I could afford. That would hurt the game publishers far more than downloading their games. Publishers don't make a single cent off of the sale of a used game. Buying used games does not put money back into the industry, it puts money into retailers' pockets. So, I ask you: in this situation, what would a game publisher prefer? Buying antiquated used games instead of their games, or downloading their recent games and telling all of my friends how good they are?
I'm not trying to justify piracy in general. I'm simply pointing out that it's not necessarily in a publisher's best interests to squash all unpaid use of their products.
