Let’s be clear about one thing right from the start. This article is by no means making a blanket statement that all piracy is okay. Piracy in the broadest sense is theft and is wrong. But with most things, it’s not just a black and white, yes or no, right or wrong topic. There is that gray area up for debate and here, we are going to take a look at piracy specifically as it relates to the video game industry.

If a game is about to be or has just been released to retail, is it okay to download off of a torrent site because someone leaked the code out from the manufacturer or was able to rip the files off the disk? Is it okay to use a key generator to claim ownership of a disk so you can play a copy that has been passed around your dorm? No. These are blatant acts of theft. These are where people are trying to mess with the system for their own personal benefit and denying payment to the people and companies behind the created game.

Some will argue that games are too expensive nowadays and piracy is their way of “sticking it to the man” to show them they aren’t okay with high prices. The truth of the matter is that, in relation to inflation, games are cheaper today than they were twenty years ago. During the heyday of the NES and SNES where larger cartridge memory required higher manufacturing costs resulting in some games costing well above even today’s norm price of $59.99. Don’t believe me? Go ask anyone in finance (or even your third grade math teacher) if something that cost $79.99 in 1990 is cheaper than something that today is sold for $59.99 and expect a slap in the face from them.

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9/9/99 is a date that will live in infamy for the video game world. Over ten years ago, the Dreamcast came to homes across the country. Trying to beat out the PlayStation 2, Sega released this groundbreaking system that would be the first home console to attempt online play, which did work though terribly slow due to being over dialup.

The Dreamcast would play host to some revolutionary titles like Shenmue, Jet Grind Radio and Power Stone. It would also boast the title as the best home console to play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on. With over 650 titles, it is sad to hear that this would be the last ever console released by Sega.

“The Dreamcast is fondly remembered by a large community of dedicated fans as a console that was ahead of its time in terms of graphics, quality and online gaming” commented Haruki Satomi, VP of Digital Business at SEGA of America and SEGA Europe. “There are few things that are more requested from us than making Dreamcast classics available for download in today’s digital market place. We’re very excited to begin offering gamers our beloved Dreamcast titles again on the current console systems.”

In celebration of the 11th anniversary of the Dreamcast, Sega has announced that two of its favorite titles, Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi will be released on September 9th, 2010 as XBLA and PlayStation Network games. Though prices have not been disclosed yet, it has been confirmed both games will receive the full Achievement / Trophy upgrade for their respective consoles as well as high def visuals, surround sound and online leaderboards.

Check out the screen shots below of Sonic Adventure and Crazy Taxi which will be playable on the show floor at E3 next week.

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Have you been anxiously awaiting the release of Armored in theaters? No. We didn’t think so. But did you say to yourself that you might check it out if it was free or when it came to cable? That one is a little more likely. Well for some people this past week, those wishes came true a little early when Armored, which is still in theaters and hasn’t been put on to DVD, On Demand or any streaming service appeared on the Playstation Store. And to sweeten the deal, they put it up for free.

Even though it was corrected in a matter of hours, a currently unreleased number of Playstation users had already downloaded the file which they can now enjoy on their Playstation 3 and Playstation Portable. Currently, there is no solution from Sony’s end to delete or lock those files which means those users own it for life, or at least until they get bored and delete it.

Since its Dec. 4th release, Armored has pulled in a lowly $11,750,895 domestic box office, barely overtaking the amount of money the characters in the movie are hoping to rob from the armored truck they are trying to rob.

Now if only they could screw up and pre-release movies people actually want to see…

Who here hasn’t been freaked our during a video? Playing a game in a room that is pitch black except for the light of the TV screen and walking down a narrow corridor with your character only to have something jump out of a corner and scare the hell out of you causing you to scream in terror and wake up the rest of your house. What? Only me?

Well one of those games that has gotten a reputation for scaring its players on every playthrough has been F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and today, it’s getting a free demo for its latest expansion pack.

F.E.A.R. 2: Reborn, as the expansion is titled, will give the player a four level single player campaign from the perspective of Replica Soldier Foxtrot 813, a character in the F.E.A.R. lore that no player has had the opportunity to play from before. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Monolith Studios should be praised for the release of this free demo as most downloadable content is usually purchase only, leaving players uneasy about dropping money on something they cannot try before they buy.

The full release of this downloadable content will hit the XBox Live Marketplace and Playstation Store on September 3rd. Also coming the 3rd will be a free title update/patch featuring a new Slow-Mo Deathmatch mode.

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