Originally Posted by
d3v
While I can understand this for pirating music and and maybe somewhat for movies, what bothers me is nowadays, a demo of a game is a lot more rare than say, 10-15 years ago. I remember buying a PC (gaming) magazine and getting a CD/DVD filled with game demo's on it.
As some people have stated, some download a game to try it, and if they like it will go ahead and purchase the game. However at the same time, as also has been said, some people will download the game, realise they don't like it and not purchase it (and this is where the gaming companies then lose out on a potential sale). It's like some game companies want you to take a leap of faith and buy their game without being given a chance to test it beforehand. Sure, you can try making a judgement call by looking at reviews, but nothing compares to trying out the game for yourself. One could argue a demo still doesn't give you a full idea of the game, but in my opinion it gives you a lot better idea than a (biased) review or gameplay video. And when it comes to PC games, the game might not run as well on your setup as it shows on said review and gameplay videos.
Now of course some companies still do make demo's, like EA Sports do with the FIFA and NFL franchise, but I get the general impression it's a lot more rare than in the past. Take Assassin's Creed 3 for example (if I'm wrong here, there are countless other examples, so take this with a grain of salt). As far as I'm aware there has never been a demo of any Assassin's Creed title. How do I know if I'll like this game and if it is worth the €40-70 it costs depending on what platform you buy it, without trying it out first? Sure, I can check out reviews and gameplay video's, but as I said, they're not the same as trying it out for yourself. It's a rather annoying feeling when you hand over a sum of cash for a game that you then end up not liking, and in some cases you can't return/resell as you've used a key in order to play the game.
As for movies, I'm kind of 50/50. The only thing you can judge a movie on is trailers (which obviously don't show you too much or it would spoil the movie) and again, reviews. However going to the cinema is getting more and more expensive (an example, the cinema closest to me charges €9,60 for a normal movie and €11,60 for a 3D movie) and a game gives you many more hours of enjoyment than a movie does, if you like it that is.
Music, however, there is no excuse really. There are means to listen to a part of a song, or even the whole song, legally. There are also nowadays cheaper solutions, like Spotify, letting you listen to as much music as you want, legally, for a set price (less than the cost of an album). Of course not all record labels have a contract with such services, but really, there are enough means to 'preview' music off an album before buying it.
That said, I do however agree that you pay to use your ISP's service, and if you're using it for illegal means they should have every right to take action to stop you doing it.