Nintendo Thieves

Nintendo is demanding an estimated $4.4 million dollars from four illegal importers from Japan that make "majicon" chips allowing people to illegally play pirated software on the DS. "Through the spread of majicon and other illegal devices, our company and software makers have suffered grievous harm," Nintendo said in a statement.

I love playing video games. I really do. The interactivity. The sense of adventure. The out of body experience as you kill hordes of zombies. The satisfaction of saving the damsel in distress.

I love video games, yet can't say I really sympathize with Nintendo here. Sure I can understand that Nintendo is probably losing a lot of dough when they invest millions of dollars and manpower to create classic games and software, but at the end of the day, if I see a buddy of mine playing the new Super Mario Bros. Multiplayer game well before the launch date, I get a sense of excitement and awe than I do anger. However, when I see some politician baggin on Grand Theft Auto for its "violence and its detrimental effect to today's youth" I get a bit upset.

I'm sure a lot of us can attest to this type of feeling we get when we hear similar stories about pirated movies/music. Why is it ok that people know they are contributing to the damage of theses industries they love?