Generally, the arguments for games piracy run thus. Games are too expensive - they're not value for what they are. If games were cheaper, more people would be able to buy them, resulting in less piracy. As it is, people download warez versions of games because the prices are ridiculous.

As with music, there's also a feeling that not much of the money makes it back to the developer that has created the game - it all goes to the 'evil' publisher.

The flipside of this argument is that nobody suggests that it's ok to steal a Porsche because they're too expensive for most people to buy.

But the flipside of that is that Porsches are not marketed at kids and their pocket money, or students and their overdrafts.

So, in this column, I'd like to consider just a few theories of pricing and marketing, put forward some examples, and see if I can get some debate going amongst our readers, possibly challenging some viewpoints along the way." [more]