Funny you say that...
When I started gaming (i.e. Prince of Persia 1, Montizuma's revenge, Police Quest/Space Quest1) there were almost no titles available and copying games was as normal as sharing sarmies.
In recent years I have also played many pirated single player games, but with the birth of more popular multiplayer and/or online games I've enjoyed purchasing the real deal. As it provides me with far more game time and piece of mind.
It has gotten to such a point where I've started purchasing old titles that I used to play - just for the sake of ownership - even though I haven't bothered playing them again.
Now that I'm self sustainable I easily find myself buying a number of originals & although it costs a bit, I believe that the amount of pleasure I get from it more than makes up for the price.
It's exactly the same as listening to mp3s and then going out and buying the box set of the artist you enjoy. Heck - it even leads you to buying the live concert dvd's. Something we would otherwise never have done without pirated exposure.
The same principal applies to dvds. Between my brother and I we boast a sizable collection of dvds/xbox/xbox360/pc original titles. As soon as my favourite series become available in box sets I will buy them too!
I believe as we mature we find more respect for others' work instead of filling our pockets out of greed and indifference. I do not condone pirating and even though I've had my fair share of warez, I am starting to pride myself with my collection of original game boxes. I think it all started when I found an original unopened copy of
Pacman for the Atari 5200. I wonder how much it'll fetch for on ebay :/