The drama is that the folks at Philippine gaming news blog, GameOPS, are encountering a bit of trouble regarding certain locals who are decidedly pro-piracy.

It can be recalled that a few weeks ago GameOPS ran a story on local pirated GameCube games being sold as cheap Wii titles. Now, the pro-piracy gamers are starting to lambaste GameOPS as "haters."

What's my take on all this? Lighten up on videogame piracy folks; at least videogame piracy in this pathetic third world nation. You have to admit that given the Philippines sad pathetic economy, piracy is the only way for a lot of the gamers in that country to continue to enjoy the content. Most of them (me included) just cannot afford to have a large library of original content, especially if a lot of the original titles cost half a month's worth of salary. Don't even get me started on the cost of a PS Triple.

Sans the mod-chips, most of the consoles are original anyway, so if the company sells their hardware at a profit (like Nintendo), they still make money. Moreover, the truly dedicated fans save up to buy original copies of the games they really like anyway.

As for the pro-piracy folks, they should just relax and not see this as a threat to their gaming habits. Gaming news just travels fast on the grapevine, that's all. The story spread on the networks because of the "Haha that's interesting; stupid funny third world country." factor, and not because of the "Oh my gosh! We have to persecute that. No to piracy!" factor.