I agree to a certain extent. It is nice to have a real copy of something, even if there's technically little difference between that and a pirate. I think that no matter how prominent digital media becomes, there will always be a market for hard copies as a result. Still, there's no way now that I'd go back to buying games blind after having pirated for so long. Reviews can only tell you so much, as everyone has their own tastes. I've liked plenty of games that reviewers have hated, and hated plenty that reviewers have liked. So I'd really miss the ability to try anything and everything without taking any sort of financial risk. I think I'll always like piracy as a sort of 'try before you buy' type thing. Or at least as a 'try the stuff you'd never pay money for anyway' arrangement. ^_~;
Nowadays, though, I do make an effort to at least pay for everything that I enjoy. Most of the games I own are ones that I had actually already finished via pirate copies... I guess it's still a bit dishonest, since generally by the time I buy a game it's gone down in price, and I still get to play it upon release. But at least this way I'm giving something back, and usually giving it back for something that I know deserves it.
Anyway, my collection of games is pretty small, but I'll maybe fish out my digital camera later and post pictures.
I've got a decent collection of old NES games (75-ish) as well as two zapper models, and an old NES Advantage gamepad, I'll count everything up when I can get a picture up.
I'm not happy about my piracy but modding my Xbox was definitely the best thing I've ever done. I've now got a Linux box w/Windows 98 lite, a complete media center networked with my computer to stream music and videos. I've got access to so many emulators and stuff. I love my modded Xbox. Where as if I was to mod my Cube all I'd do is have a pile of like 20 games that I want. So I might as well buy them and be satisfied.
DC piracy is good to a certain extent as it's free to start with (Except the cost of CD's). Plus it's given me access to more than just PAL games.