Okay, let me add my two "cents".
I'm 18, i guess i'm somewhat of a hardcore gamer and yes, i know whats IN my pc. One, i don't think piracy is theft. Theft is when you actually take something such that the victim no longer has it. Piracy is piracy. Copying with out permission. Two, PC gaming may be declining but there isn't anything that'll stop it. Ever. It's called a trend. In two, three years something might come along and revive gaming. For now we just have to sit tight with Intel and Microshaft. (For the record i'm and Avid AMD/ATI supporter and would love to see something to properly replace Windows...)
Now, i feel the real problem is that people don't care anymore. There used to be a time when computers were cool, to anyone. Now, no one cares. More over no one cares enough to really learn about computers/computing. I know that my £200/£300 won't play many, if any, new games, that's why i'm planning an upgrade that will allow me to play games that work ok atm, well. And it'll allow me to play games that i can't play. How much? £300, maybe £400. Thats what, $600/$800... To me, that's quite reasonable. and i'm a STUDENT. That's gotta be saying something...