On later systems like the Nintendo Gamebot Advance you would often find a little demoscene preview before the game booted up. Amazing what you can code in just a few kilobytes of space
(Hoping the statute of limitations have past.)
It was to the point where I thought that the demo music and loading/menu screens before games were official, and I'm nostalgic for that part of it as much as the games themselves.
Someone having written a game, spending tons of money over 1 year or more, paying a team, graphic artists, sound guy, etc, hoping to sell it, and then taking that game against their wishes and giving it for free with them not seeing a penny sounds like one.
And the "those downloading the pirate version weren't going to buy anyway"-excuse is bogus. Some weren't, some would - if there wasn't a pirate version.
When you pirate you don't only cater to the poor and the perpetual cheapskates who'd never buy, but also to people who would.