Weird PC game comparison: 50$ USA/Europe vs 5-15$ Russia

This post might add more fuel to the discussion of piracy, but I feel that some people might find this an interesting read.

I was recently on a work trip to Russia and had an opportunity to go shopping. While I was walking around, I encountered at least three different game stores. The newest PC Games which cost 40-60$ in USA and Europe are on display everywhere with price tags varying between 5-15$. The game boxes and covers look as good as in the western versions. The ones I saw were all packed, so I didn't know what was inside. Many of the games are translated to Russian but some include both a Russian and an English version. The funny part is that they are recognised as "legal versions" in Russia because there are also illegal pirated versions for 1-3$ somewhere on the black market.  

I had a very serious temptation to grab at least 10-15 games. The only thing that kept me from hoarding is that my current computer is too old to run any modern games and nowadays I prefer to stick to a few old familiar games rather than trying out something new all the time. I was also worried about possible explanations I'd have to invent at the border if a customs official noticed a huge pile of game boxes in my luggage. However, I was too curious, so I decided to get one box to find out what was inside and how it would run.

"Crysis from Russia":
http://img219.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crysisinrussiand9.jpg

The game cost 5$ and for a while resided near a DVD of "Oblivion" and a few other games which cost 50$ each. The box contained a DVD but there was no manual or any CD-key sticker inside the box. The disk itself didn't resemble a home-burnt version but actually looked like a disk from a 50$ box. I inserted the disk and an option popped up suggesting an installation in English. The disc didn't contain any viruses. Since my own computer wouldn't be able to run Crysis even at the lowest settings, I decided to gift the DVD to a friend who has a more modern computer. He told me afterwards that the single player part of the game runs fine but the multiplayer part doesn't work in that version because there was something funky about the CD-key.