if 35% are pirating PC games in 2016, then we can say that Wii, DS, and GBA games in the same timeframe were being pirated either on par or probably much higher in percentages. If we also consider the age range/household income of those who pirate, it's mostly younger lower/middle-class consumers who pirate.
This demographic 'Younger lower/middle-class consumers who pirate' won't buy the games if pirating isn't an option, but might grow up/better their conditions and start buying them in the future thanks to previous exposure. I was there growing up, in my country buying games legitimately was a no no because 1 single game was more than 1/3 my parents monthly wage, they weren't going to buy their kids a game no matter what. But they could pony up for a console on xmas or a special date, a console like lets say a PS2 that would promptly be modded in order to get pirated games at $2-3 a pop. Same with bootleg cartridges/flashcarts or a computer that could emulate GBA, etc.
My childhood was that, piracy. It was the only thing I had access to, as a kidyou don't know it's wrong, you just enjoy your games. When you are poor you just don't care. Eventually I grew up to be in a very strong financial position where I have a big ass steam library and all 3 consoles where I buy my games legitimately. But without growing up gaming, I wouldn't have ever bothered to pick up gaming as a hobby later in life.
This is why things like gamepass and regional pricing are good and effective ways to combat piracy, MS and steam charge appropiate pricing regarding to the countries they are selling in, gamepass is becoming very popular in south america because of this, steam also does well. Nintendo and Sony not so much in that sense, because their pricing stays very high, specially nintendo. So even when you buy a physical copy of a game, you don't usually go through ordinary channels but will get it from stores that contraband it. In my home country modded nintendo switches are very very popular due to this, you can pony up to buy a modded console once and that is it, for people that are confronted with this option or spending a significant portion of their salary in 1 single game, the choice is easy.
Yes you could say if they can't afford to buy games they shouldn't be gaming in the first place! Gaming is a luxury! And maybe you'd be right, but you'd be yelling at clouds because that's not how the world works is it? One of the big reasons the PS2 sold the numbers it did worldwide is that it was stupid easy to pirate. This is happening to the switch right now too.
Just for clarification, I do not condone piracy but it is a discussion worth having. So hopefully I won't be banned for this post lol.