mm, we are all high at this hour. Get with the program, some of us are high and drunk ... or handcuffed to the bed gagged with a red ball and wearing black leather straps being whipped by the old lady who lives next door. I swear she seemed so nice and innocent. 

someone help me.

How old is old?

1)The CD key

Single player games:
_ 1 time activation for single player games, not liked by the crowd, but it takes care of (not liked by the crowed, but if there is a multiplayer element, people will not care about this), this takes care of used sales.... and it's a one time thing.
_ Always online... not liked at all by the crowd, not compatible to consoles as 1/2 the market share would be taken out.
_ No online necessary : does not prevent anything... but the action of using a CD key many times is as illegal as a pirated copy... and for a pirated copy, there won't be protection anyways. (on the plus side, it lets people lend their game and not feel bad).

Multiplayer games:
_ works fine for Valve and Bliz... people don't care as you're online anyways.

Added advantages:
No need for CD protection (that gets pirated anyways)
Can have no CD install (++ for the crowd)

In order to control price, you could have the physical game cost 5$ and the CD key sold online at the publisher for full price... easy and cheap.
-> this would allow for used sales... sortoff... but you could modulate the resell value by changing the physical game price.
EA kind of went this way with their 15$/10$ online activation.

Problems
... if you sell CD keys as a standalone, you legitimize pirated copies (hence why I lowered the premium).
... pirated copies of single player and illegal multiplayer servers.



-> CD key linked to an account.

same but even better as it's transferable between your consoles/computers....
Though for the customer, this means no resell value (you can resell your cd key... to friends as they can assume you won't use it anymore) and no lending to friends.



-> the other way is free DLC

Why does this work? because people feel the item they buy used or pirate does not have the same value... only problem is that this content can be pirated too.... but in the end, people who buy used because it's cheaper... will likely keep on buying used....



-> unlockable content

Same as free DLC, but concerns key elements of the game.... People who buy used will actually feel cheated and resent the company more than the seller... this would lead to bad PR.



-> locked on one console

Isn't that basicaly using a CD key? but in more complicated as each CD needs to have a specific ID... Plus imagine if your console breaks... Much better to have linked to an account than a console... But you could add console linked to an account... that would take care of the console breaks part. (isn't that Itunes?)




I prefer the CD key

oh and I don't understand what an online ticket is...

Jeez man. There are plenty of games that make the developers and publishers plenty of profit that they all know what's required to survive with a used game market. Make quality games with good replay value and you will get enough new game sales to keep yourself going. Notice how it's the companies that aren't making much money and who put out crap games in equal measure to good games that are doing most of the whining about the used game market?

I don't mind making used game buyers pay a one off fee for accessing online gaming. Or having a "free" one use only DLC voucher for extra content. The one off online fee is to help cover the costs of providing the online service. The costs are covered by a few dollars coming off each new game sale to in some ways new game buyers are subsidising the online play of used game buyers. I don't think that's equitable. However I doubt the cost of the online service is $10 off the top of the new game price, because that would just about wipe out someone's profit margin. It's probably more like $2 per game (assuming reasonable level of sales). So charging $10 per game for online access is really creaming it I reckon.

Of course having compelling DLC is another way of getting revenue from used game buyers, through them buying one or 2 DLC packs.

Best I think to give people a positive reason to buy games new (free DLC or high quality+replay value) rather than being punitive against the used game buyer.

It's not the developers choice.

But for now I tihnk EA's strategy is the best - there has got to be a balance so that they don't piss off the retailers too much. For now I think that's the best solution which is viable, but I also think it's just the beginning.

The other obvious strategy is releasing DLC on a more periodic and regular basis - however at the moment putting too much focus into the DLC will lose half the market (Those who arn't online) and can be very hard to get right.

I'd personally looking into putting games up on PSN / XBLA after a few months and a sub-pre owned price. Only problem is it could fill alot of hard drives fast 0_o.

apart from making it high quality, make it able to register on the console, once registered, it costs $20 to activate in other console.
if no online connection, but a special software on stores to activate used games

Nothing. Same amount of people own the game. 1 person trades in 1 person buys, same costs overall. Otherwise no one can take a game round a mates house, no one who lost a console can install their old game on their new console etc. Only viable option is DRM really, online should not be a requirement ever.

Online Registration. Kind of like how Bioware does it with Mass Effect 2. You would get a one time code in with your new game. and if you buy the game used then you would have to pay a small fee (Like 5 or 10 dollars) and of course make the game High Quality. Needs to be an experience!

But if I were to ever become a game developer. I would probably try to be a Western Japanese RPG creator. and I wouldn't tack on multiplayer just for the sake of having it.

make great game that people don't want to resell