Deveopers talk about used games countermeasure.

[Ail]

Gnizmo said:

Ail said:

Like some said the real solution here is digital distribution at a discount.

Seeing how those games can't be resold used it would make a lot of sense.

Something like having PC games at retail for 50$ and 40$ if you download it online would speed up the adoption rate of digital distribution too ( and without retail getting their share and no resell of the game publishers would actually probably make more profit on the 40$ digital download than on the 50$ physical media).

Make those physical copies that can be resold more expensives so that those of us that don't plan to resell it can buy a cheaper copy :P

 That will annoy the retailers and get your product put in limited quantity on shelves in bad places. Retailers get a little annoyed when you try and cut the retail channel out of your business model.

@Garcian

 As I recall in those instances the company is forced to offer you a refund directly within thirty days of purchase. Most EULAs are unenforced because they are not technically legal and thus can't really be enforced. Some if them stay with-in the limits they are allowed but a whole lot go over-board and could actually cause a huge problem for the company should they be tested. This is all a bit of a fuzzy memory for me though as I haven't looked into the legalities of EULAs since my EQ days.

 

That's exactly what the music industry is doing though.......

Songs are cheaper on itunes than they are if you buy a CD...

Besides some companies right now have the power to push on retailers if they want ( Nintendo products are selling so much these days I doubt any retailer could seriously consider boycotting them if they changed their policy..).

A company like Sony could push on some retailers ( Best Buy, Circuit City) too thanks to it's electronics business ( do a decent job displaying my gaming product or you will get very limited deals on my TVs.)

 

Besides Gamestop is already displaying new games in limited quantity and doing everything they can to push their used games so it's not like retailer are playing nice either.. ( what is gamestop doing if not trying to cut the publishers out of the loop by focusing on used games sales ?)

I agree a small publisher would have trouble to do that but if any of the big 3 console makers did, retailers would just have to learn to live with it...

 

PS : Someone mentionned an issue earlier about companies renting games. It wouldn't really be an issue. The same way blockbuster gets different version of DVDs to rent than we buy at retail, they could get a different version of the games that would allow multiples installs or play....