makingmusic476 said:
RolStoppable said:
makingmusic476 said:
theRepublic said:
That video Jaffe posted is awful. Let's go through a few of the logical fallacies.
If the only reason you are playing games is that you want to be able to resell them, you should stop playing games. No one plays games so they can resell them. They play games for fun, or story, or relaxation, or to hang out with friends, etc. They resell games so that they can buy new games to play. If people felt that a game was worth what they paid for it, they would not sell it to try and recoup their investment.
Personally, I think that if a cheaper option wasn't available to play games, we would see the consumer pool shrink. That would be terrible for the industry.
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To better understand that first quote, you should read the initial conversation that started all of this. Basically, the other guy said he wouldn't have bought God of War if he hadn't had the option to resell it later. Jaffe's response was that if you'd only buy a game knowing you'd be able to resell it later, you shouldn't be playing games, as you obviously care more about the option to get rid of the game more than the substance of the game
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The ability to resell a game works as a safety net for the consumer, if he didn't like what he bought. That way he can get at least some of his money back, in case the game doesn't live up to his expectations which easily happens with hyped games among the gaming community.
I assume the other guy has been burnt by hyped games before, so it would be understandable if he would only buy it, if he had also the ability to resell it in case he didn't like it. Another point that could be made is that the money a consumer gets from reselling most of the time goes straight back into a new game. So if you take away the ability to resell games from consumers, there will be less games sold as a result, because there's less disposable money.
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But that's when GameStop enters the picture, grabs you by the neck, and rips out your soul!
They convince you to get the Edge card when you trade in games, because this gets you an extra 10% credit on whatever you trade in. However, this card also SAVES you 10% on anything used you buy! That's when customers start avoiding buying anything new. Suddenly they're trapped in this viscious cycle of buying used games then trading them back in, all to get the most out of their card!
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Trapped? Viscious cycle? It's $15 and comes with a year of Game Informer. While I think GI is rather poorly written (its attempts at humorous reviews are awful) it adds enough value, information-wise, that most of the $15 is made up right there. (Besides, I need something to read on the crapper). I hardly think anyone feels obligated to purchase from GS because of it.
The biggest problem with GS is lack of competition, which they've never really had, even during the days of EB and Babbages because all of the chain stores were essentially the same: $50 new, $45 used. If you're lucky enough to have a small chain like The Exchange, a franchise like CD Warehous, or an independent like Game Again in your area, you're in great shape. If one of those places has a game I'm looking for, they will almost certainly have it cheaper than GS (10% discount included). They only problem is the if. What's amazing is that all three of those places pay more money for games than GS (I know this from experience), yet the sheeple keep trading at the Company Store.
If you're unlucky enough to have other options, there's still Ebay, Amazon, and many other sources online.
