What are the positives and negatives of second hand game stores

[kn]

The reality is that $60 is too much for the average joe to pay for a game. A person who works for an hourly wage -- say $10 bucks/hour -- will have to spend a day's wages on a game. They simply can't afford and don't desire to spend $60 on a game that has 6-8 hours of gameplay time. Heavenly Sword, COD4, Stranglehold, and so on -- Games that basically cost $10/hour to play. Of course these people are going to look for used deals and other discounts to get that game...

Then there are the people like me. I can very much afford them, but I'm a cheap bastard. I wait until there is enough used stock to push the price down and then use my discount card to get it cheaper. For instance: Gears is currently $39 used at Gamestop. I'll use a discount card (-10%) plus a coupon (-10%) to get it for $33. 10-12 hours of gameplay in that one (without multiplayer) means the gamer paid about $3/hour which is tenable. Add to that the occasional deal that GS will run where they do a buy 1 get one 50% or B2G1 free on used and it gets real cheap, real fast, to expand your library...

So, in short, used games do benefit those that can't otherwise justify the price tag. BUT a lot of people that CAN buy games at full retail price and likely WOULD buy the game at full retail new don't do it because there IS an alternative.

My opinion is that the game companies need to first, control their IP and specifically ban the resale of the software in their end user license agreement. They need to pursue it legally until they get it removed from retail... At the same time, they need to lower MSRPs somewhat and start ratcheting down the price over time. There is no reason for gears to be $59.99 new any more. At $39 new, a whole lot of new buyers will pop up... maybe even $29... cheap enough to add to your library and keep it there rather than trying to recoup your "investment".