| numonex said: EB Games/Game Stop and many other game stores make most of their profits from their shonky second hand trades. Game developers and publishers receive no money from the second hand game trade. Second hand game trades hurts developers as much as software piracy. In both cases developers and publishers receive no money from the second hand games sale or downloaded game. Game stores not only rip off consumers with terrible pricing in their favour, they rip the game industry off as a whole. Renting and lending games to a smaller extent hurt the game developers and publishers. Fewer customers purchase the games by second hand purchase, pirate game, rental or borrowing a game from a friend. Bear in mind the cost of developing video games these days is sky rocketing, costing as much as $100 million for some game developments. End of rant/ |
A bit of reality here:
* Used game sales is NOT the same as piracy, and is not worse. One thing here is that the money from the used game sales usually goes to buy more games, so the money is recycled. Also a set number of seats to play is available via the used route, so to have more people play, they have to sell more new copies. Contrast that with piracy, where the number of seats to play increases, AND the industry gets no money from that.
* Why should someone who buys something be stuck with it, and not be able to unload it and get something else?
* Games with great replayability don't end up in the used bin. If someone keeps play it, it doesn't get traded in. So, developers need to end up making games that are replayable and make people less inclined to trade it in.
* Why is how the industry spends its money, and has an inability to manage its costs, MY problem? Why should I have to end up spending over $60 for something with little to no replayability, to help an industry that spent Avatar-level costs to make a game? Why is that my concern? Who said you have to spend $100 million to produce a game? Who told you that? The fact you have to go bling-mad with production costs to get marginal return is whose fault?
* Game prices are NOT based on how much a game costs to make, but what the market is willing to pay for a game.
By the way, unless developers have some sort of royalty agreement with publishers for ongoing sales, they make their money once a game gets out the door. They are hired contractors by firms that get hired to do work, and then are gone. They may get money by providing downloadable content. But, beyond this? Well, it doesn't work that way normally.
In short, the industry needs to give people reasons to hold onto games and not trade them in. This includes not putting out a sucky game, or making it is so that is replayable. In my case, I was able to get $30 for Brutal Legend (which I had no intentions continuing of play) which I was able to apply to Mass Effect 2 at Toys R Us? Think that used games hurt sales? Well, Mass Effect 2 got a sale when it did, because I could dump Brutal Legend.
Ok, so it is noble and on the right track to want developers and publishers to get compensated for game sales. One option is to enable used games to be able to be resold and compensated for this resell. Maybe have a few other rules on how long it is before a used copies of games go onto sale. Yes, we can work to make this bettter for the industry. HOWEVER, I think it is folly to say it is worse than piracy.
And the industry tends to be cute in how it wants to grab profits. First, get rid of piracy. Next, complain about used game sales. After that will come about complaining about game sales period, and all games should be on a rental basis, in that you pay $60 for a month's play of a game and then you have to pay another $60 a month for more play. After all, how can developers afford to support a product unless they keep getting paid for it? Watch, that will happen next. It will come, if you want to whine about game sales.
