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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Should buyers of pre-owned titles be punished?

vlad321 on 22 February 2010
Fumanchu said:
So everyone here suggesting that the developers make their games more 'replayable' to avoid second-hand markets is happy to see the death of great single-player games?

As always there's a million and one analogies thrown into the mix whenever this topic comes up - art appreciates in value, cars performance degrades, used CDs/DVDs aren't as available in retailers, books don't cost $50 million to write and market, there's a counter argument to everything and it is a REAL problem with some developers going under.

We're now seeing comments justifying piracy because of the used-game market. Something has to change. And I don't view it as 'punishment' for the developer to get paid.

Agreed. Developers should either start producing content worth $50, or they should charge the games' real value.



Tag(thx fkusumot) - "Yet again I completely fail to see your point..."

HD vs Wii, PC vs HD: http://www.vgchartz.com/forum/thread.php?id=93374

Why Regenerating Health is a crap game mechanic: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=3986420

gamrReview's broken review scores: http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=4170835

 

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whatever on 22 February 2010

Any developer/console maker that decides to differentiate between new and used loses my business immediately.



whatever on 22 February 2010
twesterm said:
loves2splooge said:

Game developers have an extreme sense of entitlement. They feel that they deserve special treatment that just about every other industry doesn't enjoy (you can resell cars, clothing, property, electronics, music cds, DVDs, etc.) Consumers are going to pay what they feel the product is worth. Consumers act out of self-interest, not out of charity for these 'poor' game developers. And that's how it should be in a capitalistic society. Game developers, you want sympathy because you lost your job during this recession? Tough shit, make games that are worth plunking down $60 for. If you don't like it, get out of the entertainment industry (which the game industry is part of) and go work somewhere with real job security because job security in the entertainment industry is horrible and if you can't live with that, tough.

If game companies want to give out incentives for those that have new copies, that's fine. Consumers will vote accordingly with their dollars. And honestly I think gamers are going to reject these schemes just like they largely reject the DLC swindle. All these game companies are selling DLC but yet look at how much money they are losing. When EA is losing all kinds of money, that's karma.

When you buy used anything else, car for example, you don't get new.  You get a used car.  You get a car that has depreciated value, you get a car that has engine wear, you get a car that's a little dirty, ect.

When you buy a used game you get the same exact game.  A used game is exactly the same as a new game which means there isn't really much incentive to buy new.

What things like providing free DLC to new games does is give someone an incentive to buy new.

Typically you buy something used because you aren't willing to spend as much for whatever reason and you just accept you don't get as good as new.  Games have always been backwards in that you spend less but get just as good as new.

That isn't developers having a sense of entitlement, it's just people getting the same thing for the used price as others get for the new price.  Again, I think provinding free DLC for new games is a wonderful idea.  It gives consumers an actual reason to buy something new.  It's not publishers trying to nickel and dime you since, they're either actually saving you money for not having to buy that or giving you the same exact game you would have gotten in the first place.

In the case you buy used, you have to spend money, but that's just the consequence of buying used.  If you want that DLC, you have to pay extra and that's just that. 

If it was just as good as new, then it wouldn't cost less. 



Nizut76 on 22 February 2010

I wouldn't blame bad developers for a game not having replay value. Some people play games over and over again and some people don't. I play a game one time and pretty much never play it again. I play games for the story and once i know the story i dont have any feeling of needing to play the game again. and i usually dont play the games online either due to alot of morons playing and acting like crazy maniacs. but i feel it is crazy to sell a game to gamestop for like 15 dollars for a pretty new game and them to sell it for 55 dollars within the first week of a games release. I think bonus content for people buying the game new is a good incentive to spend the extra 5 dollars for the new game. used games are always going to be around and i dont have a problem with used games but gamstop is making a killing off of people. and half the time the game is missing a manual. incentives are good for new games, but used game buyers should get access to all content. and the bonus content for a fee of maybe 5 dollars to put a dent into gamestops 55 dollar used game sales. sorry to ramble for so long.



dunno001 on 22 February 2010
whatever said:

If it was just as good as new, then it wouldn't cost less. 

Well, to us, the consumer, it's as good as new, assuming all the parts are there. (Parts defined as manual and case cover.) But to the retailer, the used is better for the profit margin. So how does the retailer get us to buy what they think is better, if there's no difference to us? Make it cheaper. That $60 new game is $12 profit. But, even at $55, that used game is $25-30, or even more, of profit. We get $5 more in our pocket, and the retailer gets $13 more in theirs. It's the publisher that loses.

Since DLC's not going away (despite my desire for it to do so), it makes a nice leveraging point to buy new. Have some DLC with some substancial extras to the game. Include with all new copies, a code to get this for free. With it being "substancial", the DLC could be priced at $10 (or equivilent). So I get the whole game for $60. But, instead, someone else buys a used copy for $55, and now has to pay $10 more for this extra content, thus, $65 total, killing the "value" of a used game.



-dunno001

-On a quest for the truly perfect game; I don't think it exists...

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almcchesney on 22 February 2010

if the publishers wanted then there is the option of all digital distribution, since every one on here says the devs are the most importent, then let us cut out all middle men, the psp go should be your savior.

gamestop isnt the problem people, 1st of all gamestop has 4700 stores nation wide, employing 10's of thousands of people, and being an asm at my store i tell you that 90% of our workers are part time, that this is a second job, a second job oh no!! whatre they gonna do with the money??? hmm idk probly buy new games??? 2 of our workers put most all of their paychecks into buying new games. so quit ur bitchin!



BMaker11 on 22 February 2010

I know that Drake's Fortune and COD4 were $60 for god knows how long. COD4 was still $60 when WaW launched, and some time after that. And even still, it only dropped to like $50. Uncharted was still eBaying for like $35-$40 before Uncharted 2 came out.

Buy full price for really old games? I think not



Akvod on 22 February 2010

No, but I think rewarding buyers of new copies shouldn't be scrutinized.



Malachi on 22 February 2010

Go fuck yourself.

P.S.: Rewarding new copy buyer/punishing second hand buyer is exacly the same thing just spun in a positive light versus a negative one. No wonder "gamer" buy into hype so much, you can make them believe any idiocy it seem.



Persons without argument hide behind their opinion

Chairman-Mao on 22 February 2010
Garnett said:
Try lowering the cost of a new game, $60 is too much.

This! There's only a handful of games I'll willingly pay $60 for (GT5, MW2, Fallout New Vegas, etc). All the other games I wait for a big price drop or to buy it used. If they lowered the cost of games there would be no need (or less need) for a used game market.

 

Another suggestion is make the price of games based on quality. Go ahead and charge $60 for big games like Call of Duty and Halo, but smaller games make them $40 or so. I'm sure the higher sales the game would get at $40 would make up for the cheaper price. Selling 1 million copies at $40 is higher revenue then 1/2 million at $60.