Yes, less people who buy used does take away from New sales.  It's a matter of knowing the relationship between the New and Used market.

It's MUCH more then simple word of mouth.  If you take away some of the resellability of game, you take away some of the games New sales because a lot of people take the fact that they can resell the game into account.  Resellability makes the "risk" of buying a game less.

No, because people who usually buy new, may infact not buy new because they now know the value isn't thte same resell wise.

That's how used helps the New market... by creating a used market for those who buy New.

Seriously, it's just basic economics.

Actually, I can see where the argument that used game sales spurs new game sales comes from, but it's still based on the assumption that if someone can't turn around and sell something they bought, then they won't buy it at all.

One could say such an attitude within the PC gaming market would lead to straight piracy, skipping buying used (or new) altogether where there is virtually no market for used games due to DRM, rapid falling of MSRP prices, special deals, etc. and yet new games still sell for PC, even if they don't match console sales most of the time. I would say that most PC gamers consider game purchases "throw away" purchases (or just parts of a game library) from the standpoint that they aren't under the impression they'll be able to sell the game when they're done.

We've seen this done before on with consoles on a very limited basis as well: Gears 2 came with a voucher code for more map packs. No voucher with used copies; no extras.

Personally, I think some of the incentives (like in game items or extra content) publishers distribute to retailers for buying new games upon release are a better carrot, but a big part of their appeal comes in being limited only to debut release.

Untrue.  Afterall it works that way with books, where the words stay the same and CDs... which sound the same.

To think otherwise is to not understand the basic value of the used market to new markets... there are MANY more effects than the simple one you mentioned.

For example, Say i'm not sure I want to buy this game that is 60 dollars... however I know if I don't like it... I can return it for 30.

Now instead of wasting 60 dollars i'm only wasting 30... because I can resell the game.

Now instead say because of this content's exclusion I can only sell it back for 15 or 20.  My risk is now 35-40 dollars.  Perhaps this is too big of a risk.

Or in general I don't think videogames are worth 60 dollars, but I can beat the game in a week and get back 30... because once I beat a game generally i'm never going to back to play it again... by making less of the initial expierence buyable you are taking away value in my resale.

The fact that the PC market sales don't match console level sales despite everything you just mentioned I think says something to the advantages of used game sales personally.

That's a big difference between a lot of console gamers and PC gamers... it's not a "throw away" purchase.  If I like it... I can keep it... If I don't I can get money for it...

AND with that money buy MORE games, maybe even putting the money towards more NEW games.

If anything, the used game market speaks more for the advantages of standardized console platforms rather than the other way around.

You can't do rental services with PC games due to no one set standard. Each game literally has its own minimum and recommended hardware requirements, and virtually all games are installed to run off HDD with DRM measures to keep everyone from installing the game on as many PCs as they want.

Consoles being based off one fixed standard simply means all game playing devices are functionally identical. Installs, when used, aren't security measures. There is no current way to bind a copy of a game to one user account or console, making it ideal for the purpose of exchanging (whether by trade or sale) purchased copies of games.

That's the reason why there is a used game market, or rental services for that matter. Because it's a viable trade. Not because they drive new game sales.

The relative success of XBLA and PSN DD titles also fly in the face of the notion that gamers/consumers won't buy new games they can't resell.

It's really only the console gamers who are hardwired into the infinite loop of buying new games (or new releases "discounted" for $5 at GS used) and shortly trading them in for credit who would have serious issued with publishers offering extra content vouchers (bound to individual accounts).

But as long as they don't do something stupid like make the ending of the game or any main part of a game available as "extra content" there isn't a real problem. You want the extra content, buy a new copy. You don't want to pay $60? Wait for a sale or for the price to go down. You want it immediately upon release, with extra content and discounted at a used price? Sorry, but can't always have it all. Take advantage of new game sales instead (Amazon typically knocks $5 off the price of all new games for example).

Frankly, I don't think publishers would particularly care if gamers who always buy used copies would take their money and spend it on someone else's used game in protest since the only one who sees any benefit from that sale is the retail outlet.

"Used book market? Barely exists, most books are so cheap they are better off throwing away then going to the effort of re-selling. CDs? I presume you mean music. The second hand market again isn't as big as the used games market due to low CD entry price, music is also sold digitally. In fact digital sales are bigger than CDs and no used MP3 market I am afraid.

Video games are 99% sold at retail for console games, used sales hurt the market a lot more than music.

Your examples are stupid, if you are not sure you like a game just don't use the code until you are sure. Hell, even rent a game if you're unsure, is what people been doing for the last 20 years."


Residual value of media goes a long way in determining the viability of a secondary market.

Below a certain point, it is no longer worth the few dollars one receives for the trouble of trading in media. This goes for books, CDs, DVDs and games that aren't new releases or hot titles.

The transition to MP3 as the primary means of purchasing music more or less shows that residual value is not paramount on the minds of the average consumer.

Sure, there will always be those who insist on never buying new, but they don't represent the majority that keeps the industry afloat. I won't go so far as to call these people leeches, since they're not trying to obtain games to play for free, but I do think they're kidding themselves if they think that by keeping one used copy off the market by buying a used copy from GameStop or wherever, that they're benefiting the industry or the game publishers and showing their support for games they approve of.

Not like it's a big incentive for me though as I don't buy a whole lot of games and I mostly rent. If you're going to lock me out of content with crap like this, then I'm just going to rent your game for a short time and move on.

Still, I'm not really a fan of this idea and it's another way to nickel and dime DLC since I'd highly doubt they'd release all future DLC for a title for free and now you have to pay just to get access to it if you didn't buy the game new. Heck, what if a publisher like Activision gets in on this and charges $15-20 for online access to the next Call of Duty game if you bought it used? Of course, that'd already be on top of the $10 map packs and such.

You act as if Itunes was always around.

Back before Mp3's became big the used CD market was MUCH larger then the Used game market.   Low CD price is exactly why the used game market would be MORE important to new sales.

It's clear your diagreement with the general point is your general lack of understanding the used/new dynamic.

That's not true at all. Publishers can advertise on the package for something they plan on charging you for. EA has done it themselves, and they're the ones publishing Bad Company 2. They advertised on the back of the box of Madden 10 about the new online franchise mode. Nowhere did they mention on the box that it was activated by a code in the case for new game owners. Anyone that picks it up, whether new or used would think online franchise mode is on the disc. They would end up buying it and then find out they need to pay $10 extra to unlock the feature if they didn't have the code. What's even worse is that EA forgot to put in the codes altogether when they shipped it to Australia.