Nintendo aren't going to change their policy, but Microsoft and Sony aren't really the problem. They are allowing the publishers to limit used games, but they are not doing it themselves. If it is such a big monetary issue, then we won't be seeing as many games on Wii U, just look at EA

Yes, so Gamestop makes their money from used games, and it remains to be seen what cut the publishers take. That is the key missing information, if it is about $5, then I think there won't be a problem, but if it is more then it might get tricky

I don't think that videogaming is decline, I think console videogaming is in decline.

I disagree with the assertion that we don't have enough information for the modelling. When I make the assertion that people hate the DRM, it isn't based on internet forums. It's based on the fact that my sister's boyfriend (and father of my nephew), who never spends time on gaming forums, and who usually finds out about new Pokemon information (and he's a big Pokemon game fan) from me, made it a point to ask me my reaction to Xbox One, and the fact that it blocks used games. That's just the best anecdote I have, it's not the only one, I'm not basing everything on this one event.

This stuff is going further than you think. And I'll tell you right now, there's no way that Xbox One gets the mainstream market that went with the Wii in the current gen. It's just not going to happen. As much as people on internet forums like to describe the mainstream as "idiots", "sheep", "gullible", "will buy anything", etc, the fact is that the mainstream have been far more picky about their choices in games than hardcore gamers have been, and it's not going to change in the new generation.

Also, you say that Sony and MS aren't limiting used games themselves. You're wrong (at least in terms of MS - Sony's hand hasn't been revealed, yet). It's still limited to "participating retailers", and MS only said that they're not going to completely block used games when it comes to their first-party lineup. And it's not even clear how the used game fee system is actually going to work - MS say that they get no cut of third-party used games fees... but make no actual statement regarding first-party used game fees (which likely means that they'll have those fees there in that case).

Meanwhile, here's a little bit of a mental exercise for you. Suppose that the used game market became a lot less lucrative for frequent gamers. Trade-in prices are lower, and used game prices are higher. As a result, frequent gamers are forced to become more picky with their choices in new games. What happens to the videogame market? If you said "Only the biggest titles are going to get much attention, then", you'd be right. It would become that much harder for second-string games to sell on the XBO or PS4. CoD would continue selling massively well, while Dead Island: Riptide would be dead in the water (if you'll excuse the unintentional, but humorous pun).

Now, what happens to all those games? Those second-string games that aren't going to get much attention on those platforms? Third parties would have three choices - stop making them, drop the prices on them significantly, or put them on another platform instead. Stopping making them isn't feasible, because their big-sellers aren't going to last forever, and they need other titles to build towards being new big-sellers. Dropping the prices significantly would mean either having to dramatically lower the budget or sell a lot more copies... either way, not likely to inspire confidence in those titles. Their final option is thus the only feasible one - put the games onto a platform that doesn't have these restrictions.

Now, EA are a special case - they like to think of all of their titles as big-sellers, which is why they ended up with flops that sold over 3 million copies. What do you think happens to EA when Madden and FIFA stop selling? They're signing their own death warrant with their recent decisions. But that's an aside.

So, if the mainstream gamer is wary of the Xbox One's DRM, and so the PS4 and XBO both sell relatively poorly, and the ecosystem only works with the big-name titles, what do the third parties end up doing?

In short, I don't think it's nearly as unlikely as you apparently do that people turn to the Wii U. When I saw the XBO reveal info, my first thought was "Oh, wow - I thought Sony would be the one to have to drop out of the race. MS just practically gave their entire marketshare to Sony". That was before there were signs that Sony are going to do the same thing. (note: my reason for expecting Sony to drop out is financial - they're struggling, and I expected the costs involved in starting a new gen would push the company to cut the gaming division).

As for Gamestop's cut, rumour has been placing it at 10%. Whether that's revenue or profit is unclear (if it's revenue, then don't expect trade-in value to go above about 5% of the original new game price - I expect it to be profit). Either way, you're talking about 90% of the profit, at least, going to the publisher. Even if it were 50% each, you're still talking about halving Gamestop's used game profit, when they barely break even with full used game profit as it is.

Oh, and I don't consider regular iOS/Android gaming to be "videogaming". Most of the games on there are more akin to microgames than full games, and the markets don't compete in the way that some think they do. This is demonstrated by the 3DS, which was being predicted to be a complete flop due to smartphone-gaming, and is now selling very healthily. And if the 3DS isn't in direct competition with iOS, then the Wii U, PS4 and XBO certainly aren't.

I disagree with the assertion that we don't have enough information for the modelling. When I make the assertion that people hate the DRM, it isn't based on internet forums. It's based on the fact that my sister's boyfriend (and father of my nephew), who never spends time on gaming forums, and who usually finds out about new Pokemon information (and he's a big Pokemon game fan) from me, made it a point to ask me my reaction to Xbox One, and the fact that it blocks used games. That's just the best anecdote I have, it's not the only one, I'm not basing everything on this one event.

This stuff is going further than you think. And I'll tell you right now, there's no way that Xbox One gets the mainstream market that went with the Wii in the current gen. It's just not going to happen. As much as people on internet forums like to describe the mainstream as "idiots", "sheep", "gullible", "will buy anything", etc, the fact is that the mainstream have been far more picky about their choices in games than hardcore gamers have been, and it's not going to change in the new generation.

Also, you say that Sony and MS aren't limiting used games themselves. You're wrong (at least in terms of MS - Sony's hand hasn't been revealed, yet). It's still limited to "participating retailers", and MS only said that they're not going to completely block used games when it comes to their first-party lineup. And it's not even clear how the used game fee system is actually going to work - MS say that they get no cut of third-party used games fees... but make no actual statement regarding first-party used game fees (which likely means that they'll have those fees there in that case).

Meanwhile, here's a little bit of a mental exercise for you. Suppose that the used game market became a lot less lucrative for frequent gamers. Trade-in prices are lower, and used game prices are higher. As a result, frequent gamers are forced to become more picky with their choices in new games. What happens to the videogame market? If you said "Only the biggest titles are going to get much attention, then", you'd be right. It would become that much harder for second-string games to sell on the XBO or PS4. CoD would continue selling massively well, while Dead Island: Riptide would be dead in the water (if you'll excuse the unintentional, but humorous pun).

Now, what happens to all those games? Those second-string games that aren't going to get much attention on those platforms? Third parties would have three choices - stop making them, drop the prices on them significantly, or put them on another platform instead. Stopping making them isn't feasible, because their big-sellers aren't going to last forever, and they need other titles to build towards being new big-sellers. Dropping the prices significantly would mean either having to dramatically lower the budget or sell a lot more copies... either way, not likely to inspire confidence in those titles. Their final option is thus the only feasible one - put the games onto a platform that doesn't have these restrictions.

Now, EA are a special case - they like to think of all of their titles as big-sellers, which is why they ended up with flops that sold over 3 million copies. What do you think happens to EA when Madden and FIFA stop selling? They're signing their own death warrant with their recent decisions. But that's an aside.

So, if the mainstream gamer is wary of the Xbox One's DRM, and so the PS4 and XBO both sell relatively poorly, and the ecosystem only works with the big-name titles, what do the third parties end up doing?

In short, I don't think it's nearly as unlikely as you apparently do that people turn to the Wii U. When I saw the XBO reveal info, my first thought was "Oh, wow - I thought Sony would be the one to have to drop out of the race. MS just practically gave their entire marketshare to Sony". That was before there were signs that Sony are going to do the same thing. (note: my reason for expecting Sony to drop out is financial - they're struggling, and I expected the costs involved in starting a new gen would push the company to cut the gaming division).

As for Gamestop's cut, rumour has been placing it at 10%. Whether that's revenue or profit is unclear (if it's revenue, then don't expect trade-in value to go above about 5% of the original new game price - I expect it to be profit). Either way, you're talking about 90% of the profit, at least, going to the publisher. Even if it were 50% each, you're still talking about halving Gamestop's used game profit, when they barely break even with full used game profit as it is.

Oh, and I don't consider regular iOS/Android gaming to be "videogaming". Most of the games on there are more akin to microgames than full games, and the markets don't compete in the way that some think they do. This is demonstrated by the 3DS, which was being predicted to be a complete flop due to smartphone-gaming, and is now selling very healthily. And if the 3DS isn't in direct competition with iOS, then the Wii U, PS4 and XBO certainly aren't.

Dude, stop including Sony in the same bag as M$.   So far, everything Sony has said negates they will have the stupid things M$ is implementing.  So, just wait for E3 before spreading misconceptions and erroneous facts.

M$ supporters need to just deal with it, really.