First there was talk of piracy being evil, because it cost publishers and producers of content money.  That has gone away, to a large degree, from the console arena.  At least to an extent it really isn't discussed much and the videogame industry isn't complaining about it as an issue.

Now, there is the talk of used games being horrible.  The goal, to insure that publishers and producers have enough content, is to make sure that every single user who uses content, pays for it.  This way, the industry has enough money to to keep putting out content.  So, by closing down used game sales, and unlimited giving away of content, you make sure that profitability is maintained.  This is the idea here, and people on here have supported.  You can even see the likes of TotalBiscuit speaking on a strong argument for this, on how the industry needs to get rid of used game sales and transferring of content, to survive:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G_f8YBy39M

I am not going to try to say that he is right that prices will go down like in Steam, on games.  Major Nelson believes Microsoft does an AWESOME job currently marketing down digitially distributed games, so TotalBiscuit's argument that prices coming down won't be a problem, is suspect I believe.  But, back to the point here, and the question.

You have a place, funded with tax dollars that sustain it, which end up actually promoting and pushing that content be shared to a wide degree, meaning nearly unlimited amounts of people can go through the content and be done with it.  This means the content producers who put out this content are NOT PAID by individuals using the content.  And this place is a book library.  Public libraries that carry books do this, and are supported with tax dollars. It is not even like places like Gamestop, where people get money to reduce costs and use that to eventually buy new content.  No, it is a dead end.  And, at the core, there is very little change of degraded through use of books, just like videogames.  You read the books for words.  Yes, like disks, they can get mucked up some, but the content remains able to be obtained.

So, if we are going to follow the reasoning to eliminate used games completely, shouldn't libraries also be targeted?  After all, money is tight, so why should we even bother to have libraries, if they are going to deny content producers money?  Isn't the core idea not that someone makes money in transfers, but the reality that content producers don't make as much money as they can, and people get free rides and free content, without paying?  So, exactly what is the difference between a library and used games?  Is it MAYBE, that production costs are SO high that it is impossible to sustain any other way?  I could of argued that videogames don't have the same revenue streams as movies.  But, heck, they have a VERY similar set of revenue streams as books.  And yet books have THIS part of the cultural landscape, a place where content gets purchased once and can be shared infinitely without the publishers and content producers getting paid. 

oh crap i just realize... they wont be able to put xbox one game in the library!!!!
yes they catalog games in the library too...
so much for preserving history using an actual copy.. i guess library will all be digital too... :( so muich for that old scented acid on a 100 year old book... or the smell of that case when you open a game... i might be old school... but i love those smell!!!!!!!

I want to lend my car a few days to a friend without having to pay a fee to Toyota.

So I say that public libraries should be kept. However, I found delusional that someone can think (even if I know that you're just making a comparison with this about the used game sales) that nowadays people uses public libraries that much... :(

I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at Richard.
Are you saying used is ok, or not ok?
I'm pretty sure used is ok.
After all, kids go to rent books when they're young. As they grow older, more often than not, a young reader will become an adult reader, which means they'll eventually buy books.
While maybe a thousand used books may never make their pubs a dime, they were likely not going to be purchased anyway, and may in fact lead to that reader purchasing at least a few books....possibly even re-releases of those old books they once read for free.
For example, I read all the hitchhiker's guide books at the library. For the 25th anniversary, I then bought all the books at borders because they were such an integral part of my childhood.
It's funny when I think about it. Reading a used book made me buy the same book later on.

I was just following the used game debate, and what went into it, and the arguments, and then realized that public libraries would be out of bounds from a videogame perspective.  But the book industry deals with it.  Videogame industry doesn't seem to be able to do this.  So, I was just putting it out there and am wondering about it.

For me most recently, I checked out Daniel Pink's Drive from the library and read through it.  I then bought To Sell is Human by Pink also.

Just going off your title.... Libraries are already being shut down near me and seeing limited hours. But no.... no publisher should try to blame libraries on poor sales and try to shut them down.

well, there are some differences. the real costs for books are for advertisement, distribution and printing of the books. so, if you won't sell as much as you could, you just produce less books. but if you can't sell so many games anymore, you still had already millions of dollars of development costs before the game is even gold.

a used book is also not the same experience for many as a new book because used books clearly look used. many want a new book because it "feels different" to them to have a book without a used look but if you play a game which was already in the console of 50 other people, the graphics are still the same. you only see that it's used when you look at the cover or disc itself but most people buy it because of what you see on your tv screen.

the video game industry is clearly in the worst position of all media if it comes to used products.

you can say it's still our right to buy, sell and lend used but the gaming media has a bigger problem with it as anyone else.

I think the main difference really is that someone reads a book and then moves onto another book. While a person may read the same book many times over the course of a lifetime, they generally tend to move around and try different things. This isn't really the case with games, where gamers will simply buy call of duty sequels every year and be satisfied completely, never venturing out into other genres.

Yet, used games does help in this regard. One of the biggest problems with people trying new games and experiences is the ticket price. It simply costs too much to try something new, especially when we've all been disappointed from time to time.

I do agree that something needs to be done about used games, but there are much much healthier ways to go about it than the way MS is approaching it.

I mean, from my experience. If I want the new Dan Brown book I can just go to my library and get it since they have 10,000 copies.

Also, since I am totally against literacy, donations, voting and education for children I am naturally against libraries as well.

But, to speak as an adult, library funds are voted on by the taxpayer, they promote literacy in our youth by offering even the poorest youth access to enlighten their minds, they receive donations for a lot/most of their books or programs and they are a constant source of knowledge, research and advancement of the minds of children and teach them important skills and offer a multitude of other programs to encourage the arts.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2012/12/11/the-wrong-war-over-ebooks-publishers-vs-libraries/

Also, its not like the librarian just goes into Barnes and Noble and buys a book then puts it on their shelf. There are deals with publishers that ALLOW and ENCOURAGE public libraries.

But I can see your point if you're working for MSFT PR, if not I think you have no point and did no research. But good attempt.

Let's brainstorm. How can used games be addressed that benefit gamers and publishers?

Certified used games sales from the publisher. Send in your copy to the publisher using an online store set up through the manufacturer and recieve a check for more than what gamestop would give you. You can then purchase used games directly through publisher using same store. Publisher gets profits and gets to control the amount of used games being circulated