I always see users talking about renting games.

I just don't understand how this process could be legal (on the store side). Video DVDs cost a lot more than regular ones (they pay a premium to be allowed to rent them, though I don't know how much), and then renting the movie is about equivalent to buying a ticket to the cinema for a 6 month old movie, so the price is probably correct (do the stores pay a royaltee fee everytime the movie is rented? I doubt it... so basically they buy the right to disregard copyright and get revenues from it).

but for games, do the stores actually pay a premium? i'm under the impression that they don't and I see this a a huge loss for game companies. Even if they pay a premium, unless it's 10x at least the price of the game, I don't see how this could be profitable to game companies, there is just too much of a loss of market.... and the customers do spend the money so it's not the "not enough money" argument here.

So the question is:

is renting game legal? do stores pay a premium for that, or is it just the equivalent of pirating the user licence of the game?

(I think that if lending is legal, it is hypocisy on the part of game manufactureurs, much in the same way as reselling of games being legal is hypocrisy.

Regular buyers get the full price, when all others get to pay 10$ (renting) or even 0$(reselling) for the same thing.)

do movie companies get a royalty for every rent? or just the premium on the renting DVDs?

Maybe because people are not made of money or simply refuse to pay £30 for a couple hours of entertainment? The company obvious has to purchase the game first and then rent it out so the developer does get some cash.

Rentals have allowed me to play all the games I want and save a lot of money. I used to purchase games but NEVER I repeat NEVER played a game twice and they simply gathered dust. I only purchased 2 games a year at most anyway so since renting it allows me to have a rental subscription for 4 months.

Either way why do you care or more importantly why are you not renting? It's all a con this generation, if the 100kb downloads to get a mode which was on the retail disc does not open peoples eyes nothing will.

I think you got my point wrong :p

I'm not implying that the client is doing anything bad, nor do I say you should not rent RPG (I myself wait till prices drop and import from the UK to get cheaper prices).

I'm just saying I don't understand the logic for the game companies to let this activity be.

It's not about the client, it's about game companies and the intermediary, the store.

They are not amused with it, at all. Hate could be the right word. They don't get any money from it. Although i'm not a 100% sure. It can't be much, if it is. Anyway they hate it because it loses them quite some money. It's the same problem with second hand games. This 'rental' and 'second hand' issue will lead them to go to digital download as soon as possible. Digital download will be pushed very hard for that reason alone, if not for others.

hmmm my acute retardation took control of me, terribly sorry for not actually reading the OP. In that case the devs simply do not have a choice I think. Lately they have been bitching about rentals and second hand games so more of a case where they can simply sit and watch.

Nintendo has litigated against both rental services, and second hand sales. Usually they have been unsuccessful. I cannot speak to any other country then my own, and you will need to reference your local court rulings, and applicable laws to satisfy your local curiosity. In the United States the right to resell and rent is a byproduct of the First Sale Doctrine.

Basically the consensus is that purchases of games and movies are purchases of the physical item, and not a licensing agreement that can stipulate use. Games and movies are treated no differently then any other physical item. The only true statement is that you cannot buy and replicate for the purposes of reselling a product in volume. However you are permitted to copy for the purposes of backing up the information you purchased.

In my personal opinion. The arguments against the practices of renting and resale are extremely short sighted, and when they have been successful in some regions the result has seen the industry decline. A rampant increase in piracy, and no net gain in profit. With no legal cheap alternative less affluent enthusiasts have been forced into criminal activity.

Without renters buying, and resales allowing buyers to recoup losses the net result is that money within the market decreases. Fewer buyers, and fewer able to buy the only result is you sell less. Companies often treat rentals and resales as lost sales. When in fact they were sales that would never have taken place, and their existence promotes sales that otherwise would not take place.

Because they would have to make up something about GameFly being Evil Rapists in order to justify such a law.

"They're forcing money from us developers!" which of course sounds better than "They're forcing money from us Large International Corporations who also happen to pay developers a set salary not based on sales of the games!"

Because im not paying $60 for a short linear campage and horrible online.

I don't get the money side of games at all, Game RP is supposed to be £45, although very rarely is. But you can buy sometimes new games from places for as little as £10-20 if lucky even shortly after released, so just how much of a cut do devs really get for the £45 if you bought a game at RP.

I think that if they lowered games prices they would get a bigger turn over, and I doubt the hard produce is much cost for games.