Comments on: Editorial: The Used Game Issue

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:48:56 +0000

Making sequal after sequal is easier and safer. Thats why they do it.
You already know there is a built in base of customers for this type of game and you already have previous resources at hand to build upon for a sequal. You don’t have to start from scratch. Eg. Existing code etc.

It has nothing to do with resale of used games.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 12:45:17 +0000

New definition of Jerk:
“An opposing viewpoint from an uncaring person”
LOL

Is there something wrong with changing your line of work if you can’t make a living at the other?

How do we lose?
Someone just comes along with a better business model that will work.
It’s only natural to complain about something first (to see if the government or consumers cave) before spending there own resources to fix it.

To think that there will be no more video games because of this is ridiculous and extremely naive.

Mike

By: James Pinnell

James Pinnell — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:05:19 +0000

Used games aren’t the reason games developers struggle to make a profit. That’s a completely different issue, and its based apon marketability. Risky titles with creative game mechanics or subject matter never sell as well as something more generic because its based around a niche market. It’s a long standing issue that has nothing to do with my article.

You can hardly blame the second hand market for half the things you mention. Games only have a longer shelf life because the medium used to create them is hardy. Cartridges don’t have a long shelf life, they won’t last forever, even well looked after ones. You could technically keep a car for decades, and people do, if it is properly serviced.

I find it interesting that you also avoided my other, and more concrete examples, of movies, music and books. They all last technically forever as well, but you don’t hear those content producers getting pissed off if you sell a CD, or a Book, or a DVD to someone else.

The more we stop coddling the gaming industry the more we can be objective about its flaws. There is nothing that makes it more exempt or special then any other entertainment medium, especially when it comes to the rights of consumers and ownership.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:33:44 +0000

This is an extremely misinformed article. When you compare used game sales to used car sales, that’s a huge red flag that should alert anyone that the writer is very misinformed. Used games and used cars are completely different. A video game has (essentially) infinite life. The disc won’t go bad if taken care of. If a game is bought new, then sold to gamestop, then someone else buys it, plays it, then sells it back…lets say 10 times. 10 people played that game and the developer only saw money from 1 person. How you can say that the developer didn’t lose a sale is beyond me.

Now, here’s why used cars and used games are completely different and can’t be compared. A car will not last forever. Suppose a car will last 200k miles. I buy it and drive it for 100k miles and then sell it. I have essentially sold my remaining 100k miles to someone else. When the 200k miles are up, the company will make another sale on a new car, it doesn’t matter whether I kept it or not.

Used games have a VERY negative effect on the games industry. You see sequel after sequel because it is so hard to make a profit and so they recycle ideas just because they know they’ll sell (just look at the # of Call of Duty games that are released).

Another thing, look at gamestops profits…it’s ridiculous. That money should go to developers.

By: shaolinjesus

shaolinjesus — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 22:51:34 +0000

Interesting article I wrote a similar one for wingdamage.com a while back. One point I think should be brought up is that most trade ins go towards the purchase of a new game. Most kids would not be able to afford new games without trade ins. The publishers are paid regardless of how the game is purchased, but without trade ins those kids are buying platinum hits or greatest hits. New releases would be out of the question and publishers would still lose money.

By: Fractal514

Fractal514 — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:09:35 +0000

No Mythar, but you are comparing Apples to Oranges, a car is a major purchase, most people make a car purchase 5-6 times in a life. Car also show significant depreciation in value when sold used. Games are purchased 5-6 times a year, and (according to gamestop) there is a minimal $5 depreciation between new and used.

By: Mythar

Mythar — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:40:55 +0000

Should car manufacturers get a cut of used car sales?

By: Alvis

Alvis — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:53:42 +0000

Exactly how does modding a console reduce its life?

By: Austin Sutton-Jennings

Austin Sutton-Jennings — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:46:23 +0000

Until this gen, I had never owned a second hand piece of hardware or software.

By: Fractal514

Fractal514 — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 18:31:44 +0000

Yes Mike, no one would care, but that’s because you seem like an uncaring jerk.

Most of us read this because, on some level, we are gamers, and even if we might agree in principal that developers should figure this out for themselves, if they don’t then WE lose. No more new games, more expensive new games, or a host of other issues.

I’m sorry you don’t have sympathy for these developers, but if you are sick of this “crap” stop reading these sites.

By: Mike

Mike — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:59:00 +0000

I’m sick of this crap…
If you can’t make money as a developer
Close the doors and do something else.

If the career path I chose took a nose dive in the future nobody
would care about me….

By: DaveExile

DaveExile — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:53:36 +0000

Devil’s Advocate here:

As we move from physical media for entertainment and closer to licenses purchased directly from producers on-demand, we lose the transferability which you defend. How do you sell a used iTune or Amazon Video? How does one transfer a game purchased from the XBLA or PSN?

If we are willing to move towards a content distribution system without physical media, it seems game publishers are left out of the “first time buyer” stream only because their products occupy more physical memory and are not — for now — best suited for digital delivery. Is that fair for the largest, most complex content providers to be subjected to a secondary market rapidly becoming extinct? Book publishers and newspapers are dying because they can’t make a profitable adjustment to digital distribution: should game make be next?

Good article, Devil Out!