How do you feel about the fight against Used Sales?

[Darknacht]

I used to buy used PC games for an average of $5 a piece, and brand new older (but still AAA) releases for $10 each. Even brand new releases topped out at about $40. Today they run from $50-$60 on average, with $20 being the average bottom price for a AAA game, and used games being almost unheard of. And don't give me that crap about inflation; yes, everything has gotten more expensive since prices were that low. But adjusted for inflation, wages haven't increased since the 70's, nor have they even really kept up with inflation. Games are no more cheaper in the aftermath of the death of used PC games than movie tickets are in the wake of 3D movies.

Hey cool. My anecdotal experience is completely opposite of yours. I guess...you can go on believing there is no longer a market for inexpensive PC games, and I'll go on enjoying all these inexpensive PC games. It's a win-win!

It's not that there isn't a market for inexpensive PC games (I should know; I did the math on my Steam account recently and found out I'd only paid about a tenth of its current value, and its current value is just shy of $1000), it's that AAA games are only cheap if you buy them during one of the big sales -- big sales that primarily exist because of the competition from retail. The regular, non-sale price has gone up over the years. It's nice that indie games have found a niche that didn't exist on the scale then that it does now, but when you compare like with like, prices really have come up.

The big sales primarily exist to compete with other digital distribution services not brick and mortar stores. PC gaming is a cheaper hobby now then it was 10-15 years ago and you no longer have to wait years for a significant price drop, many games will have a major sale within 6 months to a year. Your view may be skewed if you use Steam instead of some of the cheaper options but even on steam you can get games really cheap.

 

[beniki]

I no longer have any idea about what my rights are when it comes to games, licensing agreements, and used game sales.

So for now I'm just going to stick to Free-to-Play games.

Not to say I wouldn't accept gifts from people, but I don't think I'll actually be buying any games myself for a while. At least not until I can wrap my head around what I'm actually getting.

How this relates to used games? I'm not even sure what I'm buying when it's a new game. God only knows what I'm getting if it's used. Usually I'd be a staunch defender of used games, since that's where all the old gems are. But now? I'm just too confused over the whole issue, so I'll avoid it until someone can make it clear.

I'll stick to Free-to-play. I don't know what I actually have, but at least I'm not giving anyone money for it.

 

[Epona]

I no longer have any idea about what my rights are when it comes to games, licensing agreements, and used game sales.

So for now I'm just going to stick to Free-to-Play games.

Not to say I wouldn't accept gifts from people, but I don't think I'll actually be buying any games myself for a while. At least not until I can wrap my head around what I'm actually getting.

How this relates to used games? I'm not even sure what I'm buying when it's a new game. God only knows what I'm getting if it's used. Usually I'd be a staunch defender of used games, since that's where all the old gems are. But now? I'm just too confused over the whole issue, so I'll avoid it until someone can make it clear.

I'll stick to Free-to-play. I don't know what I actually have, but at least I'm not giving anyone money for it.

If you get a game that can be resold, then you are buying a product. If you are getting a game that can't be resold, then you are only renting it. Soon, you will be renting all games for full price.

Scary that you can lose all your games on Origin for getting in trouble on the forums so that's something to watch out for. Don't be temtped by Kingdom of Amalur on sale for $40, it requires Origin. Steam doesn't seem to have the same problem but when Gamefly took over D2D, alot of people lost games because those games didn't transfer to the new owners.

 

[Gmans uncle]

There should be no battle against used sales.
The companies that want to capitalize off used sales of their games with online passes are just whiny little children who can't take that capitalism works both ways.
EA, Sony, Ubisoft, every advocate of the online pass system are doing nothing but kill the possibilities of gaming on a budget and/or preserving our industry with hard COMPLETE copies of today's games so as to have them for reference 10 years from now.
I refuse to waver on this issue, and there's nothing you can say to change my mind, used games need to remain a mainstay, and I don't care if EA and Ubisoft don't get any money from the deal.
Dear Publishers...

 

[Moonmover]

Somehow against all odds the book, movie, clothing, furniture, automobile, housing, toy, art, and anything-else-that-isn't-food-tampons-condoms-or-toilet-paper industries have managed to survive in spite of the used market. Video games can manage.

 

[Racecarlock]

It's bullshit. I just want to save some money without doing something illegal. Is that so wrong? Like some other people have said, almost every other product has a second hand market. There are developers out there who make freeware. Freeware. That means that you can get their game for free, and then decide whether or not to donate to them. Those are the guys I support. If they can make enough money to keep their servers online so more people can get the game, why the hell can't AAA Publishers? Trick question. They can, they have, and they're making record fucking profits.

And another thing, will you anti-gamestop crusaders shut the hell up? I recently went shopping at best buy to get a transfer cable and 120 GB hard drive. I didn't find them, but I did find GTA IV, a game that I had previously thrown out due to freezing which I falsely blamed on bad coding or something. Know how much it was selling for? $20. Not $55. $20. Gamestop is not the only used games retailer, and I'm pretty sure others sell them for less. You ever raid a bargain bin? Those aren't priced at $55, I can guarantee that. Besides which, this is not an argument about gamestop practices. That's another thread. This is about used game sales.

And frankly, the publishers are greedy fucks. Maybe I returned your game because I didn't like it. And another thing, you have the balls to call me entitled? You're fucking asking for profits from used sales that you have no right to, and you call me entitled? Fuck you. You fuckers are making more profits than any other point in gaming history. If you're losing so much money, then how are you making so much fucking money? Do you think the money fairy gives it to you? No. We give it to you. You wouldn't even have a fucking business if it wasn't for us. So I don't want to hear how I'm evil for buying used. I could easily pirate it, but I don't, because I can get it legally at a fairly reduced price. Without that, well, I still won't pirate, but I will definitely stick to freeware and cheap XBLA titles.

Another thing. DLC. Where does our money from that go, huh? You want to cut me entirely off from used sales and call me entitled and want cuts from used sales, but then you also chop parts of the game up, some of them important story parts, and then slap it with the Day 1 DLC logo. I remember when I could buy full fucking games for full price. I wouldn't buy half a gallon of milk at full price. I wouldn't buy half a watermelon for full price. Why should I buy half finished games at full price? Huh? Why should I be forced to buy full price? Why do you get to dictate my buying habits? You fucking call me entitled, yet you pull this bullshit? Fuck you.

This is capitalism. Either you go in prepared and ready to accept a few losses, or you don't get in at all. This is economics. You don't control economics. You don't control customers. You don't dictate the market. If we all stopped buying first person shooters, you wouldn't be able to keep shoving them on the market. You don't decide how I play my game and access my game once I pay you. I decide that. You want to live in a corporatist society? Fine, buy a politician. But right now, it's capitalist, and it rocks. You don't get to cut out the other side of capitalism. It just doesn't work like that. I don't care who you are.

 

[Smithburg]

I think the main problem here is Gamestop and EB (Same company but they keep the stores seperate) with the way they run their business used sales are made to go up by one, never buying new shipments of games, just cycling the used ones they have, and two by pushing things for used games, even going so far to hide new games. And they pay shit for games as well and mark up the price hugely. We have a store near my house called pastime legends its a new and used game store that sells from this gen all the way to atari and NES and such, but they pay a TON for your used games and barely markup, for instance I finished Deus Ex Revolution and sold it back to them for 40 dollars, then they sold it back for 45. They do wonderful business because they treat customers like family, but they also buy new shipments of new games whenever they can so they always have new games to sell that sends money to the game company. They dont screw anyone over, and its wonderful. Wish gamestop could be like that