Over the years I've played games, and have more on the shelves to install on my PC or play on the consoles that I have, but rarely have I picked up and bought a preowned game, and I've never sold one of my games either.
I don't know what it is, but even a game that I didn't think much of or enjoy enough to pick up and play again I haven't sold to CEX or GameStation or wherever still accepts second hand games. I guess that if I ever wanted to pick the game up or was feeling bored and wanted to mess around I'd pick it up again, like perhaps go play some Halo or Command and Conquer: Tiberium Sun even though I'll never complete them again, perhaps just play them again.
I also don't pick up preowned games unless I can help it. While I'm still looking for a copy of Project Zero 3 on PS2, very rarely will I even consider buying a second hand game because I like having a fresh manual, a brand new box, a disk that *will not* have scratches on it, or one that I can return and get a new copy of if it does have scratches on, and perhaps my favourite part of a new game, other than getting to kill some dudes by jumping on them or blowing up buildings with C4, is the new game smell. The smell of the manual, box and disk are a joy, and without them buying a new game just wouldn't be the same.
I can understand the benefits of buying second hand. It's cheaper, for one thing, and if you hate a certain publisher then you can deny them their $35 (about the most I'll pay for a PC game), but there's the lack of the new game smell...
Some games you also cannot buy second hand, such as Left 4 Dead or Dawn of War II as they use Steam, or games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or Battlefield 2142 which both use accounts linked to the CDKey, and games which come with a CDKey are something I'd rather not buy second hand, as you're as likely to get a relatively new (IE, only used to view the CDKey) manual as well as a torn or otherwise ruined manual, or a CDKey that's been damaged and is unreadable.
And yet whenever I talk about playing old games, none of my classmates understand why I hold on to games like the Baldur's Gate Saga, Dawn of War, Freelancer and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 while they're all moving from game to game, trading in Call of Duty 4 for Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3 from Halo 3: ODST and Gears of War for Gears of War 2, never keeping a game longer than they need to complete it and get all the achievements, or as many as they can be bothered, before going for the next "big" game.
So, Escapists, why is it whenever I brush on this topic with anyone but my friends, they always reply with "Oh yeah, I remember that game. It was great. I traded it in". I understand monetary problems is... well, a problem, but do gamers really consider games as a stepping stone to the next lump of achievements?
I don't know what it is, but even a game that I didn't think much of or enjoy enough to pick up and play again I haven't sold to CEX or GameStation or wherever still accepts second hand games. I guess that if I ever wanted to pick the game up or was feeling bored and wanted to mess around I'd pick it up again, like perhaps go play some Halo or Command and Conquer: Tiberium Sun even though I'll never complete them again, perhaps just play them again.
I also don't pick up preowned games unless I can help it. While I'm still looking for a copy of Project Zero 3 on PS2, very rarely will I even consider buying a second hand game because I like having a fresh manual, a brand new box, a disk that *will not* have scratches on it, or one that I can return and get a new copy of if it does have scratches on, and perhaps my favourite part of a new game, other than getting to kill some dudes by jumping on them or blowing up buildings with C4, is the new game smell. The smell of the manual, box and disk are a joy, and without them buying a new game just wouldn't be the same.
I can understand the benefits of buying second hand. It's cheaper, for one thing, and if you hate a certain publisher then you can deny them their $35 (about the most I'll pay for a PC game), but there's the lack of the new game smell...
Some games you also cannot buy second hand, such as Left 4 Dead or Dawn of War II as they use Steam, or games like Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or Battlefield 2142 which both use accounts linked to the CDKey, and games which come with a CDKey are something I'd rather not buy second hand, as you're as likely to get a relatively new (IE, only used to view the CDKey) manual as well as a torn or otherwise ruined manual, or a CDKey that's been damaged and is unreadable.
And yet whenever I talk about playing old games, none of my classmates understand why I hold on to games like the Baldur's Gate Saga, Dawn of War, Freelancer and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 while they're all moving from game to game, trading in Call of Duty 4 for Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3 from Halo 3: ODST and Gears of War for Gears of War 2, never keeping a game longer than they need to complete it and get all the achievements, or as many as they can be bothered, before going for the next "big" game.
So, Escapists, why is it whenever I brush on this topic with anyone but my friends, they always reply with "Oh yeah, I remember that game. It was great. I traded it in". I understand monetary problems is... well, a problem, but do gamers really consider games as a stepping stone to the next lump of achievements?
