Poll: Do you buy pre-owned games?

[Sam Warrior]

Simply put I'm too skint to buy most of my games new, if I really want one and the used copy is only a few quid cheaper then I'll buy it new but most of the time I wait for games to drop in price before I buy them.

 

[Sovvolf]

Yeah I buy used games... why? because money doesn't grow on trees. If I really want the game I'll buy it new on release day. However if not, I'll just wait for the price to go down and save me a bit of money.

 

[Derek_the_Dodo]

But what developers don't take into account when bitching about people buying preowned, is that if someone owns and likes the game then chances are they'll buy some DLC for it.

Plus they may buy the sequel new on release day of they've had a chance to play the first one.

 

[Pandabearparade]

It all comes down to if the game is one I have to have on launch day. I'll buy Skyrim brand new at midnight the day it comes out. The same goes for almost all of Rockstar's games and any forthcoming Fallout titles. I -may- buy Catherine new, because it's cool and original, but the vast majority of games I'll get pre-owned and I don't give half of a rat's ass if the developers don't like it.

 

[Little_Deirdre]

I buy used all the time. I just ordered a new xbox (my first) and the console cost so much (Gears of War Limited Edition one) that it wasn't really feasible to buy the games new. I have no regrets because if I really want a game, like DE:HR I'll preorder I'll order the collector's edition, it evens out.

 

[minuialear]

£60 for preowned for wait a few months and play it for £20...no real competition really.

As for Extra credit's plan for games to have half on the disc and half as DLC do that the developers get something from everyone who ever owns the game, forget that idea. Terry Pratchett keeps most second hand book shops open (at least in the UK) and never sees any money from all those second hand sales, same with films, why are games developers so special?

If "the medium" wants to be taken seriously, then maybe "the medium" shouldn't be pillocks.

can I make a point that the cost of writing a book is a lot smaller than making a game. Its the same reason you wont hear that piracy being the same problem with written media. You cant and shouldn't compare the 2 different mediums.

However, movies DO share similar costs and they also don't have as much problem with used sales.

Entertainment media has this thing tho... the large scale chains that sell movies OR books don't sell used movies or books. This is something that is strictly restricted to video games, and as a direct result, they have a problem with this.

It's almost like if the manufacturers actually did -something- about their distibution chains they might solve the issues in the industry resulting from their distribution chains dicking them over.

Although Blockbuster/similar locales sell/sold both new and used films (and games). Alongside all the movies they simply rent(ed). And Blockbuster/etc were arguably as big as Gamestop is now, if not more so. And film producers weren't unilaterally calling for the demise of Blockbuster/etc.

Granted they didn't have the whole trade-in thing, but honestly, I don't think that's actually big enough of an incentive to convince people who aren't already going to get rid of their games somehow to do so. The only difference I see is that there are more people buying used in the game industry because of the significant difference in investment per game, in comparison to the investment necessary per film.

You are talking about a scenario that might happen as if it has happened. Please use an actual world example of piracy of books being an issue, rather than a made up one.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/interview_we-lose-20pct-of-our-profit-to-book-piracy_1281423

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12digital.html

His/her scenario was quite real.

 

[Amondren]

I usually do if its more then 5 bucks cheaper otherwise its pointless.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Half my games are new and the other half are pre-owned. I'm notorious for waiting a few months for the price to drop and then buying the game. Mostly pre-owned. Theres a few games that I got new but it was also pre orders too....

 

[Kinokohatake]

I generally buy used because I am picky with my games and the used usually give me a longer time to try the game out. Of course this would all be useless if the companies would put out demos more often. Seriously when I can beat the new Medal of Honor in an afternoon, then I am glad I bought used.

 

[necromanzer52]

I used to buy a lot of new games, as well as old. Now I'm a broke college student.

 

[Michael Logan]

The problem I have is that the local GameStop is quite small, and at any one time they only have, at most, 5 or 6 new titles.
If I want something more than one month old, I HAVE to buy second-hand...

Same here, either way I buy where its cheapest, if thats pre-owned then so be it.

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

Almost always. Unless I really want a new game that's come out, I always wait until the price has dropped to below $40 to buy a game. And always preowned.

 

[trooper6]

Yup. But not when its like $5 less than brand new. At that price I would rather buy it new.
I will buy used if its like $10-20 or if its something rare and hard to find.
But yeah, I got a whole fucktonne of PS2 games for like $5-10 each used.[footnote]Back when PS2 was in its prime.[/footnote]

I'm sort of with Cheshire the Cat here.

I used to buy used games quite a lot. But now I almost never do. Why? Because Gamestop charge a LOT for used games now. A new game is $60 and the used version is $55? I'm by the new one. So, I haven't bought hardly any used games since Gamestop started charging so much for them. Used games used to be about value and trying out unknown/risky things. I could get a game I wasn't so sure about for a not so bad price. If I ended up liking it, then I'd probably buy the sequel or another game by the same publisher/developer new. It would introduce me to new genres and might generally expand by gaming palate.

Nowadays, since used games are overpriced, I jut buy fewer used games--and then fewer new games as well. I don't buy as many games that I don't already know I'll like and I don't experiment as much. I mean, I'll experiment for $20, but I won't experiment for $60. So the increase in the price of used games, which results in me not buying as many used games (hardly any at all), also means I'm buying fewer new games.

I used to buy 1-2 new games and 1-3 used games every month. Nowadays, I'll buy 1 new game every 2-3 months and haven't bought a used game in over a year. Also, the lack of affordable used games means there is very little incentive for me to go to a brick and mortar shop...and Amazon ends up being an attractive alternative. Which I'm not too happy about. Though I found a non-Gamestop store...so I'll probably go there for my new games now.

But I think the used game market is bust for me now because Gamestop is just too greedy.

 

[BaronOfStuff]

As a PC gamer without any current-gen consoles, I can't really get many pre-owned games these days. It's getting harder and harder to find anything pre-owned now, unless it's for PS3/X360.

When I see old stuff though, I do pick up pre-owned games, but I insist on checking the disc's condition there and then in the store. There's no way I'm being shunted out of the door with a duff copy, not after all the fucking nonsense I went through to get it replaced last time it happened.

 

[Iron Mal]

If I had the disposable income to spare then I would gladly buy all of my games new.

However, most of the games I'm interested in getting are either too expenseive first hand or are ones that are hard to find (even if you're looking for second hand copies), the games industry may not like it but unfortuneately for a lot of people second hand games are an important source of games for them (not everyone can afford the £45 price tag that's attached to brand new titles).

I disagree with piracy but I can understand why it's such a popular option when so many games come out (many of which are very good and worth playing) yet they all have to cost so damn much.

 

[General BrEeZy]

i do used most of the times. the only games i'm buying brand-new copies of are the new releases that i'm super-stoked for and i've pre-ordered. mainly because i have money and a job now.

 

[Xanthious]

You are talking about a scenario that might happen as if it has happened. Please use an actual world example of piracy of books being an issue, rather than a made up one.

All I am saying is that you cannot compare the 2 types of medium. Do you know how many copies a game needs to sell to make a profit compared to a book. The cost of having a writer + proofreader (i am not sure how much work goes into writing a book, but I know its a lot less than a full development team) has an easier time making profit, while the publisher takes the real risk from production and distribution cost.

You also say "well books are cheaper" without knowing any real comparison. What if a book costs a 4th as much as a game but cost a 10th to produce? You have no comparisons, and we havn't even touched on the variable of libraries and potential markets.

You cant compare the 2.

Sure they are two different mediums, granted. However, both games and books are goods to be bought and sold nothing more. Video games are not special nor do they deserve special treatment because the people making them are unable to keep production costs from rising at an extraordinary rate. They are, at the end of the day, just another good to be bought and sold. No different than a hammer, a television, or a car.

If the game makers want to cite production costs as a reason they are so adversely affected by preowned sales then that is a problem that lies on their end not the consumers'. The consumer shouldn't be punished because they have a shitty business model. Rather than acting like entitled twats and claiming they have any right to the money generated by preowned sales (which they neither have a legal or moral claim for) they should focus on reducing production costs.

The gaming industry needs to drop this entitled attitude. After a game is sold the first time they lose any and all claims to any future revenue that game may produce. They have already been paid. They don't get to be paid twice no more than the furniture maker does when someone buys or sells a used couch. Any transactions after the first are between two private parties and they, as I said previously, have no legal or moral claim to the revenue generated by those transactions.

The bottom line is they need to get over this hang up they have with preowned game sales and move on. No maker of goods in the history of goods being bought and sold has ever enjoyed protection from the second hand market and video games are not so special as to deserve this protection. No matter how they choose to spin their whining it boils down to nothing more than an inflated sense of entitlement and greed, nothing more.

 

[JPArbiter]

I really only buy Pre Owned if a game has been out for a while. it becomes a case of "hmmm I always wanted to try that."

Area 51 was a good example of that, I purchased it along with an original X Box recently (I needed the original X Box to play MechAssault again. I was jonesing bad!) and it was quite enjoyable.