Poll: Do you hate the used game market?

[ZtH]

snip

I was referring to a singleplayer cinematic game, so in that case I was assuming a game cannot, or has no point in being consumed over and over.

As for maintenance, there ARE maintenance costs. The game's servers must be up at all times, especially if there is some kind of DRM. Multiplayer must work, and it must undergo maintenance if you need to scale it up. You must provide timely updates in the event of bugs. You have to provide support in case of someone who can't run the game.

I would like you to read over that again and then explain to me why a singleplayer cinematic game requires servers for multiplayer and DRM. If you are referring to a singleplayer game the maintenance costs don't apply, but if you're not referring to singleplayer games your initial example is still flawed.

As far as the DRM goes, you can't claim that maintaining those servers is going to cost the company money out of the initial price because it is sold to you after the initial purchase if you're interested. As for the updates, its not unusual for companies to have to pay, out of their pocket, to fix flaws in their products. In the car example this would be in the form of a recall. The car example still holds as a good model for used sales.

OT: If you couldn't tell I have no issues with used games and partake of them myself. I do enjoy giving back to the developer, but generally thats in the form of DRM for myself or in the case of an especially good title I will often purchase sequels or a new copy when given the opportunity.

 

[LadyMint]

I buy used all the time. As a consumer, it's just plain better for me. It allows me to grab some games that I might have missed out the starting gate, as well as having access to good games despite a lower spending budget.

Personally, I believe if gaming companies are concerned about losing revenue on used game sales, they should band together and try to get a system of royalties introduced. By that I mean passing some law or contract that requires they be given a portion of the profits from used game sales. I'm sure it isn't something that could be done overnight, but I'm just saying that in my opinion, this would be the logical option. If a company like Gamestop wants to sell used games, then they have to return a small percentage of the used game sales back to the companies that the games originated from. It may not equal the amount they would get if everyone were forced to buy new, but it's better than nothing.

I get that buying new helps the gaming companies keep in business, but I seriously doubt that if the majority of a franchise's consumers bought their copies new, the prices of games would go down. That's where I have issue with the idea that used game stores shouldn't be allowed to do business. I don't blindly agree that every new game is worth the $50-70 pricetag that they come out as on their first day, so I choose to exercise some patience and take advantage of cheaper options.

 

[jpoon]

Nope, I say go for it! I especially recommend it for douchebag corporations like EA & Activision among others.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

Exactly. The biggest difference between games and other industries is that while it's true you don't have people getting upset about the effect on that given industry, unlike games they don't have as many people acting like it's a moral crusade to buy games used to somehow "fight the power".

You know, some of those people might actually have a good reason for buying a particular companies games used that doesn't equate to "fight the power." For example, for quite a while I didn't approve of EA's business practices, so I decided I wouldn't give them my money and would rather do something else likeread below)

Oh absolutely. I wasn't trying to say that that's how everyone that buys used feels. But I've seen a number of posts (in other threads at the very least) saying "I only buy used because the devs already got their money (which they haven't) and all publishers are big, bad, evil corporations."

Games cost money to make. Buying new ensures that developers (and, yes, publishers) have the money to put out the games we want to see made.

Do I think buying used makes you a pirate and you're a bad, awful person? Of course not.

 

[Ian Caronia]

There are used book stores, used car lots, used furniture stores, used clothing stores, used movie and music stores etc and NONE of the profits from those sales see the original manufacturers. What is so damn special about video games that they should be the only single industry to enjoy such a benefit?

Used goods have been around for as long as people have been buying and selling goods. There is simply no reason why the gaming industry deserves any special protection for the used market other than they are currently driven by an amazing excess of greed and are good at spinning things to where they are always seen as the victim.

As I said previously the gaming industry in it's current form needs to be brought down a few pegs. The industry as it is today is driven soley by greed as is evident when you look and see that the price keeps going up while the amount of content keeps going down. The only thing hurting the gaming industry is the gaming industry and the sooner it crashes and burns the sooner it can be rebuilt into something much much better.

You seem to have a chip on your shoulder about this topic. I never said my idea of the Used Game market couldn't be applied to other things like movies and music or even clothing. Cars are harder to talk about in such a way since, well...they cost a hell of a lot more than a DVD or CD.
_I'm not putting the gaming market on a pedistal. I speak primarily about the gaming market since firstly this is a thread all about Used Games, and secondly because unlike others I stick to what I know, and I know more about the gaming industry (or at least this topic of said industry).

What you closed with is true, and is very close to what I was talking about. Companies mucking about don't deserve to have support, thus instead of doing something illegal, you can buy the game you want used so you don't support them. It is the industry's own fault if sales go down. Prices are getting higher while content is getting shrunk down to purchasable DLC. So, that being said, how are you going to change it? How are we, as gamers, going to help change this?
It sounds like activism because it essentially is. Buying used with a cause is a good thing and is meaningful so long as we make our meaning known. You don't like that a 6-7 dollar DLC gave you barely an hour's worth of game-time? You don't like that the Epilogue to a game was separated from the original source where it should've been and put up for DLC? Neither do I! And neither do lots of gamers.

I'm not painting all developers and publishers as victims. You like Kanye's music but hate Kanye? Buy it used. You like Inception but hate...whoever helped produce that movie? Buy it used. You like Dead Space 2 but hate EA's BS? Buy it used.
You like a piece of clothing but hate that children slaved over it in a 3rd World Country? Buy it used...or better yet buy a better looking piece of clothing from a company that doesn't partake in those activities.
-Shouldn't companies doing good get support? Buying used from them is like saying good business practices and PR is equivalent to the crap the tyrants commit.

I hope that helps clear up the misunderstanding, mate. Believe me, the game industry shouldn't get special treatment, which is why we as consumers should vote with our dollars and voice our opinions against companies that screw us out of our money or think they can shell out half-finished games and leave important parts of the story for purchasable DLC. I don't believe leaving the industry to rot isn't the way to change things. I believe smacking the greedy barking dogs on the nose with a rolled up news paper is.

P.S. This is only if you really have to buy said game from said crappy dev/pub. If you don't, then just don't waste your money.

 

[pulse2]

I buy second hand unless there is an amazing game I desperatly want day one, same thing with paying less to stream movies on streaming subscription sites and renting DVDs. Why should I pay the full whack sum for something that interests me only a little and satisfies me even less. You wouldn't go to a restaurant and pay the full price for a meal that is mediocre, unless you were especially generous. We are all trying to live out here and pay cuts and redundancies don't help matters. I'm all for helping developers which is why if I love the game to bits I'll pay full brand new price for it, other than that, renting and used bin will have to do.

It especially annoys me that developers think that multiplayer is the best way to hide the fact that thier single player experiences were crap, storytelling was crap and the variety of things to do outside of multiplayer is lacking. Games like Homefront only help to further prove this point. What happened to the days when a single player campaign was so good that you felt empty after completing it, like Halo 1, Timesplitters, Diablo 2, Populous, Abe's Oddysee, Dino Crisis and Resident Evil, Final Fantasy 7, 8 & 9.

Now everything is to make a quick buck, less thought process is put in, good scripts are far and few and everything requires an internet connection. I don't want to be antisocial, I want all my mates in the same room playing co-op, not in different places, its more fun when we are all together, beer, laughter and a game of Halo co-op or other such games.

I'm all for used gaming, besides, I can afford to get 8+ good games for the £70 price tag I saw on Killzone 3 ¬_¬ Thats bull.

 

[Tukadian]

If I buy anything used it's from the flea market, kijiji or a friend. Both parties get a much better deal that way and I've never gotten burned with an unusable game. Plus it's the only way to get a lot of games which are nearly impossible to find in local stores, like Chrono Trigger for the DS.

 

[Sir Prize]

I like the used game market, mainly because it's a good way for a console gamer to get games legally and cheaply. It also lets me trade in game I've already completed/didn't like too much and get some money off a game I really want.

I can understand why some dislike it, for the sheer fact that it 'takes money away from the industry' but frankly, how many of the people buying used would buy the game at full price? No, they would probably wait until the price has reduced or wouldn't buy it at all.

 

[Chase Yojimbo]

You can find a lot of old games in the used game market... a lot of good old games that will never grace mankind ever again... /cry

 

[DementedSheep]

I have no issue with used game market, you should be able to sell things you own. It dose hurt the industry. so does every used _ market. I also don?t have a problem with putting one use codes to unlock extra content (tho it has to be extra not important content, like you won?t understand the plot or get the ending without it and I think DLC are being overused at the moment) in games so if you buy the game used you have to pay a small amount for the extra content if you want it.

 

[Nickompoop]

This is my personal opinion:
Yes, buying a used game is legal and there's nothing anyone can do to stop you from buying a used game. I don't buy used games for two reasons:
1. When you buy a used game, no money goes to the developer. Let's use fictional developer A Games as an example. Say they made the best game since Half Life 2 (we'll call this game Full Life). If I bought Full Life, I would want A Games to get the money I spent on their game so they have the money to make more games like it. When you buy used, the developer gets nothing. Zip. Nada. It's pure profit for Gamestop. The reason I only apply this to games and not to, say, cars or houses, is because game developers operate on a razer thin profit margin. They need every dollar they can get to make the game they made pay for itself.
2. I'm a PC gamer, and there's no such thing as "used" computer software due to DRM.

 

[Ranorak]

I hear the argument "Any used sale you make is a sale not going to the developers."

How is this even a reasonable argument?
If I let the game sit on my shelve it's not going to make money for the developers either.
In fact, if I sell a game used, MY money might actually go to a developer. You know, because I now have more money to spend on other games.

 

[Alberio]

I buy used games quite often although I tend to stick to buying them in person so that I can check the condition of the disks etc before I get it. Saying that GAME and Gamestation still insist on putting their own "security stickers" on the box after they've sold it to you so that you have to stand there and peel them off before you can even get them into the box.

As for the whole "hurting the devs" thing, I thought the shops paid the devs to stock X amount of their game so they don't actually profit from each individual sale as such.

 

[Goofguy]

I'd say my game purchases are half new, half used. I don't have any particular issues with the used game market. The games I buy from them tend to be second-rate single player games I looked up the day before because I wanted something I never played to help pass the time.

If I really want a game, I'll buy it new otherwise, I'm only too content to put $10-$15 down on some forgettable shooter or adventure game.

 

[Ailia]

I buy most of my games used, it's honestly the only place to get certain games at times (good lukc finding a new copy of BioShock, whereas I found an old copy in Microplay for 10$). Sure, there's money lost for the company and the stores are the ones coming out richer but it's not even remotely the same as piracy.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

I'll happily buy older games used, as firstly I doubt I could find a new copy, and secondly I'm usually paying less than $5 for them, but when Black Ops is $60 and 'preowned' Black Ops is $55 in Gamestop, having paid the previous owner twenty cents, a peso and a button, well, no. I'll pay the extra and get a shiny new one.

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

I'm not paying full price for a game that came out 2 years ago.

 

[manaman]

I certainly think much worse of a game pirater than I do of a used-game buyer. I'm mostly fine with the latter. But eventually, I really do hope for them to realize the impact they make; because as mean as it sounds, their effects are just the same as piracy.

That is the biggest load of bullshit the game industry ever got people to buy.

The used game market helps the industry. It just doesn't help it as much as a new sale in place of a used sale, which is why they push for one over the other and try to guilt/force people into only buying new.

The vast majority of the time someone brings in a game for trade, they buy other games, a significant chunk of that money goes back into buying new games. The classic market is different of course as only a tiny fraction of the classic games sold ever makes it way back into the new market, but it's usually not what people are talking about when they talk of the used game market.

You can make all the arguments you want for how much money goes towards new games, how much it ends up costing the developer because of the people that buy the used games, etc. but there are no solid numbers. It makes sense that the industry would help more then hurt because that is exactly what it does in other industries. On the other side of the argument you have only the bitching of the publishers (who take far more of the profits from developers then you could ever attribute to piracy or the used game market).

 

[Kingsnake661]

No, but I can't say I like it particularly either, and I don't blame EA for stuff like project 10 dollar.

This is kind of where I'm at. I've bought used, when new wasn't an option. I tend to favor digital downloads, and new game, as apposed to used, i NEVER trade my stuff in, i'll NOT feed the gamestop monster, and thankfully, don't have to so far.. but, I don't blame or begrudge anyone who buys used. It is cheaper, sometimes ALOT cheaper, sometimes barely, but it is cheaper, and times are tough.

But, again, i don't begrudge EA and the like for trying to "work around" the used market with DLC and stuff like project 10 dollar. I think extra credits had a show on this, and suggested alterntives to project 10 dollar that worked better, but, either way, i like games, i relise game companys need money.. ALOT of money to make games, so, i will pay for what i play. So long as the penduliam does't swing to far in there favor and they start nickel dimeing us to death... at that point, bah, i'll prolly still pay up to a point, but prolly alot less. Have to go on a retro gaming trip. LOL

 

[natster43]

I have nothing against them, though I do mostly buy new, if it is a pretty old game or a game I know little about and want to see if i will like it, I buy used.