Poll: Do you hate the used game market?

[WolfLordAndy]

People keep throwing the used car sales about to compare used game sales to. But even though the car manufacturer isn't getting money from used sales (apart from certified dealerships, franchised garages, etc) they do still get to sell parts to keep those used cars running.

Project $10 is effectively adding this ability for the games makers to make a lil extra on the games, like the car manufacturers can make with replacement parts.

Used sales in itself isn't a problem, or at least it didn't used to be. People used to love collecting all their games, now their is more of a "disposable" culture where people get something, play it, and exhange it in for osmething else, I've never traded a game in, and rarely buy used, I like my collection of games on my shelf! The major issue with this used sales thing is that its now become industrialised by all these game shops, meaning they're trading games on a huge scale that you didn't use to get, before, you had to trade games in a market or the like :/

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

this is a well... crap yes and no i love game-stop or what they used to be/stand for. Now like all businesses, all they care about is making a quick buck and re-selling used games of games that came out at 5 dollars less then regular retail why only paying half if not less for the trade in. I don't mind flea markets, good will, smaller owned bossiness in the sense of selling used games at all "hell i got star ocean 2 for ps1 at good will for 3 bucks and works fine" I think it boils down to what are you looking to buy and are you going to be treated nicely or be treated just like another dollar sign to them.

 

[DanDeFool]

The only problem with places like GameStop is that a game may produice a sale milliouns of times, but it only counts if they are new copies. GameStop buys your games for dirt cheap, marks it up 300-400% and makes some ice profits.

Piracy isnt when you download a games ISO and then mount/play it.
Piracy is stealing shit on the high seas.

Which is why I buy most of my used games on Amazon Marketplace and eBay. There's a little 'buyer beware' factor on those places to be sure, and I've had a couple bad experiences, but overall I've done very well for myself. And (most of the time) you have the confidence that you're buying from a consumer or a small business.

Also, most of the used games I buy are out-of-print anyway; I like to hold on to my games, so for me the discount of $10 to $15 for buying a used copy of a game that was released less than 6 months ago doesn't really hold water. I'd rather just buy it new and know that I'm getting a copy of a game that is in pristine condition.

 

[Kingsnake661]

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).

There is alot of truth in this post. I find when i'm at a game store, most kids/people are trading in stuff to buy a new game. Meaning if there wasn't a used game market for them to trade stuff in, they may not be able to buy the product new that they are currently buying.

I don't for a second thing use game buyer are anywhere near what pirates do. Pirates steal, plan and simple. The used game buyer doesn't steal a thing. At most, it's GAMESTOP that's stealing, with how much they give these people for there used games, and how much they charge for them... an argument could be made that it's highway robbery, but that's another topic.

The solutition is, pretty much what we are getting. Companys will start offering DLC for games, and exta content and make there money back in micro transactions the brick and morter stores can't userp them with. IF they were smart, they'd lower the cost of NEW games, making them more reasonable so people would be more willing to pay for DLC. It'd be a better workaround for gamestop IMO.

 

[Ranorak]

I have no problem with it, but when I buy used games, I am always rather frightened. I always worry if a game or system is still functional or if it will die somewhere along the road. I just ordered a NES with a few games and while I can wait to play it, I can't wait to discover if the entire package is still working or if I just blew a 130 euros.

Going by your avatar and your profile, I assume you're Dutch.
While I don't make a habit of advertising, I'd like to point you to this Dutch game store website:
http://www.nedgame.nl/tweedehands.html

Buying used games with a 3 month warranty. As far as I'm aware game disks either work or don't. So it's pretty much safe.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

i buy used occasionally, especially if its an older game, or a company i just really don't feel like giving my money to.

still..i think if developers wanted to be able to rake in long term cash, make dlc for their older games, or something new for that old game that makes the replayability for the game alot more fun, so when someone does pick up the game, whether it be new or used, they might really be craving more and can just buy that dlc

 

[veloper]

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.

Even piracy helps the industry by your logic.
You save EVEN MORE money getting a copy for free and that money could go back into buying new games.

More typically though, the pirate and the used buyer both don't buy new.

 

[The Grim Ace]

Unless I'm buying off Steam, I rarely buy new games. I don't exactly have the cash to throw around for brand new games no matter how good they might be and I've been buying used for as long as I've been buying games. I think the last game I bought new from a brick and mortar store was Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and that's only because I'm a Castlevania junkie and the pre-order bonus was worth it. I bought my used games at GameStop (well, at the time, it was still FunCo Land) until I sold a game there, got some lunch, came back and I saw the same game I sold them being sold for four times what they gave me. I mainly stick to shops near my house and eBay now, last time I went to GameStop was for that same pre-ordered Castlevania I already mentioned.

 

[jboking]

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."

I see where you are coming from, but I see that justification come from pirates who want to put morality in their evil activities to look like digital robin hoods.

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.

Let me ask you this - Which does a developer want more?: A) Someone who doesn't buy their game and never grows any interest for it because it is simply too expensive -or- B) Someone who buys their game used and stand the chance of becoming a fan of the game, making them more likely to buy games produced by them and to spread the word about how great their game is.

I believe they would chose B every time.

Of course, companies could fight the used market pretty easily: Lower the price of your game (especially if it isn't a AAA game) to lure people away from the used market. Offer things like free DLC for buying new. Give them incentive to avoid the used market for your game.

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

If it is, however, then buying used is douchie and stupid.

Then I trust that you have only even owned/driven new cars. Furthermore, I trust that when the time comes to buy your own home you will have it build from the ground up rather than buying one another family has already lived in. Finally I trust you never sell any of your own property that is still able to be purchased new on craigslist or ebay or that if you do you send an appropriate cut back to the original manufacturer . . . . .

Games are NO different that any other manufactured good. They deserve no special treatment when it comes to used sales. To say otherwise is just crazy

Actually, games are different than almost every other manufactured good.

Activision owns Call of Duty: Black Ops. If you walk into a store and buy a copy, Activision still owns Call of Duty: Black Ops. You own a copy of it. The reason that the store is allowed to sell you that copy, while Activision still owns the game itself, is because they're licenced distributors of the game. Unless you enter into a formal legal agreement with Activision, you're not a licenced distributor, ergo have no legal right to sell copies of things owned by Activision. You're not buying the game, you're paying for the right to access it.

Not being able to sell things you don't own, startling concept I know but bear with me.

When you buy a car, or a house, or anything else like that, you're not paying for access to it, you're buying it. If you buy a car, you own it, and have the legal right to sell it. If you buy a house, you own it, and have the legal right to sell it. When you "buy" a video game, however, you don't own it. You own a disc that's used to access the video game. You can certainly sell the disc if you manage to take the game off of it (why you would want to do this, I have no idea) but you can't sell the game itself because you don't own it.

 

[omega_peaches]

I don't have any thing against them, but most of the used games at my local gamestop are
A:Cases are punctured
B:Smell like cat piss.
And due to me being extremely anal about game cases, I hate it.

 

[Sad Face]

I don't have any thing against them, but most of the used games at my local gamestop are
A:Cases are punctured
B:Smell like cat piss.
And due to me being extremely anal about game cases, I hate it.

My local Gamestop throws out all books. They just empty the case right off the bat. They're also not great at keeping the discs in a safe place. And those are two of the smallest reasons why I don't buy there. Ever.

Gamestop/EB Games aside...

If the used market didn't exist I wouldn't have gotten my copy of "Beyond Good and Evil". I wouldn't have a huge number of my Genesis games, any of my N64 games or SNES games and I would have missed out entirely on Resident Evil 2. Are Nintendo or Sega or Capcom or ANYONE willing to reprint any of these for me?

We buy used books, used movies, used furniture, used everything. The games industry is the only one I hear complaining.

Without second-hand sales landfills would be huge...and from what I hear that's kindof a hot issue right now.

 

[deckpunk]

I'm new to this site, found a Yahtzee video on youtube and havent looked back... So I have to ask this question. "Is this a joke?" I got fear 2 for 10 quid today, so I'm havin a little trouble understanding how anyone would hate the used game market... except EA obviously... evil money grabbin pricks as they are.

 

[Xanthious]

Actually, games are different than almost every other manufactured good.

Activision owns Call of Duty: Black Ops. If you walk into a store and buy a copy, Activision still owns Call of Duty: Black Ops. You own a copy of it. The reason that the store is allowed to sell you that copy, while Activision still owns the game itself, is because they're licenced distributors of the game. Unless you enter into a formal legal agreement with Activision, you're not a licenced distributor, ergo have no legal right to sell copies of things owned by Activision. You're not buying the game, you're paying for the right to access it.

Not being able to sell things you don't own, startling concept I know but bear with me.

When you buy a car, or a house, or anything else like that, you're not paying for access to it, you're buying it. If you buy a car, you own it, and have the legal right to sell it. If you buy a house, you own it, and have the legal right to sell it. When you "buy" a video game, however, you don't own it. You own a disc that's used to access the video game. You can certainly sell the disc if you manage to take the game off of it (why you would want to do this, I have no idea) but you can't sell the game itself because you don't own it.

Wow... just wow. Do you realize how demonstrably untrue what you just wrote is? If a sliver of what you claim was true companies like Gamestop would simply not exist. Furthermore, sites like eBay and Craigslist would not be legally allowed to accept listings for used games.

If what you were saying were true, which obviously it's not, then the same would have to hold true for movies, and music, and books. I got news for you all of those are bought and sold secondhand on a massive scale daily and legally.

Now you and the video game companies might want to think that is how things are but anyone with even the smallest amount of sense knows that what you are saying simply isn't the case. Do you think for a minute if selling games secondhand was illegal companies wouldn't step in to stop it? Of course they would. However, it's perfectly legal and there is bugger all they can do about it.

I agree that the game company holds the rights the actual IP but don't have ANY say in what I do with the actual copy of the game I bought and paid for. I do in fact own that. I'm not allowed to make my own copies and sell those but as far as the copy I paid for goes, I have full and total control over that individual copy and what I choose to do with it is none of their concern.

Bottom line is that video games are NOT special anymore than books or couches or movies or cars, etc are special. They should and do have to follow the same rules when it comes to a secondhand market. People like you and the video game industry as a whole need to accept that. It's that kind of mentality that caused the first collapse of the gaming industry and it's that kind of mentality that will cause the next one if it keeps up.

 

[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.

Even piracy helps the industry by your logic.
You save EVEN MORE money getting a copy for free and that money could go back into buying new games.

More typically though, the pirate and the used buyer both don't buy new.

I read that and was actually astounded someone's thought processes could bring them to that conclusion. Then I read it again and decided you must be yanking on my chain. You are just yanking on my chain right?

What I said had nothing to do with piracy, or saving money. I said that the used game market injects money back into the new game market because of the large numbers of customers that do not hang onto games they have finished playing. They trade those games in, or sale them, spending the money on other new games. There is nothing inherently wrong with the selling games you are finished with. There are dubious aspects to the practices of some of the larger chains, but there are dubious aspects to how the publishers have decided to handle the situation.

My local Gamestop throws out all books. They just empty the case right off the bat. They're also not great at keeping the discs in a safe place. And those are two of the smallest reasons why I don't buy there. Ever.

Your local Gamestop is the exception then. I have seen plenty of games that do not have manuals, but those are due to the customer not trading them in with the manual. The few times I have picked up a used game or two at gamestop they had the manual safely tucked away with the disc in a drawer, and the disc was in a protective sleeve. I have never seen any indication in any Gamestop I have ever been inside that it is any kind of standard practice to throw away the manual, only a variation on leaving the manual in the case or taking it out with the disc.

 

[Kadoodle]

Piracy is stealing shit on the high seas.

Wrong. Piracy is the divine worship of the flying spaghetti monster, who touches us all with His Noodly Appendage.

 

[Mute52]

Where else am i going to buy ?
Doesn't even have to be GBA, there are a lot of Xbox 360 games you can't find in stores anymore.

 

[loc978]

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.

^this is pretty much my view on the matter^

The used games market isn't a bad thing in theory, but the way Gamestop sells week-old returned games with a $5 markdown for a $30+ profit should be criminal... except that it's just preying on people's stupidity. My thoughts: why the hell would anyone buy a $60 game, finish it in a week, and resell it to the place they bought it for less than half price? If you're into short games with a quick turn-around... RENT THEM.