s0p0g said:
viranimus said:
Or better yet, these publishers can quit pretending like they are starving artists and accept that the used market is completely legal and legitimate means of ownership instead of thinking it is their right to more profits than every other industry that sells a product.
Thats the easiest way to fix the problem. Stop trying to change games and evade the laws in order to gain more profits. By not viewing it as a problem, it eliminates the problem and this is certainly the non dickish way of doing it.
Will it happen? no. Should it happen? It shouldnt even be a question in the first place.
amen to that. i wondered for quite some time now how the game industry is crying big tears over used games, while i never heard of an anti-used-films/CDs/books campaign
or what about cars? most younger people i know, and others who aren't that rich, or feel the need of an up-to-date car, buy used cars. the automobile industry isn't a crybaby, either.
The difference between the video game industry and the movie and music industry is quite simple.
When do a video game developer make money? Only once. When the game they put out is sold. Some developers also earn on dlc, but not everyone.
When do a band earn money? The answer is NOT when they sell a CD. The sale od a CD wont give the artist who created it one dime. The artist earns money on concerts and merchandise sold on that concert. This is the kind you can't get second hand because there's a whole experience attached to it. You get to be there once while the band cashes in. There's also money in music being played on the TV or the radio and from music videos on the TV. They're also paid just to appear on some events.
The movie industry also got its way to counter the fact that not everyone who watched their movie will actually buy it. When you buy a movie it's the same deal as a video game. There's a huge crew that worked on effects, publishing, actors etc. There's probably many movies there that cost more to make than most games, how come they cost less? Have you ever noticed this thing called a cinema? Or a movie theatre? Have you ever seen a movie on the TV? these are some of the things used by the movie industry to make money. There's a lot of people there who want to pay the price to watch a movie on the big screen, awesome sound, comfortable chairs on release day. There are plenty of TV companies willing to pay to get the movie on their channels, they finance this by cutting to commercial breaks so both the TV company and the movie company earns money on this deal. Some movie companies also gives you a code to download a free digital copy of a movie when you buy it.
I left books outside of the previous wall of text because what does book have that make them protected against used sales? They have the same reasons as video games to want to sell new. If I buy a book used none of the money goes to the writer. He wont earn money in any way unless I buy the new copy. Why isn't the book industry complaining?
How many persons does it take to write a book? Usually 1 or 2 + editor and a publishing company. How many does it take to make a video game? Have you seen the credits for new video games? They take minutes to get through!
How much money do you need to make a book? You need a laptop/computer/typewriter/Pen and paper. How much money do you need to make a PS3/Xbox 360 game? Roughly 10 million dollars.
Why would you buy a book used? To save money. Why would you buy a video game used? To save money.
Why would you buy a book new? If it's a text book, to get the updated information seeing books on some subjects are outdated by the time they release. For fiction because paper is very vulnerable to tearing and there might be something missing (often seen in library books). Why would you buy a video game new? If there's no day 1 dlc or any restraints for used copies: to make sure it's in perfect condition, because I want it on release date and because I want to support those who made it.
So the biggest differences between the book industry and the game industry is the production cost and the amount of employees required. It's easier to give 1-5 person salary to live than a whole crew of 30. To make a profit the sales have to be high enough to cover the production cost and more. When you write a book there are basically no production costs. You use things you have such as your computer. The costs wont appear until you're going to publish it. When you come to that part all is done by a third party. If they like what they see they get an editor to fix it up before they are going to publish it and they release it. At most this will take a few hundred thousands to do. An average video game require hundred times that. Seeing as their game costs between 2 and 6 times more they still need to sell a lot more just to cover production costs.
I should also mention that most authours write on their spare time. Video game developers have a full time job. Working 9-5 isn't always enough. They sometimes need to pull some all nighters to get done with games before their deadline. Still, both authours and developers have it hard.
