Your take on pre-owned games.

[KaiRai]

I like them. Mostly because if there's a game I haven't bought, it's good to be like "Oh hey, I kept meaning to get that" and buy it. Or to just come across a gem I may have missed the first time round.

Got GRID, Forza 3 for my 360 that way. Back on PS2 I got at least 60% of my collection that way. PS1 was exactly the same.

 

[Tony2077]

i prefer to rent games then buy them at some point. i like used games because some of the games are hard-impossible to find new

 

[Stickman Sam]

I just think its hilarious people can be anti-piracy but pro used-games for profit.

Presumably you're trolling, but

Piracy - facilitating the copying of something to be distributed at no gain for the original source
and
Used games - something which the original source has already recieved full payment for, and as such has no further concern in

Are so, so different

 

[xXAsherahXx]

I buy whatever I can find for the cheapest price, whether it be used or new. With used games I ask to see the disk every now and then when I suspect it to be damaged.

 

[Snotnarok]

Used is good, I'm fine with supporting the developer but fuck, they're a multibillion dollar corporation and I'm ...well not even fucking close.

 

[Something Amyss]

I love buying used.

 

[Phoenixlight]

I love the idea of getting pre-owned games because they're so much cheaper than new ones. However, for certain games that I really want I buy them new because I know I'll be keeping them.

 

[godofallu]

I always buy used, aside from the occasional pre order.

 

[savageoblivi0n]

My take on pre-owned games is that they would be far less prevelenant if mainstream console games were not so freaking expensive. £40-50 is a BIG investment.

Seriously, hit up gamestracker and keep your eye on the prices, most games can fairly easily be had for £30ish new.

Or alternatively, wait for Gamestation's Fat Chris sale this Christmas, Fallout New Vegas, Fable 3 and whatever else come out over Christmas will be nice and cheap by then.

I just think its hilarious people can be anti-piracy but pro used-games for profit.

I find hillarious people saying used market equals piracy.

How does it not?

If I download a game, and sent $60 to thepiratebay, would that suddenly make it okay?

To start there isn't an illegal copy of the game involved.

Hmm. Piracy deprives game developers of a hypothetical profit, buying used games also deprives developers of the same.

You could make an argument that they are both equally theft. But that's just a silly argument when applied to piracy anyway.

Yeah, it is silly. Under that argument lending games would equal piracy too.

It might be worth checking your licence agreement, last I remember videos used to start with a warning that lending amongst other things is prohibited.

I wasn't aware of this. It is really worth checking that out.

actually i believe the fbi warning on videos stated "unauthorized copying or public performance" which to me means (obviously) copying the movie or (not as obviously) say, setting up your home theater and telling your friends "hey i got this new movie, come on over and watch it for 5 bucks"

course i may be totally off-base but that was always what i gathered from it

(tried to find it in text format but gave up)

 

[lokun489]

most of my games are used and the few i havenew i got because of the reserve it today for a bonus

 

[esperandote]

actually i believe the fbi warning on videos stated "unauthorized copying or public performance" which to me means (obviously) copying the movie or (not as obviously) say, setting up your home theater and telling your friends "hey i got this new movie, come on over and watch it for 5 bucks"

course i may be totally off-base but that was always what i gathered from it

(tried to find it in text format but gave up)

Oh in that case then i dont think they include lending them only profiting on them.

 

[OtakuNinja]

i like to go for brand new but lately the cash hasent been rolling in as smoothly as hoped

 

[OtakuNinja]

In order for there to be piracy, there has to be an illegal copy.

No illegal copy = no piracy.

Used games are legal copies.

"So?"? It is not a deflection neither irrelevant it is the whole point to it and it is not the same in practice, in practice one involves an illegal copy and the other doesn't.

"So," The legality of the copy is pure semantics.

By that logic, giving a bum $20 to shoplift a copy is also perfectly okay.

lol if it were wrong game retailers wouldent sell preowned games
what you need to realise is this,

Pre-owned - only one person at a time may use it and anyone that uses it has payed for it in some way,

Copied - multiple people can using the same game at the same time without paying a penny

 

[tehroc]

Every game they ship to retailers has been paid for, Gamestop for instance buys pallets of games in bulk. If the game doesn't sell well the retailer takes the hit not the publisher. Publishers can kiss my fucking ass, I bet book publishers ***** and complain about public libraries.

 

[esperandote]

only a stolen copy if its reported stolen.

Of course not, it is stolen no matter what. The only difference if it is reported stolen or not is the lack pursuit of getting it and thiefs punishment. The game doesn't become legal and illegal as you mentioned.

If i kill someone it isnt murder if no one reports it?

 

[traineesword]

I think that anyone who trades in games at the moment is a fool. however, i love buying pre-owned games... so i guess i kinda love the fools who do it.

Plus, pre-owned games in stores will always be cheap. If there is ever a copy of Metal gear Solid for playstation one in Gamestation, i can guarentee it will be priced at under £10. however, if i go looking for a new copy on the internet... http://www.amazon.com/Metal-Gear-Solid-Playstation/dp/B00001X50M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1281474349&sr=8-1

yeah... exactly... stupid people and their magpie-ish habits. i doubt that those games are even new. what, do Konami Genuinly have unplayed discs? not unless they started producing them again, knowing full well they could get away with selling them at a high price... wait...

 

[-Samurai-]

Honestly, I'm not even going to bother. If you can't tell the difference between buying a used *legal* copy of a game, and stealing one, you're hopeless on the subject.

I'd love to refine my stance on this, but all I really have is people like you saying theres a difference because they say there is.

Except that in that case the bum didn't adquire the game by legal means, in the case of used games the first buyer did and so did the subsequent buyers. That is literally stealing.

Its only a stolen copy if its reported stolen.

If your brother traded in [your favorite game in the whole world] to buy madden '13, and someone else bought [your favorite game in the whole world], is that a perfectly legal sale? Because if you went to court ([your favorite game in the whole world] is also the favorite game in the whole world of a partner in some massive firm, so they take the case pro bono) they'd rule in the store's favor, as the store had no way of knowing "[your brother]'s copy" of [your favorite game in the whole world] was traded without your knowledge.

The situation I've detailed is pretty much money laundering. The illegal source of an object is obfuscated by the changing of sufficient hands to transmute it into a legal copy. So, if I steal a copy of a game from one store trade it in at another store, and buy something, suddenly the stolen copy is legal, simply because the store can't have any way of knowing they bought a stolen copy.

If its that easy to flop back and forth between legal and illegal, the legality of a copy is irrelevant until something completely overt happens.

So if the legality of a copy is irrelevant, used games (bought and sold by a large chain) become identical to piracy.

Except that isn't even close to what's happening. There isn't some huge conspiracy by used media stores to purchase stolen media, then sell it to screw developers out of money.

There are people buying legal, physical copies of media and pre-owned media.

There are people downloading illegally copied media.

That's it. They are not the same. No matter what crazy spin or ridiculous example you come up with, that is it in its simplest form. One is perfectly legal, the other is not.

Piracy is piracy because of copyright infringement, not because you stole something. When you buy a used copy, you don't violate the copyright. You didn't copy the media. You didn't purchase an unauthorized copy. You're simply buying a legal copy that someone else already owned.

Those are the facts. You can't dispute them. All you can do is state wether you morally object to them or not, which you've already done.

As it stands, buying and selling used media that isn't an unauthorized copy is perfectly legal. How you obtained the legal copy is a different subject all together.

 

[Susan Arendt]

I always buy preowned if I have the option (unless I want the collector's edition or simply must have it on day of release). No reason not to, really. If it doesn't work, I can return it, so I've got nothing to lose.