GameStop: Consumers unlikely to buy next-gen console that blocks used games

Haha im seeing alot of Comments saying people will buy next gen. Personaly i cant afford new games every month. If there are no used games i wont be buying it.il simply go back to the pc.

I kinda hope that MS does launch first. They release a Xbox 720 that does block used games. I Sony were smart they could "Win" next race. By releasing the PS4 that doesn't block used games. Microsoft I can see putting their head into the fire.

Sony Should let MS do this. Then release PS4 as usual. They did learn the PSPgo lesson. It didn't last 1 full year. Niether will Xbox 720 or PS4 if they do this. This experiment will only last 6 months tops.

GameStop is getting scared. Cause they make their money from the used games, and if that goes so does that god awful company. I won't loose a seconds worth of sleep over that company burning to the ground.

lol, keep telling yourself that, people will buy the console anyway.

Ha ha ha! Funny! People will buy the new consoles. Used games or not people will eat that all up!

It's all a rather silly debate, because digital distribution is likely to replace physical media by the end of this decade. The only time physical distribution is needed is when the physical media can offer a far greater amount of storage space for the media in question than the bandwidth required to download the digital version.

Currently, Blu-Ray discs can hold 10 or more layers of data with little problem, which bodes well for physical media in the short-term (since 4K TVs are on the horizon and likely to be supported by either the next generation of consoles or the one following it). But we're already at the point where 0-day releases can be distributed digitally with few problems, even for Blu-Ray games that are several GB. The advantage of digital distribution is that it allows for dynamic pricing, easier updates and greater control over the software. Sony and MS are definitely concerned about locking down their systems, and forcing more people to buy new games through their sales channels is a big part of that.

I agree, that the developers are losing money with the used games market. Retailers like GameStop/EB Games, pay peanuts for your games, turn around and sell it for only $5.00 cheaper the the new ones.

My big concern is that it'll be impossible to find older games that might not be in production anymore.

I'm pretty sure both PS4/720 are going to try and block used games in their own ways because in the end many people complaining will still buy these systems anyway, just maybe not as quickly.

Hopefully though if they do block it can lead to things like reduced cost, lower/no price for DLC/season passes and maybe a kind of digital copy rental for people who don't want to pay full price for a potentially bad game.

If publishers really wanted to recoup losses from used game sales, perhaps they should initiate a buy back program similar to what Amazon does with textbooks (for example). That way people aren't getting ripped off by the likes of GameStop, publishers make profit on used game sales and gamers are happy. Just a thought.

yep if they block used games the PS3/X360 will be the last generation of consoles i will own.

I sure as hell wouldn't buy any system that blocked used games, that's for sure. As it is, I can only afford one game a month, and the way I do that is to buy a game, play it for a month, trade it in, buy a new game, rinse and repeat. If used games were blocked, I would be able to buy less than half of the games I currently do, and it wouldn't be worth it for me to buy the console.

Yep, they'd pretty much be shooting themselves in the foot right out of the gate if any of them blocked used games.

I don't see why MS or Sony would lock out older games. They would sell them new at discount prices. There is no way every game would sell for the same price as a newly released title. That would be unreasonable even for MS or Sony. There would be sales on older titles and cheaper games available just like we have on Steam. But they will have the games market corralled for their consoles, which is what they are going for. How many times have we heard, it's the software not the hardware where the console money is made? That they sell the hardware at a loss and make it up in software sales. Having control of game sales is key for them in order to maximize profit.

People dont get it. They want cheap ways to play great games and developers need the revenue to continue making great games.

Does not matter to me to be honest I have never bought a used game my way to support great work.

GameStop are only complaining because this will hurt their business big time. They make a lot of money by ripping gamers off. Trade ins are a disservice to gamers. I buy a game for 60, GameStop buys it for 30 or less, then sell it again for more.I never buy used game, not from them or any retailer.I am not rich, but think 1 new game every month is a great way to save money and not need used games. You don't have to buy every game day one; I don't.

Hope Xbox 720 or PS 4 sales diminish to the point of bankruptcy if they decide to block used games or not backwards compatible. PC gaming and steam rules!

Blocking used games will not affect console sales. If not having used games were that bad, PC gaming and Steam would NOT exist. Also, digital sells would not going up year after year.

They're at least partly right. If only one of the two consoles blocks used games, I'll probably buy the one that doesn't.

It'll be a trickier choice if they both do, though. Might just stick with PC gaming and avoid the consoles, but... I really want to play Halo 5 and Uncharted 4 :/

I hope they don't block use games. I love used games for one reason cheapness. If the game is over 10 years old its dirt cheap used. unless you actually buy it from the many companies website or service. that is why i love used games it makes sense. You don't pay full price for a any other 10 years plus of any other media like a dvd or book do you. Chances are not very likely.

Though I will admit gamestop needs to quit with there ways

Gamestop needs to die! Not only they sell your used games 3 times more expensive than what they paid us for it but this whole used game market ruins the gaming industry. Dev teams get laid off because of this, some people will buy used games and then when they finish the game then they resell it to gamestop and the cycle continues. So new games dont sell as they should and so profits are greatly affected by this....".black market", i guess you could call it that.

@queuing_for_PS4 That doesn't make ANY sense.

@queuing_for_PS4 What a tortured little world you live in...

I don't shop at Gamestop so I'm not really concerned about that. I prefer to buy all of my games new. I only own two that are used (Castlevania: SotN and Einhander.) I bought them from a neighbor kid in the 1990's. I certainly do hope you can play them on the next consoles. But if I cannot, well, I still have the current consoles. I'm not throwing them away. Heck, I would still hook up my Original NES to play games on it if my current TV didn't enlarge the graphics so much that Mario appears as a series of three inch squares stacked on top of each other (I'm sure there is a way to fix that but TVs are not my forte.)

The new consoles have to have games on them I want to play before I will buy them. This is not a Windows upgrade. It's a brand new system.

well, at least this opinion is from a nuetral and un-biased source!

thanks GameStop, but we're well aware of what you're really saying:

"we enjoy buying used games for peanuts and re-selling them for $5 less than brand-new copies, and consoles not playing used games would be a detriment to our rediculous and shady and pricing practices"

if Sony and Microsoft's new consoles would be like that, i'd start investing on a good PC. Or maybe a Wii U.