Used Games Not Surging, But Outcry Is

GameStop sales figures and the industry are apples and oranges. They only sell hard copies and more than half the games Most people buy are downloadable.

Imagine how much the car industry could whine about used car sales. Now multiply that by ten and add in the music industry's problems and that's Jameson Durall's rant. Nah I'm kidding but seriously just don't make games if you don't like the profit margins. The industry doesn't need help to survive. It'll always be here.

Technically Developers could easily prevent used game sales entirely.

EA for instance has their own accounts. You link your EA games to that account and it links your PSN account or 360 gamertag directly. All they have to do is include a single use code with each game that will allow the game to run on your console. A similar setup is in place in many games for PC. It would not be that expensive or even difficult to print a code on the manuals or on a separate card that just gets slipped into the console game boxes, they do it all the time for PC. You already have to "login" to your EA account for Mass Effect 3, it wouldn't be difficult to add a "Permission check/request key" code to that login.

Why don't devs do this? Because they know that the first company to do so will be boycotted by the vast majority of gamers and they won't survive the year. This is why they are pushing the Console developers to make this jump. Are the console devs willing to risk their company getting boycotted for making such a move? Not likely. So the odds of this happening in the next generation of consoles is already not looking very good.

Another thing to consider, Lawsuits. If Sony or Microsoft were to make their next consoles not play used games it would impact the income of Gamestop or any other used gaming store. It is illegal to intentionally interfere with the business of another company. Now if the majority of developers are concerned with Gamestop selling used games they should go to the courts about it. If however Sony or Microsoft make it impossible for used games to be played Gamestop could theoretically take them to court on the grounds of unlawful trade interference.

Even ignoring the possibility of multi-billion dollar lawsuits (based on the used game sales listed above), I doubt that either Sony or Microsoft want to be the first ones to alienate a large portion of the gaming community by starting the "Used Game War".

I'm sure gamestop will go the way of blockbuster in the future. tangible media is a thing of the past only to be recognized in a decade or so.

I think Sony and Microsoft would be shooting themselves in the foot to nerf used games on they're consoles. GameStop does make a ton of money when it comes to used games. I buy used, always will. I like the idea of buying a few games, playing and enjoying them for a while, then trading them in for something else. I love it. I haven't bought a new game in a while. I think Dark Souls was the last one I bought... before that I believe it was UFC Undisputed 2010. It's just makes more sense to me to buy used, I don't make a ton of cash, or have a rich mommy and daddy. If they did go through with it, I see a bunch of people switching to PC gaming, or moving to the Wii U.

But back on topic: Yes, GS does make tons of cash on the used game market, but they also make the devs. of certain games a lot of cash too by way of pre-orders. Take MW3 for example. Sold tons for each platform, but a nice percent of those sales where in pre-orders from GS. It's wrong for the devs. to make a killing off of GS in pre-orders, then turn around and cry when they sell that game used. But I guess that's the way it is today. If a company is making you money, then great. But when they re-sell your product (A product that they pretty much paid for in the first place), you get all twisted and want to nerf the company. Bankrupt trade and play companies like GS, and you may as well commit career suicide.

And for the people here who are with the idea of nerfing used games and who are down with "Evil Corporations"... I bet you all shop at GameStop like the rest of us.

Last time on gamespot or game magazine, we heard that: what is the next great games coming up, more preview trailer on that game, a new game that will change the world, a game that is fun and everyone can play, interview with the guys who developed this game and how much work has done, the good old days,

Now is like, we are hearing more on: this CEO shithead saying DRM is good, the former chief dumbass saying use game suck and we must monopolized it to earn big time, that company director saying because we are not earning enough like COD, this developer is officially out of the picture, why these days we, gamers are hearing non game developing bullshit talking politics on game, a system suppose to entertained, we don't want to hear their stupid vision or opinion, cause when they talk that in a tech show reel, they are nothing more than laughing stock, instead they took that on us, games, on a game website supposed to show good, bad and new games, and the actual developer who build it, instead we are looking at a paid site that promote politician talk on their vision, s if we have enough Bill Gate and Steve Jobs already(still respect them both)

Gamestop, personally I've never seen it in Malaysia, that's that, and I never buy used games, cause games that worth buying original or not worth playing at all. But please, don't waste pages showing such statistic, the next time will be gamespot publishing who will be the next president or EA or Activision, instead of showing us what new games is up. Money, the force of slavery XD

Also, 10 years ago there wasn't a gamestop on every goddamned corner, either. That's a big contributor to the size of growth. They have really destroyed the boutiques shops and import stores scene til there's nothing left. I remember Funcoland, Babbages, E.B., etc, all swallowed whole by these profit mongers.

Man, I hope they do. I don't for a second believe those gamestop numbers are correct. They absolutely RAPE you on used games. Then, they turn around and put a couple-month-old game back on the shelf for 54.99, when they try to give you 14.00 in store credit. I hope Sony and Microsoft burn it to the ground.

i just thought about this.. the wii U is considered a next gen console therefore it will be competing with next gen.. we can take some of the concept of the wii U to see what to expect. the wii U has no used game restrictions therefore it is most likely that the other next gen consoles wont either or else they will lose business to the competitor being wii U.

the next gen could block used games if the ps4 xbox 720 and wii U all agreed to it. but as we can see the wii U did not, so it is extremely unlikely that ps4 xbox 720 will.

Being older now I have come to buy only used games there are so many great games out there i do not need to buy something when it first comes out i will play older good games first and wait until the new game comes down in price used

It is certainly surprising that Gamestop's used game sales do not make up more of the company's revenue. I certainly guessed that used game sales had grown relative to total revenue

Who wouldn't be surprised w/ what's happening w/, even, the discussion of consoles not playing used games. While, personally, I think it's B/S, what do publishers expect gamers to do when we're forced now to pay close to $80 for one game? Not to mention the extra we have to pay for the whole online play set by certain publishers. It's getting to where we're having to pay well over $100 to play 'one' game and it's entirety... So of-course gamers are going to cut corners where they can 'just' to be able to get their hands on a game at a more competitive bargain. This whole concept of the new consoles not allowing the play of used games could very likely slow games sales and assign respective gamers to moderate themselves to a more narrow gaming experience, which, I think, ultimately will cut the consumer base for game publishers abroad. This will be interesting to watch play out. Though, you can bet that I'm already choosing what game of each genre I'll be committing myself to.

When games get released you see comments all over gaming sites more or less saying :

"I'll wait until the all-in-one pack is released before I buy it". Gamers are getting more savvy to the ways of publishers. I'll tell you something else though, Publishers don't favour single player games for a reason...

Why doesn't Microsoft just buy Gamestop? They can sell their own used games and make a profit this quarter, instead of the $400 million plus loss they just did.

All thats going to happen is that launch sales will be much lower than before and people are going to base their purchases off of word of mouth and review scores from websites like Gamespot and IGN. Rather than initially purchase the game, find out it's not to their liking and then sell it back, people will only buy a game that is a AAA title, which a lot of small scale publishers are not able to create.

Sounds like a good time to switch to another hobby. So Glad I got to enjoy a good 24 years of gaming before all the monopolies took over.

I don't know why I keep reading these articles: I full on don't understand a damn thing about business financials, but it wouldn't surprise me if the publishers have been blowing it all out of proportion.

I also noticed that there hasn't been any mention of the slowly growing trend of microtransactions within games. Games like "Shoot Many Robots", "Crimson Alliance", etc. A viable business model for devs, but freakin annoying for consumers.

Things not taken into consideration:lousy economy= not everyone is flush with expendable income to sink into new title sales

too many lackluster games and game clones out there

platforms causing strife- M$ changing their console UI almost annually, things like Sony's network security blunder- those kind of things can conceivably drive customers away

(feel free to glom onto this list)

@miguelwars13

For the love dude, stop quoting the entire freakin article. Contribute something to the discussion yourself or GTFO.

I agree the games are priced to high at $59.99 as the great bulk of them "Suck". There is also nothing worse than paying "59.99" for a game that is 10-15hrs...I also buy mostly per user reviews and if it doesnt get at least 7.0 I dont buy it "New".

Easy fix: developers sell games directly to customers via digital downloads, and useless bloated corporate publisher dinosaurs like EA and Sony are relegated to the dust bin of history. Developers get more money, customers pay less, and the environment is given a break (no useless plastic and cardboard boxes being shipped around).

gamespot should do a tally on those who would refuse to buy next gen consoles that blocked used games. I'm number one

Well isn't that a shame, the devs are getting pissy.

Guess what Devs, i constantly buy games on steam sells for less than the used game price.You only make a tiny amount off those, you gonna cry now?

Seriously though, just make your games worth buying.I barely buy anything new these days unless it is on steam.At least then i am getting my money's worth.Give me more than 30 hours of gameplay and a well thought out game , then i will care more to buy new full price.

Atm though, very few games earn my respect enough for me to buy full price.

I've said it a thousand times, so I'll say it a thousand and one times. The video game industry is the ONLY industry to cry about losses of sales to a used market. Fact: The video game industry has been thriving since the NES. Fact: the used game market existed before the NES. There will NOT be another video game crash, at least due to used sales. I have no respect for any publisher or developer who blames the used market, and I have no respect for any gamer who sympathizes with them.

The developers and publishers who are rallying up against used games are under the impression that games are a software service and not a property. They may compare it to a service, such as your internet connection. When you stop paying your ISP for internet service, you no longer have that service and cannot sell that service to someone else.

Back when games came on cartridges and discs and couldn't be updated via internet, games were a property that gamer's purchased and kept. Online MMO's are a game plus a service and may be a cause for some of the confusion.

When I buy a game, I don't think of it as a service. It's a toy that I bought and own and should be able to use and discard how I see fit. I have the right to make a backup of the software in case the original gets damaged. I own my games and I don't want that to change. When I start buying digital, I expect there to be some way for me to create a backup (physical or digital) that I can later use or sell.

Case in point => Games are property, not services; except in special cases where the developer/publisher is committed to providing servers for persistent online worlds (read: MMOs). In those cases the games are still property, but the services that the game taps into are not.

I wish all the middle men could be cut out. Let all the Money go to the creators and Not some corporate suit wanting to place a 3rd Gold plated Garage next to his home.