Developers fight against the used game market.

I just read this articleon Yahoo. I don't have a problem with developers inserting dlc codes to entice people to buy their games new. I don't however agree with having to pay fees in addition to the purchase price of a used game to unlock the full functionality of the game. The $15 to unlock the Cerberus Network in Mass Effect 2 is high, but the Cerberus Network- usedfor dlc-is not necessary to complete the game. I think the restrictions of the PSP Socom game and Spore are a little over the top. In Fireteam Bravo 3 you have to use a one time code to play online. Why is a one time use code being used for a game mode? That's horrible and is a lot worse than any issue I've seen from DRM.

Spore is even worse. The game is locked to the username and password from the original owner. So if I buy a used copy, I need the person's username and password to even install it. I don't know aboutyou, but most of my profiles and logins are standardize across platforms, games, etc. I definitely would not want to give a username and password up from a game.These are some nasty situations, and I can only see it getting worse. I understand the developers dilemma and the revenue they're trying to recoup, I just believe their tactics will do a lot more damage than good.

I think it is more to do with greed than anything else, the cd market hasn't been killed off by used cd's being sold even though piracy is even worse than it is with gaming. If people want to sell something they are done with I don't think anybody should be trying to stop them from doing so, if the game developers are not making a profit they should look into a new business model not persecute their paying customers. Nintendo have taken their new direction for this very reason, to cut development cost and open up new potential customers yet hardly any 3rd party developers have truly got onboard with the concept.

Get a wider audience and stop bleeding the one you have dry I think is my point.

places like gamestop should sell used games really cheap (like 5-10 dollars cheap) then you should play another 5-10 dollars to activate the game. that way, all used games are within 20 dollars (newer games = 20 bucks, nobody can complain....i think) This would only really work if developers had a deal with places that are known to sell used games. If I sold you a game, I couldnt imagine a way for them to make a profit out of it. But if you took gamestop out of the equation, you're taking a big chunk out of the market.Atheists_Pwn

Gamestop is a profit driven corporation just like the developers. I don't see them cutting their profits to appease the developers. They are just as reticent as the develpers to lower prices.

I am all for it. I buy all my games new but make sure to do my research beforehand. I also utilise price comparison websites which aid me greatly.

I don't really see a problem with the used game market. If it helps stores like Gamestop, etc. then more power to them. I don't like when people say that developers don't get a cut off of used game sales, I mean someone bought it new in the first place then sold it to Gamestop.

I like what ME2 did with the Cerberus code though, if you got it new it was free if not you had to pay for it. That's all well and good as long as the used copy was less that $15 dollars off to begin with.

I am afraid though that more and more developers are going to start cutting features out of the games launch, only to introduce them as DLC later on that we have to pay for.

[QUOTE="Atheists_Pwn"]places like gamestop should sell used games really cheap (like 5-10 dollars cheap) then you should play another 5-10 dollars to activate the game. that way, all used games are within 20 dollars (newer games = 20 bucks, nobody can complain....i think) This would only really work if developers had a deal with places that are known to sell used games. If I sold you a game, I couldnt imagine a way for them to make a profit out of it. But if you took gamestop out of the equation, you're taking a big chunk out of the market.Ghost_Face

Gamestop is a profit driven corporation just like the developers. I don't see them cutting their profits to appease the developers. They are just as reticent as the develpers to lower prices.

[QUOTE="Ghost_Face"]

[QUOTE="Atheists_Pwn"]places like gamestop should sell used games really cheap (like 5-10 dollars cheap) then you should play another 5-10 dollars to activate the game. that way, all used games are within 20 dollars (newer games = 20 bucks, nobody can complain....i think) This would only really work if developers had a deal with places that are known to sell used games. If I sold you a game, I couldnt imagine a way for them to make a profit out of it. But if you took gamestop out of the equation, you're taking a big chunk out of the market.Atheists_Pwn

Gamestop is a profit driven corporation just like the developers. I don't see them cutting their profits to appease the developers. They are just as reticent as the develpers to lower prices.

Actually, selling points makes sense to me. If you use a credit card on your 360, that card cannot be removed. So, if you have kids that also play on the same Live account or if you run a gaming center with house accounts, anyone can access and charge on that card. Even buying downloadable games doesn't bother me, since you can just pay the amount for the game and not have to worry about left over points on your account.

Used game = no money going to Devs.

Devs work their asses off for years, then if a game is sold used they get no money at all from it.

$50 isn't that much, and complaining about having to buy a new game compared to a used one from gamestop that is $5 cheaper is REALLY STUPID.

I think gamers have the right to do whatever the hell they want with their game when they bought it new. They can keep it, give it out as a gift, sell it, trade it in, use a freezbe, etc... Some of the really hardcore gamers who buy more than 20+games a year at full price sometimes need to trade in some games in order to afford the new game instead of waiting for a priced drop or getting ripped of at Gamestop. I think developers are fighting with GS in the used game market, I mean you can find games on Ebay for much cheaper than GS, also you get much, much morefor your game than you'll ever be at GS.

Sure I like EA's method with BC2 and ME2, but Spore and Socom on the other hand :roll: the publishers is shooting themselves on the foot on that one. Gamers will either boycott the game, wait for price drops or never buy the game at all. I know I would do that, I mean we're flooded with quality games this generation and putting up with some of this crap has its limits.

I think it is more to do with greed than anything else, the cd market hasn't been killed off by used cd's being sold even though piracy is even worse than it is with gaming. If people want to sell something they are done with I don't think anybody should be trying to stop them from doing so, if the game developers are not making a profit they should look into a new business model not persecute their paying customers. Nintendo have taken their new direction for this very reason, to cut development cost and open up new potential customers yet hardly any 3rd party developers have truly got onboard with the concept.

Get a wider audience and stop bleeding the one you have dry I think is my point.

SapSacPrime

The problem with the gaming industry is most games stop being published after a certain amount of time, usually when retail outlets are not making money off of them & need to clear space for new releaes.Cds usually don't do that unless the band is no longer present & the record company isn't getting anything out of it anymore. And not to mention Sony's lack of ability to enable Ps2 backwards compatibility probablly made things worse. The only way you can playa PS1 game that is not being sold on the market is to go on the PSN network & download the game, even so there isn't alot of games to choose from. It's not expensive to produce current games like cartridges used to be, really they should use it to thier advantage & milkthe older games, especially for those people who can't afford to pay $59 for new games. Releasing games on multiple systems usually help too.

Used game = no money going to Devs.

Devs work their asses off for years, then if a game is sold used they get no money at all from it.

$50 isn't that much, and complaining about having to buy a new game compared to a used one from gamestop that is $5 cheaper is REALLY STUPID.

morrowindnic

Personally i prefer buying new games.. no scratches, the box is new & you won't be missing the instruction booklet. If i can't find it new then ill get it used.

Used game = no money going to Devs.

Devs work their asses off for years, then if a game is sold used they get no money at all from it.

$50 isn't that much, and complaining about having to buy a new game compared to a used one from gamestop that is $5 cheaper is REALLY STUPID.

morrowindnic

I agree with you that devs work their tails off on these games, but I don't think the devs should be pulling the practices listed in the article to drive people away from the used market. Locking down an entire game from installing without the username and password seems a little extreme. This is less about purchasing the game used for a cheaper price and more about the practices developers have taken and the escalation of those practices.

Why shouldn't there be a used game market? There's a market for used cars, houses, appliances, clothing, etc. The worth of $50 is relative, and what may seem insignificant to you may seem like too much to someone else.

[QUOTE="morrowindnic"]

Used game = no money going to Devs.

Devs work their asses off for years, then if a game is sold used they get no money at all from it.

$50 isn't that much, and complaining about having to buy a new game compared to a used one from gamestop that is $5 cheaper is REALLY STUPID.

Ghost_Face

I agree with you that devs work their tails off on these games, but I don't think the devs should be pulling the practices listed in the article to drive people away from the used market. Locking down an entire game from installing without the username and password seems a little extreme. This is less about purchasing the game used for a cheaper price and more about the practices developers have taken and the escalation of those practices.

Why shouldn't there be a used game market? There's a market for used cars, houses, appliances, clothing, etc. The worth of $50 is relative, and what may seem insignificant to you may seem like too much to someone else.

For smaller ticket items, games that sell products new and used are distinct entities. The leading book, movie, clothing and music stores don't try to undercut the sale of new products (Do you really want this new? I happen to have a used product right here that's in pretty good condition and costs only a few bucks less...).

I disagree with most of the measures taken, but I can see why game makers are unhappy.

Right now retail rules the console roost, but that will change over time (consumers are used to buying pretty much everything over the internet). The retail margin and cost of goods are 33% of the price of a game. Kind of like how Sony reduced the price of CD games to turn cart based games into the equivalent of horses in the age of automobiles, game makers could chop the price of new downloadable games (it won't this gen for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact most gamers don't have hard drives big enough).

If the stars (hard drive size, consumer attitude, download speed and DRM) come into alignment in future generations, game retailers might at some point find that they have killed the goose that laid the golden egg (we were making lots of money selling new games, but we couldn't leave it at that!) .

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/02/anatomy-of-a-60-dollar-video-game.html

Stores selling used games are a bigger problem than piracy. Why is that? Well one reason pirates do not make money off of the stuff they put on the internet whereas stores make a profit of other peoples work withoutht giving anything back to the developer.

You'd think the Uused Games market would be about the same as the New Release Market. I mean, I'm about to by Assassin's Creed II Used, i wouldn't dream of buying it new.

I do not think game developers have rights to profit from the sale of used games. They want to "double dip". Too bad.

Used games make no harm to the industry. People sell so that they can buy more games. USed game market removes tbhe risk of buying a game. if you don't like it you can sell it. If developers don't want their game to be re-sold they can make constumers want to keep them.