The main reason I buy used games is because I don't feel that the retail price is justified with the experience provided by the game.
If a game launches at $60 and I'm not into it enough to pay the much. I'll buy it used. I would buy it new at a lower price point, but games take 1-2 years to reach the $30 mark. At this point I have more games on my backlog as well as new games coming that I want to play. My dollars have to be budgeted to the games I am most excited to play. So those games that I would buy at a lower point get added to the backlog and I only buy them when I find them for a good used price.
There are several ways that publishers/developers can combat this and the simplest is to lower prices at a faster rate. A lot of people won't buy your game at a $60 launch price. but they may buy it 4-6 months later at $40. And those that don't will likely buy it for $30 another 6 months down the road. After a year or two on the market the game should retail for $20 or less.
This isn't the bible for game pricing. It's a suggestion that might lead to something that actually works for everybody. Attacking used games by trying to lock them out and make it impossible (or very difficult) to sell or trade is only going to encourage piracy.
Excuse me, but can we get an answer to the actual question?
"A number of users have been upset with the redesigned dashboard, the presence of ads, and finding navigation to be harder, have you heard those concerns, and if so how are you addressing them?"
Mr Spencer completely dodged the question. There are 2 reasons I can think of for this, but it'd be nice to hear the truth and not have the question ignored.
Reason 1: Microsoft likes money and the ads give them lots of money. MS doesn't want to have to tell people how much they get off of these ads or make excuses for why paid subscribers see just as many as free subscribers. They dodge the question to make people wonder if they really have something coming that will make their browsing better on the Xbox. Problem is that Microsoft has built a track-record of making the experience worse.
Reason 2: Microsoft actually has plans for changes to the dashboard, but they can't reveal them at this time. Either because they make the ad experience worse for gamers or because they haven't finalized their plans.
Either way; I think gamers lose out. They have a functional box with tons of great content and services. But they also have to go through a lot of BS to get to those games and use those services.
@PumpkinBoogie I understand your point. But I think it's important to look at it from the point of view of someone who doesn't own either. However, your point is valid as there are millions of potential Wii U owners (they are going after CORE gamers anyway, right?) that already own a PS3 and their choice would be either to buy a Wii U or buy a PS Vita and use it in conjunction with their existing console. In that respect, the cost could be cheaper for the PS3+Vita option.
Either way, Sony should be throwing money at developers to create Vita+PS3 experiences that mimic what the Wii U is trying to do and get these experiences out starting early 2013 to compete with Wii U. Even if it's not a direct competition, it's not a bad idea to milk Nintendo's idea and then (like they did with Move) do it better.
@hitman047m4 The main problem, as pointed out in the article, is the cost of the PS Vita is close to what the Wii U is expected to launch for. This combined with a PS3 purchase means it's significantly more expensive to do the Vita+PS3 combo compared to simply buying a Wii U.
The benefit of this is that the Vita can provide a much better experience than the Wii U controller. I've always wanted more out of the Remote Play feature between my PSP and PS3. The Vita could take that concept further and mimic what the Wii U controller is going to do plus some.
@joujou264 The GameCube, PS2, and original Xbox were all on the same level in terms of graphics and features.
The Wii was a half-step forward with a little innovation thrown in, while the PS3 and Xbox360 were full-blown steps forwards with the innovations coming in terms of networking capabilities and services.
The Wii U is bringing Nintendo closer to what Microsoft and Sony did with the PS3 and Xbox360, but as soon as the successors to those come out, the Wii U will be another half-step back from them in terms of technology.
Nintendo has created a niche market that made casual gaming a big deal for home consoles and you non-typical gamer's (soccer moms playing games?). The Wii U is going to keep that niche going while attempting to draw in some of the more hardcore gamer's that it missed out on with the Wii. It's this heavy focus on innovative controls and unique casual experiences combined with the behind-the-times technologies that make the Wii U in a generation of it's own.
@joujou264 Doesn't sound like "potshots" to me. It sounds like they are simply pointing out that Nintendo is taking a completely different strategy with their consoles. And the only reasons to point this out is because people are asking Sony if they feel rushed to get out the PS4 because of the Wii U. To which they would respond that they don't because "...it's in it's own generation." I agree with them.
The Internet structure in America has a lot of growing up to do. Otherwise OnLive would have already taken over and Jaffe's dream would have already come true.
The Wii U is almost certain to have a successor. It's still up in the air about how Microsoft and Sony will approach hardware past the next Xbox and Playstation consoles.
Microsoft already has a widely adaptable and familiar gaming system in Windows. It's fairly safe to say that Microsoft will be wanting to align Windows and Xbox and streamline them into a single device within the next 10 years.
Sony is more likely to go the TV route. However, I believe that there would be adapters that plug in via HDMI or similar so that non-Sony sets could take advantage of their services.
It's still up in the air and there is still a 50/50 change for there to be more generations of consoles after the next.
Nintendo spoke about a game that was possibly used for E3 2011 to demo the possibilities with the new controller. They brought this game up again at E3 2012 and mentioned it could become a full product.
I think this could be the Wii Sports that sells the system. They just need a bunch of decent demos all in a single game that is bundled with the system. The games need to be clever enough to demonstrate why the new controller is fun and worth the cost of the new console (compared to just getting a Wii).
The "games" in Wii Sports did a great job of giving people a fun experience that defined what motion gaming could do this generation. This new bundled game only needs to generate that feeling towards the new controller.
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