@VolcanoMan001 Actually, there is a really easy answer for it: Publishers can stop selling crappy games that are ridiculously over hyped and over priced. The video game industry makes multi-billions of dollars in profits each year, if used game were really that harmful, that wouldn't be happening. And no, developers do not get screwed by the used game market. Developers are paid before a game even makes it to market. The only thing they could potentially lose out on is an additional sales bonus and no dev has ever lost out on one of those because of used games, only because they made a crappy game
@SSL_Syn How do you figure? The power to run a game is actually not all that much when you consider that the majority of the hardware requirements for PC games are so high, simply because the game is running on top of an entire operating system and all the extra crap and services we install in them as well. Once the majority of the overhead from the operating system and such is gone, the requirements come way down. This is why modern consoles have been able to get away with much lower hardware specs than PCs, yet are still able to produce HD graphics and rich sound. The Steam Box will be very similar in this regard, since it will be running Steam and nothing else on top of a limited OS that just does what Steam and the games need it to do (most likely some variation of Linux). A machine with current generation, upper/mid-range PC hardware is more than enough to play everything already out on Steam and is future proof for at least 3-5 years. At that point, Valve has to have convinced developers and publishers that making their games scalable to both the old hardware and newer hardware is a good thing, otherwise, the Steam Box has to be upgradable (which most average consumers won't even want to do) or it becomes disposable. There is absolutely no technological reason this isn't possible, it's just a matter of effort.
@Whitescarver I agree on the Ouya, but I'm not so sure your assessment of the Steam Box is accurate. From what I have read, Valve is essentially trying to do with the PC game market what Phillips tried (and failed) to do for the console market years ago with the CD-i: create a minimum base standard for hardware that any and all manufacturers can start from that turns the gaming PC into a living room appliance, just like DVD/BluRay players today. The Steam Box will have cheaper low-end models from some manufacturers and expensive higher end models from others and the only real difference to the consumer will be the picture and sound quality will vary based on price. All the games will run on any of them, just like all your DVDs will play on any DVD player today. There is no need to upgrade it like a PC (though the Piston, the first Steam Box anyone has seen, does allow for that), but if you do want a better experience, you can simply invest in a better machine. Of course, this is only going to work if game developers get on board and start making games that are far more scalable to the hardware than they are today.
@youngzen69 Setting aside GameStop's unethical used game practices (which I think everybody agrees are horrible), they are not the only player in the used market. There are plenty of other far more honest retailers as well as individuals that this would hurt way more than used games have ever hurt devs. In fact, the argument that used games hurt the devs at all is a complete fallacy anyway. They were already paid for their work by the time the game is released. The most they might lose is an additional sales bonus, but there has never been a single case of that happening that anyone can conclusively say is the fault of used games sales and not something more likely, like the game they made just plain sucked.
@BuldozerX Except both Sony and MS have actually patented technology that would specifically block used games on their respective consoles. That's not rumor, it's fact, so this is obviously something they are both considering. The only thing that is rumor is whether or not that technology is going to be included in this upcoming generation of consoles or any future console.
@statrax While he may be overestimating the number a bit (he did say "I THINK it's 60%), it is based on an actual customer survey that GameStop conducted but have not yet publicly released. Not really sure how representative GameStop customers are of the gaming community as a whole or what kind of sample size they actually got, but it seems to me that a store with thousands of locations worldwide that exclusively sells gaming products is pretty likely to get a fairly accurate representation of what the gaming community really thinks/feels.
Why is this even being considered? The used game market has existed since the dawn of consoles, yet the video game industry has continued to grow exponentially along side it, to the point that it now makes multi-billions of dollars a year in straight profits (not sales, profits, as in cash in pocket). Used games are obviously not hurting the growth of the new game market in the slightest and never actually have in the past. If any argument can be made for used games cutting into new game sales, it's only because new games are too damn expensive. Who really wants to spend $60+ on a game that is probably not going to be worth that investment? The market is absolutely flooded with new games every year and only a handful of them are actually good enough to warrant investing that kind of money in this economy. The rest, if they are worth getting at all, are only worth getting at used game prices. Besides, what is so special about video games that makes them exempt from the same rules that apply to any other product that can be re-sold as used? It's not like Ford gets a piece of the used car market or Harper Collins gets a piece of the second hand book market, so why should video game publishers or devs get anything out of the used video game market?
@gohangeorge @RustedTruck650 Setting aside GameStop's unethical business practices (which I totally agree with you on), your assessment of the used market is way off. First of all, devs and publishers shouldn't see a dime of the used market. Does Ford get any compensation when you sell your used car? New games don't sell well because of it? If that logic were true, libraries should have put the book industry out of business centuries ago. Devs get laid off because of it? No, devs get laid off when their games don't sell as well as projected and that can happen for any number of reasons, the most common of which is the game simply sucked. Gaming profits have steadily grown over the last decade to the point that it is now making multi-billions of dollars in straight profits (not sales, profits in their pocket). The game industry now exceeds Hollywood and the music industry in annual profits and has for the last few years. The used game market has existed side-by-side with that growth and those profits and hasn't hurt them in the slightest.
The fact is, the used video game market only flourishes because video games have become way too expensive and more often than not, they are not worth that expense. Paying $60 (or more with DLC and "online passes") for something that might turn out to be a piece of crap is too risky in today's economy. Better to wait until the reviews are in and look for a cheaper used copy that is actually worth your investment. GameStop realized this long ago and takes full advantage of it. We might not like their methods, but no one said you have to sell to or buy from them, there are plenty of other people and businesses in the used market (Best Buy, Amazon, EBay, flea markets, local yard sales, etc.). If any console manufacturer takes the steps to block the used market, they had better also take the step of lowering their prices to a reasonable level, otherwise they are going to be in for some serious consumer backlash. That will be what ruins the gaming industry, much faster and more effectively than used games sales ever could.
Basic human rights are always real issues. In this case, it also happens to coincide with business issues directly tied to the problems with the economy, which should make it "real" even to you.
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