jimmycanuck's forum posts
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Part I - The Financial Aspect
I couldn't imagine owning most of the titles I do if I hadn't bought them used. I'm very surprised by the experiences everyone seems to have with used games. Specifially that everyone seems to feel;
A) there is no significant price difference between new and used games
B) you're never going to get a good price when trading in a game
Obviously just dealing with chain stores like EB will lead to this sort of an experience, but when it comes to used games that's just not the sort of place you go! In my area there are three stores that deal exclusively in used games, movies and music. Each one offers a great selection of titles that would put EB to shame, and the prices would knock your socks off! Let me give a quick example (and please keep in mind, these are Canadian prices). I'll use Tony Hawk's Underground to illustrate my point - it's not a new title, but it's still something that most major stores would stock. A perfect example of a game you might by used, but wouldn't need to.
MSRP - $29.99 (stores like EB would carry it for this up here - that's what all GH/Platinum Hits MSRP for in Canada)
Wal-Mart bargain bin - $18.96
Used (at my favourite shop) - $5.99
Even though it's just one example, it's a pretty accurate snapshot of the used games industry.
As for the concerns regarding getting poor trade in prices, I happen to have the flyer from my favourite shop on my desk, and I'd like to share a little bit of it with you. In this flyer is a really handy breakdown on what your games will be worth in trade. Let me give you the examples at the high and low end of the spectrum;
"If we sell it for: $50, You get $42 in credit or $32 in cash."
"If we sell it for $15, You get $10 in credit or $8 in cash."
Let me put this into perspective for you; Let's say there's a new game that comes out with an MSRP of $60. Within the first week a few trade in's always show up, so after a week you go and buy it for, say, $50 used. If you don't like it, or you beat it, grow tired of it and decide it's not something you'd play again, you can take it back to the store and get $42 in credit. That means it cost you $8 to own a game you didn't like, instead of $60! That's just a little more than the cost of a 3-day new release rental!
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Part II - The Political Aspect
Money aside, there is a great debate that rages on about the morals of purchasing used games. On one side of the fence, you have the very valid arguement that developers/publishers/etc don't see a dime from the sale of used games, and lose money from the sales that could be going to new games, but aren't. That being said, there are a number of very valid reasons for purchasing used games. Let me discuss just one for now; game prices are drastically overinflated.
Back in the days of cartidge based gaming, new games cost around $50 - and with good reason. In addition to development costs, marketing, and liscensing fees, each cartidge cost around $16 to manufacture. CD's on the other hand, cost pennies. This was one of the major factors that motivated the transition from cartridge based gaming to CD based gaming. As the costs dropped for the producers, they should have dropped for the consumers... but they didn't.
If you have any doubt about the accuracy of this arguement - ask yourself one simple question - how many budget titles existed in the days of cartridge gaming? How many Greatest Hits collections? The only reason companies can afford to sell these games for such a reduced price, is because they cost less to make. Now I know that as far as budget titles go there is probably a greatly reduced cost on the development end. After all, how much could it have possibly cost to port Snood to the DS? But at the same tim,e many full price titles clearly benefit from the same small development costs as their budget counterparts.
Just take a moment to look at some of the games on store shelves, and think about the process that was required to bring the title to market. If we consider titles like Resident Evil 4 and God of War as the high watermark in development costs (thereby justifying their price tags) we need to remember that every new Madden costs EA tiddlywinks - it's primarily built off of last year's product. The same goes for every time Capcom ports a Street Fighter title to a new system (I'm looking in your direction Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX) or everytime we see a sequel that feels more like an expansion pack. Just compare Lumines and Ultimate Block Party - they're both brilliant block-based puzzlers for the PSP, and yet, the one released by a major publisher goes for twice as much!
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I'm going to leave it at this for now - I need a breather, and I think I'll wait for some feedback before I allow this rant to continue. ;)
I was posting here back when the union first formed, but shortly thereafter I kind of gave up on the GameSpot community. I've kind of gotten the urge to give this bizarre social experiment another shot, so here goes. ;)
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