Bargains Are for Cheaters
Buying used games isn't "cheating," but what are the alternatives?
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Buying used games isn't "cheating," but what are the alternatives?
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Bargains Are for Cheaters
- Thread starter Shamus Young
- Start date
You know the real cheaters? Those damn gamers who borrow stuff from the library! Both developers and Gamestop don't get a dime from them. Play all you like for free? Libraries are a threat to game developers, book sellers, the movie industry, and record labels! Burn 'em down!
Sorry for the hyperbole, but really. Why do you think no one raises a stink about free media from libraries?
Sorry for the hyperbole, but really. Why do you think no one raises a stink about free media from libraries?
I've raged about game prices too, Why can I still find Halo 3 for 50 bucks? The game is 3 years old. I'll repeat this for emphasis THREE years old.
You make a good point, old games should be cheaper. I'd definitely have a larger library and try at games I'd passed over when they were first released.
I do a lot of research before I drop 60 on a game. I just don't have the income and so I buy less, but if say a 3 old game is suddenly 10-15 bucks I'd definitely pick it up.
You make a good point, old games should be cheaper. I'd definitely have a larger library and try at games I'd passed over when they were first released.
I do a lot of research before I drop 60 on a game. I just don't have the income and so I buy less, but if say a 3 old game is suddenly 10-15 bucks I'd definitely pick it up.
The point is that with used games, via one purchase over the life of that particular disc via used game sales, it could have 2-5 owners. So while there are 2-5 people who'd like to play the game, only one copy is ever actually sold by the store/publisher. Publishers want to make it so each of those 2-5 people each buy a copy of the game.Krakyn said:
Also, as for the argument that gamestop bought the game from the publisher already. If gamestop sells all the new copies it has, it will order more, bringing even more money to the publisher.
- Apr 1, 2009
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- Whatever, just wash your hands.
its somewhat ironic that thq is whining about this when they have some of the most agressive pricing Ive seen, meaning they seem more then willing to cut down the price of a new game or to put stuff up on steam sale or give consumers more shit for free then really almost anyone else
This is one of the best article I have yet read on the used games debacle. I like your idea to gradually decrease the price of the game over time (more than they are decreasing now anyway). That could actually work out well for everybody. Let us just hope that publishers will listen (though I doubt it).
There have been a hell of a lot of used game arguments for quite a few days now...
Instead of going and finding one of my super long posts I'm going to be lazy and address one argument.
People saying that a used game has already been payed for.
You know what damn straight it has.
But lets count it shall we? That's the developer payed once. 1:1
Then it gets sold on... the developer now has half the money they would have. 1/2
... And again... that's now 1/3
Oh they got bored of it... sold it on... 1/4
So on so forth.
I once had someone say 'You are too optimistic in you're amount of used game sales'.
Well I wish to direct you here... well over here -> http://www.cex.co.uk
This is a shop that sells entirely second hand.
Now I don't use it as much as I used to for games as mainly I want new releases.
But I worked there for 2 weeks for work experience and when I used to go in every other day I could see how much stuff was passed on.
One copy of one game can go through 20 hands (1/20).
I'm not saying that used game sales are the worst thing in the world for game devs.
But seriously don't go on a rant when developers and publishers try and claw some of their money back from pre-owned losses...
Instead of going and finding one of my super long posts I'm going to be lazy and address one argument.
People saying that a used game has already been payed for.
You know what damn straight it has.
But lets count it shall we? That's the developer payed once. 1:1
Then it gets sold on... the developer now has half the money they would have. 1/2
... And again... that's now 1/3
Oh they got bored of it... sold it on... 1/4
So on so forth.
I once had someone say 'You are too optimistic in you're amount of used game sales'.
Well I wish to direct you here... well over here -> http://www.cex.co.uk
This is a shop that sells entirely second hand.
Now I don't use it as much as I used to for games as mainly I want new releases.
But I worked there for 2 weeks for work experience and when I used to go in every other day I could see how much stuff was passed on.
One copy of one game can go through 20 hands (1/20).
I'm not saying that used game sales are the worst thing in the world for game devs.
But seriously don't go on a rant when developers and publishers try and claw some of their money back from pre-owned losses...
In Boston, absolutely. At the moment, I've got Split/Second for the 360 (very fun, BTW). Log in to your library account, place a request for a specific game, and be prepared to wait. Sometimes for a long time.Danzaivar said:
Or just check out the gaming section and grab what they have.
Uh-oh, I may have opened the floodgates.
Shamus, you win. So much. I would hug you if you were here. You totally hit the nail on the head with this one. I should also point out that if you want to discourage used games, you better have a damn good recycling program. What am I supposed to do with that disc when I'm done with it? Throw it in a landfill?
Once again, thank you so very much for writing what I've been feeling, but unable to articulate on my own. Yes the developers are hurt, but you really can't blame the consumer, or gamestop even, for taking advantage of a yawning chasm in the video game market; namely that of lower priced, older games. Sure, once a game gets so old it's collectable and hard to find, I can understand the price going back up to near (or even above, in rare cases) the original price. But after it's been out for, even let's say 6 months, the game should be more affordable. I know that's 3/4 of the reason I haven't bought a "new" game since Christmas-time, and instead broke out an old copy of Baldur's Gate instead. If I could walk into a game store and see some older games for even 10% off their original price new, I'd be more inclined to take a chance on something that wasn't one of my "I have to have it now" titles.Shamus Young said:
while this is awesome and i can completely agree,Shamus Young said:
we've got to remember the target audience...gamers.
i swear we are the cheapest people on the planet, most gamers would wait 6 months to get a game for 30-40 bucks than pay 50-60 for it at the start. So im just curious as to how this would affect how games are sold off release, because im sure the developers really depend on that first month of selling to really get a wage out of the game they just created.
but i would rather see this than give gamestop money, i am guilty of selling/buying used games (to my local store though, forget gamestop, they can watch me rub my nutsack on their logo and thats the most they will get out of me)
this is a good well written article on how i feel for the most part, developers and customers need to stop punishing each other and need to find a way to get the real culprit, gamestop.
This comes closest to my solution for doing things, which basically runs on the question "Why do you have to buy new games straight away?". Seriously, I'm asking y'all Why? Is it so you can jump online or talk to your friends and brag about the fact you've beaten it before them? Because unless you're the sort of dick who gives all the spoileres away, you really have nothing to say except "It's awesomely awesome and you should buy it and play it". Or perhaps you're afraid of being the only one who hasn't played it, in which case you've got some other serious problems going on there.Danzaivar said:
The main crux of the matter here seems to come down to gamers saying $60 (or ~£40 for my people) is too much for a game. Damn fucking right it is, but no one is making you pay this money. Wait a few months (sometimes less if the game flops) and you can pick it up for 1/2 this. Cases in point: Alpha Protocol is around £15 on Amazon, Alan Wake is <£20, and Bioshock 2 is currently £9.99. (games chosen due to recent 2010 release and as they were fairly big releases)
I can't remember the last time I bought a game on release, instead I go through the Steam sales (mostly a pc gamer), or buy on Amazon/Play when stuff gets below £10 (only if it's things I really want). It's not that I don't have the cash to buy games, I just realise the impracticality of paying for games at a currently overinflated price. I should also mention I never pirate games unless I owned them once and either lost them or they stopped working.
The only issue is that some games never seem to come down in price, the examples which spring to mind here are the newest CoD games. Calling RDR may be a bit premature seeing as it's barely been out. But I think that if everyone did start refusing to pay release day prices and wait until it's cheaper, then they may get the message and lower the price altogether.
TL-DR version: You don't need to get the game on day 1 when it costs an arm & a leg.
Sorry if anyone feels insulted by anything in there, it's just a question baffled me for a while.
I imagine you don't understand what it's like to not have much of a budget. If there's no used game market, those people who bought the game used likely can't afford the game new, so it goes from Gamestop making money and the company losing none, to Gamestop not making money and the company losing none. The developer/publisher can't make hypothetical profits. If you take money from a publisher or they have to do a mass recall or something, sure, they lost money. But if their product just doesn't sell new copies, that's not a loss, that's a neutrality.Hicerion said:
Like I said in the last paragraph, there is a ceiling on opportunity costs for most people. It's not that they'll suddenly buy the used game, they'll just not buy it. Or they'll borrow it from a friend, or get it on ebay, or craigslist, or get a couple of friends and go in on one copy that they can split. Or they'll just wait for the price to go down over time. Or they'll pirate it. There are plenty of ways that simply getting rid of Gamestop's used games market WON'T work, but everybody seems to pin them as the blight of developers.