56% of American Gamers Don't Buy Games

[Sud0_x]

Omissions in the article are bad enough but we all know who commissions these research groups, right? Well, we should all know by now. It's not a secret, it's right there on the fucking page.
http://www.newzoo.com/ENG/1522-Clients.html
If you're lazy or scared of links (Hey, I understand, it's the internet and we've all been scarred)
Here are some of the noteworthy ones:

BLIZZARD
EA
MICROSOFT
CODEMASTERS
POPCAP
GAMESTOP
WARNER BROS

The people who commission and pay the guys who produce these statistics (which are based on cherry-picked data and theoretical number crunching) are the same ones trying to push certain agendas.






The notions put forth here are ludicrous, these numbers are not a poor reflection on us "cheapskate, freeloading, lying, stealing gamers" and nobody's saying "If you have a family of four you had best buy four copies of that game you want otherwise you shall be lawyered right after we come over and shoot your dog".

The Escapist should get its own air time on fox news.

To add my 2p to what's going on in this thread...
Used games are no different to used furniture,cars, books etc etc
It shouldn't be legal to cut content for used game buyers
Did everyone forget about the 200%(+) markups on games by region?
What about the price on privacy? What about DRM? Dodgy EULAs? The whole licensing thing in general?

Call me when these guys want to play fair.

What makes video games, of all things, so different to everything else? And in the name of what? Bigger piles of cash.
I'm sorry, I just can't get behind that. The scary thing is; this industry may change how everything else in our lives works. The abolition of consumer rights is not any kind of way forward.

Hell, maybe those silly anti piracy videos were right, maybe we will all turn to stealing cars... but they have to understand that it'd be THEM who's putting us there.



[Edited for language and grammar]

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I don't feel any guilt for borrowing games(mind you, I borrow from a friend for PS2 and Game Cube) but honestly.

60$ for PS3

40$ for 3DS

Come on, there's no way I'm gonna spend that much on those. I don't have 60$ to constantly throw away on a video game that probably won't last me a week. Nothing like throwing away 60$

Then there's 3DS games. 40$ for remakes and ports and the umpteenth Mario games. Hell no. The 3DS is a portable GameCube with ass 3D. I've only gotten Zelda OoT and Street Fighter 4. I have no intention of paying 40$ for games that either look unappealing or sale for 10$ on eBay on older consoles. Even if you added some graphical improvements and 3D~

Damn, Nintendo. Freakin' lower the price of your games. 20$ would be perfect. I could spend 40$ much easier if I was getting two games. 40$ is just rediculous.

 

[Strazdas]

There are two solutions:
1. make games that dont suck (so the original owner will not sell it)
2. make games price reasonable (paying 200$ for a title is really idiotic, and if so little people do it, i sitll have faith in humanity after all).
3. Make DLC free. that will make sure the original owner stays with the game longer. the whole DLC for moeny concept is wrong. i already bought the game DLC should come on its own.

 

[Magicman10893]

Based on the replies to this thread I think a lot of people are mistaking the "85% regularly purchase used games" statistic as meaning that they ONLY buy used. I would say I buy used regularly, especially when Gamestop has a "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" sale or bring out the "$20 or less" bin. That doesn't mean I don't buy new. I have Saints Row 3 and Mass Effect 3 pre-ordered and I plan on buying at least 3 new games Sunday K-Mart is offering a huge set of deals. If they would have calculated the percentage of gamers that only buy used games I guarantee it will be much lower than "85%"

Again, used game sales don't harm publishers in the same way as they make it seem. This isn't piracy for God's sake. They made their money when the first person bought the game. They make their money on shitty DLC. They make their money on online passes (sort of?).

If they are so concerned about the "evil" used game market then they should lower the price of their games. Maybe then people would be able to afford more new games. Maybe then people would be more inclined to pay for a 4 to 6 hour game. Maybe then new IPs would be able to get a foot hold. Maybe then singleplayer games wouldn't get stuffed with unnecessary multiplayer components to pad out the game.

 

[Garethp]

In Australia, a new game in-store is $100 for console, $90 for PC. I generally buy off steam or pre-owned. There are a few games I buy new (Fable Series games, Diablo 3, Assassins Creed games, Total War games, Skyrim), but apart from that, they're either 2-3 years old or pre-owned, or off steam. How can publishers ask me to buy a new, recent release at $90 - $100, and that's not even special editions, and then get pissed when I don't? Hell, a 2-3 year old game new is still $50-$60. There are very few games I can justify paying more than that for. FFS, if they want me to buy new as it's released, start charging decent prices

 

[Garethp]

There are two solutions:
1. make games that dont suck (so the original owner will not sell it)
2. make games price reasonable (paying 200$ for a title is really idiotic, and if so little people do it, i sitll have faith in humanity after all).
3. Make DLC free. that will make sure the original owner stays with the game longer. the whole DLC for moeny concept is wrong. i already bought the game DLC should come on its own.

The problem with your third point (and the reason I like DLC as a form of income), is it costs the developers time and money to make those DLC. The price of the original game covers the money it costs developers to make the original game, so it's only fair they charge extra for extra work

 

[Garethp]

I don't feel any guilt for borrowing games(mind you, I borrow from a friend for PS2 and Game Cube) but honestly.

60$ for PS3

40$ for 3DS

Come on, there's no way I'm gonna spend that much on those. I don't have 60$ to constantly throw away on a video game that probably won't last me a week. Nothing like throwing away 60$

Then there's 3DS games. 40$ for remakes and ports and the umpteenth Mario games. Hell no. The 3DS is a portable GameCube with ass 3D. I've only gotten Zelda OoT and Street Fighter 4. I have no intention of paying 40$ for games that either look unappealing or sale for 10$ on eBay on older consoles. Even if you added some graphical improvements and 3D~

Damn, Nintendo. Freakin' lower the price of your games. 20$ would be perfect. I could spend 40$ much easier if I was getting two games. 40$ is just rediculous.

Read my post two down from yours. Paying that little for games is a goddamn good price in Australia

 

[Garethp]

Sounds about right. 75% of the games I played in 2011 were done with the same 55 dollar credit at GameStop, with their retarded 7-day no questions asked return policy. Saves me money, and then I don't end up owning shitty games. And before I get yelled at for not supporting the developers and blah blah blah - I don't care.

You shouldn't have to. You are a consumer, what the producer wants is irrelevant. A consumer should look out for themselves, not the people they are buying from.

Not really the response I was expecting, but it is certainly better. I don't really understand why people wouldn't mess around with a 7-day no questions asked return policy.

I don't know... oh, maybe because you are a decent human being and actually are into gaming and want to support certain developers so they can continue to make the games you like?
Like say... take for example the Humble Indie Bundle: http://www.humblebundle.com/ or similar game deals, where it's basically "Pay what you want" or even some developers living off of donations, there are still people there spending upwards of 100$ and the average buy price is somewhere around 5$ per bundle.

No matter if you want to understand it or not, but buying used has the exact same consequence piracy does, not even that but it is worse as they are actually losing real money, not imaginary...
If enough people do it and certain games don't break even the development studios have to close and you won't get any more games out of them, it wouldn't be the first time that happened either... Even if they don't immediately have to close because a game did "alright", there's usually layoffs and certain "risky" game ideas/ventures... say Mirror's Edge 2, something similar to Psychonauts or even finally greenlighting another Beyond Good & Evil game proves rather difficult when the expected profit doesn't seem worth the risk, so they will be put to work on the new big MMO, FIFA or Modern Warfare instead of being creative...

I love how a lot of people constantly complain about the "modern online shooters" or "sports" franchises being so prevalent and wanting to have/enjoy new original ideas, but when it comes down to it and "new modern online shooter 15" or "sports mix 95" releases, their fans actually put down the money for it, while all the "fans" of good SinglePlayer experiences and new ideas can't be arsed to do the same...

Honestly, I understand that, hell, I even sympathize with developers for it. And if new games that had just come out were reasonably prices where I am (Australia, where they ask for $100 for game that's not even special edition), then I would certainly buy them brand new as they came out

 

[Iron Lightning]

Argh, all I hear about anymore is the financial problems of the industry. Is the only point of video games making money? Are video game not art? Is the only point of video games making huge profits? Is that why we call it "the industry"?

 

[Reaper195]

People just figured that out? People have been doing it for decades. Hell, I remember swapping SNES games with my school mates.

 

[veloper]

Argh, all I hear about anymore is the financial problems of the industry. Is the only point of video games making money? Are video game not art? Is the only point of video games making huge profits? Is that why we call it "the industry"?

Yes, yes, yes and yes.
Still gamers can influence what makes that money, good games or bad games, so vote with your wallet.

Still this article sounds positive to me. Borrowing from friends is much smarter than using a middleman like Gamestop.

 

[Asuka Soryu]

I don't feel any guilt for borrowing games(mind you, I borrow from a friend for PS2 and Game Cube) but honestly.

60$ for PS3

40$ for 3DS

Come on, there's no way I'm gonna spend that much on those. I don't have 60$ to constantly throw away on a video game that probably won't last me a week. Nothing like throwing away 60$

Then there's 3DS games. 40$ for remakes and ports and the umpteenth Mario games. Hell no. The 3DS is a portable GameCube with ass 3D. I've only gotten Zelda OoT and Street Fighter 4. I have no intention of paying 40$ for games that either look unappealing or sale for 10$ on eBay on older consoles. Even if you added some graphical improvements and 3D~

Damn, Nintendo. Freakin' lower the price of your games. 20$ would be perfect. I could spend 40$ much easier if I was getting two games. 40$ is just rediculous.

Read my post two down from yours. Paying that little for games is a goddamn good price in Australia

What's your point? In a warzone, I'm pretty sure you'd rather have one leg blown off then the other guy who lost both, but I'm sure you probably wouldn't suck it up and never show pain or mention it, because you know others are in worse condition.

This is such B.S. logic. Just because you pay more doesn't mean jack. How much do you have to spend? What if someone here only pays 60$, but that's all they get if they save up for 2 months, huh? Then what? They can't complain about pricing because oh no, someone pays more somewhere else? No, screw that.

I'm tired of this arguement. Just because you pay more doesn't make it any better for us. We aren't fucking cash cows who can dole out 60$ a game easy as that. Yeah, sure, 100$ a game is a *****. But when did that EVER make 60$ cheap as air? Hell, don't Australian's get payed more then American's? Perhaps you can work out a way where you get payed less and they lower the price of games. Sound good?

I don't have money to blow constantly on 60$ games. A 100$ price tag doesn't mean jack to me, because I can't even justify it at 60$

You know, just because you're getting screwed over doesn't make it better for the rest of us.

I refuse to accept that damn logic. What if there's a place that costs more for games then Australia? What if they pay double what you pay? Will you then never complain about a 130$ game as long as someone else has to pay 200$?

 

[Danzavare]

I buy unused games from the UK off Ebay, that counts as buying games, right? >.>;

Australian retailers are criminals when it comes to game prices! D:

 

[Danzavare]

I buy unused games from the UK off Ebay, that counts as buying games, right? >.>;

Australian retailers are criminals when it comes to game prices! D:

A close friend of mine over there has me run his steam account so I can buy things on US prices and he just transfers money over to my accounts when he wants something.

Gotta love those friendship discounts!

Brilliant~! I stick to Australian prices, but almost exclusively buy games that have been reduced by at least 75% (50% if I'm really longing for the game). The downside is that this laptop can't actually play most games, so I'm holding on in the vague hope I get a better computer someday.

On the console front, the UK is responsible for 90% of my purchases. I can get Fable 3 for a bit under $30 (last time I checked) off Ebay or get it for $60 at an Australian retailer. Heck, they're still trying to sell me Fable 2 for $40.

 

[Something Amyss]

First of all, you didn't exactly copy my style of typing because I didn't cap my words in a manner that seems frighteningly rude. Second of all, when exactly did the OP say that the game market crashed?

Ah, we're relying on pedantry to cop out now.

Okay, if you don't want to seriously talk about things, don't. I only replied to your prior post because you said something silly and disingenuous in the face of other media having done the same thing you insist doesn't work. No skin off my nose if you're not even going to take your own argument seriously.