56% of American Gamers Don't Buy Games

[klausaidon]

Ack, these things always try to make it sound like the developer's/publishers are starving on the street. Hell, I have plans on getting into the gaming industry (Studying to be a programmer) and I could careless about the developer's/publishers. They are being paid. I don't need to pity them. Game development is a very well paying job, which is why I plan on getting into the industry.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Not justifying piracy, even to the extent that Extra Credits made this point... but...

Perhaps some of the loss of sales is due to some games being outright banned by dicks in suits with an egomaniac problem, and then regional coding stopping aussie gamers from even importing the damned games they want to play, as rational, paying, tax producing adults.

Someone needs to open a video games mail order store like 100 meters off shore of Australia and just sell mature rated games uncut to the aussie public. And no, I've got no clue about the legal side, I just want to piss off fuckknuckle politicians who think Dead Rising should be banned but alcohol, tobacco, war and religion are just fine.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Not justifying piracy, even to the extent that Extra Credits made this point... but...

Perhaps some of the loss of sales is due to some games being outright banned by dicks in suits with an egomaniac problem, and then regional coding stopping aussie gamers from even importing the damned games they want to play, as rational, paying, tax producing adults.

Someone needs to open a video games mail order store like 100 meters off shore of Australia and just sell mature rated games uncut to the aussie public. And no, I've got no clue about the legal side, I just want to piss off fuckknuckle politicians who think Dead Rising should be banned but alcohol, tobacco, war and religion are just fine.

From what I understand, they couldn't stop you from selling it if you were far enough out in the water, but they could search and confiscate people coming to the shore. It would cause an international incident, that much is sure

Oh, and really classy lumping religion in with war, tobacco and alcohol.

 

[Vault101]

If they fade from public then they should fade from the PC market as well. To bring marketing is none issue again.
Also I am calling bullshit because if there were no long term market, then used market wouldn't exists. To say that it only exists on PC is bullshit. Would you please tell me why there should be a long term PC market, but not a long term on console market. Its often the same customer.

The main thing is the long term market is occupied by the second hand sales. The publisher cant compete because they have much greater costs when reproducing and distributing product .

last thing. That publishers arn't willing to change their ways has no effect on whether or not its good for us/them to change to full digital. I stand by my original statement of going full digital would make a steam like service the norm on any platform and lower prices of games in general.

They don't fade from the PC because of the likes of Steam and GoG promoting them through their constant daily/weekly/holiday/summer sales. Not to mention storing and distributing on the PC is insanely cheaper than manufacturing disks.

And yet the digital versions still cost just as much as the physical versions. Even though the digital one is much cheaper to maintain and carries a much larger profit. Look, I'm not saying that going digital is inherently bad, but I'm saying that with how they've already demonstrated with the general prices of digital content on the PC, prices won't go down.

Or maybe they will. I don't know. The PC is a very different market compared to consoles. Maybe things will be different. But that requires me to trust the publishers to do the right thing.

Fat chance of that happening.

If its Steam and GoG doing the marketing then for making the games long term, then an equal Digital service on console would do the same. Again, making marketing a none issue.

Also the reason the digital copies cost the same as the physical is because the price is set by the physical, and the publisher are forced by the distributors to keep an even playing field or else they wont carry their games. When the initial sales are over Steam is often allowed to lower the price by the publisher because the distributors weight will be a lot less for long term sales (there is none). Any game without a physical product has always been a lot cheaper than one with. That is a fact. A digital sale gets a much higher profit than a physical. You should be getting them for less, but because that physical exists you cant.

But as you have seen, there have been some attempts at making pure digital version of games and experimentation on price on the PC market. Only thing holding it back is the old ways.

Get rid of physical distribution and you will lower game prices. You will give up your ability to resell, but you will get better and cheaper games.

1. crappy internet..alot of people have it, alot of people dont want to wait days to download a game

2. not actually having much controll over somthing you purchased

3. if you take care of your physical copies there less chance for problems, with downloads it can be pure luck...every fucking time Ive tries to download beyond good and evil on PSN its corrupted and i have no Idea why...if somthing downloads too slowly its corruptes (so goes my theory)

digital distribution may be the way of the future (though physical copies may hang around...plus you never know, thats just pure speculation on anyones part) but untill the world fixes its internet issues I dont see it being the best option for everyone

my point is for me (and I imagine other people physical copies are the better way to get their games

plus I dont want my choices as a consumer limited, PLUS fuck it, I wont stop buying used games untill it becomes illigal.. (that said I spend plently on new games)

I am mainly just promoting it because it will make the games cheaper and put the profits made into the hands of those whos job it is to make more games.

To me digital distribution is like the car taking over for the horse. We may not have the roads to handle the cars yet everywhere, but we are getting there.

The thing is so many here are bloody greedy. Its all about the developers/publishers should take less of a cut so we can get a physical product cheaper rather than us giving up the physical product so we can get it cheaper. We want our cake and eat it to. I am willing to give up the physical copies for a 30% price reduction (estimate). I can only speak for myself thou. I am well aware that even if there is perfect set up with no back draws from internet or file corruptions there will still be customers who insist on having a physical product or not buy at all.

On a note thou. Your point 3 you really shouldn't use. Its anecdotal evidence. It carries as much weight as me saying "my CDs were scratched so Physical has more problems than digital". Just saying. Its a none argument.

As a final thought. I dont mind anyone buying used. I dont want to leave the impression I am a crusader against used games. I am a crusader for digital distribution. The publisher set up the system and people are using it to the best of their ability to get the best deal. Nothing wrong with that. Now I do have a problem with people whining when the publishers want to change the system. Its their right to do so. Its their product. People will start self entitled whines about what they deserve and that the publisher are being greedy while they were trying to get as many games as possible for the money rather than the publishers getting as much money for the games as possible.

Anyway I have rambled on long enough. My point was I think we will be better served with full digital. Better games cheaper.

Im still not convinced, I dont like the Idea of having less control over what I buy (PC aside, with the currnt systm, I buy a game, its mine for as long as i can keep the hardware running its not upto a server or an online service..) plus I dont see the price going down "that" significantly

I dont buy the physical copy because its cheaper (in fact i spent alot more on new than i do used) and I dont complain about having to be more because Im in Aus, I can afford it

bottom line is...its not my problem, I am a consumer and I will take what ever legal options and choice are availible to me as is my right...to you that may seem entitled but I dont see why gaming has to be "special" compared to other industrys

its sad that I cant plays games with somone in the same room as much..and its even more sad the Idea that I cant lend a freind a copy of a game...could you imagine if they took away the ability to do that with other products? DVD's. toys....

you have probably already seen it but the jimquisitions video on the topic has some good points

.

self rightious BS..perhaps? Its also kind of self rightious to shame others for doing somthing perfectly acceptable and LEGAL

but anyway Im stil not convinced digital distribution is the best thing ever for the customer...so what if the games might be cheaper? I can already get games cheap enough..not only through used but also through the sales that they do

it isnt the best thing unless everyone gets unlimited high speed internet...

and also I think your giving publishers too much credit....you bought the game, you downloaded it...then you had to delete it a while to make room for more....you want to play it again somtime later? well too bad its expired..you have to buy it again, ]

and lets not get started on "always online"

 

[krazykidd]

Yeah...but...what about books, and movies. They don't whine like this. Or at least as much. I'm really sick of the whole subject.

Can't say much about books, but movies are different. Film makers make money off movies that are shown in theaters,then MORE money that are made off dvd/blu ray .So having people lend out movies isn't such a big deal.

Although i think it is rediculous that they are complaining about people lending games to their friends. I mean soon developpers are going to make games only work on the first console it is played on, killing the used game market and the video game rental services.

 

[KAPTAINmORGANnWo4life]

"This story is INCREDIBLY misleading. Try actually reading the datapoints.

56% of console gamers who play games do not buy them, and it includes active sharing of games in families and friends. What does this actually say? Very little actually, because there's no control for people who buy games for other people, say for example, a parent buys games for his kids to play who aren't old enough to play games. If the parent plays too and there's 3 kids, that's one paying gamer and 2 non-paying. If not, then it's 0 paying gamers and two non-paying. That skews the data A LOT.

Furthermore, THIS STORY OUTRIGHT LIES. the "85% buys a significant number of pre-owned games" is from a different population then the 44% that buy games. It includes MAC, PC, and console gamers, not console gamers. This is relevant because console games are much... easier to share in a unit.

This is even more misleading because it's directly stated that from the 44% who pay for console games, 65% of that is spent on brand new games, 23 % is on used, 12% on DLC. So a net 77% of money spent on video games is being divided up in a way that includes money going to publishers and developers.

The first point is horrible data interpretation, the second point is shameless lying or not reading the report, both are completely shameful. I guess I know not to trust escapist, gamespot actually bothered to break down the numbers in their article."



From the depths of Facebook, a man by the name of Matthew Anderson posted exactly what I was going to.

 

[Arppis]

You also have to remember that if some of these people couldn't sell their old games, they couldn't buy your new games. Just drop the game prizes already and you'll sell a lot more!

 

[Johnson McGee]

I don't understand the used game hate. Video games have been fine for decades allowing used game sales. Not to mention other industries like books or videos are able to survive when people buy used and can pass one copy around a circle of friends.

Does a used game sale directly translate to a new sale lost anyway? For many cash strapped gamers it's not a choice between new or used but used or nothing.

However, I don't see the point in getting used games often since it's usually only about $5 off the price of a new game, which I don't see as enough to justify the risk of getting a scratched disk or missing manual or whatever else.

 

[Grampy_bone]

The sad part about stories like this is you can see publisher execs looking at them and working on ways to "recapture the lost consumer revenue." Expect to see a strong push in the future for PC-style cd-keys and licensing on consoles, where your games are linked to you PSN/XBL account, and if you sit down to play some Gears Co-op with a buddy he will need to pay $60 first.

The problem is that the game industry cranks out a lot of garbage which it consistently over-values. They should focus on making fewer games at higher quality, rather than sneakier and sneakier ways to bilk people out of more money. The second-hand game market only thrives because consumers don't feel most games are worth $60. Drop the price to the $30-$40 range and Gamestop would basically go out of business.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I see that as an overall win.

Annnnd people like I do not. Firstly, if you buy a bad game, you have no legal redress of grievances under Digital Distribution. Secondly, they can shut of your service at any time if you break one of their rules. Do you really trust people like EA to not make mistakes? A person could loose their entire collection due to clerical error. Thirdly, suppose we get another attack by some group, and the servers go down. Without physical copies, no one can download any games. Further, you're being too trusting of these businesses. They won't slash prices across the board by any significant means. They'll come up with something else to blame. They always have. In addition, think about how much memory this would take. People couldn't easily amass large collections. And that's a problem for some people. For me, I vastly prefer physical mediums. Because under Digital Distribution, they can get away with ignoring consumer rights.

Publishers pushed for consoles because they didn't have as much of a problem with piracy. They did, however, have to deal with a legal second hand market. Now they are trying to trick gamers into thinking that they don't and can't own games. There is no crisis of money. Publishers are still making money. Hell, gaming is such a profitable business, despite it being more niche than movies.

 

[ckam]

So the problem is Gamestop. OK, then.

 

[SenseOfTumour]

In short, and accepting the article at face value.

'56% of gamers don't buy new games'
'Games industry is making a profit'
'Therefore 44% is enough'
'Shut the hell up games industry'

 

[Ashendarei]

Misleading article title is Misleading! The author should be ashamed.

 

[Folksoul]

I only buy used If the game is over average AAA launch date price or hilariously out of print.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Snip for size

In order of points: No. I never said that all games sold second-hand were bad. But I did notice that quite a few games that are good or people value more are held onto longer. I stood in a Gamestop one day for half an hour one day while my brother looked at games. Three people came in, during that time, to trade in Call of Jaures The Cartel. I asked the manager, and he said they were gettin quite a few copies. Two of the dudes traded it in to buy a new game, in fact.

I have heard complaints about people losing their steam account and getting stonewalled by valve as to why. However, if I buy a physical disk, they cannot do that.

Fair point. However, if those other things get shut down, they have a redundancy in place. Will they have one with gaming? I don't know.

I'm not going Us Vs Them. But it is a real issue about consumer rights.

There's still the problem that there's a lower upper-limit on what can be stored on the console then. Unless we get huge-ass consoles.

My mistake in wording. I mean that consumer rights are different for a product (Which games are now) and a service (Which you are advocating they be)

If only 1/4 projects makes money, how the hell is the industry making money? I'd also like to see a source on that, if you don't mind. Further, if that's the case, perhaps the industry should be making fewer games?

However, I think I can consolidate our differences. Have you taken macroeconomics? If you have a heterodox professor, they may talk about Economic paradigms. It's basically what you look at. A feminist economic paradigm will be more concerned with gender equality than a Keynsian or GE economist. I'm looking at second hand sales as an issue of consumer rights. That is my paradigm. You're looking at it from a view of potential improvement. That's you paradigm. I value consumer rights more, so that's why I think what I do.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

... Give me a reason to buy games new then I will "the batman game or fall out new vegas helped" but not everyone will buy a game brand spanking new day one. It is better to wait for reviews to come in and weigh in before making a decision like that. I do agree that this is misleading and dlc or expansions do make up the profit loss or what would be the profit loss but hell I still lend games out to my friends and vice versa "i own over or near 1000 games total".

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

wow, I never realized there was so much money to be made with DLC.