Buying fullprice or second hand? What will it take to change.

[SonOfVoorhees]

I prefer full price, brand new, day of release. But with the last 2 games i bought i have been thinking if buying second hand is better. For instance:-

1. Gears3 - Game manual was barren and basic controls only.
2. Batman AC - Game manual was online only - zero info within the game box.

Ok, both are manual based issues. But when buying new i expect a game manual detailing the game, story and everything else. The fact Batman made you look online for it was bullshit. It saves them a fortune in printing them for one thing and i hate to pay full price for a game without a manual. Same way i hate buying cd's with out lyrics.

It may seem petty but this is just the start. PC games are released with online manuals, but these are 360 games. Why should we have to boot up our PC to look for the manual for a game that should have been given in the box?

This is the crappy future of gaming. Every thing digital but all game still costing full price even though you dont get a physical product. Digital download should be cheaper than a physical product. But its not. Just have to look at music downloading costs, still not much cheaper than buying a physical copy of an album or single. Once this is the norm, watch the costs rise.

 

[ZeroMachine]

... The manual.

You're saying the future of gaming is crappy... because of the lack of a manual.

Good god, this is why I hate this website sometimes...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

...what?

You think manuals are a big enough issue to stop buying games brand new?

...what?

 

[NLS]

Manuals? Haven't read one of those in years. I feel like nowadays everything you need to know is explained from within the game.

 

[Tanis]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something.

It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new.
It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something.

It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new.
It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

How is the game missing anything?

 

[ZehMadScientist]

Yeah... There are bigger issues revolving around gaming than the lack of tangible game manuals. The only time I remember myself reading the manual of a game was when I was bored in the car, and read it to kill time.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

... The manual.

You're saying the future of gaming is crappy... because of the lack of a manual.

Good god, this is why I hate this website sometimes...

I expect a manual with a brand new full price game.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something.

It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new.
It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

Yay. Someone with a brain. Its this idea that now its no manual, what in the future?

Slippery slope fallacy.

Unless they star, you know, removing the disks from cases, there's isn't much more to remove from the physcial copy of a game.

 

[Tanis]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something. It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new. It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

How is the game missing anything?

As stupid as this sounds...it could be an 'age thing'. Growing up with video games and such.

As a child one of my joys was opening up a brand new game, or CD, and looking through all the added bonuses that came with buying something NEW.

That nice, sometimes colorful, manual.
The extra stickers or ads that encouraged me to seek out other games by the publisher/developer.

Hell, that weird smell that you can only get from a factory sealed copy of said game/cd.
-Which probably killed more than a few braincells.

Before the GameFAQs or Googles or DLC or...ect.
There was the EXPERIENCE of getting a game new.

As someone who, for most of my life, have been rather...erm...lower-lower class/lower-middle class.
A new ANYTHING was a joy, and part of that joy was all the little extras that came with the NEW product.

I'm probably not making any sense, but, O well...

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

...what?

You think manuals are a big enough issue to stop buying games brand new?

...what?

No. I think this is a trend that will stop people buying new. Your getting less for your money. Eventually you will get a digital copy for the SAME price. Ive gamed for years, ever since the C64. Always had some kind of manual, even if its a crappy one like Gears which just had controls. Batman AC didnt even have basic game controls....it had nothing. That, for me is wrong.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something. It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new. It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

How is the game missing anything?

As stupid as this sounds...it could be an 'age thing'. Growing up with video games and such.

As a child one of my joys was opening up a brand new game, or CD, and looking through all the added bonuses that came with buying something NEW.

That nice, sometimes colorful, manual.
The extra stickers or ads that encouraged me to seek out other games by the publisher/developer.

Hell, that weird smell that you can only get from a factory sealed copy of said game/cd.
-Which probably killed more than a few braincells.

Before the GameFAQs or Googles or DLC or...ect.
There was the EXPERIENCE of getting a game new.

As someone who, for most of my life, have been rather...erm...lower-lower class/lower-middle class.
A new ANYTHING was a joy, and part of that joy was all the little extras that came with the NEW product.

I'm probably not making any sense, but, O well...

I'm twenty two, lower-middle class, and I've been getting new games since I was seven or eight. Possibly earlier. I know exactly what you're talking about.

But the lack of a manual takes absolutely NOTHING away from the game itself.

EDIT: For the record, I empathize with the situation, I just disagree with it taking away from the experience.

 

[XT inc]

I buy all my games off steam, I stopped caring about my "wall-o-games" for the chance to play you know, the games.

I buy console games used, because by the time I buy the dlc for it it will cost that of a new game.

Or I just buy the 39.99-49.99 brand new copy of the complete edition, yes they are actually calling it that now, instead of goty or gold.

 

[Tanis]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something. It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new. It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

Yay. Someone with a brain. Its this idea that now its no manual, what in the future?

I think you're taking it too far.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something.

It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new.
It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

Yay. Someone with a brain. Its this idea that now its no manual, what in the future?

Holy fuck, only proving my point.

Ignoring people that disagree with you and saying they have no brains, acting like your opinion on the matter is law, refusing to give hard working developers the money they deserve because of the lack of a manual even though the lack of a manual has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE GAME ITSELF.

Self entitled, pompous, pretentious.

Great job. Really. You're a wonderful person.

Only in the fact you read my comment properly. Others see it as why you moaning about no manual? Im not. Its the slippery slope to paying full price and getting nothing for your money. My apologies, my comment came out more arseholey than it should of. But this could be more to bad communication of the thread.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Some games it really nice to have a manual handy, but I don't worry over the future of gaming if it's a manual free world. That would be silly, there are much better things to worry about.

Wait, the OP thinks we don't have a brain unless we agree them.... lol ... That's so cute!

Sorry. That comment was a mistake. Maybe i communicated my original thread wrong. I just think this is a slippery slope into digital gaming and paying full price for nothing. Why was it PC only to download? Why not download it to your 360?

 

[everythingbeeps]

Second hand is too much of a headache, because most people (as well as the store!) treat games like crap.

I've tried to buy used, I really have. But when you have to examine every disc they have in stock and you can't find a single one that doesn't have scratches on it, it's a pointless effort.

PS3 games are very hard to scratch, but people still manage to find ways.

 

[ZeroMachine]

I get the sentiment - you're paying full price for something that's MISSING something.

It's the same reason why I don't buy most games new.
It seems like most AAA games are half made and DLC is then released to make up for it.

Yay. Someone with a brain. Its this idea that now its no manual, what in the future?

Holy fuck, only proving my point.

Ignoring people that disagree with you and saying they have no brains, acting like your opinion on the matter is law, refusing to give hard working developers the money they deserve because of the lack of a manual even though the lack of a manual has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE GAME ITSELF.

Self entitled, pompous, pretentious.

Great job. Really. You're a wonderful person.

Only in the fact you read my comment properly. Others see it as why you moaning about no manual? Im not. Its the slippery slope to paying full price and getting nothing for your money. My apologies, my comment came out more arseholey than it should of. But this could be more to bad communication of the thread.

Alright, fair enough. I appreciate the apology.

But the thing is, all the same, I payed full price for most of my games, and I haven't looked at any of the manuals once.

And I feel like I got everything I asked for... great games.

The manual has no effect on the game itself. None. In fact, the creators of the games don't even make the manuals or decide how those thing are packaged/made/etc.

So by buying games used for the lack of a manual, you're denying the developers money they worked their asses off for because of a fault (that you see as a fault, I don't, but you have a right to) that has literally nothing to do with them.

How does that make sense? How does it make sense to think that the video game industry is going downhill because of the lack of manuals when there are much worse situations, like the current graphical stagnation and oversaturation of certain types of games?

It just doesn't.

 

[anthony87]

When I buy a game I pay for a game. I don't pay for a game manual.

Do I wish that game manuals were the same as they used to be? Of course.

Will game manuals getting smaller and smaller take away from the game itself? Of course not.

Sorry dude but I'm failing to see the logic here.