This is ridiculous. If the industry is losing money to used sales it's simply as a result of them making the games so highly priced in the first place! I rarely buy a game new simply because I can't afford to be getting new games I want every month. And I'm sure I'll now get some people putting me down by saying "maybe you should get a job that pays more" like it's a simple case of walking into the nearest HQ of a major bank and telling them you won't leave until you're in the office at the top on 6 figures. The industry shoots itself in the foot by spending such a huge amount on games then pisses and moans when people want it cheaper. With the rise of casual gaming and the opening of a whole new audience to the market publishers need to realise that a casual gamer who only buys a few games a year is more likely to wait until the price of that game is lower. Hardcores are happier to buy games new at full price because they're investing in a huge hobby they have but casuals are just looking for some light entertainment that lasts longer than a movie so reducing costs to a fair price would be an intensely good idea, now of all times.
I'm aware that games cost a lot of money and it's not as simple as just 'spend less, make more' but this is a future that the industry is working towards. It needs to, and is trying to, cut down on costs by making the creation of games easier for smaller teams in shorter periods. It has to progress in this manner in order to give consumers and gamers what they want, a cheaper product. Would piracy or used game sales exist, or at the least be so prevalent, if everyone thought they were paying a fair price for the software? It's not a bad thing to dislike used game sales just as it isn't a bad thing to dislike piracy. In the end, both mean that the people who made the game get less money than they would have had everyone paid full price. But at the same time, where does that money go?
Is it right that the exec at the top in the big office, who maybe doesn't even like games, who is a business man first and a gamer second (if a gamer at all) get's a big fat paycheck every month when the guys who put the extreme hours in making this stuff get a pittance in comparison.
The solution? Or at least a partial, temporary one. Every person in these big development companies who's taking these huge salaries reduce their salary and put the money into reducing the price of games by investing in technology, software and people who can make the process of making a game faster, easier, more efficient and less costly to the consumer, casual AND hardcore.
The solutions we've been hearing of late are terrible; forcing second hand purchasers to buy a code to activate the game, removing content from titles and releasing it at extortianate prices so that you have to pay through the nose to play through a whole game that you've already bought. Even monthly subscriptions aren't the best of ideas and the rising talk of free online play using microtransactions as a main revenue stream after initial purchase is fantastic! I'd be happy to buy any game that's fairly priced, contains full content and allows me to make extra purchases for new items, skins, weapons etc. because I don't feel like I'm being screwed by the big publishers. I think I would probably even spend more in a game using this model than I would in a monthly subscription model.
Assassin's Creed 2 is a perfect example of this; I bought it new because I was excited about it, then I played through the game and discovered that 2 whole memory sequences were missing. They got released so I bought them and was so shocked at the amount of time it took to play them compared to the price they were. And now, a whole new game is being brought out that takes place in a part of the game that I never got to play! That's less my gripe but it's a dirty tactic. If it was a game you'd bought in a store and you were dissapointed and angry, you'd get your receipt and walk back to the store and demand a refund. Because these transactions are all downloads there's nothing you can do, and the publishers know this. Once they have your money, that's it!
I hope we see a progression in games and soon. An industry that doesn't innovate is destined to move backwards, and I'd hate to see gaming once again become a thing JUST for nerds and hobbyists again.
