Is this the real reason Publishers are all up in arms about Used Sales all of a sudden?

[Pandabearparade]

No it's not, it's Gamestop, BestBuy, Amazon etc. opening all their "Used Games" services and taking away the publishers/developers/platform license money and people falling for it is going to be the reason you'll all have to deal with a CD-Key on almost every game in the next console generation.

I won't have to deal with that. If it comes to that, I'll just stop buying games from the publishers who use CD-keys. The only place I'm willing to accept the inability to resell my game is Steam, and I've never even sold a game, I just refuse to buy a product that locks upon use.

 

[teebeeohh]

i still thinks it's a combination of
a) the general economic situation, people who are unemployed/earn minimum wages/are not sure they will have a job next week and thus save what they can will not spend as much money on luxury items.
b) video games have reached the point where publishers try to figure out just how much milking they can do without killing the cow.

 

[quantumsoul]

Gaming is expensive and it's a luxury most can afford to pass up. So people will look to save where they can. It's only natural. I think the game industry needs to change it business model. Right now I think they're going about it wrong. Things will get better but first they need to get worse.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Em you are kinda forgetting the Wii and the world recession which more than covers the lack of money spent on the expensive consoles.

 

[Delusibeta]

1) OP forgot about the most popular console, the Wii.
2) Even then, the PS2 absolutely wiped the floor with its competitors (outselling its competitors combined sales about three times over), while the Wii hasn't out-sold its rivals combined, so there's more competition in this generation of consoles.

Ultimately, his argument isn't valid.

 

[MrLlamaLlama]

Consoles this Gen are a far bit more expensive than they were last time around though

No they are not.

1993: Atari Jaguar - $249
1995: Sega Saturn - $399
1995: PlayStation - $299

2000: PlayStation 2 - $299

2001: Xbox - $299
2005: Xbox 360 - $299 / $399

*omits astronomical PS3 launch prices*

Also @ the other guy who quoted me, as a rule they are - you think of the number of games hat are even 5 dollars more expensive for being on bluray - 5 dollars multiplied by an insane sales figure is 5x an insane sales figure more than before.

 

[Rawne1980]

Please read the comment better, he said bullied into buying NEW games. Not into buying games in general. I.E being pushed to buy new rather than used.

But sure mis-read the sentence and start ranting by all means.

O/T Interesting numbers. The consoles golden age is behind us?

Read on a bit further.

Go on, I can wait.

Okay you can't be bothered, I don't blame you.

Already apologised for misreading it a few comments along after that.

I also wasn't just referring to the OP. I've seen people comment on the "bullying" thing a few times and had to vent that off my chest.

We all good now?

Hug and make up?

 

[someonehairy-ish]

I think its fair that they are trying to get people not to buy used.

If I spent a big chunk of my life writing a book and it went onto sell a shit tonne of copies, but I hardly got any money off it, I'd be pissed.

This is exactly the same, except with a big studio with lots of people all relying on the game to sell.
Give them a break and just buy the freaking games. Even wait till they are a bit cheaper and then buy em, the developer will still get the money.

 

[The Random One]

As many people have pointed out, comparing PS2 sales with modern consoles and declaring the number of console owners is decreasing is like comparing the number of printings of the Bible with the number of printings of the Da Vinci Code and declaring people don't publish as much books nowadays as they did five centuries ago.

The PS2 is the most sold console ever, it's an extreme outlier. It's not a fair basis for comparison.

 

[Irridium]

They think they're getting screwed out of money when they really aren't.

The industry operates on perceived profits, not actual profits. They think they're losing money on used sales, but they aren't.

They're latest excuse is because "multiplayer servers cost money". Which they do, but they're still so full of shit.

On the PC, we have dedicated servers. The average cost of a slot on a server is $1. One US Dollar. For a person to use $10-$15 worth of server space(average cost of online passes), they need to play for 10-15 months straight.

And yeah, that $1 does add up, but companies like Sony and EA should easily be able to cover that cost. And if it is so damn financially straining on them, the smart thing to do would be to not put fucking multiplayer into the fucking games.

Yeah, they're full of shit. Or they're getting screwed by someone. Either way, nobody should have to pay for their shitty business practices.

The games most prone to used sales are new IP's. And the reason for that is because the Publisher charges $60 for them, barely markets the thing, and sticks it into the holiday release period against the likes of Call of Duty, Halo, Battlefield, Fallout, and all the other huge AAA games.

Which also brings up a nice point. Sequels sell better than new IP's for a reason. I'm willing to bet that reason is because people buy the original used, love it, and then buy the sequel new. Nearly everyone I've talked to has done this, me included.

Publishers just can't seem to see past their own ass-hatery.

Here's an idea...

Publishers are fighting used games more aggressively now because of two factors:

1) GameStop and the like are marketing used games more aggressively.

2) They can.

Gamespot marketing used games more effectively? Every damn gamespot commercial I've seen has been for pre-orders.

Every time I walk into a gamestop, they go "WANT TO PRE-ORDER SOMETHING? YOU SHOULD PRE-ORDER SOMETHING! DO IT NOW!!"

Probably differs by region, but I've seen nothing to suggest they're marketing used sales.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

The only thing I don't agree with in the OP is this one statement.....

A lot of the AAA games that publishers try and bully people into buying new copies of

I've heard it a few times from people saying they feel "bullied" into buying games.

Do publishers employees come round to peoples houses and beat them until they buy?

No?

So basically people still have the same choices to buy or not to buy?

So they are not being bullied in any way, shape or form. They are under no pressure at all to buy any games. It is purely their choice whether they buy a game no matter if it's new or used.

I just don't understand where this "pressure" to buy is people talk about. I've purchased 2 games so far this year. Space Marine and Deus Ex. The only other games i'm buying are Skyrim and ToR. I felt no pressure to buy them they are games i've wanted and been waiting for.

Unless EA come round to house and take a baseball bat to my kneecaps for not buying Battlefield 3 i'm not seeing any "bullying" or "pressure".

I would argue that he's referring to yearly Sequels like Madden or CoD. If you play multiplayer, a majority of the online crowd will migrate to the next game and you "have to" in order to stay current. All it takes is one of your friends to upgrade -_-.

That's not bullying... that's peer pressure. Something ENTIRELY different.

@OP: I seriously question your friends research.

 

[Mxrz]

Last Gen Used sales weren't as huge, most console games didn't have online/patches/dlc/hd, and Gamestop wasn't making a shit ton of money while developers went belly up. Actually, Gamestop wasn't acting like you were a fucking asshole just for daring to ask for a new copy of a game.

 

[Koroviev]

Last Gen Used sales weren't as huge, most console games didn't have online/patches/dlc/hd, and Gamestop wasn't making a shit ton of money while developers went belly up. Actually, Gamestop wasn't acting like you were a fucking asshole just for daring to ask for a new copy of a game.

I've never had a Gamestop employee pressure me to buy a used game. On the contrary, they usually offer me a new game before a used one.

 

[Something Amyss]

So I know people will want a link for proof but I just did some searching:
Before it turned 6, the ps2 had sold 100 million units.
The 360 (which is just turning 6 now) has sold 57 mil.
The ps3 (which is turning 6 in what, another year?) has sold 51 mil.

Yet somehow, game sales keep breaking records, especially every time a new COD comes out.

And for the record, the Ps2 had a ridiculous defect rate, too. If you're going to count it against one base, count it against the other, too.

 

[Something Amyss]

Last Gen Used sales weren't as huge, most console games didn't have online/patches/dlc/hd, and Gamestop wasn't making a shit ton of money while developers went belly up. Actually, Gamestop wasn't acting like you were a fucking asshole just for daring to ask for a new copy of a game.

I'd like to know which game devs were going belly up due to used game sales.

 

[Delsana]

Secondary sales don't make any money for the country or the company and thus make no economic value.

As such... imagine the funds that could be added to the economy if another 20 billion were added from all the pirating that wasn't pirated?

 

[Zerazar]

snip

This guy is sort of right. The burden of proof is on the OP.

That said, this is just a forum, and it certainly does not seem like he's trying to trick us into anything other than discussing a subject.

As for the actual subject: They want more moneyz. It really think it's as simple as that.

Edit: Dear lord this board is moving fast. Sorry about the late reply, it's probably irrelevant by now.

 

[LiftYourSkinnyFists]

Hmm... Interesting. That certainly is a possibility, but can you please provide the sources for all the statistics? I don't whether you made up these numbers or not at this point.

EDIT: I think your argument might be flawed.
Total Hardware sales (world-wide) for last generation:
Gamecube: 22 million. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameCube#Reception_and_sales]
X-Box: 24 million. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-Box#Sales]
PS2: 153 million [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2#Sales]
Total Sales: 199 million consoles sold world-wide.

Total Hardware sales (world-wide) for this generation (sales numbers rounded up):
X-Box 360: 58 million. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Box_360#Reception_and_sales]
PS3: 52 million [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Sales_and_production_costs]
Wii: 88 million [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#System_sales]
Total Sales: 198 million consoles sold world-wide.

And this generation isn't even done yet.

PS2 is still FAR FAR ahead in the quantities sold over life span ratio! PS2 was god tier though, mind you I'm considering buying one just to play the older GTA and Tekken games... Oh and spy hunter that was good too.