Poll: Do you buy pre-owned games?

[DuelLadyS]

I buy almost all of my games used. I have put a lot of thought into the impact of that, but there's one simple truth that stands out for me- I wouldn't pay full retail for these games. The small handful of stuff I genuinely want right away, I do buy new. Everything else is a year or more after release and in the $20-25 range at most. If I couldn't buy these games used for a discount, I wouldn't buy them at all.

While part of me likes the EC idea of having used buyers pay a bit for unlock the whole game, I'm really leery of that approach. For me personally, all it does is drive me away from buying the game altogether. Like I said, I don't pay much more than $20 for these used games... if unlocking cost $20 on its own, then the game will never be cheap enough for me to bother with (unless developers have the good sense to lower the unlock price over time.) Also, what happens when the game is no longer supported? I play a lot of retro titles, I'm well aware that sooner or later servers get culled. It's one thing if it's just multiplayer- that'd be going away anyway- but I hate the idea that I could learn about a game a generation or two too late and never be able to play the whole thing becuase some guy was worried about used sales.

I defintely think price drops should be more consistent... if more games dropped to $20-30 dollars after a couple years, I'd buy more games new. I could even justify spending a bit more becuase 'it's not used'. (I'm looking at you, $60 copies of Sin and Punishment: Star Sucessor in the local Wal-mart...)

 

[kickyourass]

Unless I want the super collectors edition of a game (in which case I buy new, so I know that there's nothing missing or no suspitious stains anywhere) I buy used. But it's usually through a place like Amazon, where I'm buying it from a specific person, and they are the ones getting my money instead of Amazon who just gets payed for the shipping. It's only when I can't find at a good price new, or at a good price there, that I go to places like Gamestop.

 

[RollForInitiative]

The only time I will buy used games is if I literally cannot find a game anymore. Even then, I'll sometimes just go without instead. I don't support used game sales in the slightest and, even after a major theft cost me much of my collection, I still paid for new copies again.

I figure: hey, if I liked the game enough to warrant buying it again after it was stolen, then I liked it enough to warrant giving more money to the developers.

 

[Sylveria]

I try not to. Unless the game is too old to find new at a reasonable price, I usually get new.

 

[Mikeyfell]

Only in certain situations.

For instance I'm going to buy a used copy of Dead Island because it looks like it's going to be pretty good but I don't want Techland to get any money for figuring out that Borderlands and Dead Rising were both good games and duct taping them together.

 

[Sylveria]

You first point.
If video games are no different than any other goods, then Piracy shouldn't be a problem since I can make copies of other goods. Unless you agree with that you have a double standard.

Whut? Do you think copyright infringement only exists in the video game industry? What other products are you making copies of? Movies and books? Sandwiches? Are you widdling high-end sports cars out of wood or counter-fitting pennies?

 

[malestrithe]

The games that I tend to play more often, namely JRPGs from non Square-Enix companies (like Atlus, Natsume, NISAmerica, etc) are so bloody rare to begin with that I can almost never get them new.I have little to no choice but to play them used.

The rest of them, only if I want them new.

 

[MetalWingedWolf]

I sure do now. Got my last account banned because xbox updated their terms of service and my BIO, my CHANGEABLE and easily banned by it's goddamn self bio, got my 3 year accounts xbox live access revoked forever. No warning, not jack shit. So unless its a sequel to a series I love or from a developer that isn't microsoft that I also love, I'm not buying it fresh. Fuck you microsoft, you're a machine, I don't need to ever give you any more consideration or respect than you'd give me, than you GAVE me.

Before that issue though I was totally against it, it seems like a dick move. But it's also just a dick move to giant businesses.
Read that terms of service and tell me you should care about what negative effects your decisions could have on a company that literally enforces that you forfeit any and all rights at the door while stating that your single option should you not like their terms, be that you walk right back out of that door. v.v..
For shame.

 

[Aprilgold]

I play on Steam, so no, I can't, physically. If I WERE to play on HOT BOX 3900843661 or ENDLESS ONLINE ONLY EVER 3 then I would buy it used. Why not? So companies can be MORE DRM ridden? Well, now you know why I like Steam.

 

[Draitheryn]

You're right, gamestop is the enemy, how dare a company that was the primary method of obtaining games for years try to make a profit and stay in business. Gamestop will go the way of the blockbuster soon enough. However, their business hasnt changed, the industry has, and left them in the dust. So to speak of them as the enemy and not the victim of an evolving society is kind of ridiculous.

 

[Xanthious]

You first point.
If video games are no different than any other goods, then Piracy shouldn't be a problem since I can make copies of other goods. Unless you agree with that you have a double standard.

You can look into any industry that makes and sells goods and find certain things that hinder that specific industry other industries don't have to deal with. Consumer electronics are under attack from Chinese knock offs, the fashion industry is rampant with illegal copies being sold, printed media is being made obsolete by digital media and so forth. However, at the end of the day they are all just goods to be bought and sold.

Secondly.
You are in no position to say where the profit margin lies for Heavy rain. What if they needed to sell 2,5 million copies to greenlight the next project? You have no idea. You are just assuming with that they made a lot of money. There is something wrong with their way of business? There was a potential sale of 3 million that was cut down to 2. Thats a lot more than piracy has done for ANY game. Check the Spore numbers sold VS the numbers downloaded, and that is supposedly the most downloaded game ever.

You're right, I don't know the financials behind Heavy Rain and when it comes down to it the financials for Heavy Rain are irrelevant. If they aren't making a profit then that is their problem. The blame shouldn't be shifted to the consumer because they are unable to come up with a profitable business model. If they sold 2 million copies of the game then that means there are 2 million people who are free to do whatever they choose with their copies of Heavy Rain. The developer has neither a moral or legal argument to stand on. They have been paid already. They don't get to double dip because they have a shitty business model.

Finally
I know I wont change you mind, because you cannot believe even the possibility that second hand sales might cut into the sales of new games.

Allow for the possibility? I'm absolutely sure they are cutting into profits. It's simply irrelevant though. Secondhand sales cut into the profits of every maker and seller of goods. Preowned sales have always been around and people have been getting rich making and selling goods despite used sales for centuries. Hell, the video game industry is thriving like never before. However, if used sales are hurting them as much they like to bemoan (which I doubt) then they either need to adapt or fade away.

Just about every sort of entertainment gets sold on a running basis.

And once upon a time so did video games with arcade machines. However, technology brought arcades to near extinction like advances in home theater technology are encroaching on the movie theater business. Before the invent of phonographs people had no choice but to listen to music live now they can buy CDs and listen as often as they like from home. People now have the option of purchasing Blu Rays and CDs that rival and often surpass the same product sold on a running basis. Video games simply had the misfortune of adapting far more quickly than music and cinema. That doesn't change the fact that they were at one point sold to the public as a service vs as a product.

 

[sooperman]

I buy pre-owned and new. Just depends on the game, really.

I bought a used copy of Pokemon Blue back in the day. Turns out some leet hacker used cheats to get 999 Master Balls. Good times

 

[retrochimp]

I don't own any current generation systems, but I haven't played all the games for the systems I do own, so in order to play games I haven't before, I buy used games because new Genesis or PSX games are either difficult to find or ridiculously expensive. For example, I need to replace my copy of Super Mario World. I can buy it used for $7 or new for $500. (http://www.amazon.com/Super-Mario-World-Nintendo/dp/B00002STXQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1316018154&sr=8-1). I'll go with pre-owned every time.

 

[glyn]

£60 for preowned for wait a few months and play it for £20...no real competition really.

As for Extra credit's plan for games to have half on the disc and half as DLC do that the developers get something from everyone who ever owns the game, forget that idea. Terry Pratchett keeps most second hand book shops open (at least in the UK) and never sees any money from all those second hand sales, same with films, why are games developers so special?

If "the medium" wants to be taken seriously, then maybe "the medium" shouldn't be pillocks.

can I make a point that the cost of writing a book is a lot smaller than making a game. Its the same reason you wont hear that piracy being the same problem with written media. You cant and shouldn't compare the 2 different mediums.

And a game costs a lot more than a book to buy new (for now). And most books don't sell as many copies as games do (unless you've got symbologists, wizards or tattooed girls in it)

With the kindle and whatnot, will the piracy of books take off and kill literature off altogether, especially as you don't own a kindle book, you merely own a license to look at a copy on that brand of bookreader. Want to read your kindle book on a sony reader, you've got to buy it again.

Once someone hacks and distributes the next Dan Brown via bittorrent, will publishing houses which are struggling already bite the dust?

You are talking about a scenario that might happen as if it has happened. Please use an actual world example of piracy of books being an issue, rather than a made up one.

All I am saying is that you cannot compare the 2 types of medium. Do you know how many copies a game needs to sell to make a profit compared to a book. The cost of having a writer + proofreader (i am not sure how much work goes into writing a book, but I know its a lot less than a full development team) has an easier time making profit, while the publisher takes the real risk from production and distribution cost.

You also say "well books are cheaper" without knowing any real comparison. What if a book costs a 4th as much as a game but cost a 10th to produce? You have no comparisons, and we havn't even touched on the variable of libraries and potential markets.

You cant compare the 2.

Okay, we'll ignore the real world example that books are already being pirated and the relative cost of book/game manufacturing.

Lets look at cars. Cars have a massive amount of money go into production and sell for a lot, but the manufacturers see nothing from the extensive secondhand car market.

Games have large development costs, so do cars
Games manufacturers see nothing from the secondhand trade, neither do car manufacturers

I've no idea about the proportions of development to cost for games/cars or indeed books but the basic premise stands. Once you make an item and have sold it on, you give up any right to more money off other people who buy that item down the line.

What makes games so different/special?

True a car can't be copied and distributed on the net, but this particular discussion is about secondhand, not piracy.

 

[Xanthious]

You first point.
If video games are no different than any other goods, then Piracy shouldn't be a problem since I can make copies of other goods. Unless you agree with that you have a double standard.

Whut? Do you think copyright infringement only exists in the video game industry? What other products are you making copies of? Movies and books? Sandwiches? Are you widdling high-end sports cars out of wood or counter-fitting pennies?

You should tell the people in the fashion design or high end consumer electronics field or comic book industry or shoe industry or any number of other industries that video games are the only product that has to worry about illegal copying of their goods.

 

[Enverex]

I generally only buy games when they are cheap, this applies to virtual or second hand (moreso with second hand because... well, it's second hand). I'll rarely pay more than £10 for a game and only if it's something I really want (a few off the top of my head were Operation Flashpoint, ArmA/2 and GTA4).

I just can't justify the price for new games. £35 for something I'll play once for a few hours then probably never see again just doesn't click as worth-while for me.

 

[Darth Sea Bass]

Of course i buy preowned there's no way i could afford to get every game i want brand new.

 

[Littaly]

Only if I can't find a new copy. Often it's not even an ethical question, game retailers like GAME and GameStop sell their used games so expensive, that in most cases, a new copy from an online retailer or a download service is cheaper

 

[Savagezion]

I buy roughly half and half this year I will end up buying 7 games new or directly from the publisher. (I average around 5 or 6 a year.) I buy about that in used games every year. My spending habits for this year are:

NEW:
Blops
Diablo 2 Battle Chest (for the 4th time)
Guild Wars Factions (2nd time)
Dragon Age 2
L.A. Noire
MLB The Show '11
Dungeon Seige 3
Batman Arkham CIty (when released)
Uncharted 3 (when released)
Minecraft (2nd time)

**Add ICO double pack if I have the money at the time**

USED
Bioshock
Uncharted 1 (I traded it in a while back and bought it back)
inFamous
Guitar Hero 3
Force Unleashed

TRADED IN
Oblivion (Game of the Year Ed.)

GAVE AWAY TO FRIENDS/FAMILY
inFamous
Force Unleashed

BORROWED
New Vegas

as always, theres a lot of talk about preowned games and how they affect the industry, and tho I've always been more on the side of the right to trade-in games, i only now realize, i don't ever buy pre-owned games. About the only time I ever buy preowned games is if the game i want is old or hard to find, and I can't find a new copy.

This makes me start to feel, its not the industry thats the enemy. But i also often lend/share games with friends, and enjoy doing so. I now kinda feel like the real enemy here is gamestop. I feel like i don't care about having this service for buying used games, I don't care about that unless the game i want is old. But I still want to be able to share games with friends.. Frankly, i would rather just have big stores like gamestop not selling used new games than i would want the current trend of punishing users to make sure people buy new games. (but then again, this feeling is probably just because I don't personally take advantage of the used games for sale,)

I am not seeing why Gamestop is the enemy. They basically let you trade games with a holding fee. I actually am not seeing any enemy in this equation. If anything things like Project 10 dollar are the enemy. No more lending out games if that is the case... unless you plan to lend out your console as well.

 

[TokenRupee]

In general I only buy pre-owned if:
I cant find a new copy.
Its an older game and the retailers still want full price as if it was just released (I mean a 2 year old game for 50 euro?)
Its a very old game which cant be found anywhere.
Its a game I dont really care/know about but is cheap and might be a little entertaining.

Other than that, its retailers/steam so the developers get some of my cash

Same with me. Generally, I'll try and wait to find a good new price. Sometimes though, I'll buy used just to spite the publisher because I hate their business methods.