Poll: Do you think Video Games Need a Lemon Law?

[TheLastSamurai14]

Where's the poll option for BURNING THEIR HOUSE DOWN!?

OT: People spent their money on a game. They should live with that decision. Besides that, most games these days maintain a playability standard. Now, if they're overcharging for a game (say, $200 for something extremely buggy and unplayable, a la Action 52) I believe that the consumer should have the right to return it for a full refund.

 

[Dalek Caan]

Nice idea, 4 more years of Prime!

 

[kaioshade]

Glitch free games simply will not exist anymore. As games get increasingly complex, there are bound to be some random weirdness showing up in games. Assassins creed brotherhood is a pretty glitch free game, but i encountered one where Ezio apparently gained the ability to fly. Unfortunately i couldn't bring him back down and had to reset the mission.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZQ4LdydQtI&lc=rEA4oRyVLRYcm2xbLsZz8H46yDadqL19Ec9vxxHtcxs&feature=inbox

 

[MinionStarwind]

If you buy a bad game, take it back. Not ours, the developer's, or the publisher's fault you're too lazy to return it or trade it in.

Personally, SOMEONE'S getting paid to make the things. Better to keep people in jobs and not buy the game at all than to enforce the unenforceable.

 

[MetalDooley]

Not sure if this law would work in practice tbh.What I would like to see however is reviewers being a lot harsher on buggy games.Apparently F:NV was a buggy mess on release yet it still received loads of stellar reviews(I bought it several months after launch so I assume most of the major bugs were patched by then.I only encountered minor ones,mainly graphical).Publishers seem to put a lot of importance on Metacritic scores these days so if their scores start to suffer then maybe they'll take the time to make sure a game works properly before releasing it

 

[GonzoGamer]

Only if the game is unplayable and i mean completly like you turn in on then nothing happens or everytime you get to a certain point the game always freezes.

As all games have bugs so the law would be abused badly so nope i feel your going to far.

Does it really have to be THAT bad for the consumer to expect some protection?
Yes all games have bugs but games with the amount of bugs that Fallout New Vegas got released with should be stopped before they hit shelves.

I understand that the consumer needs to take some responsibility for their purchases but this wont do for two reasons:
There's always gamers who will buy anything as long as its made by one of their favorite companies. Even if the consumer does research on reviews and message boards it seems as though the "critics" and fanboys can foil them by claiming it's really okay or that it will be fixed soon.

 

[squid5580]

I like the idea. It would sure help getting them to stop rushing games out the door before they have been tested properly. Sure some glitches are forgivable but there is tons of games where you know if it had been tested and not rushed the problem could have been avoided.

 

[Spygon]

Only if the game is unplayable and i mean completly like you turn in on then nothing happens or everytime you get to a certain point the game always freezes.

As all games have bugs so the law would be abused badly so nope i feel your going to far.

Does it really have to be THAT bad for the consumer to expect some protection?
Yes all games have bugs but games with the amount of bugs that Fallout New Vegas got released with should be stopped before they hit shelves.

I understand that the consumer needs to take some responsibility for their purchases but this wont do for two reasons:
There's always gamers who will buy anything as long as its made by one of their favorite companies. Even if the consumer does research on reviews and message boards it seems as though the "critics" and fanboys can foil them by claiming it's really okay or that it will be fixed soon.

I would have to say yes my fallout new vegas only had one problem when i got it (wheeling radscorpions) and it was definly not a deal breaker.But maybe i should complain that it has got gradually worse after every update that i feel as the updates have slowly broke my game but i understand that alot of people have had terrible problems with the game and the updateds have fixed alot of there problems.So i am happy to deal with my now rather buggy game so others can play theres not so buggy.

But the number of games with game effecting bugs in them is pretty common as it would take years to play test alot of these games to clean them up.But this type of law would encourage people that find one of these bugs and bring the game back before the company can fix it normally within a few weeks with a simple patch.Suddenly all the companies wouldnt want to bring out big and different games just incase someone finds a bug in it and then everybody brings it back.

With the games industry struggling with job cuts and studios not being funded it would cause the games industry to shrink in huge amounts

 

[GonzoGamer]

Only if the game is unplayable and i mean completly like you turn in on then nothing happens or everytime you get to a certain point the game always freezes.

As all games have bugs so the law would be abused badly so nope i feel your going to far.

Does it really have to be THAT bad for the consumer to expect some protection?
Yes all games have bugs but games with the amount of bugs that Fallout New Vegas got released with should be stopped before they hit shelves.

I understand that the consumer needs to take some responsibility for their purchases but this wont do for two reasons:
There's always gamers who will buy anything as long as its made by one of their favorite companies. Even if the consumer does research on reviews and message boards it seems as though the "critics" and fanboys can foil them by claiming it's really okay or that it will be fixed soon.

I would have to say yes my fallout new vegas only had one problem when i got it (wheeling radscorpions) and it was definly not a deal breaker.But maybe i should complain that it has got gradually worse after every update that i feel as the updates have slowly broke my game but i understand that alot of people have had terrible problems with the game and the updateds have fixed alot of there problems.So i am happy to deal with my now rather buggy game so others can play theres not so buggy.

But the number of games with game effecting bugs in them is pretty common as it would take years to play test alot of these games to clean them up.But this type of law would encourage people that find one of these bugs and bring the game back before the company can fix it normally within a few weeks with a simple patch.Suddenly all the companies wouldnt want to bring out big and different games just incase someone finds a bug in it and then everybody brings it back.

With the games industry struggling with job cuts and studios not being funded it would cause the games industry to shrink in huge amounts

For me the game got worse as I played on too. I don?t know if it?s because of the patches. I had all sorts of issues (too many to list) but I had the ps3 version.

I think a ?lemon law? would actually encourage gamers to hold onto broken titles in case they do get fixed by making sure that they can still expect a refund if they can?t fix the game after 6months or however long they deem is reasonable: another reason I think it should be something set up by the industry like the esrb.
I think you?re right to assume that it would lead to the failure of some studios but when you think about why they would fail and you look at how much crap is produced, would that really be such a terrible thing? I?m sure there are talented people in these companies that could make great products if they were working with the right people.