UK Retailer Says No to Resident Evil: The Mercenaries Trade-Ins

[Logan Westbrook]

UK Retailer Says No to Resident Evil: The Mercenaries Trade-Ins

Capcom says it didn't do it on purpose, but it seems to have found a perfect way to stop pre-owned sales.

UK retailers HMV has announced that it will not accept used copies of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries as part of its RePlay pre-owned scheme. It was discovered [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111318-Capcom-Fights-Used-Game-Sales-With-Resident-Evil-The-Mercenaries-3D-Saved-Games] earlier this week that saved games could not be deleted, significantly reducing the game's resell value.

According to the company's PR boss, Gennaro Castaldo, HMV took the decision to avoid any customer disappointment. New copies of the game will be available from HMV, but purchasers will have to go elsewhere if they want to trade it in. Other retailers around the world are also reconsidering their stances regarding the game. EB Games Australia is refusing to stock the game because the permanent saves makes resale and returns very difficult, and GameStop has reversed its decision to accept used copies of the game.

Capcom has denied [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/111337-Capcom-Denies-Anti-Used-Games-Stance-in-New-Resident-Evil-3DS-Game] that its decision was meant to curtail trade-ins, but it hasn't really come up with any other satisfactory reason why it would make save games permanent. A statement from Capcom avoided the question completely, and instead stressed the high level of replayablity built into the game.

Even if you're willing to Capcom the benefit of the doubt and accept that it didn't intend to make its game effectively worthless to the pre-owned market, it's impossible to deny that it's done a pretty amazing job of it. Capcom is presumably hoping that it will sell more copies, and it will be interesting to see if it actually does.

Source: VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/29/hmv-to-refuse-resident-evil-mercenaries-trade-ins-in-uk/]




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[Jonny49]

Capcom is presumably hoping that it will sell more copies

Yeah, perhaps in Opposite Land.

Such a stupid idea, I support HMV.

 

[Torrasque]

That doesn't even make sense at all =|
"Hey guys, I have a brilliant idea! Lets make it so your saved file is PERMANENT!"
'What if you do something stupid or fuck something up or just don't like the game and want a friend to try it?'
"OH COME ON. Who does that? Why would someone let someone ELSE play their game? And I KNOW everyone just LOVES this game to death"
'Ok dude...'

 

[josemlopes]

Their excuse is that is makes the game feel more like an arcade game being directly played from the arcades, but to play on the arcades we dont pay 40$ (or more, I dont even know the prices of the 3DS games).

The people that bought the game should do what the fuck they want with it instead of having to take this shit.

 

[Cleariously]

I hope Capcom enjoys the incredible amount of piracy it will now get.

 

[Mark Davison]

well, its not much, but they can chalk up one lost sale. I get pissed off enough when saves games are transferable (my brother fairly often bring a game home, starts playing it at mine, then finds he cant copy the save game. That cost Assassins Creed 2 a sale - he returned the following day because he couldnt be carsed to play through the first 2 hours again).

 

[JediMB]

EB Games Australia is refusing to stock the game because the permanent saves makes resale and returns very difficult

Good old EB Games. If they can't exploit the resale market, they're not getting involved at all.

(They charge too much for their games too. People really should stop buying from them.)

As for Mercenaries 3D? Well, while I despise what Capcom are doing, I wasn't really interested to begin with. It's Revelations I'm looking forward to.

 

[Woodsey]

Why introduce permanent saves then? And how they are not deletable anyway?

 

[Xanthious]

I hope this game absolutely bombs. This is a glowing example of how game makers drive otherwise honest consumers into piracy. In a desperate attempt at increasing their bottom line they end up shafting their legitimate customers.

Let's be honest. When the 3DS is cracked (and it will be you can bet on that) does anyone honestly think the ROM for this game won't have some way to reset data on it? You bet it will and because of that it will be superior to the retail copy. Now because Capcom's actions their would be customers will be faced with either paying for a gimped version or getting a superior version for free.

I continually am amazed that these devs and publishers can't see that all their intrusive DRM and moves to curtail this or that are hurting their legitimate customers far more than they will ever hurt pirates. When the pirated copy is often times superior to the retail copy is there any wonder people choose to get a superior free copy rather than paying for a inferior product.

Good old EB Games. If they can't exploit the resale market, they're not getting involved at all.

Honestly, I applaud EB Games for this. If I were them and Capcom pulled this shit that is an obvious attempt to hurt my sales not only would I stop carrying this particular game I wouldn't stock a single god damned new copy of ANY Capcom game. Let's see Capcom get their games out there without places like Gamestop and EB Games. Of course I'd still sell their used games happy in the knowledge that Capcom won't see a dime of that money.

Video games aren't special. Publishers think that for some reason they should be immune to the second hand market. Second hand sales have been around for as long as goods have been produced and sold. Game makers thinking they deserve special treatment is nothing more than greed in it's ugliest form. The way most of these companies act anymore I will gladly continue to give my money to Gamestop just to make sure I have the peace of mind that none of my money will be going to support companies like Activision or EA or now Capcom.

 

[teebeeohh]

and people will not buy a game that they can't trade in.
the 60$ price tag(for console games) would be a bigger obstacle if there was no option to reduce that price by trading the game in later on.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

But presumably this 'one-game-one-save' thingy not only scuppers resale value, but also totally nukes game rental from companies like LoveFilm? Are Capcom claiming that they now want no part in the game rental sector?

That seems a bit f*cking retarded, pardon my language, because unless you're absolutley rolling around in disposable income usually you'll rent a game first to see if it's worth buying and then fork over the dough if it is. But if Capcom are now saying that you'll have to hand over full retail price just to find out if the game is any good or not... ...

I can see this latest move turning a lot of people off Capcom titles.

 

[Trivun]

Personally, I hate Capcom's decision here, whether they did it on purpose or not - one way, they're screwing legitimate customers over, and the other way, they're simply guilty of being exceptionally lazy programmers (how hard is it to code in a save feature, after all?). So either way, Capcom are dicks at the moment. As for HMV, I actually support their decision. They've been given a crappy product, so avoiding disappointing customers is a perfectly reasonable approach. It's just a shame that they were forced to have to reach such a decision because of Capcom's laziness and/or dickishness...

 

[Cipher1]

This game may be really great but I honestly hope it tanks because I don't want companies thinking they can get away with this shit I do not want to see this become the norm.

 

[Feriluce]

While it might not be the best way to go about it, I applaud capcom for putting focus on the whole second hand game market thing.
Overall capcom will get more money on average from a pirated copy than from a used copy (assuming that some people who pirates buys the game afterwards, and that if you buy a used copy you have no incentive to buy a new one), Capcom will actually be making more money from driving people away from buying used and into piracy.

While I agree that it should never be illegal to resell your used games, I find it great that game companies are trying to find measures to make it less desireable to buy used.

 

[Spygon]

I am rather confused by so what happens then is there no start a new game option or does the game just load up your latest save.As what happens when you want to play the game again.Maybe i am being an idoit but i can not get my head around how a game with permanent saves works.

Also what happens when you put it into someone elses machine doesnt all saved games data get saved to the machine like every other game

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

According to the company's PR boss, Gennaro Castaldo, HMV took the decision to avoid any customer disappointment.

However, this:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/923f3eaa-a2f7-11e0-a9a4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Ql3NOIKl (HMV to turn back on CD and DVD sales)
might point to another reason why they did it. HMV have been doing some very shrewd marketing changes recently, including selling off Waterstones.

 

[tlozoot]

I am rather confused by so what happens then is there no start a new game option ir does the game just load up your latest save.As what happens when you want to play the game again.Maybe i am being an idoit but i can not get my head around how a game with permanent saves works.

Alos what happens when you put it into someone elses machine doesnt all saved games data get saved to the hard drive like every other game

Have you played a Nintendo handheld before?

 

[Spygon]

I am rather confused by so what happens then is there no start a new game option ir does the game just load up your latest save.As what happens when you want to play the game again.Maybe i am being an idoit but i can not get my head around how a game with permanent saves works.

Alos what happens when you put it into someone elses machine doesnt all saved games data get saved to the hard drive like every other game

Have you played a Nintendo handheld before?

Yes i have played the DS but not alot i guess my lack of knowledge of handhelds is causing the confusion thank you for clearing this up

 

[Zoomy]

I suppose we can assume for now that this isn't an anti-preowned gimmick. However, if it finds it's way onto other titles, then we can all suspect foul play.

 

[Sebenko]

As always, PC gaming shows what's coming in future.

DRM and no trade-ins.

And what's happening on consoles now?

So I suppose console gamers better get ready for more free to play stuff, I guess.