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

[Daft Ghosty]

Who buys second hand films or books? They aren't more special and they are to be bought and sold, BUT NOONE BUYS A SECOND HAND BLENDER.

I think you are a bit removed from the reality that most people live in. "NOONE" ? I own a second hand blender. I also own a second hand microwave, truck, and hundreds of movies, and music. I'd say over half my movies were purchased used, and more then half of my music collection. As for books, yep I have used books too. We have a used book store here called Rainy Day Books. That is but one of the used book stores I visit. Don't sit there and think to know what everyone can afford, and what they are able to afford. Xanthious is very correct in his view. His opinion is that of most of the people who buy used games, and other used products. And you ignore the other important points he makes. If game companies aren't making money, then there is a problem with their business model, not with the used game market.

As for acting like retailers are heroes for having the charity to buy back games at 10% of the price they sell it as preowned... you almost made a good point. Companies should buy back their own games and sell them on their website as preowned, that's not a bad idea. But noone would bother. Selling something to a retailer is just easier.

I'll respond to this too. As you point out they wont buy back games b/c its easier to just sell to retailers. As you point out they have a choice. And having that choice they have chosen to not buy the used games, and thus have chosen to cut themselves out of the profits from the sale of the used games. The game resellers are taking all the risk in buying the games. Not a dime comes from the publishers, so not a dime is owed.

 

[Hybridwolf]

I don't give a damn about this save system. What I find more annoying is that HUNK is in this, and I can't play the damn thing. That's why I'm looking forward to the new racoon city and rerelease of resi 4. He was a damned awesome character and I was gutted he's had so little screen time. Other then a bonus level in the on the rails shooter, he's has resi 2 and resi 4.

More to the point, why this gamemode? Seriously, this is not enough for a full game. Also, how are you going to handle co-op, if it even has it? This game should have been on console, but instead it's being used to help the new virtual boy.

 

[Genixma]

At least 250 people are going to buy this without knowing this. I just know they are.

 

[robert022614]

I know me an a lot of people I know are not going to get it. I am a huge fan of the RE series and was in Gamestop just yesterday looking to buy a game and I really wanted to play RE:M3D, but I bought a different game instead. A lot of people say if you will enjoy the game then a little thing like that shouldnt bother you. I say even if I love the series I cannot just be happy with it while Capcom might be taking the whole gaming industry in the wrong direction if this crap catches on.

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

There are stores all over dedicated to selling used media. Hell I personally buy most of my DVDs and Blu Rays secondhand. Back when I played pencil and paper RPGs I got most of my RPG books secondhand as well. It's just a better deal. Books are the same way. Used bookstores, while not a popular as they once were, can still be found in most cities.

As for the price Gamestop buys back games for well that's between Gamestop and the person selling the game. If the person feels it's too low they are more than free to sell it to someone other that Gamestop via eBay or craigslist or to a friend, etc. However, even at those low prices, people are still damn near lining up out the door to sell or trade their games to Gamestop of their own free will. You can't fault Gamestop really.

The real problem in all this though is this. If game makers really want to encourage people to buy new they need to give incentives to do so. Make the new product better than the used. This is different than holding back content already on the disc or taking away multiplayer. That is just punishing those who buy used. There is a difference. People aren't stupid they know a dick move when they see it and things like project 10 dollar and their ilk are just that, dick moves. Maybe they include a small collectible item, maybe they offer the first piece of DLC (NOT day 1 DLC already on the disc) free to new customers. Actually make it a worth while endeavor and not addition by subtraction.

Really? I can honestly say I've never bought a second hand book or video. I worked at Oxfam so I've sold them and the people you were selling them too... were generally not of the current generation let's say. In time, I think less and less people will be buying second hand books from shops just because rare books aren't as hard to find anymore with the internet and normal books just aren't that expensive anymore. That's not even mentioning the Kindle, but if I mention that then I'd have to mention Steam and XBLA and, well.

Actually, let's go there. If Capcom and others want to compete with used games, they HAVE to make use of the digital market. When it comes down to it, retailers decide how much they want to sell the new game for and how much they want to sell the preowned one for. They could sell them at the same price but they don't because there's less profit for them. But, if they made proper use of XBL and PSN, they could release a game on there after the initial sales have figured themselves out for a price that's competitive with preowned games. Sometimes they do, but they don't market it at all. They don't let people know there games are available and that's the difficulty.

I get worked up about stuff like this because I used to do stuff in the games industry and I can tell you it's a lot of work for not much money and no real thanks. Unless you love making games, it's a shit job. That's why I don't do it anymore.

 

[Podunk]

A lot of people complaining about this don't seem to have any idea what kind of game this is. There isn't any story or plot, there's nothing to stop you from doing every single thing all over again. It's a time-wasting arcade style game. That's like bitching about how you can't make a new save file for your Tetris game because somebody else's name is on the high score list. I really don't see how not having a save file "seriously affects trade-in value" either. If people want to buy the game used they can live with the high scores that all belong to "ASS" that come with their copy. Capcom's job is not to make other people money, and though I think it is mildly stupid not to have some sort of main menu reset code like a lot of similar games, it is nowhere near as big a deal as everyone and their media outlet is making this out to be.

 

[SailorShale]

It's the idea that is stressing. Yeah an arcade-style thing that won't let you delete your data is not a huge deal (although that stinks for people who want to erase records from the previous owners). But what if other games had this in? What if some other company puts this idea into motion? It's just plain out retarded and Capcom won't even give us a good reason for it (seeing as every other arcade-style game has the ability to erase records).

Companies need to stop being so greedy. Buying a used game =/= piracy. While we're at it, let's ban pawn shops and eBay for selling used items. After all, it's stealing because it was already bought new at some point!!!

 

[Babitz]

Actually, this is what we deserved. Lot's of people ***** and moan about piracy while supporting trading used games which makes publishers lose more money than piracy.
So if you're really against piracy and you want to give more money to developers, Capcom did a great job. I hope you're all happy because the pirated versions will be much better than the original, like the case with DRM and SecuRom.
I laughed at this first, but then I remembered Oblivion and horse armor DLC's.

And yes, used games == piracy from a moneymaking perspective.

 

[Podunk]

Also, how are you going to handle co-op, if it even has it?

Well you see, in a co-op, or "two player" game, one person plays one character and the second person plays another, different character. Instead of trying to defeat the other person, both people play together to achieve a common goal, cooperatively.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_gameplay
For your further edification.

Seriously, though, are you asking how you can play a handheld game cooperatively? Because there are many, many DS and 3DS games you can play multiplayer.

 

[StBishop]

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.

Your alternatives are not really any cheaper. The only exception would be individual GameTraders stores which vary due to being franchises.

Although I buy from GAME as much as possible as they're the financial underdog.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Ahhh, yes, that age old debate about used sales.

Might I chime in?

I don?t think devs or publishers deserve any money on resale

At least where I live, we have something called ?The First Sale Doctrine?. This protects people who sell things second hand. In other words, a record label cannot force you to send them money if you give your friend your CD or lend him your iPod. It is an inextricable part of consumer rights law. To remove it, even in one case, would allow car corporations to demand money on resale of cars. Building companies to demand money for resale on houses. Book publishers to demand money for sale of used books. Video games get no special treatment.

Let me ask you this: if used sales are such a problem for the industry, shouldn?t the digital version cost less? After all, you can?t resell your games on Steam. But no, that is not the case. Which leads me to believe something like this occurred (And please forgive the numbers, I just wanted to make a point)

Bean Counter: Sir, I just got the latest numbers in
Corporate Guy: Awesome. Lay them on me
Bean Counter: We sold 2.5 Million units
Corporate Guy: Yesssss
Bean Counter: And around 4 million people logged into our servers
Corporate Guy: WHAT? HOW CAN THIS BE?
Bean Counter: Likely, those people bought the game second hand
Corporate Guy: That Gamestop is screwing us out of a sale! THIS MAKES ME MAD!!!
Bean Counter: Well sir, we could offer some DLC or the like for people who buy new?
Corporate Guy: NEVER! Gamestop should GIVE us the money they make on the sale
Bean Counter: Sir, please, take that puppy out of your mouth
Corporate Guy: SCILENCE FOOL!



In addition, should they deserve resale money on games they no longer make? I mean, Square no longer makes FFX (Or if they do, add another game), so when my friend recently wanted to play it he had to get it used. Does Square deserve the sale on something like this when they have abandoned the item? No. What about games that they still make, but are nearly impossible to find new?

Further, people have been predicting the end of industries based around used sales for far too long. The best way to fight used sales is to make a game people want to keep. Or give extras to people who buy new.

But stop attacking the First Sale Doctrine

 

[Podunk]

But what if other games had this in?

This is the killer question that everyone keeps asking. Let's apply this elsewhere. Some games only offer a single player experience. What if the next Call of Duty is only one player!? It's sensationalist, hypothetical and really doesn't make much sense. There are hundreds of games on Kongregate with no save files for example and that's okay. Why? BECAUSE THEY DON'T NEED A SAVE FILE.

IF(and that is a big, BIG IF) a game with an actual storyline or any kind of progression doesn't have a save/delete function then we can all throw a fit. Until then people need to come to their senses and stop Amazonbombing a perfectly serviceable game. This is worse than the Portal 2 hat outcry.

 

[Treblaine]

Well done capcom.
Seriously well done.
I now almost feel like pirating all of your games just out of spite, even though i have no intrest in them. (i won't btw)
OUT OF SPITE!
So... does this mean if your running low on memeory you can't free up some space?
Or does it work differently for this?

Mercenaries is a challenge type game where you complete levels in certain time or for points within a time, the new times over-write the old times and a you do better you unlock more weapon characters that are permanently unlocked.

It's a bit like having a permanent CoD profile that you cannot "prestige" or reset.

PS: piracy tells them "we did EVERYTHING right but they just stole it, they are bad, we did everything right" they'll just do the same thing but take harsher measures. I've seen this happen over and over again.

You want to fuck them, spam 1-star reviews and ***** slap all your friends who even think of buying it. Give LOTS of traffic to the bad reviews, it seem that Metacritics "weighting" is dependant on how often each critic is viewed.

THAT is how you spite them!

 

[Babitz]

Also, I am a PC gamer mainly, so for those complaining that they wont be able to resell their games: Boo hoo...I havent ever been able to do that, but ya know what? I keep buying them.

The hoarder in me likes this, I hated back then I gamed mainly on consoles, I couldn't afford a new game without sacrificing several others to the trade-in god. Then when I wanted to go back and play that really cool game... shit, I sold it. AND I BUY IT BACK FROM THE SAME STORE GRRAHAHAHHAH-AHHH!!!

Yeah, but PC gamers pay less. Especially with Steam Sales. Hold on while I check my account and see how much I have spent ...

... turns out in the past 4 years I have spent around £1100 for 270 games.

That is on average only £4 per game!

Still, £1100 over 4 years, that's £275 per year. Only 5 new games per year including Xbox Live Gold Membership if I were on console.

Steam has spoiled me, every time I go games shopping (retail) I see console games on average 4x their price on Steam, they play worse and I've even get put off starting playing on my console. See, I fire up my console and get comfortable on the couch (the main appeal of console games) then realise unlike steam I can't just pick the game I want from an easy library! I have to go hunting for a game disc GRRAAAARG!

Haha
I really know what you mean by that, man. Ever since I discovered the wonderful convenience that is Steam, and digital purchase in general, I really feel uneasy about going to a store and using up physical storage space. I even purchase my groceries via internet nowadays.
Steam is the best thing that happened to gaming in the past decade.

 

[Hybridwolf]

Also, how are you going to handle co-op, if it even has it?

Well you see, in a co-op, or "two player" game, one person plays one character and the second person plays another, different character. Instead of trying to defeat the other person, both people play together to achieve a common goal, cooperatively.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_gameplay
For your further edification.

Seriously, though, are you asking how you can play a handheld game cooperatively? Because there are many, many DS and 3DS games you can play multiplayer.

Ask a stupid question, get a highly pretenious answer back I guess. The only way you could get more a smartarse answer is if you used bloody pictures. I'll admit though, it was silly mistake.

 

[robert022614]

The fact that games are trying to be the same as other media like movies, books or music yet want to be completely different from movies, books or music in a second hand sense bugs me a little bit. Games are a billion dollar industry and the top people of the big companys like Kotick (just an example of people who make alot of money yet dont actually contribute much to the actual product) and such complain from their million dollar estates that they are not making enough money to pay the people who actually make the games good money bugs me. Piracy and used game sales seems like a scapegoat to not cut into their budget. I think people on the bottom should start looking up at the people above instead of at their consumers and raise some hell.

 

[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.

Your alternatives are not really any cheaper. The only exception would be individual GameTraders stores which vary due to being franchises.

Although I buy from GAME as much as possible as they're the financial underdog.

I should probably point out that I'm not an Aussie, although I have friends over there. One of whom I've purchased and shipped over games for to save him money.

Over here in Sweden, though, I used to have two GAME stores easily accessible. One on town, one in a suburb. They've both closed down since EB Games set up shop, which I find sad. We still have plenty of home electronics stores that sell games at much better prices than EB Games, though.

And these days I order 99% of all my games online, from either a select few Swedish retailers (good for pre-orders) or Amazon UK (deliciously cheap).

 

[Thaius]

Why has The Escapist's news articles treated this like a good idea? It's awful. It's screwing over the customer in order to make more money by avoiding a perfectly legitimate way to buy games. That's not okay, at all, by any stretch. Screw Capcom on this one. I hope no one buys the game.