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

[Arfreid]

Well, this is interesting. A feature that makes you personalice your game that can't be taken back? I can think of a few online games that do that but I dont particularly like/dislike the idea. It could prove to be very interesting.

I don't usually trade in games either but I am buying used games lately (So poor QQ) so it's a shame that I won't be able to play it until a price drop

 

[Cabisco]

It's a pretty interesting way to see if it will boost sales, I don't nessessarily blame gaming companies trying to find ways to make a little more money as they don't make any from resales.

Two things i'm interested in:

What games have made a significant amount for gamestop etc from resales (wondering how it compares to actual new game sales)

And just as importantly, will this cause more piracy or as I suspect just give pirates an excuse to tell people.

 

[poiuppx]

So, their strategy is to eliminate the ability for people to borrow or trade or resell the game, thus drastically reducing its overall end-user value, AND preventing themselves from being involved in game rentals using this product because it can't be reset by the next player. They're actively pissing off a lot of gamers AND eliminating several outlets from being willing to carry it at all.

...am I the only one thinking this cunning plan wasn't thought all the way through?

 

[Yopaz]

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.

I agree with you so very much. I don't give a shit about the resale market, they're just making money while the developers don't get any share of it. Resident Evil The Mercenaries didn't interest me, and I can't wait for Revelations.

OT: I'd rather see retailers suffer than developers. Why? Because retailers don't make games, and we wont see less games if a few retailers don't make it. However we will see a lot less games if even one developer doesn't make it. I just hope they start pushing for more digital distribution. No resales, and it's very convenient.

 

[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.

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).

That makes sense.

See, in Australia EB Games (owned by GameStop) are actually much cheaper usually than their competition a few months after release.

I saw Arkham Asylum for $109.00 6 months after release at MYER (If you don't have MYER near you, think Target, or Kmart, or Walmart but Fancier) by this time, it will have been on sale at EB, in fact I went into an EB to get a comparison on the same day, it was on sale for $70.00 and the normal price was $89.95.

I don't know if that's the case where you guys all live, but EB don't really bleed us out as much as they could. Sure they charge $119.95 for almost every game on release day, but they are also happy to match any deal you can prove with a photo or catalouge (or that they can verify by calling the shop in question). They aren't evil, they're just a little too powerful for my liking. As you said, when they move in the competition dies off, their market presence is too great for any independent shops to compete.

 

[Yopaz]

-Snip-

Not sure if you thought through your post before you posted, but if a game sells 2.5 million copies that's the exact maximum numbers of person who can log on. If one of those 2.5 million copies gets sold to another person there's still only 2.5 million units of the game in the system, no more can play it.

Also ask yourself, who paid for the game to be made in the first place, GameStop or the developer?
If the developers can't keep making games this will mean GameStop wont have any games to sell, new or used.
Also this is not a matter of discussing if the developer should get a share from used game sales. As I've seen so far you are the first to even mention it, so please, keep to the topic at hand when you argue against what Capcom is doing. This is a matter of preventing resale altogether. Also, it works.

 

[StBishop]

It's a pretty interesting way to see if it will boost sales, I don't nessessarily blame gaming companies trying to find ways to make a little more money as they don't make any from resales.

Two things i'm interested in:

What games have made a significant amount for gamestop etc from resales (wondering how it compares to actual new game sales)

And just as importantly, will this cause more piracy or as I suspect just give pirates an excuse to tell people.

I'm not sure if you're asking for Sale of "Game x New vs Game x Pre-Owned Sale profit" or "Games in general New vs Games in general Pre-Owned Sale Profit"

I can guarantee you that Profit from pre-owned games is immense compared with new titles. The mark up really isn't very much at all (in Australia).

The current business model of game retailers in Australia would be unsustainable if they simply stopped selling pre-owned games, as far as I'm aware this is common knowledge over here (I've known it since primary/elementary school circa 2002).

As far as individual games go, I honestly don't know.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

-Snip-

Not sure if you thought through your post before you posted, but if a game sells 2.5 million copies that's the exact maximum numbers of person who can log on. If one of those 2.5 million copies gets sold to another person there's still only 2.5 million units of the game in the system, no more can play it.

Ah, what I ment was that 2.5 million people loged into the servers from 4 million differnet systems. I am told they can do that.

Also ask yourself, who paid for the game to be made in the first place, GameStop or the developer?
If the developers can't keep making games this will mean GameStop wont have any games to sell, new or used.

Why are video games any different than books? They have been sold used. I know a used book store near me who runs like this. OH NOES! THERE WON'T BE ANY BOOKS SOON! See how stupid that line of reasoning is. There may be devs who go under. But last I checked, it's because they made bad games, not because people got the game used. I'm sure you can point to a dev that went under and say "Used sales did this" but I bet you anything there are other factors. The guys who made Crackdown were upset over used sales. But they didn't go under until APB bombed.

Let me state this: We just won a court case that says we get the same 1st Amendment protection as other forms of media. So why should we be treated any differnet in terms of used sales?

Also this is not a matter of discussing if the developer should get a share from used game sales. As I've seen so far you are the first to even mention it, so please, keep to the topic at hand when you argue against what Capcom is doing. This is a matter of preventing resale altogether. Also, it works.

I was seeing people talk about used sales before this. Phoenix Arrow said that we should see how resale is "evil". And how this will fight it. I was mererly making some thoughts on the matter

I don't mind things like Project $10 and the like, or giving DLC to people who buy new. But saying that devs or publishers deserve a cut of resale is just outright silly.

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

I'm getting sick of these companies giving us the finger. Especially since this game isn't even that good.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Capcom this makes me want to buy it used even more so, which I will when I can get it for much cheaper. If you try to screw me over, then dammit I make sure to do the same to you.

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

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!

Spiteful hi-five!
WOO!

Time to go f**k CAPCOM...
P.S love dead rising 2 capcom.

 

[Yopaz]

-Snip-

Not sure if you thought through your post before you posted, but if a game sells 2.5 million copies that's the exact maximum numbers of person who can log on. If one of those 2.5 million copies gets sold to another person there's still only 2.5 million units of the game in the system, no more can play it.

Ah, what I ment was that 2.5 million people loged into the servers from 4 million differnet systems. I am told they can do that.

Also ask yourself, who paid for the game to be made in the first place, GameStop or the developer?
If the developers can't keep making games this will mean GameStop wont have any games to sell, new or used.

Why are video games any different than books? They have been sold used. I know a used book store near me who runs like this. OH NOES! THERE WON'T BE ANY BOOKS SOON! See how stupid that line of reasoning is. There may be devs who go under. But last I checked, it's because they made bad games, not because people got the game used. I'm sure you can point to a dev that went under and say "Used sales did this" but I bet you anything there are other factors. The guys who made Crackdown were upset over used sales. But they didn't go under until APB bombed.

Let me state this: We just won a court case that says we get the same 1st Amendment protection as other forms of media. So why should we be treated any differnet in terms of used sales?

Also this is not a matter of discussing if the developer should get a share from used game sales. As I've seen so far you are the first to even mention it, so please, keep to the topic at hand when you argue against what Capcom is doing. This is a matter of preventing resale altogether. Also, it works.

I was seeing people talk about used sales before this. Phoenix Arrow said that we should see how resale is "evil". And how this will fight it. I was mererly making some thoughts on the matter

I don't mind things like Project $10 and the like, or giving DLC to people who buy new. But saying that devs or publishers deserve a cut of resale is just outright silly.

Books are different compared to movies and games because they don't take millions and huge teams to make, the only books that take a lot of people are huge encyclopedias, and buying those used usually means you'll end up with outdated information. I also never claimed that buying used books isn't bad, here's some math for you. To make one modern video game with HD graphics you need maybe 30 millions. If they don't get in at least 30 millions from the sales that will be a money sink. Call of Duty which isn't a great series still manages to rack up money. Great games that are perhaps a little innovative often loses money because they don't repeat what others have done. These are often the biggest money sinks that prevent them from creating innovative games, this can't be blamed solely on used games however.

I am a huge fan of the Tales series. This is a series that always come out with great games, but the developers and publishers rarely release them here because it's too much of a risk they wont earn enough money to sustain their income. This is despite the fact that most of their games usually get average scores around 80-90+.

Also, the fact that some claim that developers should get a cut from used game sales is no part of this article, but it made up the majority of your post which made you post sidestep the issue actually being discussed. That Capcom restricts usage of the game to both loyal customers and those who buy used which I think is messed up to say the least, yet you argue about something that has nothing to do with that!

Also, if you want to make a reply to this, don't do it without answering this question. Who do you value the most, your favourite developer or your favourite game store?

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

-Snip-

Not sure if you thought through your post before you posted, but if a game sells 2.5 million copies that's the exact maximum numbers of person who can log on. If one of those 2.5 million copies gets sold to another person there's still only 2.5 million units of the game in the system, no more can play it.

Ah, what I ment was that 2.5 million people loged into the servers from 4 million differnet systems. I am told they can do that.

Also ask yourself, who paid for the game to be made in the first place, GameStop or the developer?
If the developers can't keep making games this will mean GameStop wont have any games to sell, new or used.

Why are video games any different than books? They have been sold used. I know a used book store near me who runs like this. OH NOES! THERE WON'T BE ANY BOOKS SOON! See how stupid that line of reasoning is. There may be devs who go under. But last I checked, it's because they made bad games, not because people got the game used. I'm sure you can point to a dev that went under and say "Used sales did this" but I bet you anything there are other factors. The guys who made Crackdown were upset over used sales. But they didn't go under until APB bombed.

Let me state this: We just won a court case that says we get the same 1st Amendment protection as other forms of media. So why should we be treated any differnet in terms of used sales?

Also this is not a matter of discussing if the developer should get a share from used game sales. As I've seen so far you are the first to even mention it, so please, keep to the topic at hand when you argue against what Capcom is doing. This is a matter of preventing resale altogether. Also, it works.

I was seeing people talk about used sales before this. Phoenix Arrow said that we should see how resale is "evil". And how this will fight it. I was mererly making some thoughts on the matter

I don't mind things like Project $10 and the like, or giving DLC to people who buy new. But saying that devs or publishers deserve a cut of resale is just outright silly.

Books are different compared to movies and games because they don't take millions and huge teams to make, the only books that take a lot of people are huge encyclopedias, and buying those used usually means you'll end up with outdated information. I also never claimed that buying used books isn't bad, here's some math for you. To make one modern video game with HD graphics you need maybe 30 millions. If they don't get in at least 30 millions from the sales that will be a money sink. Call of Duty which isn't a great series still manages to rack up money. Great games that are perhaps a little innovative often loses money because they don't repeat what others have done. These are often the biggest money sinks that prevent them from creating innovative games, this can't be blamed solely on used games however.

I guess I can see that.

I am a huge fan of the Tales series. This is a series that always come out with great games, but the developers and publishers rarely release them here because it's too much of a risk they wont earn enough money to sustain their income. This is despite the fact that most of their games usually get average scores around 80-90+.

That's sad. But I don't see the point, really.

Also, the fact that some claim that developers should get a cut from used game sales is no part of this article, but it made up the majority of your post which made you post sidestep the issue actually being discussed. That Capcom restricts usage of the game to both loyal customers and those who buy used which I think is messed up to say the least, yet you argue about something that has nothing to do with that!

There were people chiming in about used sales before I came along. I merely stated my mind on the topic

The only reason this exists is to kill used sales. It even hurts people who bought it first who want to restart the game. I am saying that devs and publishers need to get their head out of their ass on this one.

Also, if you want to make a reply to this, don't do it without answering this question. Who do you value the most, your favourite developer or your favourite game store?

My favorite dev. Which is why I buy most of my games from them new. But when going into a new dev or a new IP, I feel a lot safer when I can buy used and not risk as much. Bioware let me down with the romances in DA:II. Obsidian let me down with bugs. Gamestop, however, helped my mother out and made sure my younger brother got the promotional pokemon he wanted. They gave her a BRAND NEW copy of Black Ops when his broke because they didn't, at the moment, have a used copy. But this is getting off topic. I vote we just drop this issue, at least on this tread.

*Extends hand*
A truce?

I will be back to any topic, however, which a poster claims that devs and publishers deserve money on resale.

Farewell!

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

I'm starting to wish the games industry does collapse, send all those motherfuckers to unemployment. Try making your racist little zombie games now.

 

[Macgyvercas]

You know, Chrono Trigger for the DS had no delete feature. Know how I got around that? I overwrote the file.

Did Chrono Trigger have multiple save file slots (never played the DS version), because this game apparently doesn't so you can't even overwrite the save file. I think that's why everyone is getting so upset.

CT had three save files. I've only ever used the first slot, and when I want to restart, I just save over it.

But not letting you even overwrite? That's just low.

 

[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...'

I pointed this out in the last thread about this, but having save slots (Which can be deleted) doesn't go back to the beginning of video games. I can't remember too many names at the moment, but most of the games I played as a kid only had one save file that couldn't be erased. (Most of them were on the Gameboy, sure, but hey.) Dragonball Z Supersonic Warriors was one, but that was for the Advance.

Yeah, and Pokemon only has 1 save file, but you can still delete it.
Apparently your game isn't saved as is for everything you do, but even still, I like the fact that at any time I want, I can start at 0 for any game of mine.

 

[Treblaine]

Ohhh yeah, Steam (and Impulse, love Sins of a solar empire <3) have really spoiled me, just click and boot up the game to play, no hassle or having lots of CD cases laying around anymore.

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.

Speak of the devil, what has just started on steam?

[HEADING=2]STEAM SUMMER SALE MUUUAAHAHAHAH!![/HEADING]

Borderlands: Game of the Year edition = £7.50 incl. ALL the DLC!

That's less than half what the best online price for the 360 version

 

[sunpop]

Whats the problem here, they just are making it so they can make more money off it instead of the stores making a large chunk. Both parties still make a fair bit of cash and this is far less horrible than the shit other companies like ubisoft pull with DRM. This seems more like giving people a reason to complain about something pointless.