I've been following this thread for a bit now and I have to admit that I can see the points you are trying to make, Hopeless Bastard. And it is a compelling argument.
I earlier posted a link to a page that talks about PC game piracy. I did this to make a point about how for a long time piracy has been used as a straw man to argue for increased prices, to blame lost revenue on, to show the need for DRM and onerous copy protection and anti-piracy measures, but that in essence these all miss the point that the industry isn't driven by those that pirate games, but those that produce them and consumers, and that consumers ultimately decide what will be successful.
Now the PC game market and Console game market are so completely different that it bears a quick comment on for the purpose of this thread.
There simply is no used game market for PC games outside of going on EBay, where transactions are individual to individual, or buying old games through digital download through Steam and Impulse and other services. This is because the evolution cycle for PCs means that in 18 months your next PC will be twice as powerful as your current one, and games made for the current level of PC technology will be obsolete in a handful of years. Only a few PC games stand the test of time and outlive this cycle.
On the other hand, Console games usually follow a 5-10 year cycle, as there's usually some carryover from the last version of a console to the current one. This creates a huge backlog of games that are still just as playable now as they were 3-4 years ago, even longer in some cases.
Also, the video game industry is still a relatively new one and is undergoing some tricky growing pains right now. Large development companies are churning out a lot of content on a rapid cycle, and this means that you end up with games with relatively short play time, or games that are just barely playable and shoved out the door way too soon, or that are just not good at all. But the promotional side of the business keeps hyping each new release as some new Second Coming of Christ or similar nonsense.
As a result, we have a marketplace that's overloaded with content and outside of a few credible sources no real way to tell what's good and what's bad. Add to this the fact that many consumers have been burned badly in the past and are reluctant to buy again. And on top of this, other big chains such as Best Buy have extremely limited return policies, so consumers can't even express their dislike or lack of interest in something through this process.
Enter into this situation Gamestop. They found a clear niche in this market and jumped straight in, turning it into a massively profitable business. Now people have a place to go to dispose of their backlog, or to dump that 'Greatest Shooter EVER!' and get something they want. They can find old games that aren't even being published any more but are still fun to play.
Of course, consumers are still losing out a bit because they're still not getting full value for their trade ins, and developers aren't seeing a dime in revenue from this, but it's still a better situation for consumers then it was before. As for the developers?
The argument is that piracy is less evil then used game sales as far as the industry (i.e. developers) are concerned, and since the industry doesn't see any money from either and they perceive additional lost income due to people not buying new releases and buying 'gently used' new releases, I can see their point.
I think the industry has been so involved in the bogeyman that is piracy that they've only recently come to the realization that used game sales are a much bigger problem, and are overreacting in the same way they did with piracy.
What I have a problem with is that no one seems to be coming up with a viable alternative to Gamestop. Most solutions seem to be based on putting pressure on consumers rather then adding value to a new game purchase as opposed to buying used. And I think that's what upsets a lot of people here. If there was an alternative that supported both consumers and the industry I think people would be more willing to admit to the problems in the current situation.
For example, if EA offered a program where every time you purchased a game new you gained a certain amount of credit for purchasing another new game, such as purchasing Madden '10 new gave you future credit to purchasing Madden '11 new, you might see more loyalty to the brand and the company. I'm hoping to see more ideas here, just tossing one out.
Regardless, this has been a good thread and it brought this lurker out to post finally.
