Developer Calls Pre-Owned Sales a Bigger Problem than Piracy on Consoles

M

MegaDrive20XX

Segatron Genesis... call me the wizard.
I love this one! I had a good feeling the developers were bothered by used game sales.

Piracy is considered a serious problem on the PC, but it's taken equally seriously on the console front, where pirates use Wii Homebrew channels and other tricks to play games for free. Blitz Games Studios co-founder Andrew Oliver sees a bigger problem though.

"Arguably the bigger problem on consoles now is the trading in of games," Oliver told Develop.

"I understand why players do this, games are expensive and after a few weeks of playing you?ve either beaten it, or got bored of it so trading it back in to help pay for the next seems sensible when people are short of cash."

Oliver cited figured that suggested that games can be traded in as many as four times, in effect quartering royalties owed publishers and developers.

Calling it a "much bigger problem than piracy on the main consoles," Oliver said that the issue will likely push publishers further toward digital downloads and DLC.

EA is arguably at the forefront of the move to digital delivery, announcing the introduction of "Online Passes" to its line of sports games yesterday. These one-time codes offer a plethora of additional content to users, with additional downloads costing $10.00

The Online Passes program will kick off next month. Assuming that other developers agree with Oliver, don't be surprised if they follow in EA's footsteps.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3179253
 
They may whine and complain about it but if they take it to the point of going all digital the game developers are either going to have to drasticly cut prices or the market for games is shrink by a rather large precent.
 
EA and Gamestop...I really wish they both would disappear. Just *poof* and they are gone...Ah, one can wish, eh?
 
x2 said:
EA and Gamestop...I really wish they both would disappear. Just *poof* and they are gone...Ah, one can wish, eh?
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If developers move to digital distribution, wouldn't Gamestop be out of the market before too long?
 
I love used games. Especially since mine are all PS3 games. Blu Rays never have scratches or smudges. It's awesome. Just like brand new.
 
Strubes said:
I love used games. Especially since mine are all PS3 games. Blu Rays never have scratches or smudges. It's awesome. Just like brand new.
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How do you mean? The actual disc is more durable than DVD?
 
They're probably going to get sued and this will all end soon.

If anyone recalls back in the '90's. There were some music recording artists (led by Garth Brooks) that tried to do something similar with used sales. That got scrapped because the courts decided consumers can do whatever they want with their purchased products. I see the same happening.
 
I see a crash?
Used games is the only way I've been able to support my habit in the last four years.
No more yard sale bargains?
No more flea market around the corner specials?
Whats a gamer to do? :?
Maybe we should carry this guys logic into other areas, lets see, we could eliminate DVDs, (they have already tried Cd's as mentioned), etc.

I am the type of gamer who likes to hold it in my hand and feel of it. I like the box, the little manual, or paper thingy. I like touching the cart, disc or whatever. Downloading content to some sort-of storage medium in a console creates a situation in which limits the lifespan of that system. Lets face it, in ten years what use is the console if you cannot download content and your stuck with a limited number of games and no way to change that. How do you determine the resale value of such a system, Which I know that is the whole point of the idea. *My system has Halo Fantasy Zombie Nation 8, so it brings a higher price?* I would think that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft would think twice before venturing that route. Maybe I am just an "old fashioned gamer" with old ideas of "the way its supposed to be" dancing around in my head. Maybe I am not just ready for that generation of gaming.

I guess that sounded like a rant. It sure did to me after rereading it. :lol
 
Well I liked your rant and I couldn't agree more. Seems that the more mainstream gaming gets, the more greedy the industry becomes.
 
Strubes said:
I love used games. Especially since mine are all PS3 games. Blu Rays never have scratches or smudges. It's awesome. Just like brand new.
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Same for me. Besides, it's cheaper on me instead of paying full price on digital download. :-\
 
retro junkie said:
I see a crash?
Used games is the only way I've been able to support my habit in the last four years.
No more yard sale bargains?
No more flea market around the corner specials?
Whats a gamer to do? :?
Maybe we should carry this guys logic into other areas, lets see, we could eliminate DVDs, (they have already tried Cd's as mentioned), etc.

I am the type of gamer who likes to hold it in my hand and feel of it. I like the box, the little manual, or paper thingy. I like touching the cart, disc or whatever. Downloading content to some sort-of storage medium in a console creates a situation in which limits the lifespan of that system. Lets face it, in ten years what use is the console if you cannot download content and your stuck with a limited number of games and no way to change that. How do you determine the resale value of such a system, Which I know that is the whole point of the idea. *My system has Halo Fantasy Zombie Nation 8, so it brings a higher price?* I would think that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft would think twice before venturing that route. Maybe I am just an "old fashioned gamer" with old ideas of "the way its supposed to be" dancing around in my head. Maybe I am not just ready for that generation of gaming.

I guess that sounded like a rant. It sure did to me after rereading it. :lol
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Exactly. There's nothing like looking over at your game shelf and basking in the glory of a copy of Earthbound, or whatever your treasure may be. :D
 
Lol I think you guys are missing the point. Its for online features. If anything this might even make games go down in price esrlier or we'll get less sports titles being traded in (hopefully)

I doubt GS is going to be selling Preowned games for $5 less than new copies, an uninformed buyer is going to figure it out and they'll have plenty of time to return it.

Makes sense you know, it costs them money to keep games online, why shouldn't the developers get paid for their product? :P
 
Snatcher_L said:
Lol I think you guys are missing the point. Its for online features. If anything this might even make games go down in price esrlier or we'll get less sports titles being traded in (hopefully)

I doubt GS is going to be selling Preowned games for $5 less than new copies, an uninformed buyer is going to figure it out and they'll have plenty of time to return it.

Makes sense you know, it costs them money to keep games online, why shouldn't the developers get paid for their product? :P
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Well, as far as the 360 is concerned, some of the cost for the Gold subscription goes towards the servers. So they do get paid for it in a sense. The thing is, so many games are now online oriented that some people have no other choice but to pay. Which is sad because it's already on the disc.

It will not make prices go down. You think GS cares that people have to pay extra for features that should already be available to the player?
 
CreepinDeth said:
Well, as far as the 360 is concerned, some of the cost for the Gold subscription goes towards the servers. So they do get paid for it in a sense. The thing is, so many games are now online oriented that some people have no other choice but to pay. Which is sad because it's already on the disc.

It will not make prices go down. You think GS cares that people have to pay extra for features that should already be available to the player?
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Who's gonna buy a Pre-owned game when it'll end up costing around the same price, used games that were recently released are usually just 5-10 dollars cheaper. You have 7 days to return a game for any reason to any GS or EB. If the consumer finds out after that timeframe then it's their fault.
 
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