I can't believe this is what companies are coming too...

N

Nova

Boom-shacka-lacka
In what can only be described as the worst idea ever, Epic Games’ Michael Capps let slip one of the many ideas developers are passing around to try and curb people from buying used games:

The secondary market is a huge issue in the United States. Our primary retailer makes the majority of its money off of secondary sales, and so you’re starting to see games taking proactive steps toward that by… if you buy the retail version you get the unlock code.

I’ve talked to some developers who are saying ‘If you want to fight the final boss you go online and pay USD 20, but if you bought the retail version you got it for free’. We don’t make any money when someone rents it, and we don’t make any money when someone buys it used - way more than twice as many people played Gears than bought it.
…if this happens I will shut this site down and never buy another game again. Seriously, this is akin to renting Star Wars: Episode III and being told you need to input a purchase code to view the Mustafar lightsaber fight. It’s absolute bullcrap and, frankly, unfair to the consumer. With this idea you’re asking people to pay $60 for what is, in essence, a broken game.

Oh, and then there is the possibility that somebody (I’m looking at EA) decided to milk the consumer out of a few more dollars and make them pay another $5-10 to basically fix their game.

…and then there are those who don’t have internet…

http://www.bingegamer.net/2008/epics-capps-make-game-endings-dlc/

WARNING: Language / Cursing

Sure this helps out the publishers a ton, but it's a big slap in the face to consumers. >:(
 
Not to mention that codes are not that reliable. What happens if your code doesn't work? What if someone steals it? What if you don't get one?

I can see why developers and publishers would be frustrated with GameStop being evil and all, but still this is not the way to thwart used game sales. Actually, it will just end up being futile. Just like when Garth Brooks and other artists tried to get money from used CD purchases. He lost.
 
*Flash Forward to the distant Future*
A gamer sitting on his couch gets up and walks over to his gaming console. He takes out his credit card and swipes it in his game console. Now he is able to go to level three.

>:(

If they release such a crappy idea into the video game market, what happens if you loose your code, or better yet, the company no longer is putting the code up for that game anymore? There is a lot of holes in that idea that could really slap the gamer in the face. In the present economical environment, used games is all that I can hope to purchase. I don't like the idea at all. I don't like the idea that they are even thinking in this way. You would think that they would come up with some type of idea that would intice a gamer to want that new game rather than force you to want it.
 
Yeah everyone has been trying to stop the used market. Truth is, it's not going anywhere. It's raking in too much money.
 
So let me get this straight...

Because retail outlets such as Gamestop, who barring a few anecdotal exceptions are generally villified by gamers for their terrible customer service and business practices, are finding ways to increase their own profit margin at the expense of the Publisher's, the Publisher's answer to that is to then get that profit back at the expense of their own customers?

It feels like I'm taking crazy pills!

If publishers are really so concerned about Gamestop reselling their games then put pressure on Gamestop to stop. If EA, Activision, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, and Ubisoft (6 of the biggest publishers in the videogame industry) all got together and told Gamestop that they wouldn't let Gamestop distribute their games unless there was some sort of limit on games could be traded (games older than 1 year, for example) the problem would cease to exist. Customers would still get great games used at cheap prices (they'd just have to be patient), Gamestop would still make obscene amounts of profit, and publishers and developers would get the full amount of sales and earnings for their game titles. Solve the problem at its source (Retail distribution outlets), don't create another one at its solution (loyal customers).
 
Want another piece of irony?

This is the same company that doesn't want to make any more PC games due to piracy.
 
*sigh*..everyone makes Gamestop out to be this horrible company. I haven't had one complaint..lol. I guess I'm just one of the lucky ones. :lol
 
Heh. What do auto manufacturers do about used car sales? They deal with it. Used Cds? Yep. They deal with it.

The problem with these publishers is they are being short-sighted. There is no way they'll be able to kill the used game market without taking their own companies with them.

Stealth has a good idea. Pressure used game retailers into selling games that are older than a year. Maybe it will also pressure Game Stop to start selling older games too.
 
MegaDrive20XX said:
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3171646

Now Atari Games has joined this bandwagon...
Click to expand...

Insanity. Gamestop finds a way to eat into a game developer's revenue stream, and its customers who get punished for it. As if people weren't already being sold incomplete games (ex. Fable 2 and Dead Space DLC available a month after their release) out of the box thanks to "DLC," now publishers are going to outright tell people they're going to withhold content until a customer proves they didn't steal it. Madness.
 
stealth toilet said:
Insanity. Gamestop finds a way to eat into a game developer's revenue stream, and its customers who get punished for it. As if people weren't already being sold incomplete games (ex. Fable 2 and Dead Space DLC available a month after their release) out of the box thanks to "DLC," now publishers are going to outright tell people they're going to withhold content until a customer proves they didn't steal it. Madness.
Click to expand...

that reminds me when the wii had absolutely no DLC (now a few games have it) and i thought it wasn't needed but i was happy once it got it.... sadly when i found out the true meaning of DLC i couldn't help but wish that the wii never had any DLC to begin with (or at least free like with the professor layton)
 
LittleBigPLanet DLC is totally worth it as well what ive been accumulating with Hot Shots Golf, the 2nd downloadable course is coming and it looks gorgeous.

I will admit the DLC for DeadSpace was and still is ridiculously priced, doesnt it in total now value over the cost of the game itself?!

I would prefer to get all games brand new from retailers because I questions things when they are cheap but I guess whatever people choose to do, I just want my favorite video game companies to stay in the GREEN and make that profit.
 
It should be illegal to stop the used gaming market.

That is like saying you cannot sell your furniture. That's BULL CRAP. You buy a game, you own it. If you own it... you should be able to sell it. If they want to start doing crap like that, you will see a huge uprising... and honestly, I think it would be illegal to stop used game sales.

What are they fighting? IT's been this way for years. The gaming industry makes more money now than ever.

SO... where do they get the idea that they should be imposing this on used game sales? I am a person who does not own a pirated game, movie, or music CD... I personally believe in paying for what you have and not getting what you cannot pay for. I think pirating is too accepted. but as a person who buys legit games, I disagree with what they are discussing.

†B†V† :hat
 
They'd rather make more money then have more people get to experience their games. That just shows you that they have absolutely no pride in what they do. I know this is, and always has been a business, but it seems to me that at one point in time developers actually wanted to make video games to be creative and expressive, even at the cost of lower sales. I seriously fear where the industry is going sometimes.
 
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