The Used Video Game Market

[Richard Blonoff]

Take a trip to your local mall and it is almost a guarantee you will find a GameStop. Chances are there are probably two or three more scattered around the city. In addition to those you have pawn shops, used media stores, and mom and pop shops buying and selling used video games. Larger chains like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Toys "R" Us, and even 7-Eleven have gotten in on the used game market.

While certain places will pay more for your games, buying used is a great way to save money. For the price of one new game, you can often get three used titles that have been released in the past year. The savings you gain are felt in the pockets of video game companies though, and many of them are tired of it.

Take EA for example. Be you a fan of Battlefield 3, Need for Speed, or Madden '13, to play the game online you must has an EA online pass for said game. Buying the game new gives you a free copy of the pass, but buying the game used? No guarantees. Occasionally you will get lucky and get a game with an unused pass, but most often you have one that had already been used. If you want a pass you are going to have to fork over anywhere between $5 and $20 depending on the popularity of the title.

Capcom has taken a different approach. Take Resident Evil: Mercenaries 3D for the Nintendo 3DS. The game was programmed to only allow one save game. Once you start a game, you can't restart. Not only does it take all replay value out of the game, but it kills the used market.

Due to measures like this less people are buying used. As a result, the amount offered when selling used games has gone down. Take my own personal experience. In early December while doing some Christmas shopping I stopped at my favored local Gamestop(the cashier is a real cutie and she is not above shameless flirting to sell things). A used copy of Madden '13 was only $30. I happened to ask one of the employees if it was a mistake. The game had only been out since late August, no way was a used copy that low for a game still that new. I was told that because of the EA Online Passes, less people were buying used, so they had to lower the price to actually sell the product.

It doesn't stop there. There are rumors that when the Xbox 720 and Playstation 4 are released they will restrict used play. Further rumors state the 720 will be entirely digital, eliminating the disc all together, opting instead to use a system similar to Steam.

The head of Lionhead Studios(whose name escapes me at the moment), the company responsible for the Fable and Black and White series, has gone on record as saying the used game market cuts into profits more than piracy.

In 2010 Gamestop sales were at an all time high. Just three short years later, with the used game market on the decline, it appears their days may be numbered.

So what say you? Are you in favor of the used game market? Do you support or oppose the steps companies are taking to recoup their losses and put an end to said market? Are you like our very own justinsayne and hate Gamestop no matter what?

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

I love getting used video games. Especially since I can't afford to buy a $60 new game. I hate that game companies are taking so many steps to cut out the used game market. Of course if they'd cut prices down they wouldn't have to worry about a used game market. In the end, it'll hurt more than help because the more expensive games get, the less people will buy.

 

[Remix]

I love getting used video games. Especially since I can't afford to buy a $60 new game. I hate that game companies are taking so many steps to cut out the used game market. Of course if they'd cut prices down they wouldn't have to worry about a used game market. In the end, it'll hurt more than help because the more expensive games get, the less people will buy.

First of all, yes they would. People were buying second hand games back when games were "cheap". Second of all, reducing the cost to buy a video game new isn't really an option. Video game companies need to rip people off because otherwise they don't cover their costs, if that happens they just don't make new games because they'd go bankrupt. Sony's so far in the hole that it's considered junk by credit rating agencies, for example.

 

[Slyfox696]

A) I love buying reduced priced games, used or new.

B) The idea of digital only content is a horrible idea from the consumer perspective, for so many reasons. It's one thing if it's an unlocked platform like the PC, but on a locked down platform like a game console, it is something the consumer needs to fight.

C) I have no problem with game companies requiring a pass for the online portion of their games. The hosting of online gaming is expensive and they already put the money into the development of the game. Why should Gamestop profit from the hard work and reoccurring costs the developer has to incur?

D) If you are going to charge for an online pass, then your game needs to be able to be played offline. I rarely play online and the trend towards requiring online access to play is disturbing, and quite frankly, unfair. If you're going to require online connection to play the game, then you should not charge for online access.

E) Don't blame game companies for taking these measures, blame video game players for allowing them to get away with it.

 

[justinsayne]

I love buying games used, it's far cheaper & as a result allows me to be able to play more games. I don't have a problem with game companies charging for an online pass as long as you don't need to pay for that online pass if you bought the game new, & they allow you to be able to play the game without going online.

I've heard rumors, that with the PS4 Sony will be taking measures to make sure gamers can't play used games on the new console by putting a code in the game so that when you go to the store to buy a new game you'll be given a code, when you get home & pop the new game in your console it'll ask for the code, & once the code is entered the game will be downloaded from the disc to your consoles hard drive, & the disc will then become useless, though other rumors say that the first 10 mins. of the game remain on the disc & it essentially becomes a demo disc. This move seems unbelievably ******ed to me, since your more hardcore gamers are gonna run out of hard drive space quickly, & eventually have to delete games they paid $60 for, & then not have access to those games again, unless they re-buy them. Again this is all just rumor at this point, & Sony has not said anything official about this or really anything regarding the PS4 yet. I've always found Sony to be a pretty smart company, especially when it comes to the Playstation, so I imagine they wouldn't do something this fucking stupid that would alienate a large portion of their consumers.

 

[Piss Bucket]

I love buying games used, it's far cheaper & as a result allows me to be able to play more games. I don't have a problem with game companies charging for an online pass as long as you don't need to pay for that online pass if you bought the game new, & they allow you to be able to play the game without going online.

I've heard rumors, that with the PS4 Sony will be taking measures to make sure gamers can't play used games on the new console by putting a code in the game so that when you go to the store to buy a new game you'll be given a code, when you get home & pop the new game in your console it'll ask for the code, & once the code is entered the game will be downloaded from the disc to your consoles hard drive, & the disc will then become useless, though other rumors say that the first 10 mins. of the game remain on the disc & it essentially becomes a demo disc. This move seems unbelievably ******ed to me, since your more hardcore gamers are gonna run out of hard drive space quickly, & eventually have to delete games they paid $60 for, & then not have access to those games again, unless they re-buy them. Again this is all just rumor at this point, & Sony has not said anything official about this or really anything regarding the PS4 yet. I've always found Sony to be a pretty smart company, especially when it comes to the Playstation, so I imagine they wouldn't do something this fucking stupid that would alienate a large portion of their consumers.

And this is why I will never EVER buy a Sony console, it was bad enough that the PS1 games were so easy to Pirate! All you had to do was chip the console, rent games from the video shop, and simply copy them with a standard CD writer.

I don't endorse doing this by the way, it's ILLEGAL and a BIG part of the reason you still pay either £40 or $60 a time for new games.

 

[Remix]

I've heard rumors, that with the PS4 Sony will be taking measures to make sure gamers can't play used games on the new console by putting a code in the game so that when you go to the store to buy a new game you'll be given a code, when you get home & pop the new game in your console it'll ask for the code, & once the code is entered the game will be downloaded from the disc to your consoles hard drive, & the disc will then become useless, though other rumors say that the first 10 mins. of the game remain on the disc & it essentially becomes a demo disc.

From what I've heard, this isn't a rumour. Though, it doesn't quite work how you described. Essentially Sony have patented a system that kills the used games market. That's not up for debate, they did it, here's the proof. The patented system incorporates NFC (near field communication, how Skylanders and contactless payment works) to lock the game to a single system/account. There's no guarantee they'll use it, but they have the technology and a plan to do it.

This move seems unbelievably ******ed to me, since your more hardcore gamers are gonna run out of hard drive space quickly, & eventually have to delete games they paid $60 for, & then not have access to those games again, unless they re-buy them.

It sounds stupid, but there's a reason that the video game industry hates used games. They decimate their bottom line. To the point where a game makes them money for about 3 months, after that point everyone is buying used games and thus they get no more money. Also, if my iPad can remember that I paid for an app I later deleted and lets me re-download it for free I assume that the PSN is capable of doing the same.

Again this is all just rumor at this point, & Sony has not said anything official about this or really anything regarding the PS4 yet. I've always found Sony to be a pretty smart company, especially when it comes to the Playstation, so I imagine they wouldn't do something this fucking stupid that would alienate a large portion of their consumers.

The patent isn't a rumour. Whether Sony will use it is another thing entirely. We shall see in a couple of years when the PS4 comes out.

Also, how smart can a company be when it's so in debt that it's regarded as junk by credit rating agencies?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I read an article a couple days ago about Sony applying for the patent for the PS4. The day after that was announced, GameStop saw their stock fall 5%. It has leveled out for the most part due to the holidays, but their stock had been in slow decline since the announcement.