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Post by Justinzero on Mar 27, 2009 16:57:18 GMT -5
I gladly buy all my used games off Ebay months after their release, and at a far discounted price, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. Personally, I am tired of new games costing what they do, and I would be more than happy if 1/2 of these developers went bankrupt. Game prices are so over inflated, and some people in the games industry make too much damn money.
Wah the starving developer guy only makes 50 - 60 a year, while the old asshole 15 floors up makes 15 million. Its crap, and as the consumer, I have the power to choose where my money goes, and how its spent. I refuse to pay $70 for Resident Evil 5 when I can wait a few months and grab it for $50. If the developers don't like it, then they can reduce their list prices.
I do understand some games deserve their asking price, but as a whole its just too damn much. Iphone gaming is doing great, and 50% of the reason is the price of games. DS does so well, because the price of the games.
"Buying a used game is no better than piracy" - What a whiny baby attitude to have. Since when did I owe any game developer my moral financial forethought before buying a game? If they care about "creating their art" then move over to building games for XNA or IPhone, as it offers guaranteed payment on each distributed copy, and there is less hassle.
This "OOOH game developers are on a higher plane than the rest of us" crap doesn't fly with me. I remember a time when the game markets crashed, and those same developers had to worry about what we as the consumer/game fan/common player thought.
Its human logic. Man see game he want. 2 copies on shelf. one cheaper..... duh.
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Post by Strider on Mar 27, 2009 18:04:02 GMT -5
I dunno how I feel about used games. Personally, I try to buy new when I can, largely because my tastes trend toward wierd, obscure, culty games... I want the fact that I bought a copy to end up in a company ledger, hopefully encouraging said company to produce/localize more games like it and take more chances in the future. I realize my contribution is small, but it's something.
Your mileage with this rationale may vary.
That being said, I don't really have a moral objection to buying used games and feel no qualms about buying games that aren't available new- I try to avoid Gamestop in general because I don't like their business model, but that is an issue with Gamestop in particular and not with used games in general.
- HC
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Post by kal on Mar 28, 2009 6:44:18 GMT -5
Buying used games only becomes an issue when for clever unique lower budget games sell poorly and all you've done is buy them on the cheap. Then complain that no one experiments knowing full well that all you've done to encourage them is to not buy their products.
I take issue with that fact that some stores put their used games in a more prominent position then new games...that's just a dirty tactic.
The current business model for the most part is poor though. Another crash would be a horrible yet useful event in encouraging development to be more consumer friendly. Even if some of the people here are skating the "I WANT IT THEREFORE I DESERVE IT" trail of consumer thought.
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Post by kimimi on Mar 28, 2009 8:40:37 GMT -5
I can't speak for anyone else, but what irked me was this idea of "charity" - that these poor people, these starving artists struggling to let their creative doves enlighten the cold hearts of us unwashed masses, deserve my money, and their plight is entirely in my hands.
If a game excites and interests me I will pick it up as soon as possible. If I'm mildly intrigued I'll buy it later if I run into it preowned. The fault is theirs, because they made something I found unappealing.
How many times have you heard something similar to - "It's good, but it's not $50 good."? Publishers either need to be realistic and not sell C-grade games at AAA prices or reign in the cash and not spend what they can't afford to lose.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 8:54:06 GMT -5
I can't speak for anyone else, but what irked me was this idea of "charity" - that these poor people, these starving artists struggling to let their creative doves enlighten the cold hearts of us unwashed masses, deserve my money, and their plight is entirely in my hands. That, and everyone in the video game industy these days seems to have some delusion of entitlement, which is exacerbated by a gaming media that constantly strokes their egos and eggs them on. This just makes the clowns howl even louder about how they were cheated or wronged when nobody buys their mediocre to average mass-produced pile in a really lousy economic climate. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2009 9:10:05 GMT -5
Back when I was a kid and had no money, I ended up renting most of my games or borrowing them...especially the SNES games, which were significantly more expensive than Sega's offerings. To the people that think that buying used is "cheating" the devs, what do you think about game rentals, or borrowing from your friends? I respect your opinion, but people not buying games has been going on for over twenty years (close to thirty if you count PC bootlegs), and we're still going.
I don't have a problem with buying used games because of screwing over the developer or whatever, I have a problem because I am anal retentive and I like having games that are not seriously damaged. Finding a decent used game is like finding an intact maidenhead in a brothel; and if you do, there's probably something seriously wrong. Besides, I'm just not into paying $5 less than retail for the privelage of taking home somebody's sloppy seconds.
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Post by derboo on Mar 28, 2009 10:05:06 GMT -5
I usually buy used game on ebay or message boards in near-mint state for 10-20 EUR less than Gamestop asks for a "sloppy second".
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Post by Strider on Mar 28, 2009 11:38:54 GMT -5
I can't speak for anyone else, but what irked me was this idea of "charity" - that these poor people, these starving artists struggling to let their creative doves enlighten the cold hearts of us unwashed masses, deserve my money, and their plight is entirely in my hands. Well, I mean- if you buy a used game, the original publisher doesn't see any financial benefit from it. In the case of games they're taking chances on, then yes, this will make them more conservative in the future and may result in games you want not being made or localized. - HC |
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Post by kimimi on Mar 28, 2009 11:50:12 GMT -5
You are of course correct that preowned sales are of no benefit to the original publisher, but this is not something unique to gaming and the rest of the world gets by just fine. As for games I want not getting localised - I gave up on that long ago and now import around 90% of everything I buy. I don't want to wait years for a possible translation of a game I could be playing today.
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Post by Lord of Joshelplex on Mar 28, 2009 21:53:51 GMT -5
I would be more inclined to buy games new if they werent obscenely exspensive. $50 is my limit, and even thats pushing it, but some guys ask for $70? Hell no.
Now, buying used can hurt the niche publishers, but the fans of niche games will buy them on day 1 anyways, and they ussually are cheaper anyways, so it isnt as bad as some make it out to be.
I'll buy Cross Edge new, cause I know it wont be running me $70. I bought Disgaea 3 new at $50.
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Post by Ganelon on Mar 29, 2009 3:27:14 GMT -5
Did you buy new games in the 32-bit era or before? Because factoring in inflation, games actually cost much less nowadays than they used to.
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Post by kal on Mar 29, 2009 3:40:07 GMT -5
Okay a lot of the people here are saying that "It's not only games with a second hand market" and this is true however games have the unique disadvantage of being a short new-sales market.
Unlike books which you can pretty much print and sell forever and the same is true for movies. Games require specific circumstances and support that rapidly fades (consoles/hardware) and also frequently at risk of being superseded by the next big thing regardless of quality. This does indicate that the handling of games need to chance (and some companies like Digital Downloads like Steam and things like Compilation packs do continue to add value) but the main issue is that the Sale as Sealed new period window for games is ridiculously small.
A movie made this year can easily be reprinted in 10 years and sold cheaply. Games not so much as they have to be ported to modern specifications as well as distributed and frequently there's the nightmare of obtaining the rights to republish from all parties involved.
Although as I mentioned Steam/Good Old Games and that sort of service should help bring a change to this mentality/issue in the long run.
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Post by kimimi on Mar 29, 2009 4:15:15 GMT -5
Kal, I agree with what you're saying but I believe that the blame is being pointed at the wrong people. The publishers and console manufacturers have created the business model, it's not reasonable for them to constantly push NEW!/FASTER!/EXTREME! and then complain when consumers follow this and refuse to buy older games at retail.
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Post by susanismyalias on Mar 29, 2009 7:20:43 GMT -5
They could always just make everything digital. Then used becomes null. Also, more control over the prices of the game at specific times.
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Post by zogbog on Mar 29, 2009 7:28:20 GMT -5
Then we still have the hardware problem.
Look at the life cycle of a DVD or video, there players lasted for ages compaired to the life time of a console before it's sequal comes out. Without backwards compatability it's a pain to keep up with old classics if there even around to buy that is because there not being printed any more (as is the norm in Europe).
Hell movies can still be shown on the TV and such, games need to much to be a worthy distribution medium even on PC's to much work is needed.
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