No sh*t?
Eidos life president Ian Livingstone has attacked the pre-owned sales market, becoming one in a long line of people who have suddenly decided capitalism is bad, despite all the exploitation they've done of the very same market. He believes used games are a serious issue and that something needs to be done.
"The pre-owned market is a serious problem, because there is no benefit to developers or publishers," he explains. "A shop makes a bigger margin on a pre-owned title, and can sell them six or seven times, so there is no incentive for them to reorder and the content creator gets no slice of the action."
Lingstone notes, however, that retail chains are still crucial: "These aren't just shops, they are a marketing tool, a window into our world where software houses can display their wares."
Most publishes don't care about their consumers, often going so far as to show contempt, so why should consumers care about publishers? It amuses me how companies will be as cutthroat and ruthless as they like, yet balk and cry when a retail outlet decided to be equally as cuthroat and ruthless.
Maybe when we consumers get a guarantee that our sixty dollars will actually get us a game worth sixty dollars, I'll pull out a little violin for those poor, poor publishers.
Contest:
3:15 PM on 08.20.2009
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Hell, I bought Madden new from them for 43 bucks. How can I do that anywhere else?
I wish it was cheaper though. But I'm a cheapskate.
When they bitch about not doing so well in the industry, I rage a lil' bit.
Simply saying we need a game worth it without any explanation of what that means is well.....meaningless.
Read the comment before yours.
Unless such things already exist...
It's just cheaper to get used games. Very simple.
Used CDs. DVDs, etc. It's the same thing. The only thing you can do is make everyone believe you have a product worth purchasing at full price. You know, quality. Even then, not everyone will buy at full price. That's just how it is, especially in this "recession."
Maybe it's time for you to change products. Maybe it's time for to go fully digital. Maybe it's time for you to shut the fuck up and try harder.
The comment "Maybe they should make their games worth keeping." is like saying "They should make their games better" its to generic, I meant like actual points, like saying "Having DLC every few months to make trading in a game not so alluring" or "More post Campaign levels to make the player keep coming back"
I'm expecting DRM on consoles here shortly. Where we get the faggotry that is "leasing" the "right" to play the game.
I'll be happy though, means I wont have to buy so many games... and I'm one of the suckers that buys everything brand new within a week of its release. I've bought like 1 game used this generation, and it is because they were actually out of new copies.
The video game development industry is laughable. Instead of looking at ways to reduce towering development costs they simply try to fuck their customers over a little more than they already are.
If I could get a big internet red pen and circle your post over and over again I would because you hit the bloody nail on the head. We desperately need to cut down on development costs because it has a good chance to run out of control in tandem with pay DLC.
Even Warren Spector suggested a couple years ago that 20-30 dollars was what most games these days should cost but can't because they cost too blasted much to just make.
they cannot make me not buy something used. they will not because I won't let them tell me what i can or cannot do, they are the ones in the realm of can or cannot do.
No one complains about the used car market or the used DVD market. I suppose he'll complain about how game rentals steal sales too.
Another example would be something like Killzone 2, or Street Fighter 4, or any other game with fun online play. If you love playing online, and you're required to have the game disc to continue playing online, you're more likely to keep the game.
What has Eidos released lately that's really worth keeping? They just keep pumping out Tomb Raider and Hitman games. If they released more games that people wanted to hang onto, maybe they wouldn't be bitching so much.
It's amazing how that works.
Although, I think the pricing at gamestop is downright outrageous too.
I think if Gamestop would sell used games cheaper than MSRP-$5,, I think things would be a bit smoother.
Exactly correct, so in reality no game is worth 60 to everyone
But at the same time, I have no sympathy for them when the publishers make statements like this. I pretty much buy all my games used because I cannot afford the new ones. If I had to pay full retail, I'd only be able to buy maybe 1 or 2 games a year. (If that.)
the solution is and has always been right in front of them: LOWER SOFTWARE PRICES.
they not only have refused the solution but have exacerbated the problem by actually increasing the MSRP by $10. so the used-game market will continue to thrive to the continued detriment of the industry. *shrug*
So it's not my fault if i buy used.
How many times would a house change hands? Do builders bitch and moan?
Whether or not they're in control of that pricing.. I don't know.. But I do know that it's the first time I've seen a price that low for a new release.
Especially one that looks and plays as well as B:AA. (In my opinion.)
No, gamers, you are responsible for the success and failure of this industry and if you refuse to pay for games in a way that benefits the publishers and developers then those publishers can't make games. Ergo, you have less games (and less interesting ones) to play. Good on you though! Keep sticking it to the man!
And no publisher cares about used sales person to person or on ebay. What publishers are talking about when they say used sales is the GameStop/EB paradigm where all the used games are front and center, they under stock (and open) new games to devalue them, and then, after choosing to buy a new copy, the store tries to upsell the consumer to a used game (which means for 5 dollars less the publisher sees no money from the transaction) . That, dear friends is a problem. And no other industry has to deal with that. There are used CD stores, used movie shops, and used bookstores but neither the music industry, the film industry, or the publishing industry has to deal with its primary retail outlets competing with them. If they did those industries would bury those stores.
But hey guys! Thanks for guaranteeing me another 4600 God of War, Gears of War, and Babes of War clones. Huzzah! Capitalism for the WIN!
Like it or not, that wouldn't be an issue at all if the games were actually worth keeping after their first playthrough. Do you know why games like Mario Kart Wii, Wii Fit, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Kart DS, and New Super Mario Bros. hit the top ten years after their release? It's because Nintendo makes products that either people do not want to sell back or do not have as much value to the customer used.
Not only is gaming following the cinema model, it's doing such a poor job of cinematic mastery in gaming that the market place is flooded with unwanted titles merely 3 weeks after a game's release. And it would be insane to simply remove all those unwanted titles from the market when there are large numbers of people who demand games for a cheaper price than that at which most games are sold. It is much better that the games be returned to the market than simply be thrown away or go unused.
There is a significant audience who buys the game at $60 and trades it at ~$30-40. They spend $20-30 a game. The people who then buy it at $40-50 can generally sell it at ~$20. They are paying about $20-30 a game, most of the time. So there aren't that many people in the food chain paying $60 for a product, and the publishers are in for a severely rude awakening if they try to disrupt this supply chain.