Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to re-introduce you to David Braben. The Frontier Developments boss has already slammed pre-owned games in the past, falsely claiming that other industries don't tolerate the practice and asking for retail chains to replace pre-owned titles with a rental service.
Well, he's at it again: "I think it's really damaging to the single-player experience," whines Braben. "Games like BioShock and Assassin's Creed, where they're perfectly valid games, but once you've played them they go into the pre-owned section.
"The sales don't reflect the actual sales of people playing them because someone has gone out and bought, at almost the same price, a pre-owned copy because they couldn't get an original," he said. "It's very frustrating that they don't carry that stock any more." Braben also once again asks for a "genuine rental market," believing that cheap rentals would be an adequate replacement for pre-owned games.
The fact of the matter is, and I guess I need to repeat myself for those publishers at the back of the class -- used sales are a part of life. Someone buys a product, someone finishes the product, someone sells the product on. You may claim to still "own" a videogame after purchase, but that is never going to work in practice until digital distribution takes hold. So suck it up like every other industry, stop getting greedy, and patiently wait until the download market gives you the stranglehold on game sales that you so desperately crave.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
5:30 AM on 09.11.2008
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This is what annoys me, just outright lying about things. I can honestly say I've never bought a used game at anywhere near full price, nor because a new copy wasn't available.
Greedy little cuntflap.
Do these people not understand that antagonising your customer base with statements like "All you're buying is a license" or "You should pay £40-50 for every game you buy" just make you look bad and encourages the attitude that it's okay to pirate because the industry is full of money grubbing fat cat assholes?
ONLY SELL YOUR GAMES VIA DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION
Problems solved.
Imagine a single mum, struggling with her shopping, coming across a pre-owned game that she thinks her kid would like and picking it up because it's half the price of the others. Doesn't this warm your heart?
Gamestop's entire business model revolves around it, meaning that the developers are getting shafted while some ginormous soulless company has an infinite loop of profit off of their game.
Normally I'm not for that whole "If you can't have it, no one can" philosophy but when we're talking about devs vs. Gamestop, I'm siding with the devs.
Until the Dev team gets fired cause they're game didn't reach forecasted sales and then their kids get to have an imaginary Christmas :/
In seriousness though this guy is a colossal bag. I can understanding wanting to make some deserved cash if a game is but good blaming it on pre-owned sales is crazy. Although probably more valid then the piracy argument as these are at least sales rather then hypothetical purchases on an spreadsheet.
i frequently buy old vinyl and cd's, the proceeds of which go entirely to my freindly record shop owner. the main difference being that the vinyl doesn't self destruct after 3 plays.
i agree that preowned games are too expensive though. if the license is what keeps the price high, this should be taken off the price altogether for preowned, as it's been payed for already.
my conclusion: Braben is a greedy monkey.
Of course, small print runs don't help either. I'm sure Atlus would like to be more than the second hand market's favourite bitch.
I don't want to be told how many times I can install the game, then have to ask permission to be able to play it and one day end up with a fucking coaster because the process stops working.
Mandatory online activation and all the shit that goes with it is one of the worst things to be introduced to PC gaming ever. Period.
But you know what, I expect this cunt to have a problem with that, too. Waah waah, he's not paying full price. We can't make quality entertainment (such as RollerCoaster Tycoon or Thrillville: Off the Rails, thank you, Frontier Developments) at this rate.
Gamestop and CO make a raping of a profit on used games, none of which a developer sees.
Gamestop, on the other hand, get away with their filthy trade-in crap because their customers put up with it. I don't know why, though, because I'm not trading in my games for a tenner to get 5% off full price for a used game that someone already used as a coaster. If I buy used, I buy from the previous owner. Period.
1. I'm not willing to part with my games for ten measly somethings when I know full well that they resell them for forty to fifty moneys.
2. I'm also not in the mood to buy used games with a shitty insulting discount of some 5-10% that sometimes come with scratched disks and tattered/stained manuals as bonus material.
3. Cocks
We all want great games, but not everyone wants to pay for them. Unless you're getting a significant discount by buying used, why not buy new and support the industry itself, and not some filthy used game store like GameStop. If you're going to buy used at least do it from a local mom-and-pop store or something, or from a poor college student down the hall.
Getting his head out of his ass and shutting the fuck up is the answer to his problem.