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SwitchGames to cut devs, publishers in on the used game market photo

We've heard it before -- developers and publishers whining about how they don't make a cent off of used game sales. Valid complaint, to be sure, since retailers like GameStop are making cash hand-over-fist by with its used games racket. 

Well, online videogame trading Web site SwitchGames.com is looking to change all of that. While the site currently allows users to swap games between one another, plans are in the works for an upcoming buy/sell feature. To be added in the coming months, the feature will allow members to voulentarily choose to give a percentage of the transaction proceeds to a game's publisher and developer. 

"As with everything else on SwitchGames," says founder and CEO Jason Crawford, "the gamer is always in control and it's up to them to decide if they would like to give back or not."

It's an interesting concept, and one that I'm sure will have publishers perking up at. But will gamers bite? When you sell and purchase used games, does the publisher or developer even enter your mind? Or are you simply looking for the best deal?


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14 comments | showing # 1 to 14

Bulkmailer's Avatar
Bulkmailer at 03/19/2009 10:23
Who needs this when Amazon's deal of the day is MySims Party for $30! awoooooo-oo
ShadokatRegn's Avatar
ShadokatRegn at 03/19/2009 10:23
Ya know, I wouldn't even buy used games if brand new games weren't - oh, say, $60!! I'm sure the price hike is developers' way of coping with the losses due to used games, but really it's just exacerbating the situation...
Josh Tolentino's Avatar
Josh Tolentino at 03/19/2009 10:28
@ShadokatRegn

60$ due to used game losses? Hardly. Pubs will charge whatever they think we're willing to pay, that's that. Perceived losses are indeed a valid complaint, but there's no sense in complaining about it in light of the used books or used DVDs market.

As for this scheme. I don't see a problem in it. Like those experiments with some bands and restaurants allowing customers to voluntarily set their price points, allowing people the choice to support publishers/developers while STILL saving on a secondhand game will undoubtedly encourage some to behave in that way.

Not everyone will bite of course, but simply offering the choice is a step in the right direction, rather than banning or undermining the secondhand market outright.
Mr Gilder's Avatar
Mr Gilder at 03/19/2009 10:29
I don't buy games used if they are still currently in print precisely because I am aware of the numbers is skews and the damage it does to developers. This is a fantastic idea, although I doubt the average consumer is remotely conscious enough to care about stuff like this.
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 03/19/2009 10:33
I'm looking for a good deal so this is silly. I don't think it'll work very well but who am I to think such things?
Chronic Logic's Avatar
Chronic Logic at 03/19/2009 10:36
Jesus, just cut the middle man out by selling games digitally! No more retailers, no more warehouses, no more publishers!
darphfather's Avatar
darphfather at 03/19/2009 10:59
Games cost so much to develop. I mean if you look at where we are now compared to 10 years ago when one Dev team would consist of about 20-30 people.... fastforward to the present and your looking at adding up to 300 people in there now.

On top of that they cost so much at the start of the system (as in launch titles) due to the low install base.

Plus you have the illegal pirate software bumping prices up a tad too.
SpiralGray's Avatar
SpiralGray at 03/19/2009 11:09
I'm a cheapie. I'm looking for the best deal. I buy new games when the price is reasonable. For instance, I bought CoD:WaW when Amazon had it as a lightning deal for $40. I bought Saints Row 2 Collectors Edition because Amazon had it on sale for $35. But I'll be d***ed if I'm going to spend $60 on a game. I'm sick and tired of the whining from publishers. It's a capitalist society. People are buying used games at least partly because new ones are too expensive. Lower the price, sell more, make the same amount of money. The problem is, they want to make more money. Too bad.
Zantetsuken's Avatar
Zantetsuken at 03/19/2009 12:07
Oh for Gods sake. I'm sick of developers whining like a bunch of spoilt children.

Second hand sale of goods is protected under law (at least in the UK anyway), so why does the game industry think it has to be immune from it?

It is not hurting the games industry in the same way second hand books and films are not hurting their respective industries. If anything the game industry is being hurt by crippling prices of new games, ridiculous DLC and stupid DRM that only harms the consumer.

But companies like that don't care about the consumer, they just want to make as much money as possible out of us with the minimum effort (like Capcom).

Fuck the industry, they aren't getting a penny from me.
Cowboy TTop's Avatar
Cowboy TTop at 03/19/2009 12:20
My advice to all of you, who want to buy or sell used games, USE EBAY.

With Ebay, you are in control of the auction and the agreed ending price. Its mostly a gamer to gamer transaction, cutting out the middleman from making money off of us. I shop there frequently for gems I can't find anywhere.

These publishers moaning about their potential lost cut is pure greed and nothing else (ironic that the film industry do the same kind of thing). What next? Ford want a cut of the payment, for that car you sold second hand, 6 years ago. Give us a break, so devs and pubs, but you guys are greedily reaching and need a good slap. So Game, EB etc get a few $/£, they are just meeting a demand and saw a loop in the market, that pubs/devs wouldn't touch.
8BitGrit's Avatar
8BitGrit at 03/19/2009 12:24
Hmmmm... I might give a small amount for a game that I thought was insanely awesome but overall I think used games are just like anything else used. I'm not paying Honda when I resell my car. I DO think it's cool that this site is apparently letting everyone decide what is fair for themselves though - it's not required or anything. Publishers are just pissed because GameStop is raking in the cash with used game that cost $55. Such an f'n scam.
Haxan's Avatar
Haxan at 03/19/2009 13:21
Oooh. I like this idea. The ability to decide whether or not a publisher deserves it when attributing money to them. I would love to be able to smack companies around when they do dickish things like Capcom's and Spamco's DLC "BS". Now if only I ever sold back games...
KyleGamgee's Avatar
KyleGamgee at 03/19/2009 15:12
I totally think of the developers when I buy games. I avoid used games for just that reason. When games get re-released as $20 Platinum Hits or whatever, I don't buy the $18 GameStop used copy. I like the idea of the gamemakers getting some money as a way of saying do-more-like-this.
smoger's Avatar
smoger at 03/20/2009 08:40
im so sick of hearing about this crap. publishers dont deserve extra revenue from the purchase of a used game anymore than ikea deserves extra revenue from the purchase of a used couch.

once you buy something(or a license to use software) it's YOUR choice to sell that item or sell your right to use that software. i dont even care that i lose this ability when i buy direct download games, but if i have a physical copy of a game, it's noone's business but my own what i do with it
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