What Would Happen If a Console Blocked Pre-Owned Games?

We pull on our thinking caps and ponder a world without pre-owned games in the latest edition of the Gamer Nation Report.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

It throws the market in favor of the company that doesn't block pre-owned games.

[meevil]

Completely agree, but I think it's how the other companies rethink their businesses that makes this topic interesting.

[thereapersson]

If:

Sony = No
MS = Yes <----- Advantage

MS = No
Sony = Yes <------ Advantage

Sony + MS = No
>> Nintendo <------ Advantage

Sony or MS could go either way... one company could see it as a selling point over the other, or we could see both companies favoring the publishers over the consumers. It is a precarious time for the market as a whole; we will likely hear info at E3 regarding this issue.

[user3915800]

It will be the first time that I wont buy a console at all, I will base it on principles and ethics alone. Its ok to have games for that console restricted, but telling me when and what console to use it, its above and beyond a gamres freedom. I like my friends to borrow games, or go on the road and play my games or just go to a bodies house and play my games. I doubt anyone will block used games, but we live in a time were 1 cent increased its more than the happiness on gamers. Wont be surprised if during the halfway cycle either sony or MS block used games, but during the initial badge of shipment it will be an early suicide to whomever blocks the used games.

[caseh]

Pachter hit the nail on the head with this topic. Pre-owned games won't be blocked as it would in some effect be commercial suicide.

No technology is in place to offer digital downloads of content to everyone. That means Sony/MS are both reliant on retailers to stock physcal media of their content.

If they block pre-owned they will alienate the companies who primarily stock and sell their products. Never bite the hand that feeds you.

[StrongMan]

Another dead last place position.

[meevil]

For the Xbox? Or for me?

[LackTrue4K]

both, you and xbox

@hdshatter
you say we pay full price for games, but then spend 400 and up for a dam graphics card. LOl

[ALLWRONG]

Since Sony can only say "maybe" or "probably" it would mean the PS3 is still last.

[BLAKHOODe]

I think it means Sony is waiting to see what Microsoft is going to do and weigh in on the positives and negatives. The mere fact Sony is saying "maybe" tells me that the PS4 is definitely capable of blocking used games if they should choose at some point in time to go that route. Just because it supports used games at launch, doesn't mean either console will by the end of it's life cycle.

[BlackIceJoe]

Well I would not buy it. I may not buy used games but if I want to sell them it is my right. I can buy furniture, books, computers you name it and when I don't want them anymore I give them away or sell them. So I would have to pass.

Plus with games today using game passes once I put in the game only I can use it. Then if some one else in my family wants to play the game they have to pay ten dollars so they can use the whole features. So if I have to pay ten more dollars and for the next console I would have to pay another sixty so then can buy the game. I will pass on the system. I see no reason why family members can't play the same game too.

I can buy a DVD and everyone can watch it. I don't pay extra so they can see it too. So why can't video games be like that too,

[3GenGames]

Failure.

Well deserved failure.

[knifefight]

"Sometimes I think I'd like to watch it burn."

Indeed.

[NameRemoved0017]

Next gen is going to be like PC gaming is now. We get by just fine because we get deals on almost everything but ya that sucks for console gamers. Your going to have to pay full price while we pay much less.

[ado908]

you don't understand it's not about the price but the rights of gamers. Imagine you had two of the same consoles because you might have a brother or something and you're only allowed to play 1 game on 1 of those systems. Wouldn't that be bullshit? Or if a console broke down and then what? You can't play the game unless you buy a new one.

[BLAKHOODe]

I figure what at least Sony will do is make it where you can play the game on a certain number of consoles, like with digital downloads on the PS3 now, you can play them on 2 consoles. (They use to allow 5.)

I've never had to do it with the PS3, but Microsoft allows you to transfer your game licenses from 1 console to another once a year. So, if your console breaks or you get an upgraded model, they could do that.

[ado908]

BlAKHOODe

Lol I'm not talking about Sony. I'm talking about all future consoles. And whats the point going through all that trouble anyways? It would be so much easier and simpler for the consumer to play his game anytime and anywhere he plays and carries on. I don't want digital copies why would they complicate things so much. Most likely that used games wont be blocked because they know that it's a huge definite risk.

[SilentNegotiator]

PC is an open platform. Thus, control by publishers like Valve are a good thing because they have to beware of internal (inter-hardware) competition.

Xbox is a closed platform. Thus, full price discretion by Microsoft and publishers like EA are a bad thing because they have no internal competition to scare them into offering low prices.

[MadMen]

"Next gen is going to be like PC"

minus all the bull$hit of a PC

[rainslacker]

Not minus. If you hadn't noticed quite a lot of the stuff talked about at the Sony presser were things already available on PC. Consoles have becoming more and more like PC's since this gen started. While I like the added features, next gen is definitely becoming more about "features" than it is about gaming. Sony and Nintendo have a heavy social gaming concept, and MS is rumored to be very media focused, and likely will have their own social focus as well.

As to your use of a $ to imply it will cost less...that is highly unlikely as most of the BS on PC is free, while it already costs money on some consoles, and rumored to cost money on more consoles next gen.

One of PC's greatest strengths is choice. There are numerous ways to do things, both free and paid. Consoles are restricted, and as such you will be forced to play by the manufacturers rules, thus BS.

I like consoles because they're simple. I'd prefer the BS of PC's(both hardware and features) stay far away from consoles.

Unfortunately the manufacturers have to capture the casual market which I guess thinks it's great to be always connected to the rest of the world while playing a game that should take you out of it.

[Dms2012]

What would happen if both blocked pre owned games? Now that would be quite a pickle.

[Fahqhackers]

The only reason anyone would not want used games blocked on a console is because they hack or download games and get them for free. And if that's not the reason why support GameStop and other companies like it the take a 1 week old game buy it back from you for half the price then turn around and sell it for 5 dollars minus retail. Pay the money to the developers who make the game not the gamestops out there. If the developers were getting all those profits we might see dedicated official servers in our games and not charged for things that used to be free on pc. If you had a family live account (multiple xboxes) the game could be tied to those specific consoles and gamertags allowing play on any of those xboxes (live, dlc, etc...). Also should make only one console version but upgradable with official add ons for things like graphics and memory so if you wanted down the road the console isn't obsolete

[rainslacker]

Yeah...I don't hack or pirate games, nor do I even buy many used games. But I like being able to find older games. If I can find it easily new, I will purchase it that way, if not I will find it used. I like finding missed gems in GameStops $10 and under bin. DD is a solution, but I prefer physical. Good luck finding those older titles after a couple years when they aren't in distribution anymore.

GameStop is one example of the used game market, and while I understand the unreasonable negativity that people have towards them, they are not what makes up the entire used game market. People need to stop using their business practices as an example of why used games are bad.

[soultecc]

what would happen if people keep making articles about the same old s**t.

[RuleofOne343]

Me personally I don't care for used games, nor do I care if GameStop closes down seeing as how they are the culprits behind the industries desires to block used game or just do away with it all together. No matter how much consumers bitch used games will be killed off , maybe not this up coming gen but who knows about the one after .

[BLAKHOODe]

If either console blocks used games, I'd be somewhat okay with it IF they did a few things.. 1) quick discounts on games, within 3 months of release. That's pretty much how it is now, but make it mandatory. 2) Since renting a game would be impossible, EVERY GAME gets a demo within a month before/after release or a 1 hour free trial, like with a lot games on Playstation Plus now! I want to be able to try it before I buy it.

[tweet75]

it will go away faster than the virtual boy

[ACESupERIC]

The majority of my game library is used games for 2 main reasons. 1. I just cannot afford to buy every game I want to play brand new. I have every worthwhile console since the atari 2600 and still play all of them so you can imagine how ridiculously expensive it can get if I had to buy new every time. Not to mention impossible for my older systems. 2. Not every game is worth the day one or even one year later price they try to charge. Some games are worth 60 bux but the majority aren't. Why should I have to pay a premium price for a game that is the equivalent to a straight to dvd movie?

Im also getting tired of hearing that without used games stealing sales from publishers then they could make better games

[SatanSki]

People have no freaking idead how business works. One of the first things you learn in business school is that commodity is worth as much as consumers whant to pay for it. One of the implications of it is that as a consumer you will get as low for as much they can get away with.

[just-joe]

You lose sales and alienate those who borrow/rent or even buy used games due to budget restraints.

[SatanSki]

If i cant sell game i bought i can pay for it $20. There are only few games i did pay 50 or so bucks for.

[hazelamy]

there are also benefits to the preowned market that weren't touched on in the video.

like how, many games are traded in to make new purchases.
and how stores can afford to sell games lower than the rrp because they make money from preowned.

and there's the one person most people forget when they talk about the preowned issue, the original buyer.
because the stores don't make 100% profit on those games, they first have to buy the games off the original owner.
too many people forget that part.

also, there's dlc, i bought Red Dead Redemption preowned, not because i didn't think it was worth it, but because i couldn't afford it at the time, also when i bought it, no store was involved, it was the original owner selling it at a car boot sale.
anyway, i bought the full set of dlc for the game, something i wouldn't have done without buying preowned.

if you're buying new, as in near launch, games, then saving a few quid by buying preowned usually isn't worth it, of course if there are lots of preowned copies so close to launch, you have to wonder why.
if i think a game is worth buying at launch, i'll buy new, but many of my games are preowned and were bought years after launch.

just imagine what gaming would be like in future if only the original owners could play the games.
all those classic games that were hard to find, no chance of finding a preowned copy years down the line.
there are many games i would simply never have gotten to play without the preowned market.

imagine if books had had that technology.
imagine all the great works lost because the original owner is no longer around.

imagine if only the original owner of the Mona Lisa was the only person who could view it, but with them being dead it has to stay locked up in some darkened vault somewhere.

anyway, that was a pretty balanced view of the issue, more balanced than my view certainly, i'll admit, i'm totally against blocking the preowned market.

[GABRIEL1030]

Block the games of second hand is innecessary, maybe Microsoft wants to make like the Windows OS, a license for each machine. But what happens if the console breaks down?, the 360 in the begining was a disaster with the red lights and this politic will encourages the piracy and is against the consumer. Actually exist the mechanism like the online pass that discourages the second hand market or the deals in digital or like Sony will make with Gaikai the Steam gamming. For sales.... puff COD sell almost 20 millions of copies

[Fahqhackers]

The only reason anyone would not want used games blocked on a console is because they hack or download games and get them for free. And if that's not the reason why support GameStop and other companies like it the take a 1 week old game buy it back from you for half the price then turn around and sell it for 5 dollars minus retail. Pay the money to the developers who make the game not the gamestops out there. If the developers were getting all those profits we might see dedicated official servers in our games and not charged for things that used to be free on pc. If you had a family live account (multiple xboxes) the game could be tied to those specific consoles and gamertags allowing play on any of those xboxes (live, dlc, etc...). Also should make only one powerful console version but upgradable with official add ons for things like graphics and memory so if you wanted down the road the console isn't obsolete

[GABRIEL1030]

Less harmless than the second hand restriction is that the user must be always conected with the server to play to prevent the piracy, then actualization will detect any modification in the machine and block it. The restriction of the second hand is against the consumer, because it reduce the freedom over the product, no allowing that the game can be played in another machine, add this and the new partner of Microsoft - EA and his DLC politic and you get the most infamous game machine in the history. Microsoft ...please dont allow it.

[kingPoS]

if used games are blocked then you won't really own your games anymore. I'd rather deal with online passes, at least that way you can still play them.

It's too fine of a line to walk straight on.