Fate Cast Co-op: Are Used Games Hurting the Industry?

Jed and Dalton bring a debate about used games to the forefront this week. Are used games really as bad for the industry as Dalton thinks, or are they just a byproduct of capitalism, like Jed believes? Dalton also drones on about his torrid love affair with Assassin’s Creed IV, and Jed gives insight on the first hour of his visit to an all-too-familiar Hyrule in A Link Between Worlds.

[SmokingMonkey]

Yes; used games hurt the industry.

But the fact remains that you should be able to sell what you own.

[Swiggins]

Does selling a used car affect the car industry?

-__-

[kB0]

Don't confuse necessity with entertainment. Cars can be tools, not just entertainment.

The gaming industry is also much more inexpensive.

Your point is good but misguided, seeing as the industry would have to sell over 100 games to come close to a used car, and even more for a new one.

Used games do affect the industry since it's less money in the companies pocket, but the game industry has also been increasing the cost of gaming.

Remember 49.99 games? Even the PC doesn't see this anymore.

You own it, you can sell it. What would hurt the industry is if everyone waits until price drops or used games are on market.I just think that their definition of profit is much more out real than what we see it as.

[joab777]

There is a catch 22. Yeah...used games send profits to companies like Gamestop and private owners instead of straight to the publishing company. This may seem to hurt sales initially. But, not everyone is like n4g readers buying new games and consoles at launch. I was at Gamestop yesterday and some kid was buying a network adapter for the PS2. It allows gaming to grow...for those who can't always afford new games to make the industry more popular. Its good for hardcore gamers that play A LOT but can't buy everything new. Also, it keeps games alive. This is great today when revenue can be made post initial sale...online etc. It may seem bad at first glance but with the economy, gamers can't simply stockpile games anymore.
The ps4 and xbone broke records so in a bad time financially...there is a bright spot...hope for this new gen. I am just afraid that eliminating used games could deal a crushing blow. Publishers need...and they have...to figure out how to continie to make money after the first sale...and it can b done by offering great post content...and not cheap attempts to rip us off.

[solidboss07]

No, it helps the industry. I am more likely to buy an expensive console if I can get some cheaper games for it, I am more likely to pay full price for a new game if I can then sell it when I am finished. Used games belong in the gaming eco system, and compliment other elements.

@Swiggins, I was thinking that very same point. Used cars remove barriers to driving. If I pass my test but can't afford a car then I may just resign to that fact for ever, on the other hand if I buy a banger I can get into the habit of driving and then improve upon my vehicles until voila - I finally buy a new car.

[forcefullpower]

No. There have been copied and second hand games ever since the spectrum. They may cost more to make now but they sell a lot more.

One thing I think could help is if there is a two month where you can't sell second hand. But that starts another debate.

Or they ban used Games completely and give us cheaper games but that will not happen either.

[Deividas]

Yes a little bit but it would hurt it more if there were no used games. I am a huge gamer and have owned a lot of consoles, but the day they stop allowing used games is the day I stop buying consoles. Will not pay $60 for a new game, especially since a lot of them are not even close to that value. Will support the games that deserve it and is a quality game but get about 75% of my games used.

[GDDR6_2014]

Yes stop stealing

[admiralvic]

Well, short answer yes, long answer no.

Companies see the used game market and think, thats a lot of sales we're missing out on. However, a lot of this money gets recycled from the people that spend money and companies ultimately get paid.

For instance, I sold my Xbox 360 (not because of the Xbox 1, just because I never play it) for $140 dollars. I then took that money and bought Super Mario 3D World. Now, I had always intended to buy the game if I had the money, so selling the system gave me the money to so. This is how a lot of people operate and think. I had 5 DS3's and I traded 2 into GameStop to buy a second DS4 (which is awesome because I still basically have 5 DS3's lol). The further down the road you get, the more people that will unload games they don't want into cash for things they do want.

In addition to people selling A to buy B, you have a lot of people that buy used games or get them with Plus (a huge selling point for companies) and it becomes marketing. You get Batman for $4 dollars via a sale and then you might go "wow, this game is awesome, I got to play Origins and Arkham City".

Despite a lot of this being conjecture and mostly assumptions, thats a lot of what the game industry is doing too. They assume that everything will remain 1:1 with how things are now, except that more games will be sold. Most likely, sales would drop and only the biggest / best / most awesome games will sell on day 1.

[NicSage]

Does Steam sales hurt the industry?
Does Humble Bundle hurt the industry?

The long answer: No.

[kmeck518]

I hope nobody thinks Humble Bundle is hurting anything seeing as how they raise hundreds of thousands of dollars every week for charity while those donors are getting some pretty awesome games in the process that they may not have otherwise purchased.

Used video games are a gateway to get players to purchase new games when they come out. Had i not bought a used copy of infamous, I never would have started playing that great series.

[TRGMatt]

Remember: Gaming is now the #1 entertainment industry in the world. It got this way while renting, trading, and buying used games was a "thing" and probably in no small part DUE to those policies. If used games hurt a company's bottom line because they are getting less revenue from their consumer base, they wouldn't have such a large consumer base to begin with without the used games industry.

[CynicalKelly]

No. When somebody sells a video game then they cannot play it anymore. One copy was sold, one copy is being played. That is fair.

I can see why developers feel that it does hurt them with the rising cost of game development but including tiny DLC for huge prices, online passes, micro transactions and blocking used games are not the way to go.

What does hurt the industry are the people that refuse to support it. People who pirate or purposively wait years to get a series they are "fans" of just to get it for dirt cheap. I work with people who consider themselves huge fans of games like Assassins creed, get shivers when they talk about it. But have only played Revelations lately because it was cheap enough to buy used.

These people hurt the industry. Not the used games themselves.

[Ron66]

Brand new games that are mediocre and full of bugs as well as glitches that cost $60 are hurting my wallet. No, they are not hurting the industry.

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Ive seen more companies die last generation from stupid decisions and terrible quality than used games (if it ever happened for the latter).......