Thank Goodness For Used Video Games

To hear some publishers tell it, used game sales are the devil's work, and we--meaning us consumers--the devil's henchmen.

We're buying too many used games, you see, and in our patient thrift, we're destroying the very thing we're supposed to love.

[dangert12]

well the goodness won't less for ever and i can see for ever its just over the horizon =/

[PoSTedUP]

im guilty of buying used games, hell, i cant support every developer, id like to but you have to be really wealthy to buy every new game that comes out @ 60 bucks. i just bought Tomb Raider underworld for $8, now that is the best 8 dollar game i have ever bought.

i think the other problem is that the new-game prices dont come down fast enough for the better games, i understand why, because they are in more demand, but then expect people to buy it used.

games like uncharted and granturismo i am more then happy to pay $60 for. games like lost planet2 i am not interested in so expect me to buy it when the price is right because i herd it was awesome.

[Christopher]

He paints too one-sided of a picture. Specifically making it look like it's the Call of Duty or Red Dead Redemption game companies that are crying foul.

Used game sales help those games that are critical acclaims, but never get the sales they deserve since they're not the usual AAA titles that people buy into. It especially hurts almost any game that is a single player game. And then people question why everyone is moving towards multiplayer games... it's because it increases sales as people hold onto them longer which leads others to buying new rather than used.

Also, full digital distribution won't be here for at least a decade, if not three, for HD console games. So, expect companies to find more ways to entice/force people into buying it new.

[newhumanbreed]

Ummmm what?

[GameOn]

Well I feel that if people cant sell their old games they are less likely to buy as many new games. I think more emphasis should be placed on giving good incentives to buy games new like download codes and that sort of thing. They need to make it desireable to buy the games new but for the less well-off people there needs to be the second-hand option just to keep them in gaming.

Most important thing to do is prevent piracy though.

[dizzleK]

i've worked at gamestop, the people who buy used games still support the industry. i'd often sell a used game along with an xbl card, new controller or whatnot. i've bought many used titles that i've ended up buying dlc for, that supports the industry.

game publishers need to pull their head out of their ass and realize that it's the $60 price tag that is killing game sales. i'm not rich, $60 is not an "impulse purchase" for me, $30-$40 is. the fact is that most games simply aren't worth the $60.

if publishers want to increase new sales they should bear the burden. demoes for all titles before release, full demoes, not just 2 minutes of the best part. give me the entire first level.

no "exclusive" demo or beta garbage, a recent example would be transformers. thanks for screwing ps3 owners out of a demo, as a result it resides on my gamefly queue instead of in my possession.

take a good long look at your game and ask yourselves if it's really worth a $60 msrp. i snapped up 3D dot game heroes because it was only $40. i'll probably grab sniper ghost warrior because it's only $40. if they were full price i'd skip these games.

i don't want free dlc or anything, i'd rather you just lowered your prices that $10 or $15. if you want to maintain your current pricing expect me to keep buying used games. and for the love of god stop whining, i don't see book publishers crying because amazon sells used books.

[Software_Lover]

And this is just me, but I think 30-35 would be a great sweet spot. Hell I buy most of my pc games when they are 19.99. The game of the year editions of course. But yeah these 60.00+ price tags are getting ridiculous.

I know the dev budgets are out of the roof. And if that is there main gripe. Then I say let the 360/ps3 generation go on for as long as possible. Let these devs get their costs down. Stop trying to do too much and just make fun games again.

(Transformers war for cybertron, Just cause, Just cause 2, Crackdown, World of Goo, Castle Crashers, Geometry Wars, Super Stardust HD) Those games listed were just examples of great fun games that you never hear people talking about dev costs and engines, yada yada yada. They just made the games and made them fun.

[Cajun Chicken]

Amen

[Software_Lover]

Rather that be on Ebay or Gamestop, then my collection of ps2/xbox games would not continue to grow.

Yes I do own a ps3 and xbox 360, but I still like to go back to old games that I missed.

[Dramscus]

Any good businessman knows that lower prices increases sales. People buy used games because new games at 60 bucks a pop is too much.
Say all you want about them not making enough from selling them for less but if they sold 3 cheaper games for every one expensive game it would add up to more.

[Software_Lover]

Company A: Sells 900,000 copies of game A at 60.00 a piece.

Company B: Sells 3,000,000 copies of game B at 25.00 a piece.

Who looks smarter and what game will get the attention?

I will say that some games we will buy regardless because they are just good. I just had to have Mass Effect 2 no matter what. I bought that day one.

[PoSTedUP]

companyA sells a game that has no hype and a small fanbase, they sell 1,000,000 (including word of mouth bc it was a good game) @ $60 a game, they are making some profit or breaking even depending on their budget because it was priced at $60.

companyB sells a game that has no hype and a small fanbase, they only sell 1,000,000 even when the price was @ 40 new, and thats because it was a game that had no hype and a small fanbase, they now lost profit and are in the negatives because they priced it at $40.

their are many factors in this. this is just the basics... now going back to playing tombraider underworld becuase it was $8 used and the game is awesome.

[Dramscus]

@postedup. No see if they were both the same game more copies would be sold of the 40 dollar one hands down. If all games were forty people would go out to a store and likely buy two games vs the one they buy at 60. More people would buy 40 dollar games just because they would have more money to spend on more games. Also more people would feel inclined to buy more new games at such a price when they first come out as opposed to waiting for them to come down in price.

[PoSTedUP]

like i said there a lot of factors in this. that may be true, but then if the game will sell more, the developers will have to produce more and production costs money, so consider the loss in profits per copy sold (because you are lowering the price to 40) to the amount of money you dish out for production. devs are out to make money, they would lower the price if it were profitable for them obviously they dont do this because if the devs only get a small share, they are not going to lower the price because then they will get an even smaller share because publishers and royalties are going to want the same %. a price drop is not guaranteed to raise the sales by the way. and if it does it isnt guaranteed to raise the sales enough to profit after everything, it would be taking to much of a risk.

[-EvoAnubis-]

Game from developer I care about = I buy new.

Game from developer I don't care for, but would like to play = I buy used or rent.

Beginning, middle, end.

[JumpNPlayBon]

Great read and as most have said, it's the $60 price tag that's turning gamers to buy used. that's NOT an impulse buy devs, take note.

I used to by 2 new games every month when they were $50, but I don't like going over the $100 mark for ONE of my hobbies.

top that off not EVERY game is worth $60, so they need to really be honest about their product and what they are putting out.

[Proxy]

They can't stop used game sales period. Not with the current game distribution model on consoles.

If they go to DD (like Steam) then they lose a large portion of customers who don't have good internet connections, and lost customers are what their complaining about in the first place.

Furthermore, I love Steam and I find the prices for video games drop reasonably fast. Most games I purchase are niche indie titles. Because I'm part of the niche the game specifically targeted I enjoy the game enough to sink 300 hours into a 20$ game. The indie developer got my 20$ and MW3 I never even looked at.

Basically, if big developers take their games off the store shelves they will see fewer sales is my prediction. If they want to go with DD then their competing with indie titles which are cheaper, and developed by smaller companies which are more agile and innovative.

[Darkfiber]

Sucks to used games. I'd rather pirate a game than give GameStop $55 in profit that the developers wont see a cent of. They're not worthy of my money. I buy all games new, or not at all.

[Dramscus]

Thats the other side, they shouldn't be getting all that money either. Publishers need to charge less and devs need to be cut in on used games.

[Darkfiber]

In a perfect world, sure, but that's not how business works so I prefer my method.

Besides, what's the point of buying a used game for $55 then GameStop "disc protection" fee or whatever it is for like $3. That's $58, you seriously can't cough up an extra $2 to get a new game? And why wouldn't you want a new game instead of something some dirty fucking kid got his greasy germy hands all over?

[Dramscus]

I don't get any kind of disk protection as blurays are scratch resistant. Also I generally just buy my games new, I was only just sayin.

[GiantJedi]

Only reason I buy used games is because I wait until games get cheaper (around $20-ish) and by then I can't even find them new anymore.

Games should be like movies so I can find them easily. :D

[bahabeast]

i see all these devs sayin used games is bad and stuff but wtf yall make million with or without used games i love used games and and i try to keep all my copies until times are rough and need little cash sell the worst ones im from the BAHAMAS a new game is $110 used games are between $40 and $80 so people living in the united states shud be happy and if it wasnt for the used games my game library wud suffer hard i think devs and companies shud not be soo greedy mabe you shud offer more incentives keep people happy

[SKUD]

A lot of greedy people out there. Used games sales will never go away.

[memots]

Me and a bunch of friend have one hobbies and its gaming.

Because they want to restrict gaming it affect us in a very bad way.
Example Modern Warfare 2 pc. My friend is done with it and i cannot borrow it from him because it has to be registered under a steam account.

I can't use his code because he already registered it. And that's it , cannot sell the copy its done. No more use for it (he doesn't play online).

Thank you gaming industry for slowly choking gaming. Stop trying to offer less and less and charge more and more(dlc). And start packing some value in your games.

[newhumanbreed]

And this is why developers make exclusive DLC when you reserve a game, even though that the content is already included in the game, but needs a code to unlock. Thanks for buying used games people.

[thebudgetgamer]

i usually end up buying a lot of dlc to try to make up for it.

[yamzilla]

are too greedy......

The sell a realitivly new game used for 54.99
the new game only costs 59.99

Who the hell would take the used version for $5 less....

Unless you plan on using the free 7 day trial.....

I've done that when I'm unsure about a game....if it blows I bring the used copy back for a full refund within 7 days...
But I mostly but pc games ...and not used...you can only get PC games used online and the new price is pretty much the same.....

You console gamers will understand soon......you won't be able to buy used games....or if you can...you won't be able to play them online...

@memots

if your friend truly likes you he can give you his steam login and you can play all of his games.......forever.

[danielle007]

but I'm cheap, and have other things to buy. I love gaming, I appreciate developers, and would love to support them whenever I can, but sometimes I just can't justify buying new.

Like others have said, the price point is the real issue. $60/game and there's a bajillion amazing games coming out. I'll buy a few new, prioritizing by how excited I am for them, and if they're trying something new and funky fresh, and the rest I'll wait to go down in price and either buy new or used, whatever I can afford/find easily at the time.

I feel a lil bit guilty every time I buy used though. I make myself feel better by reminding myself I would buy them all new if I had any hope of affording it. Sigh.

[TheLig32]

If I couldn't trade in my old games then I wouldn't be able to buy 1/4 of the new games that I purchase.

[Thudd]

who sell their used games privately to buy new ones. I do however have a big issue with a game store that basically acts as a pawn shop bottom feeding off the very industry that supports them. They take advantage of the end user, and fail to provide any financial reward to the developer. I hope they go under, and I refuse to buy 1 game from them.

It should be said though, that personally I have no used games out of the 200+ games in my collection. I make a very nice living, and it would be shameful to not support the industry I love.

[Sprudling]

I never buy games used. I can afford them new, so I'd rather support the developer and industry than not. If I were a kid without a job though, I'd probably be more selfish and buy used too.

[gumgum99]

If its a game I have to have Day 1, I will buy it new, but if it is a hard to find game that is no longer available at retail, I buy used.

Most of my used games are ones that are no longer on the market. That's why the Used sales market is a necessary market.

This especially true with hidden gems, and the potential sequels of these gems in development.