Gamescom 2010: THQ, 'No Sympathy For Used Game Buyers'

NowGamer speaks to THQ about its new WWE game, and the DLC code system it will use at launch. Anyone buying the game used will miss out on a lot of free DLC. THQ explains why it simply doesn't care.

[cliffbo]

hope no one buys it then.

[ImmortalLegend]

KISS MY ASS!

[itani]

I was going to buy this game brand new, I buy Smackdown each year new but since THQ have done this, I ain't buying it. I will buy it used and THQ can shove its free content up its ass.

[Montrealien]

I think their current approach to the used game market is fair, they figured out a way to make money from the used game sales, it is win win.

[OSU_Gamer]

And we have no sympathy for developers who make games that are not worth buying at full price.

Make a game worth $60 and we will pay $60.

Not sure if I speak for everyone else, but I ahve no problem buying a $60 game if it is good.

[NYC_Gamer]

i agree with you 100%...and its ashame that people support this game every yr

[theonlylolking]

Any sport game you shouldnt buy every year since they dont change.

[fastrez]

Well said mate, agreed!

[Montrealien]

I hate to be devils advocate here, but you are not speaking for everyone, and many people enjoy this game and think it is worth 60$, even though some, like you and the dozen or so who will agree with you here on N4G, don't.

oh and yay! seems we start at 5 bubbles again, thanks mods!

[OSU_Gamer]

I agree.

I'm not speaking directly about the WWE games that THQ makes because I have never played them. In general though, a game worth $60 to someone will be bought at full price, but a game not worth it to them may be bought used at a lower price.

They are complaining about used games sales for a reason, and it seems to stem from lower sales due to used game sales. You don't see games like KZ, UC, Halo, Gears having this problem. To me, that explains a lot.

[UnwanteDreamz]

You 2 get agrees and bubs for bringing up good points.

[ChozenWoan]

where do used games come from?

We are not talking about bootlegged games, or pirated games, we are talking about used games. Games that at one time was new, legit copies sold to a gamer.

Obviously, at some point in time that gamer decided that the game no longer held any value for them. Thus they traded it in (usually at a loss) placing the game back on the market.

This is something that has been happening since the beginning of the gaming industry, so why is it that this gen it is suddenly an epidemic.

Could it be the fact that the last 2 gens we had a 3 tiered system that resulted in games being priced very close to their true market value. Gamers where happy and developers & publishers where happy as well.

Yet, at the beginning of this gen we saw that change to a 1 tier program with an increase in price to top it all off. Suddenly games are not flying off the shelves, and the industry as well as gamers are not happy. Coincidence?

When games are priced Day1 appropriately, they will sale closer to the expectations and hopes of the entire gaming community. Until then, blaming Game Stop and punishing gamers will only result in a decrease in game sales of non top tier AAA games.

I'm a gamer, and I approved this message.

[dizzleK]

@Chozen

Awesome post. I vividly remember a multi-tiered pricing structure up until this gen. Budget games were actually budget priced and more publishers actually charged prices relative to the games "worth". These days it's pretty much $60 across the board, granted there are a few $40,$50 games but that's pretty rare. You're paying the same $60 for 4 hour long games as you are for stuff like Fallout 3.

Last gen I used to buy a ton of $20 & $30 games. Lately I've been buying a new release maybe once every other month. The stuff they're pushing just isn't worth $60.

[unknownhero1123]

there are some diehard wrestling fans that will enjoy this and I know that I will buy it since I didn't buy the previous one.

[OSU_Gamer]

Not to mention the fact that this will probabaly make less people buy there game.

@Unwanted

Thanks for the bubbles.

[Double Toasted]

If I buy a game once, new, I'll buy it over a million times used...if I want.

[SuperbVillain]

There are people out there who can't afford to pay 60 bucks for a game right now.Times are still tough,people are still unemployed.

[Shazz]

they are clearly annoyed that ufc 2010 has dropped drastically and sold over 3 million less than 2009 version . .

[dangert12]

NO sympathy at all?
I mean people would't buy games 2nd hand if they wearnt so badly over priced,

THQ like to save money aswel i mean smackdown vs Raw hasan't changed much from the ps2 days,
If they went BUST I'd Have NO SYMPATHY PRICKS,

I don't have a problem with devs doing bonus dlc to bribe people into getting it new cause if your going to by there game they should be able to get a cut because of there hard work and money that went into it but,
still no sympathy!!!

[Shazz]

totally agree m8 , especially considering its games like wwe and ufc that are basically every year games and thq for some reason cant get online to function smoothly on either franchise . i do pay for fifa every year though but EA do a grand job with online and i never experience any lag so im not as miffed about pricetag every year with that game .

[dangert12]

Yeah i always have there own servers for games etc there they have been very good this gen 2bf with you there sort of like a multiplat sony less generousity lol just imgaigine if ea had there own console

FIFA
MADDEN
FIGHT NIGHT
MMA
DEAD SPACE
MOH
BATTLEFIELD
NEED 4 SPEED
Mass Effect
Dragon Age
Dante's Inferno ...
they'd have more exclusives then microsoft lol
:')

[kingjoker34]

everybody has more exclusives then xbox

[Pennywise]

Who really has the money to buy every game they want to play at full price? Maybe the pricing of games need to come down faster... I still see games from well over a year ago at full price. I am looking at you NGS2.

[metsgaming]

This isnt good for the future of games

[LunaticBrandon]

Its funny, the good games seem to sell fine and used sales aren't a problem. Maybe THQ should step their game up.

[fredfenster]

I think in the future we'll see digital distribution taking over. Though that'll kill retailers, and competition as well.

[PirateThom]

At the end of the day, anyone who buys a used game isn't a customer of THQ or any company that uses methods like this. You can't really complain that their games aren't worth x amount and then complain when they impliment ideas like this to prevent people buying them second hand.

Also, it's not like you can't find a lot of games going for cheaper than RRP even a week or two after release.

[kerrak]

Spot on. And the problem is a bit more complex than we might think.
The big question is:
In the end, what will be the incentive in buying new?
Today it's sort like paying for a timed exclusive. You can wait for a few weeks/months and have it cheaper.
So, it's not only about giving penalties to second hand buyers, it's also about giving some sort of incentives for first hand buyers.

[OSU_Gamer]

Pirate Thom

I see what you are saying but I disagree (respectifully).

" You can't really complain that their games aren't worth x amount and then complain when they impliment ideas like this to prevent people buying them second hand. "

Why aren't they making their games worth the $60 in the first place.
If I don't think that their games are worth $60 I won't buy it at full price. So then I am also punished (through DLC) when I buy it used because it was not worth the original $60. That doesn't make sense to me.

So you can complain about both the scenarios you mentioned when it isn't woth the price they charge in the beggining.

No one is making them charge $60 at release. Charge less, and then more people will be willing to buy it new rather than used.

+Bubbles for the good points.

[PirateThom]

I'm glad you're disagreeing respectfully and actually talking about it, so bubbles up for discussion.

For what it's worth, I don't believe their games are worth full RRP either, but no one is making anyone buy games on day 1. I waited three months and got, unrelated, Mirror's Edge and Prince of Persia for sub-half price but both new.

It's all about striking a balance.

[tiamat5]

I could be wrong but if games continue to get larger, unless the digital downloads get faster, no one is going to sit there and download 500 GB or a more than a Terabytes worth of information only to have it glitch or be corrupted. You must be talking at least 50 years in the future. Also I find that these days game companies are getting a little overconfident of themselves. Don't tell me what you want. Ask what I want first. It is us, the gamers, who put you up there on your pedestal and made you rich. Never forget that.

[DaBadGuy]

Luckily this DLC code crap doesn't apply to the Wii. All teh used Wii games R belong to me. Suck it THQ. Seriously though it is bullshit I mean people can't afford 60 bucks for a game and then they get shut out when they buy it at an affordable price? Make a good game worth 60 dollars and it will sell well enough Day 1. THQ is basically condemning a big part of the gaming community, IDK if used game buyers are the majority but I know obviously a lot of people buy used.

[tdogg06051991]

You take a any sports game and give them something like the Cerberus network so if the bought it new they'll get it. Then you update it every so often and spend a longer development time on the game to make it a FULL step up from what it was, not just a 15 buck expansion pack.

[HeartDisease]

dont hate on thq or say their games are not worth buying new cause every developer is doing this , not jsut them. also what you wouldnt buy new , someone else will. i wouldnt buy any game you probably like, new or used. how ya like that?

i agree with alot of the comments on "repeat franchises" namely the ones in sports settings. very little improvements over previous year, just updated roster. EA could have sold madden 08 and made every following year a DLC rooster/commentator update and fans wouldnt even care. hell they would even be apreciative that ea isnt fleecing them yearly. but nope, ea has earned their rep for a reason.

[DigitalAnalog]

I only buy games that are within my "budget". 2 games a month is an overkill for me, I compensate that by waiting a bit longer for a second hand purhcase. Seeing as 2011 would literally have me frothing at every PS3 exclusive per month, plus 3rd party AAA games like RAGE and Dead Space 2. No matter how hard I try, I will end up buying used games.

Better than piracy to me, at least I support them by not reselling them back.

-End statement

[Reel105]

I think including online codes in new games is a disgrace. I'm disappointed but not surprised by greedy publishers like THQ and EA.

Here is the thing: Used games fuel the market. The profit margins that retailers have on new products is so small that they barely make any money on selling them. Most of their profit comes from used products, which carry less overheads. By this I mean there's a significant difference in taxes, no distribution costs and higher margins for genuine profit. The less incentive you give to a customer for buying preowned, the less money the company will make. In the end, we'll get to the point where the retailers can't survive and game purchasing will be limited to online sales or maybe even digital downloads.

If game companies are so worried about profits then cut costs in other areas. Stop including instruction booklets for a start. Such a small percentage of people actually read them and I know that publishers have talked about binning them but nobody has actually done it yet. It'll save a fortune on paper and print costs.

Bottom line is that if you suffocate used game sales there'll be no retailers left to sell your new products, in my opinion. So, THQ, you should care.

[stephmhishot]

best scenario: wait a week or two for some deals when you can buy a game at a 10-20 buck discount, meaning you get a new game for 5-15 dollars less than you would for the used version at gamestop ($54.99!!!). take money out of gamestop's pocket!

[frameflip]

It's really a tough position to be in for the developers. But I understand buying used games is the best option for alot of people. There are so many games that I don't get to play until after a year or two simply because my budget doesn't allow me to purchase $60 games that often. So I buy the ones that are 'must-have' and just wait for the others to become affordable/used games. Quite the predicament.

[RandomGamer]

Why would I want to pay 60 bucks for a game that is practically the same as the last 4-5 years with just some roster changes,when I could buy an older (and vastly superior) game like Smackdown Here Comes The Pain for much less online.

[hazelamy]

and the preowned buyer likely wont care about the dlc.
so long as you're not locking off features i can live with free dlc being restricted to new buyers.
but you introduce something like ea's online pass, then you can not care when i never buy your games new ever again, and try not to care when other do the same thing.