trivard676There isn’t a person here who will say that being a hardcore gamer is an inexpensive hobby. Consoles, handhelds, heavy-duty PC rig (which can be used for things other than gaming of course), internet connection, Xbox Live pass, PSN+ and last but not least, the games themselves. By itself, not all that big of a dent in the pocketbook, but if you’ve grown beyond the phase where you require more than games to function in society, or you have other people to take care of, things tend to get pretty tight when feeding the habit.
You don’t need to be an accountant to figure out that buying every game that piques your interest probably isn’t the best move financially. The ones you’re not so sure about, the ones you’ve read are only a few hours long, the ones with zero multiplayer or little replay value – it’s just not a very sound investment. So that really left the cash-strapped gamer with a few options, all which have been perfectly A-OK until now, apparently.
The first of which is rental options. The friendly neighbourhood video rental/game rental store was almost a staple of every community. Unfortunately, business has been steadily declining on this avenue. With both Movie Gallery in bankruptcy and Blockbuster in receivership, it would seem that brick and mortar game/movie rental stores are a thing of the past.
I probably was a big part of the problem…
If you had friends with deep pockets, you could always essentially leech off their good gaming time by hanging out with them…all the time. Or, you could just borrow it when they were finished it. Or if they were the loner type, they’d let you borrow it before they even finished it.
Regardless of your methods of getting used games secondhand the PERFECTLY LEGAL route, the industry is looking to make you feel like you’re a criminal. Robbing the publishers and the developers of their hardworking cash using seedy, underhanded methods.
And the modus operandi of all of this thievery?! Secondhand gaming.
Yarr, would ye like to place a pre-order?
Ahh, Gamestop. Gamers loooooove to rag on your staff almost as much as we love to peruse your used game selection. For the budget conscience gamer looking for a price without having to meet a stranger for what arguably resembles a drug deal, Gamestop (or EBgames, or Best Buy, or Wherever) is the place to be. We may disagree with some of their prices, but we’ll always go back. I use Gamestop frequently in this article, but I’m really referring to many different used game stores.
Used game sales bring in an estimated $2 billion annually. That’s $2 billion dollars that the publishers aren’t getting and those publishers have a serious problem with that. But when you really think about it, that’s small potatoes when you consider how much money the industry brings in, and the fact that there will always be people who will buy new over used.
There’s been a growing trend to push gamers away from the second-hand game market. It seems noble enough – after all, publishers are just trying to keep their struggling companies afloat, right?
They can’t even afford safes for their cash
Well let’s set the scene with an example: Dead Space 2. If you bought Dead Space 2 pre-owned one week after its initial release, you might have saved about $5 or $6 off the full price – for only 75% of the game (depending how much stock you put in Dead Space 2’s multiplayer). That is, unless you want to pay another $10 for EA’s online pass which only works for one game. So EA has earned (gross earnings, not net) $10 more than the full price of that game for only 1 copy sold. We’re making a broad assumption that the markup value for new games is relatively low, as well.
Get ready to see more of this…a lot more of this.
I may be making another broad assumption here, but no other industry that I am aware of works this way regarding the second-hand market. When I purchased my car, I paid the government taxes (…ugh) and licensing fees but I didn’t pay GM a royalty fee for driving around in an Oldsmobile so I could use the snap oversteer and the stereo. If I go to the thrift store and pick up a pair of second-hand slacks, Aeropostale isn’t looking for a “Pants in Public Places” fee.
$50 a year for this?! …Eh…
So why has being a gamer suddenly become so goddamned expensive? If publishers and devs want to spur on new game sales with free DLC – then I’m all for it. But when they want to start treating me like I’m a pirate because I don’t happen to be the first owner of a game (or in some games’ case even if I am) I have an issue with that. Especially when numerous sources state that used games spur future new game sales and whenever I go into EB Games – Canada’s Gamestop – it’s not as if the shelves are full of new games and empty of used. There are a millions of people out there who would rather buy new over used, and there always will be.
What does this have to do with horror games? Well this kind of thing sets a dangerous precedent. If EA can get away with it, what’s stopping Capcom from doing this with Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, or Deep Silver from doing it with Dead Island? Every game that has an online component would be fair game for this practice. Your game doesn’t have an online component? Maybe this will change to disabling Trophies or Achievements unless you enter the $5 activation code. Or have our games loaded with advertisements?
PRESS X REPEATEDLY! OR CLICK HERE FOR FREE OFFER!!!!!!
This doesn’t only affect used game sales, it will also affects rental services like Gamefly and our friend Jimmy who we’ve been leeching games off of since the third grade. Pay to play…and then pay again for the other half of the game.
So why don’t Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo offer us a little bit of reprieve? Bundle in an “online pass” with their online service and let EA and Capcom go after the companies who can more often than not afford it? PSN is free, but PSN+ should include these online passes, like Gold. Maybe Nintendo’s next console will have a more in-depth online component?
Furthermore, it publishers have such a problem with used game sales, a core component of Gamestop’s revenue, why don’t the these companies work together to negotiate an agreement? A percentage of the used game sale profit goes back to the publisher, and that percentage is based on how old the game is? I honestly can’t see Gamestop doing that, but it would definitely help foster relations between the companies, wouldn’t you agree?
Sometimes you don’t even have to be looking in the same direction to work as a team
It’s oftentimes not so much about not being able to afford it, but the concept of being treated like criminals, and then nickel and dimed by doing something perfectly legal. We’re not stealing, we’re not pirating, yet somehow we’re still made to feel like thieves.
So what do you think? Do you buy used games? Will you still buy used games or has this practice (setting the precedent for the future) of online passes turned you off of it?
