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Buy Second-Hand Games, Stifle Creativity?

Posted by simoniker on from the or-something-like-that dept.

Thanks to GameSpot for its 'GameSpotting' editorial discussing why buying second-hand games could have a negative effect on videogame creators. The author points out: "You know, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft must have a real love/hate relationship with stores that stock used games alongside their new games [since buying used games doesn't give] the game developers, or the game publishers a thin, red cent. Instead, the retailer is enjoying a nice, fat profit margin, where the markup is in the neighborhood of 200 to 1000 percent." He goes on to argue: "Buying used is equivalent to the game not selling at all in the eyes of developers and publishers, and when games don't sell, they don't get sequels and excellent concepts and, therefore, opportunities are lost."

4 of 217 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe they should take a hint. by Mark_MF-WN · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Maybe game developers and publishers should take a hint about what the sweet spot for pricing is.

    Why are business-types so colossaly stupid? The success of used games should indicate that selling games for two thirds of what they cost now would dramatically increase their sales. Instead of complaining, they could just take advantage of that trend. Losing 33% of your per-game revenue is irrelevant if you double total sales -- and since per-unit production costs are negligble, that's a pretty reasonable scenario.

  2. This is stupid. by togofspookware · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, and when I buy a used couch, the couch manufacturing companies don't get my money either. So what? I wanted a couch, and the guy selling it didn't, so I bought it. That's how a free market works. Of *course* they'd rather I bought a new one!

    --
    Duct tape, XML, democracy: Not doing the job? Use more.
  3. I buy used games... by wheresdrew · · Score: 5, Insightful
    ...because they're cheaper.

    That's the bottom line. Ebay, Gamestop, EB Games or local independent game shops, it's all good. Saves me money and allows me to buy more games. If they want to sell more copies of newer titles, I see two options:

    1. Make the game worth $50

    2. Make the game cost less than $50

  4. Developers are crying to the wrong people by neura · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Just like the music industry, the artists (developers) should be bitching out the publisher for ripping them off. Publishers make most of the money and do the least amount of actual work. Not saying they don't do much work. Everybody involved does a lot of work, but they have by far the largest payoff.