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More Video Games on Library Shelves
Joystiq has the link to an update on a previous story we ran covering the efforts of a gentleman to add video games to library circulation stock. Since then, the program has really taken off, and Gaming Target has an update on how the project is going. From the article: "Circulation numbers have been brisk. With two week loan periods and late charges of only 25 cents a day, people are jumping at the chance to check out games, any game. I don't know why it's surprising, but people (adults and children, but mostly children) will pull stuff off the shelf and check it out without even looking at what game it is they're getting out."
... is to hide books in the cases. Might work if they don't look at what they get.
They'll start paying more attention when they realise they've brought home Daikatana...
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
My son just checked out Tony Hawks Underground for PS2 and has been playing it, and loves it. Now we know to look for it on the used shelf at Gamestop and EB.
Nobodies Prefect
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What sort of impact will this have on game sales? I know that libraries won't be carrying tons of new games. But even if they carry a few dozen different games, how many will that prevent from being bought at a retail store? Or, are we just talking older games?
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Its simple as that. Its "try before you buy". Don't like it? Return the game. Like it? Write down the name, return it, and go buy a retail copy of it. You can't lose!
I currently check out DVDs all the time from my public library, and some of them are of decent quality. However, there are some DVDs that have been scratched into oblivion, and are barely able to play in any of the DVD players that I have.
If libraries start providing video games as well, I sure hope they have a way to protect the discs as much as possible and keep them running like new.
The library in my town had a list of games/software with the number of disks you needed for that software. You would drop of the disks and come back a couple days later and the game was on the disk. I am pretty sure it was all shareware/freeware but as a kid it was awesome.
My library has had a policy on media-other-than-books as long as I can remember. They don't let minors check them out. The exception was the children's section, but you were limited to a total of three.
If there was ever a good argument for keeping the original game in storage and loaning a single playable duplicate of that game (disc media, anyway), this would be it. Rental stores, too. You could replace a stolen copy (and report it), and the sale of older items (destroying the copies) would fetch a better price.
We're also not above using a little luck to add to the collection either. Shortly after its release, a copy of Gran Turismo 4 was found abandoned in one of the study carrels. For six weeks it sat in the lost and found with no one to claim it. After that it was processed and placed in the collection and gone out steadily ever since.
I remember reading in the original article that they had troubles getting certain titles, since they were bound by library policy to order titles (for significant markup!) via an "approved" supply chain.
If I lived near that library (and I could prevent another patron from walking off with it before they find it), I'd leave my almost new copy of Culdcept there for them to put into circulation. While I liked the game, the single player AI felt a little unfair. As a game which is essentially a mix of Magic: The Gathering and Monopoly, it would be a better play in 2-4 player games, which would be more likely to be played by some patrons of the library rather than myself.
Those who complain about affect & effect on