Slashdot Mirror
'Used' A Dirty Word in Gaming
Gamers with Jobs has a piece looking at the increasingly negative reaction the game industry has towards used games. From the article: "The problem is that the used game market has not only redefined the direction of the specialty retailer, but it has attracted the attention of the big box stores, and the success of limited test markets might eventually reshape the landscape of the gaming retail industry as a whole, edging publishers and developers out of a significant cut of the action. This as next-generation systems send development costs skyrocketing put developers in the position spending more than ever just as the biggest retailers are considering keeping more of the profits for themselves."
Because the developers' income have risen substantially over the past 5 years.
We used to pay $8/hr for an expert programmer with two PhDs. Now it's $10/hr for a guy with only one PhD! When will it end??? Bangalore is getting pricey!
Gamers who hang with Steve Jobs?
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
It seems to me that this whining is probably just gaming companies whose products didn't make the sales they wanted. Used games are an obvious scapegoat.
Instead of "our game sucked so no one bought it," they can now say "our game didn't sell well because most people waited and bought used copies."
If they really have a problem with used games, they need to come up with a "better" content distribution method. Something "Steam-ish."
He also forgot that by the time Duke Nukem Forever 3 is released, currency will be obsolete and humanity will have evolved to playing games using only the power of their huge brains rather than primitive external hardware.
"This thing does science so hard, you say, 'I've never seen that much science.'" -Sam
I thought Owned, PWND, 0WN0R3D etc was the dirty word of the day in gaming.
Now I can imagine a kid yelling I T0TALLY UZ3D U N00B!!!!!11 but why?
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
The problem with buying used games is it is akin to stealing from the game publisher. They don't get a dime of that revenue from the second or third sale of a game, only the first, so by you buying a $20 copy of a game, you're essentially stealing an $80 sale from them. Hopefully Congress will shore up this loophole and outlaw the resale of intellectual property by anyone other than the copyright owner.
If they would be reading they'd read that as: I'll pirate it, arrrr!
The skyrocketing costs are not due to making changes in game play but in the successful game developers' increasing appetite for booze, coke, and whores.
I believe you are confusing "free as in speech" with "free as in beer".
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I thought Owned, PWND, 0WN0R3D etc was the dirty word of the day in gaming.
Just as used cars are now "pre-owned vehicles", used video games are now pre-0wned.
I for one welcome myself and my new overlord. :)