Xbox 720 Might Reject Used Games

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Xbox 720 Might Reject Used Games

Posted by timothy on Thursday January 26, 2012 @06:36AM from the insert-coin-to-continue dept.

silentbrad writes "Online passes are a recent staple in staving off used sales. Limiting what used buyers can access is a protective measure for publishers, much to the chagrin of parts of the gaming community. Chris Kohler of Wired argues that the death of used games is inevitable, and passes are the first step toward something exactly like a native anti-used game something integrated into consoles. He notes, of course, that digital is the future of buying games, but in the meantime we may be looking at 'an interim period in which the disc as a delivery method is still around but ... becomes more like a PC game, which are sold with one-time-use keys that grant one owner a license to play the game on his machine.' Also at Kotaku, the source for the Wired article (which is the source for the IGN article)."

22 of 543 comments (clear)

You know why they call it Xbox 720 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 06:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Because you should turn around twice and walk away.
1. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 06:43 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  goddamnit if you started facing it you'd just turn around twice and walk into it.
2. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by tripleevenfall · 2012-01-26 06:52 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Personally, the online keys were the last straw for me.
  The fact that used games were available at half price was the reason I was playing in the first place. I trade the first 6-12 months of a game's release for the discount. I wouldn't pay $60 to cram into Modern Warfare on release day with everyone else anyway.
  This is the miscalculation the game companies are making - they won't be able to force us into playing $60 and up for games we'd previously bought used for $30, we just won't play the games at all.
  They are also missing the point that the presence of a used market drives sales, because you aren't so skittish about blowing $60 on a game if you know you can recoup some of that later.
  This is a bad idea. I know that suits and PHB's think "Well, they can't get used games anymore - they'll buy the full priced ones instead!" but they've got another thing coming.
3. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 07:04 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Game companies don't care that you won't pay $30 for the used game anymore. Remember, THEY don't get that $30. They get NONE of it. To them, this is perfectly fine.
  I'm not saying that they should be doing this, I'm just saying they did think it through.
4. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by St.Creed · 2012-01-26 07:04 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  You're very right. The automotive industry does its best to maintain the used car market precisely because of this reason: if buyers of new cars don't have an outlet for their cars, they stop buying new cars every 2-3 years but instead drop down to buying one every 10 (or even more) years. Not good.
  I'm guessing that any drop in sales will be blamed on piracy though, instead of the retarded policies of the gaming industry.
  
  --
  Therefore, by the (faulty) logic you're using, you're just a cow with a keyboard - osu-neko (2604)
5. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by Grishnakh · 2012-01-26 07:13 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  What you're missing is that, without a used market for buyers of new games to recoup some of the cost of their unwanted games with, they simply won't buy as many new games.
6. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by AngryDeuce · 2012-01-26 07:15 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Not to mention the other "used market" on The Pirate Bay.
  Well, unless they're going to create the first unhackable/unmoddable console in history. In that case, consider the gauntlet thrown down, Microsoft...
  You want to sell more new copies of a game? Have a non-insane pricing plan that actually decreases the cost of new games progressively as time goes on. Yes, I know they have the "Greatest Hits" line, but honestly most games they ever add to that are the ones that sold so many copies new that Gamestop won't even buy them due to having a dozen copies already they can't get rid of at $10 a piece.
  If these guys started giving the consumer incentive, rather than treating them as adversaries so often by locking them out of their own hardware/software, they would probably sell a lot more, but I doubt they'll ever try, so we'll never know...
7. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by tripleevenfall · 2012-01-26 07:58 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Some of us want a more robust gaming experience than TuxSweeper, et al
8. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by GuldKalle · 2012-01-26 08:32 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Depends.
  Old car: $2000 / 1000 kg
  Old game: $20 / 100 gram
  Games are worth 100 times more than cars.
  
  --
  What?
9. Re:You know why they call it Xbox 720 by Pentium100 · 2012-01-26 08:37 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The same can be said about used cars, PCs, electronics, almost any physical object, so what? The way I see it, the industry wants to have it both ways:
  When piracy is concerned, the industry says "a copy of a game is a product, pirating it is pretty much like stealing a DVD (or a car)". OK, so I guess my copy of the game is just another physical object and I should treat it like that (after all, I do not copy a lot of physical objects).
  So, selling a used physical object is perfectly fine - I can sell (or buy) a used car, a tape deck, a PC and many other things. I have bought a lot of used equipment, mostly because I cannot afford new one or it is no longer made. So, if a copy of the game should be treated as a physical object, then it should be perfectly fine for me to sell it or give it away, assuming, of course, that I did not keep a "backup". Except that the industry really does not like it and takes steps to prevent it and make it so when I buy a game, I'm stuck with it forever. When I buy a TV and it turns out I do not like it I can return it (within 14 days) or sell it at a lower price - taking a loss, but still recouping some of the money paid.
  You don't hear Intel bitching about all those used PCs sold to people. Or Mercedes bitching about used cars. Or just old cars, the way Microsoft is bitching about the fact that people still use Windows XP and *gasp* do not want to pay them money for a slightly better OS.
Every new generation by FrYGuY101 · 2012-01-26 06:41 · Score: 5, Interesting

"Hey the PS2 is going to prevent you from playing used games!"

Oops, no, you can just fine...

"Hey, the PS3 is going to prevent you from playing used games!"

Nope, wrong again...

"Hey, the next Xbox is going to prevent you from playing used games!"

At this point, I'm convinced it's just a way for the hardware people to wrangle a little bit extra developer support before launch, where inevitably they aren't stupid enough to do something that would alienate their core market...

--
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living."

- Seneca
not too good for archiving by Trepidity · 2012-01-26 06:45 · Score: 5, Interesting

After some years of neglect, since the late 1990s some libraries, universities, and other cultural organizations have realized that videogames are an important cultural artifact, so are worth preserving just like films and other bits of culture are. There are now things like this at Stanford, and quite a few others. These are usually put together by buying used arcade cabinets, cartridges, CDs, etc., from anything from flea markets to eBay (in addition to donations from individuals and collectors).
Videogame makers seem to be doing whatever they possibly can to make this as difficult as possible, especially for organizations like libraries that need to follow the law. It seems like if videogames are actually documented/preserved as interesting cultural artifacts, it's going to be by less-official organizations that crack them.

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10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Kill Used Games? Say Hello to Piracy by decipher_saint · 2012-01-26 06:45 · Score: 5, Insightful

If the secondary market becomes impossible, piracy will spring up to take its place, if anything else to increase availability of hard to find titles.

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crazy dynamite monkey
1. Re:Kill Used Games? Say Hello to Piracy by The+MAZZTer · 2012-01-26 06:58 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I believe at least one publisher has stated used games are a BIGGER problem for them than piracy. They receive no money for either one, but used games are legal and you can just walk into a store and buy one so it's more accessible for more people. It would not surprise me if devs are trying to kill them, though obviously they have to be careful or else lawsuits will likely be thrown their way (perhaps legitimately so, I should be able to resell my own property that I don't use anymore).
In related news by Lectoid · 2012-01-26 06:46 · Score: 5, Insightful

In related news, Gamers might reject the Xbox 720

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Is it just me, or do you hate it when people say "Is it just me..."?
This idea they have is worthless by Howitzer86 · 2012-01-26 06:49 · Score: 5, Insightful

So in the future, lets say... 18 years from now, you won't be able to legally play that game that came out in 2013 because there are no more keys left and the servers are down. You might still have the console, and the disk, and perhaps you paid money for it, but with that game, with that anti-used-game protection, it's useless. And of course, going around the copy protection would be the only way to play it again, which is illegal.
Where is in modern times, you can play an 18 year old game without breaking any laws. Buy a Sega Genesis or a Saturn, buy the game, and so long as it isn't scratched up you can have a nostalgiagasm.
It stinks, won't stop anybody, and make criminals out of everybody, eventually. This idea is worthless.
Re:What about Sony et al? by bonch · 2012-01-26 06:52 · Score: 5, Interesting

Why is the headline of this article focussed on Microsoft and the Xbox 720?
Because the article is about Microsoft and the Xbox 720. Because the source of the article is about Microsoft and the Xbox 720.

I haven't RTFA as it'll be a load of made-up crap by the author.
You'd be amazed at what you can learn when you RTFA instead of posting a knee-jerk reaction.
What about game rentals? by lazycam · 2012-01-26 06:57 · Score: 5, Interesting

I know it's a small part of their business, but how will this decision affect a rental company like RedBox. The other day I noticed they rented out titles like Skyrim and Call of Duty. Moreover, what about companies like Gamefly, whose entire business model is based on the ability to share titles? Along with regular customers, I imagine these companies will not go down without a fight.

--
my mom posts on slashdot.
Killing Used Games Kill Sales of New Games by Jah-Wren+Ryel · 2012-01-26 07:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

KIlling the used game market is going to backfire because the sale of used games subsidizes the purchase of new games. A lot of people make the calculation that they can buy a ~$50 game, play it until they are tired of it and then sell it for ~$20 - making the effective price only $30.
If the publishers make it impossible to resell that game, that amounts to nearly a doubling of the price for a new game and thus a lot less people will be able to afford it. These game publishers should be care what they wish for.

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When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Incorporate by PPH · 2012-01-26 07:10 · Score: 5, Interesting

Create a corporation*, purchase the XBox and games through the corporation. When you want to sell, you transfer the equity in the corporation to the new owner. The h/w and s/w never change hands.
Watch Microsoft fight a couple of hundred years of corporate law. Sit back. Laugh.
*Yeah, I know. This will be prohibitively expensive for something like a couple of games.

--
Have gnu, will travel.
Same for CDs by Anonymous Coward · 2012-01-26 07:13 · Score: 5, Interesting

I haven't bought a new CD (music album) in about 10 years. In that time, however, I have bought over 100 used CDs, averaging about $5 each, from online stores like secondspin.com. I simply unpack them, record each album to my FLAC archive, and put the disc/inserts away for storage. I keep a list of CDs I might want to buy and about twice a year I order a new batch of 10-15 albums. This has proven to be a great way of acquiring new music, and the best part is that I get the actual physical albums. I don't even care if they have a few scratches (most don't), as long as they record perfectly.
In conclusion, I feel damn good about sticking it to a corrupt industry backed by a corrupt government.
Used game sales = new game sales by billcopc · 2012-01-26 07:26 · Score: 5, Insightful

How can these corporate dunces not understand that the used game market is what fuels new game sales ?
On the few occasions where I've sold a game, in my case it's because I didn't like it, and wanted to free up those funds to buy something else. My most recent example was last year's Splinter Cell game (which I dubbed "Gears of Splinter Cell"). I spent $60 on it, didn't like it, sold it to someone else for $45 or so. Then I turned around and spent another $70 on Black Ops. So far, the game industry has made $130.
If I were unable to sell the game, due to arbitrary restrictions enforced by the platform, the other guy would not have gotten his hands on my unloved Splinter Cell, and I would have had $45 less to spend on my next game. Restricting that private sale then directly results in one less retail sale.
Now, I only rarely sell games. I'm more of a collector, and I like to revisit old games every few years. I can afford it, so I'm not the typical used-game-market kind of guy. A lot of my friends are, though, and they rarely have more than 4-5 games in their possession at any given time. They beat one, sell/trade it, get a new one. That's the key factor: they keep buying new ones with the money from used sales!
The people who are buying used games ? They're not even on the radar. $70 for a video game is fucking expensive, considering most modern titles are hastily-polished turds. About half gamer guys I know in the 25-35 age range are broke asses, working retail jobs and having less than $200 left after rent and necessities. The used market is the only way they can afford any games, so they may not contribute directly to the game industry's bottom line, but it keeps them addicted. How often have I heard these guys go "Man when I get a 2nd job I am so buying a PS3"... but kill off the used game market and these folks will find other hobbies, and you lose them as a customer for life!

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-Billco, Fnarg.com