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The End Is Near for GameStop

kube00 writes "The rumor mill is saying the next generation of consoles might not play used games. What does this mean for retailers such as Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy? Will gamers flock to the one console that can still play used games? GoozerNation speculates if the Mayan apocalypse draws near for used game sales."

18 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. Prices will come down? Hah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So the article speculates that the prices of new games will come down if second hand sales become a thing of the past.

    Yeah. Right. If you believe that, I have a special deal, just for you, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you could be the proud owner of the Brooklyn Bridge for the low low price of $1000!

    Publishers will sell the games for as much as they think the public will pay. They're not going to oh-so-generously drop the price of their product just because you can't resell it down the road. I guarantee you, prices will stay the same, or go up.

    1. Re:Prices will come down? Hah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So the article speculates that the prices of new games will come down if second hand sales become a thing of the past.

      Yeah. Right. If you believe that, I have a special deal, just for you, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you could be the proud owner of the Brooklyn Bridge for the low low price of $1000!

      Publishers will sell the games for as much as they think the public will pay. They're not going to oh-so-generously drop the price of their product just because you can't resell it down the road. I guarantee you, prices will stay the same, or go up.

      Remember when those same publishers got rid of big boxes, printed manuals and goodies that used to come in normal pc game editions -- with the excuse of going green and lesser price ? Yeah, what happened to those prices ? They went up, up and up. And you ended paying much more for less.
      It is GUARANTEED that if second hand games go the way of the dodo prices will not go down.
      You'll end up paying much more for even less value.

    2. Re:Prices will come down? Hah! by Vaphell · · Score: 5, Insightful

      true that, anyone believing the price would fall when the competition gets weaker (2nd hand stuff competes with brand new) is a fucking moron.

  2. *yawn* by adolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The rumor mill is saying that something might happen, and the question is about the possible consequences of this thing that may or may not occur.

    This is too many layers of speculation to be useful for anything.

    Please call me when someone knows something about anything. Thanks.

  3. lolwut by tambo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > "If none of the consoles can play used games I could see the price of games coming down. AAA titles may come out at $45 or $50 instead of $60."

    :lol: Right. Because when publishers eliminate the only legitimate source of price competition for their titles, they will become benevolent toward their customers and cut the price out of... good-naturedness? Rather than, you know, jacking up the rates for Halo XVIII through the roof, because they know that customers would sell a kidney to play Master Chef again?

    --
    Computer over. Virus = very yes.
  4. the EU saves the world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In the EU and especially in Germany it is allowed to resell used copies of licenses of software and games.
    You are explicitly allowed to buy high volume licenses and resell them individually (e.g., oracle and windows licenses).

    It's like MS bundling IE and Media Player with Windows in the EU. Either they pay high fines (900 millions or more) or they
    comply with the law in the EU.

  5. Re:Gamers tend to be... by Kokuyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While the wording is pretty excessive, I do not think this post deserves a flamebait mod. Only that it's not limited to gamers.

    And I even count myself as one of those idiots... I'm still buying Assassin's Creed games on PS3 even though I've been burned by Ubisoft repeatedly AND there hasn't been an AC game I've truly enjoyed since AC2.

    So yeah, I'm pretty dumb. I acknowledge that fact.

    What I'm going to do about it, though, is hack that damn console and pirate each and every game. I'm done paying before I can evaluate the quality.

  6. Re:Retailers went too far by Kryptonian+Jor-El · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Thats not the problem. Make games that people want to buy at reasonable prices, and they will buy. If publishers keep pumping out expensive shitware, then yeah, they're going to be a problem.

    And if developers are going to be removing features from games I purchase (the right to resell) then the price needs to be dropped dramatically.

    Actually, forget it. Preventing resale will just light a fire under the pirate's asses; they'll crack the DRM in no time, and then publishers will have an even bigger problem than gamestop

    --
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  7. Re:Retailers went too far by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...Mixing new and preowned stock on the same shelf was ridiculous enough, but Iit's got to the point where you try to buy a new copy of a game, and they're actively pushing pre-owned even at the checkout: 'Are you sure you want a new copy? This pre-owned one is $2 less!'

    This directly hurts publishers and developers, who need the new sales and make no revenue from pre-owned...

    Ironically, this exact scenario plays out across the entire nation every single day. In used car sales lots. And in pawn shops. And in clothing thrift stores.

    Why is it I don't see Ford lobbying against every single used car dealer, demanding they "outlaw" the sale of all used Fords?

    Why is it I don't see Abercrombie and Fitch pissed at the fact that their $40 T-shirt sells for $10 at Platos closet, threatening the sue the entire used clothing chain?

    Why is Rolex not demanding that all used Rolex watches be pulled immediately from the market and destroyed, since they're being sold for thousands less than what the MSRP is, crushing their "value" and image?

    I'll tell you why. Because these retailers have already got their damn money once, and don't feel they should be paid again. And again. And again.

    I fail to understand why you or anyone else thinks the gaming industry deserves this unique honor. As far as them being "hurt", well I guess I'll believe that when I see that multi-billion dollar industry actually start slowing down. Seems the music and movie industry likes to cry poor mouth too while artists and managers wipe their ass with $100 bills.

  8. Re:Gamers tend to be... by VAElynx · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can buy the sticks, shoes and even pieces of wood on the used market for a lot cheaper.
    And, sure, there's a markup to make it rentable ,but the price there arises from manufacture - the sticks costing thousands of dollars tend to be made from light, hard alloys with mechanical properties to fit the job.

  9. Gamers are not idiots ... by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... they are addicts

    Gamers act pretty much the same way drug addicts do ...

    No matter how many times they were screwed by the dealers, them addict will always go back to the dealers and buy more drugs

    --
    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
    1. Re:Gamers are not idiots ... by mumblestheclown · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Or maybe it's that when you amortize the cost of a video game compared to most other forms of popular entertainment, video games work out incredibly cheaply per unit time of entertainment and so the total spend of a typical gamer per year is actually very low. Furthermore, perhaps you, or if not you then others it this thread, are basing your idea of getting "ripped off" by comparing the free market costs of goods (which is essentially what we have here, despite nonsense or hyperbolic claims of 'addiction') against the "piracy costs" as some of you have conditioned yourself that the cost of digital entertainment "should" be near zero.

      I don't play many games. I'm a WW2 enthusiast and there haven't been many shooters lately. But in general for about the price of a decent restaurant meal I could get a WW2 shooter that would keep me occupied for 40+ hours (of my life that I can never get back, but that's a different story). I have no problem with this and I further have no problem in technological means to prevent against re-license - or have you all been asleep to what this has done to prices in the ios app market and also in places like steam?

    2. Re:Gamers are not idiots ... by thrift24 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are suggesting that paying someone for goods despite the poor behavior of the seller is done by both gamers and drug addicts to make the point that they are both addicts, however this behavior is wide spread and has nothing to do with actual addiction. Probably a good portion of this site's users hate their ISP or cable company, yet continue to pay those bills. Many people dislike WalMart, but continue to shop there. This has nothing to do with addiction and comes down to the buyers evaluation of whether or not something has enough benefit to justify dealing with the seller. The console makers can try whatever they like and people may still buy things from them, but they aren't sticking needles in the buyers arm and if you provide the user with a better value they will probably take that into consideration with their gaming purchases.

    3. Re:Gamers are not idiots ... by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 5, Interesting

      They aren't talking about being burned in the sense of watching a bad movie, they are talking about getting burned in the sense of:

      1. Playing a Game for Windows Live (GFWL) game on Steam and having the GFWL fail to connect, disconnect midgame, and choke up so often as to make a fun game unfun (Dark Souls...)
      2. Renting a HD movie from Amazon on a Roku box, and deciding to finish watching the movie on a bigscreen powered by a HTPC only to discover then that Amazon won't show HD content on a PC.
      3. Having the multi-player servers shut down and not being given an option to run your own.
      4. Forced configurations and patches for non-multiplayer games. (Opps, looks like that patch changed something you liked, or broke the game for your machine)
      5. Paying again to access services you already pay for (Netflix on Xbox)
      6. Online requirements for single player games
      7. permanent locking of games to accounts
      8....

      Yeah, there are a lot ways to get burned by companies even without considering if the content is actually good.

      Those I've listed above are just those that have directly impacted me, I'm quite sure the list goes on.

      Oh wait, I forgot about whatever the hell that nasty DRM break your CDROM malware is. Starforce stardock? I can't even remember the name, I just remember having to spend a couple hours trying to get the damned crap off a PC a couple years back.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    4. Re:Gamers are not idiots ... by SandwhichMaster · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Everyone is making broad generalizations.

      You realize the irony in that statement, don't you?

  10. Re:Gamers tend to be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... idiots. I've watched them give money hand over fist to companies that are screwing them blind. When games went mainstream shit went downhill, the fact that gamers put up with such onerous bullshit because they are so addicted and stupid is why we can't have nice things.

    How is paying for entertainment being an idiot? People pay $50-$100 a month to have TV shows to watch. People pay up to $50 for two to go see a movie ONCE. Its not like a smoker who spends $50 a week to kill themselves, or some drinker who spends $50 a week drinking their intelligence away.

  11. Re:I doubt it by mangu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    consoles are NOT a good buy

    Consoles are anachronistic by now. They are remnants of an age when there was a TV set in the living room and the family gathered there to watch. Back in those old days, a color monitor was an expensive item, so much that it made sense to use the family TV as a monitor.

    Today, when people carry in their pockets a device with a screen that offers much better resolution than the TV screen did, consoles make no sense at all, at least not for the consumer.

    There is only one group that benefits from the console system today, the game publishers. Consoles are what enables them to save money in development, because the range of hardware that they must support is limited, while at the same time allowing them to pump the prices up, by using DRM.

  12. Re:Retailers went too far by doug141 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why is it I don't see Ford lobbying against every single used car dealer, demanding they "outlaw" the sale of all used Fords?

    It was called Cash for Clunkers. Car companies lobbied for it. It required the gov't to subsidize the destruction of operational used cars.