Used-Games and the 'recession'

[Khet]

Three page article on Gamasutra, thought it'd be interesting for folks to read.

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3872...used_games_.php

 

 

 

 

After you read that, personally I blame some of it on the developers themselves for the small time-space before used-games are available. I mean, if developers would take the time to create games with, oh I don't know, a little thing called Replay Value, then I'm pretty sure that their games would be held on to longer. Personally, I'm not guilty of that myself. If I buy a game I plan on keeping it. But, I gotta ask. How do you folks feel about returning used games? Do you do it yourself? Or, are you like me, and keep the game for life?

 

 

Edit: One thing that I've actually noticed recently which is pretty interesting is that games seem to have a one day turn around rate. The new Prince of Persia had SIX used copies the day after release at a local game store, GoW had eight or nine used the day after... If I had realized that earlier I could have waited a day for PoP and saved a few bucks rather than paying full price on release, heh.

[myrmaad]

Three page article on Gamasutra, thought it'd be interesting for folks to read.

 

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3872...used_games_.php

 

 

 

 

After you read that, personally I blame some of it on the developers themselves for the small time-space before used-games are available. I mean, if developers would take the time to create games with, oh I don't know, a little thing called Replay Value, then I'm pretty sure that their games would be held on to longer. Personally, I'm not guilty of that myself. If I buy a game I plan on keeping it. But, I gotta ask. How do you folks feel about returning used games? Do you do it yourself? Or, are you like me, and keep the game for life?

 

If I don't like a game after I try it, I trade it in. I tend to keep games for a rainy day though. And movies. I've had some movies I bought years ago I still haven't watched.

 

I buy most of our movies and games on their release date or close to it.

 

Forrest Gump - never watched.

Prince of Persia - never played

Walk the Line - never watched

Blood Diamond - never watched

Tomb Raider Underworld - never played

 

 

Don't tell me how great they are, I'll get around to it when I have time!

[Khet]

Sure, if I don't like a game I'll return it, too. But what I want to know, is what has actually happened to games to make them so horribly that there are used copies the NEXT days after release? I mean Prince of Persia was touted as one of the greatest games this year, amazing reviews from ALL sites and magazines, beautiful graphics, nice platforming gameplay, yet the day after release there were used copies... kay. I haven't beaten the game yet but as I'm playing through it the answer dawns on me. And I said it in my first post. REPLAYABILITY!

 

Really, I can already tell that when I beat PoP there is NO reason for me to go back right away and play it all again. Maybe a month or so from now when I want to experience the story but eventually I'll stop playing it all together.

 

Now take a look at Fallout 3. I don't think F3 got as high of ratings as Prince of Persia from as many critics, but around here it's still pretty damned hard to find a copy. Used OR New. Because F3 has replayability of sorts. Sure, most of the game is slogging through copy/paste content but it's still fun.

 

 

Honestly, if publishers want to see more money in their pockets and less money in the pockets of retailers such as brick and mortar stores like EB games and GameStop then they should give us a solid reason to hold onto a game and NOT sell it. If you buy two games, both just released on the same day, both for the same price and can get an extra 70+ hours of entertainment out of one of them over the other, which are you most likely to keep? I'd keep the one with the most entertainment myself.

 

So, to end this rant and sum it up: Developers/Publishers have done this to themselves. If games gave more incentive to replay it and continue to replay it over and over, offering far more than the pathetic 10-15 hours max of entertainment that most games have now then people are more likely to keep their games and buy it new.

[LHammonds]

I have always seen new games show up in places like Eb Games the same day or the day after. I even asked about it once and the retailer said (this was a few years ago) most are returns because the parents did not approve of the content and had it returned. Apparently, kids were being given cash and they picked their own games out and tried to sneak something they were not allowed to play (by their parents, not the ESRB).

 

I rarely purchased used games, especially when the new version is merely $5 more. Why? Because I know exactly how much they paid the sucker that returned the game...because I am one of those suckers that gets robbed returning games. I have to take back 5 or 6 games in order to exchange for just 1 game. Well, that was back in the day when I had a budget where I could get a new game every month. Now it is more like one game per year. :( Thank God for Oblivion being able to tide me over for so long!!!

 

I also really don't care if publishers end up becoming extinct. Being able to buy a game direct from a company (electronic download) is my preferred method. Seemed to work well in the early days of Shareware as well. Anyone remember downloading games like Doom where the 1st episode was free and you paid for the other two? It was the best idea ever stolen from drug dealers. :cool:

 

LHammonds

[Michlo]

Don't forget the pirates.

 

Many of these games will be ripped off and then returned.

[Vagrant0]

I blame it on game companies charging us to beta test their products with the promise of having a working version a few months later. Because of this, people usually wait a few months so that they can get a working game and to find out all the problems of the game. And because people are cheap, they buy anything that costs less than normal.

 

I also blame the world for not just giving me an endless supply of money which I can use to purchase said games. As is I'm down to only affording 1 or 2 game purchases a year, and sadly, spore was all I had the budget for this year (SI last year). Now sure, I could go living off Ramen for a month to be able to afford another game, or just stop paying for internet service, but that's hardly a long term solution. Anyone willing to make a donation to my gaming fund is always welcome to contact me for more information.

[LHammonds]

Don't forget the pirates.

 

Many of these games will be ripped off and then returned.

Maybe for the individual / small-time pirates but I think the organized guys that create cracks and releases get their copies from guys "inside" the business such as packing, gamestore workers (holding games before release), etc. These "bigtime" guys are the ones supplying the images on the Internet. I think it would be hard to believe that there are thousands of little pirates out there buying a game, ripping the CD and the returning them ASAP. Then again, I might be naive regarding this subject but I tend to assume better from most people rather than assume guilt.

 

It would be an interesting factoid to know the honest reasons for returning the games.

 

LHammonds

[Michlo]

Don't forget the pirates.

 

Many of these games will be ripped off and then returned.

Maybe for the individual / small-time pirates but I think the organized guys that create cracks and releases get their copies from guys "inside" the business such as packing, gamestore workers (holding games before release), etc. These "bigtime" guys are the ones supplying the images on the Internet. I think it would be hard to believe that there are thousands of little pirates out there buying a game, ripping the CD and the returning them ASAP. Then again, I might be naive regarding this subject but I tend to assume better from most people rather than assume guilt.

 

It would be an interesting factoid to know the honest reasons for returning the games.

 

LHammonds

 

Indeed you are naive in this regard, mate. I've known plenty of co-workers who do this in my run of IT jobs.

[Skotte]

I'm the type to keep the games that I buy as I have a very limited gaming budget.

 

IMO the pirates that LHammonds mentioned would explain the pre-release piracy & Michlo's would explain in part why the vast number of the same program being pirated. And while those may be valid I do think that some of the blame can rightfully be *faulty copy-protection.

 

 

*as in it wont let buyer play despite not doing anything wrong.

[Vagrant0]

Don't forget the pirates.

 

Many of these games will be ripped off and then returned.

Maybe for the individual / small-time pirates but I think the organized guys that create cracks and releases get their copies from guys "inside" the business such as packing, gamestore workers (holding games before release), etc. These "bigtime" guys are the ones supplying the images on the Internet. I think it would be hard to believe that there are thousands of little pirates out there buying a game, ripping the CD and the returning them ASAP. Then again, I might be naive regarding this subject but I tend to assume better from most people rather than assume guilt.

 

It would be an interesting factoid to know the honest reasons for returning the games.

 

LHammonds

You forgot to take mention that a portion of people who pirate games, eventually buy them. Although this portion is small, it still provides contention to the notion that people are just stealing these things and never paying for them. As to why someone would do this, one need only considder games like HL2, which although undoubtedly pirated heavily, gets purchased anyway because people are wanting to play it online. Spore would be another example, in a similar way, in that people who bought the game also pirated it just to be free of the DRM and to get access to the sharing features. Although there are relativly few games that offer such online bonuses, even some offline ones, like being able to correctly update or install expansions, or even just because the game packaging/manual is seen as being worth the purchase. In some cases, people pirate games just to test them out before spending. I'm not suggesting that piracy is good by any means, since the vast majority of people downloading these games are freeloaders, but that the outlook isn't as black and white.

 

As for the people who are pirating this stuff, in most cases, the group of people who obtain, crack, then upload the game is very small, but tend to work in groups. There are even some groups who obtain, crack, insert viruses, and then share to just screw over people who download the game. Really, the market is being hurt less by the people who upload the game, and more by the thousands of people who are downloading it. Although yes, stopping that person from uploading it might seem like a solution, as there are often established groups doing these things, often from outside the liscensing of the company, even tracking down members of one of these groups would easier said than done. And ultimately, where one is stopped, another will go ahead. In some cases, the files which are being disbursed on the internet have passed between several parties before making it public, so just stopping the uploader does not stop the original supplier. Many of those involved with online distribution have been doing it for years, and know most of the tricks in keeping them safe.

 

The only thing companies can really do about piracy is to go after people who are selling the pirated versions in physical form to others. It's really those people, who are downloading massive amounts of games, who are easy to track down, and who are profiting from the expense of game companies. Game companies can also try to work harder on providing online bonuses for registered games, to encourage sales. Often these things could be as simple as additional music tracks, alternate costumes, new items, ect. Although these too will likely also end up beign shared, if the bonuses keep coming, it will add lasting value to a rightfully purchased game. In the long run, more people would be willing to deal with something minor like that, rather than DRM, SecuRom, or having key parts of the install held ransom unless you register online and download at that moment. Having an online service, like EA has done with the Battlefield series, which requires little maintainance, but requires a valid key, also helps significantly.

 

However, blaming piracy for being even a significant contributor to loss of game sales is a bit short sighted. Honestly, game companies have been blaming piracy for lost sales even before there was the internet. Go dig up a copy of Doom2 some time, when it loads up, there's an anti-piracy message. And way back then, piracy, by and large, was being done through a physical handoff between friends, and not some mysterious, evil group, aimed at taking down game companies. The notion itself is rather silly when you think about it. Without the game companies, good games would not be getting made, so eventually we would be left with games that aren't worth even stealins, or big name companies, with large followings, having to close up shop. Gamers would probably not be so willing to let things like that happen.

 

The cause of declining game sales speaks more of the declining quallity of games, the abundance of titles being released, and the declining economy. If you have a $200 a year gaming budget, would you be spending it on a game that is partially broken, offers very little lasting value, but shiny graphics, or would you be spending it on working game, that you can play for 60+ hours, and still find new things, with slightly less shiny graphics. Heck, under that light, MMOs could even be seen as a cause for declining game sales, since often the game software is given out free for buying a subscription, with the subscription often being for about the same cost as buying a few other titles. MMOs of course, providing nearly endless content, a garenteed (almost) working/balanced game, shiny graphics, as well as a community often consisting of vindictive geeks who want to see you cry. As anyone who has had an experience with MMOs could tell you, the amount of time you spend playing one can be outright sickening if you bothered to take note.