Do you think the average consumer doesn't care about buying, selling, renting or lending used games? Are you saying they'll embrace this model wholesale and there's not really a big deal here, or that they'll put up with it simply to get their Halo/Gears fix?
PA Report - The Xbox One will kill used games, that's good
- Thread starter hardcastlemccormick
- Start date
Do you think the average consumer doesn't care about buying, selling, renting or lending used games? Are you saying they'll embrace this model wholesale and there's not really a big deal here, or that they'll put up with it simply to get their Halo/Gears fix?
NullPointer
Member
Can we just call it batshit insanity? Or is that too rude?
Dave Meltzer
Banned
I don't wash balls. I don't even like them.
The people paying you for services, at the end of the day, also factor in, no?
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
Since the 17th century
If you don't put up pitchforks now, it'll be too late. At that point, they've got your wallet, and they don't give a shit.
RedNumberFive
Banned
It's great that PA and Polygon have communities that will parrot and validate all of their out of touch, insane ramblings.
Isn't hacking going to be a little trickier with a console that requires constant internet validation/access?
CassidyIzABeast
Member
where did they get killing used games from? Last I read X1 doesnt block used games.
mightynine
Member
I would imagine that's most forms of media.
SteveWinwood
Member
We'll have to see what the validation consists of.
Your whole argument seems to rest on the notion that Steam prevents PC games from being pirated. Nothing could be further from the truth.
And obviously pricing in the PC space is in an entirely different situation than on consoles. Having multiple distributors compete (just as the retail stores of old) is completely different from having a single corporate entity control all distribution on a platform.
BlastProcessing
Member
Everybody pirated those UDraw tablets!
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
Games will be tied to an account. The disc only pushes around data - you can't play the game unless you have the game on your account. It also checks your console every 24 hours for any games you're not supposed to have.
Assuming they don't make any stupid mistakes, which is a pretty big assumption.
Industry makes billions and billions every year they aren't going anywhere.
Buddha Beam
Banned
I might almost buy that theory in the OP if the gaming industry wasn't the most poorly run industry around. It's run by a bunch of fanboys and your typical greedy executives. They'll never drop the prices on their games if they can get away with it.
You've really got it in for PA, huh?
No they won't. This article is a prime example of the paradigm they're using. If they do find that this isn't a viable strategy the publishers/developers and 'commentators' like kuchera/the GB guys/ Agies will blame gamers or the economy instead.
I don't know about that. Sony isn't stupid enough to do something like blocking used games when they just got the PS brand back on it's feet.
Neuromancer
Member
Haha seriously wtf
hydragonwarrior
Member
Well, there is this part:
It needs to be made clear, if all the studio closings and constant lay-offs haven't made this explicit: The current economics of game development and sales are unsustainable.
It needs to be made clear, if all the studio closings and constant lay-offs haven't made this explicit: The current economics of game development and sales are unsustainable.
They can set up a fake server that would authenticate anything. There is something similar for Pokemon.
Hell, even games that are Steamworks can be pirated.
StopMakingSense
Member
Valve even lets other retailers / publishers directly compete with them on their own distribution channel.
XxHANNERxX
Banned
They do all the time on steam, which I hope that's where the consoles with this.
Business sells game A for $60
Customer returns game A for $40
Customer buys game B for $60
Business resells game A for $50
What happened here for the publisher?
They sold 2 games and get $100~ and lost $50 due to the used game
The money goes back to buy new games, yes, but that used game sale only lines the pockets of the retailer and removes revenue that should be for the publisher
Can someone explain to me how the current situation is prohobiting publishers from playing with their pricing strategy? And how Activision (Deadpool $50 new) and 2K (2K sport games were 40 euro new on PS2) were able to wrestle out of that chokehold?
ALso, Digital distribution was supposed to drop prices as well. I see how that works on PSN. Publishers jumped at the chance to drop those prices. Not.
I miss the part how used games are not only costing publishers money, supposedly, but also how people who trade in their games use that money to pay for new games. Is there some black hole that money dissapears in because publishers dont want secondhand sales money?
I miss the part about how a second hand market exists in the first place. People have to buy those games new in the first place. Apparently there is little to no incentive to keep those games. I still own Donkey Kong Country. I sold Uncharted.
Finally, keep in mind that PA are not just gamers with a webcomic anymore. They are developers now. This article would've been a whole lot different if Precipice of Darkness did not exist.
ALso, Digital distribution was supposed to drop prices as well. I see how that works on PSN. Publishers jumped at the chance to drop those prices. Not.
I miss the part how used games are not only costing publishers money, supposedly, but also how people who trade in their games use that money to pay for new games. Is there some black hole that money dissapears in because publishers dont want secondhand sales money?
I miss the part about how a second hand market exists in the first place. People have to buy those games new in the first place. Apparently there is little to no incentive to keep those games. I still own Donkey Kong Country. I sold Uncharted.
Finally, keep in mind that PA are not just gamers with a webcomic anymore. They are developers now. This article would've been a whole lot different if Precipice of Darkness did not exist.
Ace Harding
Member
I am probably one of these people, and I fucking hate these "corporate shill" accusations.
Saying "WTF I'm not buying this shit" is one thing. I'm with you! If I can consistently buy games I want to play for cheaper on one console than another, I'm picking the one with the cheaper games. If that means I need to buy and sell used games, I'll consider it. As long as its legal, have at it.
But if I'm a game publisher or a console manufacturer, I'm licking my chops trying to control or eliminate the used game market. Why not? That's what a corporation does - try to grow profits. This is how companies work. Its not bad or evil. That's just the way the world works.
The talk about "consumer rights" is (usually) misguided, and "anti-consumer" is used so much it makes me want to punch myself. Setting prices and controlling the distribution of your product isn't "anti-consumer." It's pro-making money. Nobody is "taking away your consumer rights," because you never had any "right" to buy and sell used games or pay less for games in the first place. You have the right to buy, or not buy. You are supposedly protected from misleading advertising. You have "Consumer Rights" regarding the safety of products you buy, and companies certainly have obligations they have to fulfill.
I think most of you would agree with this, but it seems like other people have this sense that the used game market and/or lower game prices is some kind of protected right.
You CAN help control prices. You DO help control prices. Nobody is taking that away from you.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
They didn't lose it. It was never theirs.
It can be both.
It's essentially making the product less desirable and expecting us to put up with it. That's basically what it comes down to.
and the customer, the $40.
To understand this you need to put yourself in the position of someone who creates things for a living.
Gillian Seed
Banned
Gamefly must not have received the memo. They are advertising the new Xboner on there site. :-(
RedNumberFive
Banned
Person A doesn't buy the game at all in the first place. He doesn't want to be stuck with a $60 paperweight.
Shouldn't Steam be dead if that was the case?
BlastProcessing
Member
It's like how every time Exxon has record profits, they lower the price of oil!
They would only have sold 1 game if used games were blocked.
I personally feel that now, before anything is concrete, is the best time to get in an uproar. It's still early enough for them to see how their fan base reacts and hopefully change said policy.
Exactly, it'll always be someone else or something else at fault. If things go exactly the way they want and used games vanish from the marketplace and they still don't have the kind of growth they want, they won't change their business model, they'll more likely raise prices, and blame the consumers for not paying enough money.
If they really care, they won't buy day 1 games at full price and instead will wait until they can afford it without the benefit of trading their old games in. If enough people do this and publishers see a huge drop in their day 1/launch window purchases (which, if you aren't Nintendo, is where you make the vast majority of your money), Microsoft will be forced to revise their used game strategy.
Like I said, the market will correct itself. Millions of Xbox 360 owners are not suddenly going to go to the PS4, assuming they were happy with their experience on the 360. Sony's massive error with the PS3, the price of entry, is what created many of those customers.
If Microsoft doesn't make the same error and have the cost of entry too high on the Xbox One, those people are lost to Sony for another generation. Most people want to come home, watch some TV, play some games with their homies, and do it as easily and cheaply as possible. They do not give a shit about GDDR5 RAM, Jon Blow games, or Journey 2: The Quest for More Sand. Microsoft gave these people their answer last gen, and given the stuff like CoD DLC windows which is what appeals to that crowd, used games means jack and dick to those people.
I let a friend ride along in my car. It's ok though, I sent a royalty check to the car maker.
You're assuming that Customer is willing to pay $120 for two new games if he isn't able to sell them and recoup some of his investment.
RedNumberFive
Banned
I wasn't aware that Kuchera was an economist. That's right, he's a game blogger.