Developer calling Used game sales #1 issue in the industry..

[gtmtnbiker]

@Tornado, that was a nice retrospective.

When I was growing up, we would buy games for the Atari 2600/Intellivision from stores like Bradlees, Kmart, Sears. I don't think I ever bought any games with my own money, it was my parents buying for us.

The Atari 800 was the first system that I bought with my own money (Actually, my brother and I split it). We bought it from Crazy Eddie in East Brunswick, NJ. I remember bringing an ad from the back of the computer magazine so they would price match it. We bought a couple of games and I remember the sales guy pushing Basic on us. "You gotta get Basic" to do programming. It seems that it was common to assume that everyone (not just software developers) would use Basic. So we did buy Basic.

Sometime later, we bought a floppy drive and also a pirate device named "The Impossible" which allowed us to copy protected games.

There were a few local stores that would rent computer software. I can't remember if it was by the day or the week. So we would rent some games, copy them, and then return them. I also got a 1200 baud modem so I was able to download games from BBSes.

In stores, you could buy books that had computer games. So you would type them into your basic program and run them. We quickly learned that they never worked out of the box and you had to debug/fix them to work since they were written for the Radio Shack TRS-80 dialect of Basic.

We also had computer magazines that would have various games, utilities. The programs would be listed in a big hex dump. We didn't have any disk inserts with the programs loaded on them.

My good friend would type in all of the programs by hand. Imagine typing 200 lines similar to:

7364AB83E907364AB83E907364AB83E907364AB83E907364AB83E907364AB83E90

They usually had a checksum at the end of the line so if it failed, you had to scrutinize the line again to see where you made a typo.

So with the wealth of programs I had, I developed "pirate syndrome" where I didn't enjoy many of the games. The ones I did enjoy the most were the ones that I bought such as Miner 2049'er.

[TEKTORO]

@TornadoCreator

Thanks for the insight,alot of usefull info shared.It just seems as if they were the better days.

[J T]

@Tornado, that was a nice retrospective.

ditto

[Ivo]

Someone up in the thread suggested the companies themselves could buy their own games to re-sell them. He said so for the environmental issue despite actually liking physical media. In my opinion that is precisely the kind of right approach to it - although I fear it is only practical by online distribution.

It boils down to games being overpriced really. The company itself (or through Steam) should rent their games or sell them for lower prices to two users. That is basically the same as selling a single copy to one user who then sells the game on.

I wrote in other threads that the used game market is effectively just sharing the price of the game among buyers, much in the same way as you would do if you pooled resources together - the difference is it happens more efficiently as it does not required the "pooling" to occur at a specific, pre-purchase price.

If buyers are THIS willing to pool their resources together that they relinquish the ability to play that game for the future (by selling it to someone else) or by getting a used copy (instead of a new one), it just seems extremely reasonable that the game company itself could be making more money by selling the game a good amount cheaper AND new to the two gamers. The used seller gets to keep the game forever, so instead of buying for 60 and selling for 30 (imagine) he may be willing to buy for 35 or 40. The used buyer gets to buy the game *right now* instead of waiting and enjoys his own brand new copy so he may be willing to buy for 35 or 40. The company can make 70 or 80 instead of 60.
Except apparently the company tends to think they are entitled to sell the game to free-willed consumers for 120, in a tough market with lots of other entertainment options (games or not, many of them effectively free). Good luck with that.

Ivo.

[Key-Glyph]

Someone up in the thread suggested the companies themselves could buy their own games to re-sell them. He said so for the environmental issue despite actually liking physical media. In my opinion that is precisely the kind of right approach to it - although I fear it is only practical by online distribution.

Thanks Ivo (Robotnik?!)! I just wish I could have my cake and eat it too: help the environment but still purchase physical games. Alas, I am a hypocrite.

You're right that the company can circumvent this whole issue (being responsible for buying their used games back and reselling them) by lowering game prices, since it's essentially the same thing. I like how you worded it.

I still do wish the companies would accept used, unwanted games from their customers, though. When I cruise around flea markets and see the few adults who put in the effort to set up a table and give their cartridges one last chance to find a new owner, I wonder how many people out there didn't and just chucked everything they had. Maybe if it were possible and common knowledge that those items could be put back in the capable hands of the company -- regardless of the items' condition -- for some sort of recycling, less stuff would get thrown out. Of course, the company would have to be held to the responsibility of trying to do something productive with the materials they regained, and not be allowed to simply throw it all in an incinerator.

[BoringSupreez]

Someone up in the thread suggested the companies themselves could buy their own games to re-sell them. He said so for the environmental issue despite actually liking physical media. In my opinion that is precisely the kind of right approach to it - although I fear it is only practical by online distribution.

Thanks Ivo (Robotnik?!)! I just wish I could have my cake and eat it too: help the environment but still purchase physical games. Alas, I am a hypocrite.

Ehh, forget the environment, enjoy physical media. I don't buy into that whole we-are-destroying-the-planet stuff.

[DinnerX]

Someone up in the thread suggested the companies themselves could buy their own games to re-sell them. He said so for the environmental issue despite actually liking physical media. In my opinion that is precisely the kind of right approach to it - although I fear it is only practical by online distribution.

Thanks Ivo (Robotnik?!)! I just wish I could have my cake and eat it too: help the environment but still purchase physical games. Alas, I am a hypocrite.

Ehh, forget the environment, enjoy physical media. I don't buy into that whole we-are-destroying-the-planet stuff.

Environmentalists may have some valid points but the extremism, alarmism, and political insanity make it hard to tell.