What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Gaming on the Playstation and Xbox Platforms
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sabrage
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by sabrage »

You need to consider that games released below the $60 "norm" are considered budget titles, and a lot of people will automatically assume that the lower price designates a worse game. Just look at Clover's failure.
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retrosportsgamer
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by retrosportsgamer »

Amazon has tried to initiate a program like this and give store credit so there is some online infastructure out there already.

It becomes a resource issue for Microsoft and Sony though with returns and servicing issues since they don't have many physical stores. I guess they could focus this to their outlet stores (which sell new older games at reasonable prices) too.
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noiseredux
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by noiseredux »

sabrage wrote:You need to consider that games released below the $60 "norm" are considered budget titles, and a lot of people will automatically assume that the lower price designates a worse game. Just look at Clover's failure.
yes but if $40 was the new norm, then that assumption would shift.
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sabrage
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by sabrage »

noiseredux wrote:
sabrage wrote:You need to consider that games released below the $60 "norm" are considered budget titles, and a lot of people will automatically assume that the lower price designates a worse game. Just look at Clover's failure.
yes but if $40 was the new norm, then that assumption would shift.
That's a very hypothetical "if" in an already hypothetical situation. Getting every publisher to change to a lower standard price point would be quite a feat indeed, and we've been trending away from that for the past few generations.
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by noiseredux »

sabrage wrote: That's a very hypothetical "if" in an already hypothetical situation.
no kidding. Look at the thread title. This is a pretty hypothetical thread, man.
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sabrage
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by sabrage »

noiseredux wrote:
sabrage wrote: That's a very hypothetical "if" in an already hypothetical situation.
no kidding. Look at the thread title. This is a pretty hypothetical thread, man.
Which only reinforces my point: titles released at lower prices are setting themselves up for failure. The only exception I can think of offhand is Deathsmiles, which targetted a very specific audience and was rewarded for it, but then Cave took that momentum and pissed it all away on weeaboo fodder anyways.
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Re: What if Sony or Microsoft sold used games?

Post by Regginmad »

A lower price points most important factor isnt getting more people to by new in general, its getting more people to buy new without trading in their old games. That is the only way to reasonably drain the used game market, you have to stop the desire to trade the game in the first place.
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