Articles against self-entitlement of videogame consumers

[Flake]

The used market DOES enable people to buy games in the current paradigm. $60 for most games is nucking futs. The industry, ultimately, has control of that paradigm. I do not understand why they choose to sit back and allow Gamestop to rob developers and publishers blind.

[MrPopo]

The used market DOES enable people to buy games in the current paradigm. $60 for most games is nucking futs. The industry, ultimately, has control of that paradigm. I do not understand why they choose to sit back and allow Gamestop to rob developers and publishers blind.

It DOESN'T. If you only have $60 discretionary budget you buy one game, not three used games.

Plus, the price point has been stable for a very long time now, which means that games are now cheaper than ever when you take into account inflation. Back in the SNES days games would regularly sell for $70 if they had any kind of special chip in them.

[Flake]

The used market DOES enable people to buy games in the current paradigm. $60 for most games is nucking futs. The industry, ultimately, has control of that paradigm. I do not understand why they choose to sit back and allow Gamestop to rob developers and publishers blind.

It DOESN'T. If you only have $60 discretionary budget you buy one game, not three used games.

Plus, the price point has been stable for a very long time now, which means that games are now cheaper than ever when you take into account inflation. Back in the SNES days games would regularly sell for $70 if they had any kind of special chip in them.

The inflation argument is negated by the amount of competition in the market these days. A gamer's dollar is divided up too many times for a games price relative to twenty years ago to be relevant. Too many good games come out - and many would rather wait a couple of months to buy three with that $60 than just buy one.

As a self interested consumer, I will never hold it against the customer for getting the most for their money. If vendors choose not to compete, then they should get out of the way and make room for those that will.

[dsheinem]

Back in the SNES days games would regularly sell for $70 if they had any kind of special chip in them.

In fairness, the sheer manufacturing on those carts cost a lot more than a regular cart, so it made some sense to the consumer. As far as the consumer knows now, all games cost the same to manufacture. I think the proliferation of CE bundles this generation is to try and recoup some perceived value for big budget games.

[jfrost]

I agree that would be an interesting thing to try and would probably work better in the long run. I just hate seeing people claim that the used game market is enabling people to buy new games. At best it enables the initial buyer to buy more new games then he would otherwise, but now the second person is not buying any, instead of the small number he would if he didn't have used games available.

At the very least, selling off used games is an added value to the games and if the ability to sell them is taken away, the games lose a little of their appeal and should therefore be cheaper.

This is recognized on Steam, for example, where there's a lot of price flexibility, even though games start off with the same prices as retail. Also, Steam is able to counterbalance the effects of no re-selling by offering added services.

[MrPopo]

The used market DOES enable people to buy games in the current paradigm. $60 for most games is nucking futs. The industry, ultimately, has control of that paradigm. I do not understand why they choose to sit back and allow Gamestop to rob developers and publishers blind.

It DOESN'T. If you only have $60 discretionary budget you buy one game, not three used games.

Plus, the price point has been stable for a very long time now, which means that games are now cheaper than ever when you take into account inflation. Back in the SNES days games would regularly sell for $70 if they had any kind of special chip in them.

The inflation argument is negated by the amount of competition in the market these days. A gamer's dollar is divided up too many times for a games price relative to twenty years ago to be relevant. Too many good games come out - and many would rather wait a couple of months to buy three with that $60 than just buy one.

As a self interested consumer, I will never hold it against the customer for getting the most for their money. If vendors choose not to compete, then they should get out of the way and make room for those that will.

I'd argue the number of good games is the same as it's always been. We're just more aware of them thanks to the new media.

The problem with your statement is that it seems that no one in the industry wants to change the price point. They aren't competing with Gamestop; if they wanted to they'd stop shipping Gamestop new copies. They are competing with each other and Gamestop is doing their best to skim as much off the top as they can. Before Gamestop got so big the normal lifecycle of a game at retail is it spends some time at full price, then gets reduced so stores can move inventory. So if you are cost conscious you could wait and still get the game at the lower price AND the developer would get paid for it. Gamestop fucks that all up.

[Flake]

You're assuming that the publishers are acting logically when you already established that they are not.

[Hatta]

It DOESN'T. If you only have $60 discretionary budget you buy one game, not three used games.

And then you pirate the other two.

[Flake]

It DOESN'T. If you only have $60 discretionary budget you buy one game, not three used games.

And then you pirate the other two.

The clouds part, the lame walk, the lepers are renewed and I agree with Hatta.

Miracles. Also, how do magnets work?

The only way to combat piracy is to price your product in line with what the consumer is willing / able to pay.

[sabrage]

It DOESN'T. If you only have $60 discretionary budget you buy one game, not three used games.

And then you pirate the other two.

The clouds part, the lame walk, the lepers are renewed and I agree with Hatta.

Miracles. Also, how do magnets work?

The only way to combat piracy is to price your product in line with what the consumer is willing / able to pay.

And make your service easier than piracy... Valve is more than self-sufficient on Steam sales alone. They don't even have to make new games anymore.