Do you feel bad about buying new(ish) releases used?

[J T]

This is an offshoot of a tangential discussion in the thread about the (possible) impending doom of consoles.

I think it's a topic that deserves it's own thread though.

The basic points are:

1.) You legally have a right to use the secondary market.
2.) If you use the secondary market, the primary market receives none of your money for their hard efforts

(Really, point 2 should be more nuanced as to say that at least the revenue of a new game sale is diffused across multiple people, where at least one of them uses the secondary market to gain money towards buying new releases).

So, do you care about this issue for your own personal spending habit?


I'm somewhere in the middle. I think the $50+ price tag is an inflated price point, but I'm fine with it as long as I have other options for a reduced price later on that doesn't price me out. I never feel guilty buying retro games used because they generally are no longer sold as current releases, so the developers/publishers are losing nothing because they never stood to gain anything once they took their product off the market. I think used sales are perfectly within my legal rights, but from a personal ethical standpoint, I feel a bit bad about buying a used game that is still on retail shelves because it doesn't send any money back to the developers whom I believe most deserve my dollar for the product provided. I don't, however, have a problem in buying on dramatically reduced sales from places like Steam. That money goes back to the developer instead of a secondary market business, and I am not locked out of purchasing products due to over inflated price points. I buy more games than I would otherwise, which means that even though I don't contribute the $50+ investment, I buy wide and prolifically, which benefits the overall gaming industry.

On a related note, I think it has also become "cool" to buy from indie developers directly, or through charitable bundles. I think indies are beginning to persuade pirates to purchase their software because it is clear that the money does not go to a middleman, it may also go to a charitable organization, and the consumer is treated surprisingly well by often being able to adjust their price point and be trusted with a DRM-free product. I hoping that this mindset of directly supporting developers is catching on; though obviously, even Mojang can't make Activision money.

[dunpeal2064]

honestly, I care about the game industry, but I care about my pockets more.

I'll get it as cheap as I can.

I mean, maybe if they included some DLC with a new game, I would buy it new over used to make sure I got that DLC, but otherwise, I prefer used.

Heck, I can return it within 7 days if I don't like it (at gamestop)

If I buy it new, I can't return it after opening it.

[Erik_Twice]

I don't feel bad for following basic tenets of the economical system =P

That said, given that I don't buy many games, if I want a new release, chances are that I will buy it new because I'm confident with the state of the game compared to the four cents I save buying used.

So supporting the developer doesn't really get into my mind. Not that I don't think it's a good thing!

[isiolia]

I do care about giving my money to the developers vs giving my money to Gamestop/etc, but the vast majority of the time I opt to buy new simply because I prefer to. Well before the issue was as publicly debated as it can be now, it was just the matter of acquiring things in the best condition.

Personally, I don't really trade/sell stuff much, so putting a nice copy on the shelf is worth the extra few bucks.

For games that are scarce/out of print, making a new copy either unavailable or much more expensive, it's a completely different issue.

If I don't see a game as being worth full retail, I wait for a price drop or sale. Devs get some money, and I get a fresh copy for my collection.

[Stark]

In the past I've cared that it's used, because it's used, not because it is not helping a developer. There is something special about getting something new and nowadays with the way that video games sharply decline in price by merely waiting a month or two, why would you buy anything used? The only games that don't seem to do that are first-party Nintendo titles and the end result is that I don't get their games used or new. It's one of the reasons I have a general malaise towards my Wii.

Take The Darkness II. Been out a month and I just saw it somewhere for $40. Was it worth $20 for me to wait a month? Heck yeah it was. In fact, I'll probably wait until I can get it for $25 on Steam, which will probably be < 2 months.

My attitude lately as I've gotten older has started to shift towards wanting my money to go to the developer so I get more of what I like and I feel like this attitude pairs well with waiting and only buying new after a price drop.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

I always buy new, unless the game is no longer readily available new (like most retro games).

I'd much rather pay the extra $5 and support the developers. It makes me mad when I walk into a store and I see the retailer push a used copy in the face of a customer. It may even be worse than piracy. With piracy, you can't say that you definitely lost a sale to the pirates. When a person walks up to the register with a new copy, gets a used copy shoved in their face, and buys that instead. That is directly taking away from the sales. That was a potential sale that was about to happen, ruined.

[ksloth]

There are certain game developers who are near and dear to me, and I will always buy new from them. Atlus and FROM Software come to mind as two of them.

If there is a game from EA, Activision, or any other gigantic developer/publisher, I may buy new or I may buy used, depending on how poor I am at the moment, and what they have done to piss me off lately.

[MrPopo]

I always buy new, unless the game is no longer readily available new (like most retro games).

I'd much rather pay the extra $5 and support the developers. It makes me mad when I walk into a store and I see the retailer push a used copy in the face of a customer. It may even be worse than piracy. With piracy, you can't say that you definitely lost a sale to the pirates. When a person walks up to the register with a new copy, gets a used copy shoved in their face, and buys that instead. That is directly taking away from the sales. That was a potential sale that was about to happen, ruined.

This. I care less about used in general and more about used when the game came out a month ago.

[Hazerd]

It has to be a title i have really been looking forward to if im going to dish out the $50-60 for it NEW, however i have bought games on impulse such as Modnation Racers, Shadows of the Damned, and Sacred 2 (which was a bad game imo).

Right now im looking forward to Darksiders 2, in fact i have the Collector's edition on pre-order i think it will be worth the full $60 price tag, or in my case the $99 price tag.

As for buying used games and feeling guilty, no, because i wont buy it used until its in the $30-40 range, this is assuming it was $60 brand new.

[DinnerX]

No, I don't feel bad about buying used, recent games. If a game has just a few dollars between new and used I will buy it new. Not because I care about the developer, but because I know a new game is in good condition, complete, and functional.

Developers don't deserve any money from a used copy's sale. It isn't their copy anymore. If a developer can't deal with a fact of the economy tough. Call me heartless, but consumers have rights and, traditionally, being able to resell items and buy used are two of them. If you believe consumers have the right to resell items and buy used, the scale on which they do so is really irrelevant. Unless you are opposed to buying any used item, it is also irrelevant that developers spent a lot of time and money making a game. The same could be said for any other used item.

It may even be worse than piracy. With piracy, you can't say that you definitely lost a sale to the pirates.

The same is true for used games to an extent. You can't say that a sale was definitely lost. What a person will pay 50 dollars for they might not pay 60, so you can't know if they would have bought the game at all had the cheaper, used option not been available.

After a person buys used, you don't have much chance of the same person buying the game new. But the same might be said for a person who illegally downloaded the game.