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

[gtmtnbiker]

The Gamestop model is that you buy the game for $60, play for a week or two, then sell it back for $30. That is a ridiculously fast turn around.

It must be a shit game not worth keeping, right?

My kids are still playing Dragon Quest IX on their DS, a year later after they got the game. We got our money's worth out of those games. Ditto for Mario Sports Mix, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver, Black/White. Those are all quality games worth their cost. Heck, I would even throw another $20 for each game on top of what I paid.

[MrPopo]

The Gamestop model is that you buy the game for $60, play for a week or two, then sell it back for $30. That is a ridiculously fast turn around.

It must be a shit game not worth keeping, right?

That's what you would think, but a lot of them are games that people play through, get the achivements, and then decide they don't want to play through it again because the next CoD is coming out. Your kids have been raised right, which makes sense since they're learning from a guy who grew up with video games. But a lot of these serial trade-in people didn't have a gamer parent; they got in to things when video games became "cool".

[isiolia]

Do you have proof of this?

Used games means more people get to play the game. These people may become fans and may then buy your next game new or recommend the game to a friend who might buy it new... but that's not all...
Used games are games that someone has traded in, probably so they can afford their next game. Remove trade in market and even the people who buy new don't buy your game because they now can't afford it.

There are all sorts of "maybes" that can be given, but the pure and simple fact of the matter is that only new sales matter in terms of supporting the companies that made the game. The other suppositions only matter if they in turn result in new sales that would not have otherwise taken place. Even your own arguments support that.

How many used purchasers would have been just as likely to buy it when it goes on sale or has a price reduction? Gamestop used prices aren't that good - usually 10% off new or so. A company might get less money when a game is reduced to $30...but at least they get some.
As per your example, you can buy the first two Uncharted games used at Gamestop for a total of $52. You could also buy them bundled together brand new for $40 and actually give Naughty Dog some money.

Pre owned as a whole is unavoidable, and is the only way to go after products are no longer in production. Sales getting cannibalized in the first few months though, due to retailer tactics, is a different thing.

[J T]

This is simple.

I have the right to sell my property.

If I buy a game, it's mine, it's my property.

This is the most basic right of our economical system. It's axiomatic, if I buy, it's mine, that's the definition. I don't like people who rally against my basic economic rights so they earn more money.

I completely agree with this.

The other side that the big developers are forgetting is that the trade-in culture largely perpetuated by GameStop is also a large part of the reason why pre-orders and release date purchases are so huge. They push the pre-orders hard because they want the quick turn-around to buy them back and sell them back while they are still in demand after the big marketing push that accompanies their release. Consumers understanding that they can trade in a game for more money near release is part of what gives them the confidence to make a pre-order. If you take that away, the consumer has a greater risk to pre-order because they are simply stuck with the game if they don't like it and can't get any money back from a trade-in.

Of course, pre-orders still pull in a lot of cash at Steam, so maybe that won't hold them back too much.

[MrPopo]

Of course, pre-orders still pull in a lot of cash at Steam, so maybe that won't hold them back too much.

Yeah, I think you might see a reduction in preorders if you didn't have such a huge used-game market, but it wouldn't be massive.

[BoringSupreez]

I usually buy my games used for two reasons:

1. I can't afford to buy games for $60. It just doesn't work.

2. Many games I want to own have been out of print for years.

If used game sales became illegal, I would buy drastically fewer games. I wouldn't increase my purchases of new games much, and over time, I would probably stop altogether. Say a new game comes out, Game X. It's a decent game, but I don't want to pay $60 for it, so I wait a year and a half and get it for $20 used. Then the sequel, Game Y, comes out, and it's amazing. Since it's amazing, I might very well pay to get it new, although I'd most likely wait until it was $40.

Now if used game sales were illegal, I would have bought Game X at all. Therefore, I wouldn't be very likely to buy Game Y either, as I wouldn't be a fan of the franchise.

10 or so years ago, I only bought my games new, but that was because back then there were plenty of great PC games from the 90's available at Walmart and such places for only $10. Stuff like SimCity 2000, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Doom, etc. Now, all's $10 will get you new is 150,000 Amazing Games, or Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Haunted Wardrobe, or Deerhunter Turbo DX 2005.

If game companies would just charge less for their games, I'd buy new a lot more often. I prefer to buy new, but it's just not practical for me. Make $20 the standard for stuff like Greatest Hits and Player's Choice releases, launch new stuff for $50 instead of $60. Do what Sony did late in the PS1's lifespan, make all previous-gen games only $10. I'd never buy a used game again except for out-of-print stuff, ever.

Edit: One more thought. If used game sales became illegal, people would still do it, particularly for retro stuff. It would be a black market. And there'd be no way to stop places like Salvation Army and Craigslist from doing it.

[J T]

Now, all's $10 will get you new is 150,000 Amazing Games, or Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Haunted Wardrobe, or Deerhunter Turbo DX 2005.

This is why Steam is killing retail.

[BoringSupreez]

Now, all's $10 will get you new is 150,000 Amazing Games, or Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Haunted Wardrobe, or Deerhunter Turbo DX 2005.

This is why Steam is killing retail.

Except that I can't use Steam, because of my 350 megabyte-per-day download cap. I can't have it auto-updating, or sending usage statistics, or any of that stuff or I risk having my speeds bumped down to sub-dial-up for 24 hours.

Steam would work just fine for me if you only had to let it check the validity of your install once, and then the game never required internet access again.

[Erik_Twice]

Steam would work just fine for me if you only had to let it check the validity of your install once, and then the game never required internet access again.

You can actually do that. There's an option for offline mode. Check it out.

[MrPopo]

Now, all's $10 will get you new is 150,000 Amazing Games, or Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Haunted Wardrobe, or Deerhunter Turbo DX 2005.

This is why Steam is killing retail.

Except that I can't use Steam, because of my 350 megabyte-per-day download cap. I can't have it auto-updating, or sending usage statistics, or any of that stuff or I risk having my speeds bumped down to sub-dial-up for 24 hours.

Steam would work just fine for me if you only had to let it check the validity of your install once, and then the game never required internet access again.

Usage statistics are so small that if you're really concerned about them sending you over the cap then you're going to go over the cap by browsing Racketboy. And you can turn off the auto-updating. And there's an offline mode that does exactly what you want.