Geez... Video game companies are really getting anal about this stuff <_<

[FallenStar]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6275683.html

Seriously?! You can't even sell a pre-owned game anymore because "OH NOES! THE GAME COMPANIES ARE LOSING REVENUE!" Despite the fact that they may not make the game anymore or that no one in the area might sell it?

Really now... These video game companies are completely asinine. They're just about as bad as the record labels and the MPAA.   

And just imagine what this will do for pollution problems if everyone has to destroy their no-longer used carts because they can't sell them back to Gamestop for like 5 bucks.   

[Serika]

It's funny that the greatest threat to gaming is none other than the companies that make the games. They won't be getting any more money from me anyway, all i need my stockpile of old NES and SNES roms.

[oramisho]

article is talkigna bout a regular pc company doing this, not the game developers, though really, as it implies, its just a matter of time. All it takes is one lawsuit, and it could very well reach the surpreme court (since it involves entire industries, and laws of posession, I dont see it not happening)

this has the potential to take out used game stores, and rental services.


Game companies have dug themselves into a hole by making games way too expensive to make that they can barely be cost effective to even make anymore. One huge game flopping has the potential to fuck over an entire company now, so game devs are desperate to make as mcuh money as they can off their games so that doesn't happen.

of course, if this passes you can just expect the piracy rate to skyrocket in response.

[tenck5k]

To go against...well, everyone so far, buying a pre-owned game, especially from Gamestop, does not in any way support those who made it. The only group making any money off of a used game is the store/company who sold it to you. Every used game bought is one less copy that needs to be bought from the gaming company itself to refill the store's stock.

Gamestop is the main offender really. The idea of them "buying" the game off of some other guy for 5 dollars and then turning around and selling it to me for 55 dollars just doesn't sit right.

It's just food for thought really, I generally avoided used games at Gamestop anyway simply because they often don't look at the condition of the games or accessories before throwing them right back on the shelf. I bought enough games only to find they don't play when I get home to shell out the extra 5 bucks or so to get a new copy. Hell, I went to a gamestop to buy a gamecube controller to find that not only did they only have used controllers, but they were ALL in shit condition. One of the controller's wires was COMPLETELY chewed through. When I brought it to the front to point it out and ask if they had any in some kind of usable condition, they just sighed and apologized. Getting shit from Gamestop corporate was nothing new, even to the employees.

To be honest, killing Gamestop's used game market really would probably make me laugh more than anything else.

Besides, companies like Valve and Blizzard have long ago moved to a system where this entire debate is a moot point. I would not be surprised to see all PC companies head that way. I guess console developers may start trying to do this EULA enforcement instead...or at least bad ones like EA. 

[oramisho]

Selling us their permission to play their games and nothing more? And even if that permission were violated, how are they going to get it back?

Exactly. The recent controversy involving DLC that is litterally on the disc you buyis a good example. Game companies argue that they can decide what you can or cannot use on that disc, and that even when you buy the disk, you might not even have the right to use all the information on it.

Not to mention, that game companies may ultimately end up shooting themselves in their own foot. Let's be honest, if you are tired of a game, you sell it. The cash you get, you can reinvest in other games. That is how the car industry works. You don't buy a new car, unless you can sell your old one or otherwise get rid off it. You have to sell your car in order to invest in another, partly at least. So we end up in situations like: 'Sorry EA, I couldn't buy your shitty sequel to your games, because I couldn't sell your shitty predecessors that I bought before.

Video games do not cost thousands of dollars. 60 is a bit much, but games have always cost about that much. and its still clearly affordable.

Though It is a possibility that being unable to get cash on used games, and being stuck with all of the games you buy forever, that people might be more stingy on buying new ones.

To go against...well, everyone so far, buying a pre-owned game, especially from Gamestop, does not in any way support those who made it. The only group making any money off of a used game is the store/company who sold it to you. Every used game bought is one less copy that needs to be bought from the gaming company itself to refill the store's stock.

Gamestop is the main offender really. The idea of them "buying" the game off of some other guy for 5 dollars and then turning around and selling it to me for 55 dollars just doesn't sit right.

It's just food for thought really, I generally avoided used games at Gamestop anyway simply because they often don't look at the condition of the games or accessories before throwing them right back on the shelf. I bought enough games only to find they don't play when I get home to shell out the extra 5 bucks or so to get a new copy. Hell, I went to a gamestop to buy a gamecube controller to find that not only did they only have used controllers, but they were ALL in shit condition. One of the controller's wires was COMPLETELY chewed through. When I brought it to the front to point it out and ask if they had any in some kind of usable condition, they just sighed and apologized. Getting shit from Gamestop corporate was nothing new, even to the employees.

To be honest, killing Gamestop's used game market really would probably make me laugh more than anything else.

Besides, companies like Valve and Blizzard have long ago moved to a system where this entire debate is a moot point. I would not be surprised to see all PC companies head that way. I guess console developers may start trying to do this EULA enforcement instead...or at least bad ones like EA. 

Gamestops are horrible places that are designed by those in charge more to make a profit then actually doing a half assed job. The zero puncuation ripoff videos about gamestop are a pretty good explanation of about why gamestop is such a horrible place.

There are a lot of better way to trade used games and such. There used to be a store named gamexchange near me a long time ago that had a wonderful exchange rage and price on games, but sadly they closed it down and merged its stock with one of its other stores.

A good onlne service for used games is Goozex, which lets you trade for stuff really cheap, as they make money off the trade matchups.(its a great side for getting older games, but they have absurd prices on newer ones)

A lot of games have limited print runs and can be really hard to find, especially niche games. Trading helps more people find  games that are niche, expensive, or no longer in print more easily.

Steam's  service is pretty much digital distribution done correctly. Steam acts as a drm to help deter piracy (and its steam friends and overlay features make it more helpful then a hassle). And since they dont have to worry about costs of shipping, packaging or disks, many steam games have sales that have them sell for a surprisingly high discount.

Blizzard Makes games that are super reliant on online mode connections to thier offical servers, making selling illegal copies or ones already tied to another account kind of hard.