XBox 720 To Ban Used Games?

[Joshkaz]

People hate gamestop because its usually filled with shitty employees.

[Crimson]

People hate gamestop because its usually filled with awful employees.

Oh come on. You don’t love the guy upselling a racing game even though you play Tekken? That guy is awesome. He is just trying to diversify you.

[Radiantsilvergun3]

Shitty/Shady business practices suck to.

[Tweleve]

I think Blockbuster is too busy picking up the rubble of what they used to be to even read rumors.

They used to be the place I borrowed psx games from to burn copies. What the hell was everyone else using them for o.o

[SoVi3t]

People freaking out about this are even funnier then the people who thought Sony would actually launch PS3s with the boomerang controller.

It’s the people bitching on the internet that got that shit changed. Like how MS almost went with the Sidewinder when they launched the original X-Box

[Tekno_Virus]

What’s the point of buying a console anymore? Isn’t it just a PC with lesser specs? [/newb]

[RoGE9]

What’s the point of buying a console anymore? Isn’t it just a PC with lesser specs? [/newb]

Because PC gaming is slowly dying, console games seem to sell better than PC games. I am guessing this is due to the fact that 360/PS3 ports aren’t as bad as they used to be, so why bother upgrading your PC when you got a system that is guaranteed to play it.

[BullDancer]

^ Consoles score more exclusives and the games are playable straight out of the box… game systems are underpowered pieces of crap but they have a consistent performance…

The games are already optimized for said system in comparison to having to tweak settings for the PC… so console games look/play somewhat on par with PC games(if not better)…

All games that have online capabilities are playable online, don’t have to worry about a different premium service(xbox users) for each different game you purchase, buy purchase xbox live and you’re done…

It’s a matter of convenience more than cost… feels good just being able to cut on your system and play a new game the moment you open it up…

[NickRocks]

ITT: poor people

[Dubh13]

Honestly I don’t see this happening…If Microsoft really did that, it’d be the worst business decision for them since releasing Vista, considering the fact that Gamestop is the largest supporter/seller of Microsoft Products.

Edit: and I vaguely remember reading a “rumor” about the PS4(or sony thinking about doing it for PS3) having some kind of usage tied to the barcode of the game, that after the game has been registered “x” amount of times you wouldn’t be able to play anymore. This was a long time ago, and squashed but it might be an idea Microsoft is tinkering with

[Densuo]

DuckiePanties makes a good point. Sadly many will simply use this as justification to pirate/hack games.

Maybe they should deal with crap like not throwing out shovelware.

Honestly I don’t see this happening…If Microsoft really did that, it’d be the worst business decision for them since releasing Vista, considering the fact that Gamestop is the largest supporter/seller of Microsoft Products.

Edit: and I vaguely remember reading a “rumor” about the PS4(or sony thinking about doing it for PS3) having some kind of usage tied to the barcode of the game, that after the game has been registered “x” amount of times you wouldn’t be able to play anymore. This was a long time ago, and squashed but it might be an idea Microsoft is tinkering with

PSN accounts.

[the7k]

Because PC gaming is slowly dying, console games seem to sell better than PC games. I am guessing this is due to the fact that 360/PS3 ports aren’t as bad as they used to be, so why bother upgrading your PC when you got a system that is guaranteed to play it.

Yeah, PC gaming has been slowly dying for the past 20 years.

goes back to Steam

And this right here is why I think consoles nixing used games wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Part of the reason used games exist is because gaming itself is horribly expensive. Not everyone has the money to buy every game they want, and therefore some of them sell their games off to offset the cost of new games. PC games haven’t allowed used game sales for YEARS through either digital downloads with DRM, license keys for their software, or even those manuals where you had to answer some in-game question with an answer printed in the book before you could boot the game (remember those, anyone?). Even with all this, PC gaming is doing just fine. It’s even set to overtake console game sales by 2015.

Why? Games are dirt cheap on PC. Yes, I can’t sell any of the games I buy on Steam, but it really doesn’t matter because brand new PC games are usually 15-20% cheaper than their console counterparts right off the bat. If you wait a month or two, they’ll usually get put in a sale for 50-75% off while the most a console game gets is maybe 20% off the price if it’s a top-seller. It’s not uncommon to be able to buy twenty top-notch games for under $100 during a Steam sale. I don’t need to sell my games, because most of them I end up buying for cheaper than it would cost to rent or buy at the lowest used price.

Anyway, my main point is this: Used games are not a bad thing, but they keep the price of new games high because publishers feel like they have to jack up the price due to the fact that they make no money on used game sales. If used games are eliminated, publishers and vendors would be forced to drop the starting price on all games because most people wouldn’t be able to afford them and sales would suffer a fierce drop. The market could suffer a crash even worse than the one in the 80’s, so prices would have to drop so sales could stay up.

We don’t really need used games, we just need less expensive games.

Good points, but I wonder how much of those deals are due to the companies that profit from the games. I personally believe it’s got a lot more to do with Steam, GOG, etc., than it does the IP owners themselves. When the content delivery method is controlled by the IP owners themselves (Origin, for example), you rarely see anything in the way of amazing deals. You mostly just see digital games sold for the same price or higher than they would be in a brick and mortar retailer.

With the way most console gaming companies conduct themselves, I really believe we’d most likely see a console market without used games being similar to how retail games are sold on PSN - full price for months upon months, only reducing in price ever so slightly after the game has become completely irrelevant.

It would definitely hurt the companies more than used games do currently, but they’ll probably use the pains they feel from people not being able to afford their games as justification for a SOPA-approved crusade against piracy and the rights of consumers.

Sure, it’s possible that the industry would correct itself before it came crashing down, but that would only happen in the gaming industry was capable of learning from it’s mistakes. The cause of the crash of '83? Floods of low-quality, cheaply-made games. Look at the majority of the titles you see being made for the Wii, X360 (especially Kinect-oriented games) and PS3 (especially PS Move-oriented games) and tell me you don’t see history repeating itself.

[SNAAAAKE]

What is your problem with GS?

why would anyone NOT have a problem with gamestop…

[RX-78-3]

If it doesn’t come this next gen, we will see it in the one after.

Publishers have gotten VERY salty lately over how much money gamestop has been touting they have made in used game sales.(IMO some of them in VA have become nothing but glorified pawn shops at this point.)

Used games have always been a sore point for devs. but with the economic downturn and rise of 360 piracy IMO they are looking for ways to maximize profits.

Online codes and DLC already on the dics are the prelude/foreplay for all of this.

[SoVi3t]

I have no problem getting rid of the used game market. But if you insist on charging me 50-70 bucks for a piece of shit title, that has little or no support, can’t patch often due to the fees MS or Sony charges, and all the core features are released as 5 dollar DLC a month later, then you leave me with no choice but to go back to pirating games. When I was younger, I could buy a game and my brother and sister could play, and I could lend it to a buddy no problem. Now, I have to get a copy of a game for EACH of my kids, so they can play it online.

[Taito]

Sure, it’s possible that the industry would correct itself before it came crashing down, but that would only happen in the gaming industry was capable of learning from it’s mistakes. The cause of the crash of '83? Floods of low-quality, cheaply-made games. Look at the majority of the titles you see being made for the Wii, X360 (especially Kinect-oriented games) and PS3 (especially PS Move-oriented games) and tell me you don’t see history repeating itself.

There is a sound business model for ‘flooding’ the market with low-quality, cheaply-made games. There wasn’t in 83 when the delivery method was expensive ROM chips or other physical storage. I get what you mean but comparing 83 to the present doesn’t work.

[SoVi3t]

There is a sound business model for ‘flooding’ the market with low-quality, cheaply-made games. There wasn’t in 83 when the delivery method was expensive ROM chips or other physical storage. I get what you mean but comparing 83 to the present doesn’t work.

yup. They also had idiot practices like making more cartridges for a game than their were consoles on the market.

[Mr.X]

My Gamestop sells used games, movies and Apple iPods/iPads

[UnshapedOrkRandomNumber]

Games won’t get cheaper because there is no reason for games to get cheaper.

This is what I’m worried about. Remember when DVDs were awesome because they would decrease the price of movies compared to VHS? Except they didn’t, because people just kept paying the same prices that they always paid, and DVDs added more useless “features” to justify jacking up the price more and more.

If it happens, the only option is to move to PC where those cheap deals are made.

[Taito]

yup. They also had idiot practices like making more cartridges for a game than their were consoles on the market.

Plus it’s easier than ever to just make an indie game, release it to the public, and collect royalties or at least donations. There’s no need to make a pitch to a major software company, or sign away your rights to the IP you created. If there’s another downturn in the vg industry, it won’t be as dire as 83. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo would all go out of business before video games’ existence as a pastime is endangered like it was in the pre-NES 80s.