Quit your bitching.
That is all.
Okay, that’s not all at all.
I find it amazing how often you see video game publishers bitching and moaning about used game sales. They make it out to be the worst thing in the history of human kind. In fact, it’s just a way that common people save money.
The gaming industry is experiencing something that they’ve not had to deal with yet because they’re so young. Just as few as ten years ago the market was completely different. Gamestop and EB were different companies. Babbages, funco land, and software etc. were all different companies. They all actually existed, so used games were around. The difference is, the market was much smaller. The sales of games were all hardcore. The notion of the casual market didn’t make sense to most people. Yes, we knew about the people that bought a ps2 and only played madden and GTA, but we didn’t talk to them. We didn’t see them. We saw the people that bought a new $50 game every month. That was all of us.
Who cared about the fringe people that couldn’t afford that? They weren’t gamers, they were just there. Then over time they became a huge segment of the market. The truth of the matter is that there are a lot more people that can’t afford to keep up with the rat race than can. I use to be able to and now I just absolutely can’t. So I pulled back. I refuse to buy games at $50 and $60. That’s just not for me. I still like games. I want to play them, I just can’t afford them out of the gate. So I wait. After all t he waiting is done I find the game at a cheaper price. For instance I found Super Street Fighter IV for $25 when the game was still at $40. That’s in my price range and I get a lot out of that game. I saved $80 on six games during a b2g1 free sale at Gamestop.
What the publishers hate is that they’re not seeing a dime of that money. Not one dime. That is entirely their fault. All I want to do is be able to enjoy my entertainment. I do the same with movies and music. Whatever the cheapest way for me to get it, that’s the way I go. It’s all about the financial bottom line. I only have so much to spend on entertainment and I’ll maximize that money. Why spend $60 on one when I can spend $60 on three or four?
On a similar end of the argument, I recently spent over $100 on PC games during Steam’s summer sale. Games were anywhere from 50%-90% off. Companies like Codemasters, Lucas Arts, Sidhe, Atari, PoGo, Infinite Interactive, Bioware, and so many more received money from me, no matter how little, that they would NEVER have gotten. Why? Because the games were affordable. There was a value to me.
That’s the crux of the issue. Used games exist only because there is a demand for them. There is a great incentive to consumers to get things cheaper. It provides them money to buy other stuff. Or maybe they only have so much money and it provides them a chance to buy something they wouldn’t ordinarily get. Give the consumer the chance to give you money for their product and they’ll do it. Give them the chance to give someone else less money for your product and they’ll definitely do that. That’s just the way of the world. You want to maximize product. Consumers are holding to the same code. Don’t be mad at them.
Hypocritical Hyperbole 