70°

To pre- or not to pre-own, that is the question.

Whispers swirl around Microsoft’s next console, the oft-rumoured Xbox 720, and the possibility that it will be programmed from the get-go to refuse to play pre-owned games. Such a feat would cause massive shockwaves across the industry. Shops on the high street have made a real killing from selling pre-owned games over the last five years or so, to the great anger of the publishers and developers who do not see a penny of these transactions, and for some gamers pre-owned games at the cheaper end of the spectrum are the only way they can realistically keep up with the sheer number of releases. It’s clear that such a move from Microsoft would annoy a lot of people.

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lifeongames.com
TomInc4499d ago

Whilst I agree that pre-owned games screw over the games industry, a move like this would be the end of Microsoft. Especially if Sony and Nintendo continued to allow pre-owned content.. If this happened, they'd seriously need to consider launch prices.

DarkBlood4499d ago

yeah i prefer the lesser evil compared to this

hazelamy4499d ago

that's all well and good in the short term, actually it's still a bloody shit idea, but for the sake of this argument, but what about years from now when that console is no longer supported and somebody wants to play those games.
somebody found some copies cheap at a flea market/car boot sale, or maybe in a charity shop.
and they need some activation code
but there's no way to get one.
that game is forever worthless.

for the sake of greed, that's a whole generation of games lost.
unless they decide to rerelease a port later on, so you have to pay for them again.

but then short term, short sighted thinking seems to be the way this industry operates.

DarkBlood4498d ago

oh trust me id prefer neither but since thats not going to happen well you know where im going with this and i agree with you on that stance

there should be a poll or something to see how many voted this or that etc etc

DA_SHREDDER4499d ago (Edited 4499d ago )

Sure games are "cheaper" now than they ever have been in the past, but so is the value of the dollar. There are games and devs I wanna support, TM being one of the only games that I bought full price for in a long time. If you get rid of the used market, games should cost no more than 40 bucks, get rid of the middle man, and more money goes into the hands of publishers. Consumers are happy, everyone wins.

hazelamy4499d ago (Edited 4499d ago )

what i don't get is why anybody even thinks the publishers deserve a cut of preowned sales.

no other industry does, the company that built your house doesn't get paid if you sell it on.
the company that made your car doesn't.
neither do the creators of any books, films, or music.
you sell your tv? phillips don't get a cut.

so why is gaming a special case?

when i buy a copy of a game, that copy is my property, if anybody prevents me from exercising my legal right to transfer ownership of that property, by any legal means such as giving it away or selling it, they're criminals.

people say it's the gamers who have some inflated sense of entitlement, just because we want to own what we buy.
while defending these publishers going after something they have no legal and moral right to.
it's ridiculous.

theDECAY4499d ago

You really hit the nail on the head with this. No other industry is crying over pre-owned sales. That is how a sale of property works. If I buy a used lawn mower, I am not buying a new one, you don't hear Black and Decker bitching about people buying used lawn mowers.

80°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event showcased +150 Games during its Saturday broadcast

"INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series connecting indie game fans all over the world, highlighted more than 150 games during its Saturday broadcast introducing world premieres, new trailers, and updates during its 10th-ever digital showcase." - INDIE Live Expo.

TGG_overlord5d ago

Very much so, there should be something in there for everyone to enjoy for sure.

60°

The DevGAMM conference is returning to Lisbon (Portugal) on November 14th, 2024

"Following a great event in November of last year, DevGAMM Lisbon is coming back to the beautiful and sunny Cascais region to catch up with old friends, connect with game developers from around the world, hear from seasoned professionals, and have a great time all around." - DevGAMM.

80°

Why Indie Games Fail To Keep Their Place In The Spotlight

A look into the sad trajectory of indie games from high successful releases to complete irrelevancy in just a few weeks or months.

shaenoide8d ago

Easy not enough developpers to add content to the game (palworld)

Profchaos8d ago

That's the thing with gaming there's always new experiences to have why spend months or years playing a single game when there's a new experience right around the corner.

Indie or AAA if your building your game expecting long term player counts you'll probably be disappointed as gamers often enjoy something for a few weeks and move on only to return if it's truely a classic.

Out of all the generations I've experienced there's games from 30 plus years ago I still dust off and play like super Mario bros, earthbound, vice city and san Andreas being games I treasure and revisit every few years but I'm not going back to play a game designed to keep me engaged for months on end because it's also designed to milk my wallet in most cases.

Build a great game that people love make it playable offline and ask does it matter if the concurrent player count is under 100 a year post launch more often that not it doesn't

P_Bomb8d ago

The price of entry is too high to take chances like I used to. Was looking at V Rising and that ranges from $50-$130 CAD. That’s a lot for an indie imo. By the time it goes on sale, the player count might be dwindling. But that’s the trade-off, I guess.

Si-Fly7d ago

I’m glad my preference is single player experiences, Indie devs got me covered 👊🏻

Flewid6387d ago

Indie devs dont make multiplayer games?

Si-Fly7d ago

Read the article dude 👍🏻

Flewid6387d ago

Read the article. Same question.