GameStop backlash continues as Halo 3 rep maligns pre-owned game sales

ozsman - 452 days ago

Here's a thought...... Make a new retail store that gives a % back to the studios. They would have my business.

Agree(4) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

Yi-Long - 451 days 22 hours ago

... I mean, geez, how greedy can you get!?

If people dont want to spend 60 EURO on a NEW game, but rather wait 2 weeks and buy a 2nd hand for about 40 euro... gee(!)... maybe the industry should take a long hard look at how they're pricing their games!?

If I buy a game, play it, finish it, and wanna sell it to my kid neighbour for half the price: so be it! I bought it, I own it, I can sell it. I have every right to do so, and my kid neighbour on a tight budget, has every right to buy a 2nd hand product from me (example btw: I never sell my games and I dont have a kid neighbour)

The 'industry' doesnt like what's going on!? Go see WHY people wait a few weeks to buy a 2nd hand game. And then maybe adjust your marketing and pricing etc to that. The market for games has grown immensely, so prices CAN come down.

Agree(4) | Disagree(1) | Report | Reply

GlossGreen - 451 days 10 hours ago

It puts the topic in perspective, not that I agree with GameStop's practices. I think they are still taking advantage of the average gamer, but, if a gamer goes in to GameStop and willingly sells them a game for a lot less then what it was paid for, then it's their fault also.

Agree(1) | Disagree(1) | Report | Reply

edhe - 451 days 9 hours ago

Reduce overall cost of games and set some retail laws for pre-owned games that give a % back to the publisher.

I think we'd all be far more into buying retail if it were 1/3 the price and there was a pre-determined price drop scheme on all titles.

So instead of £40, games were less than 30, and you could expect them to be £20 in 6 months, and £10 in a year, with £10 going back to the publisher.

It would push retail to sell as many copies as possible at the start, pushing better deals and a healthier industry.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

Sarick - 451 days 9 hours ago

Yea you buy a game full price and then you get free updates only as the original owner.

This causes the pre-owned market problems because that used copy requires a content ID or registration that is only usable by the original owner or the first person to register. Once you register your name to those free upgrades no one can use that code anymore.

The same way live DRM's it's software by linking it to the live account.

Basically what this does is make the used games less appealing because the updates and free upgrades are non-transferable at sale. depending on how much content is unlocked at the new game. If registration is required at the start a product could be severely restricted to near demo quality.

Buying used games wouldn't give out the free upgrades if purchased as a used product. This would make these used games more less replacement media for damaged disk more then full game experiences.

Do you think this is fair? It's either screw the customer (added DRM or screw the developers) or (middleman stores making big bucks off developers backs by reselling second hand software at nearly 2-3 times the profit).

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

altimako02 - 451 days 8 hours ago

not because gamestop sells them but you are only saving 5 dollars on them . gamestop gives way to little for a game that is 1 week old and charges way to much . if i could trade in a 1 week old game and get 40 to 50 dollars i might do that , but only if i could buy that same game for 45 to 55 dollars . or how about this give 30 for the same game and sell it for 40 dollars , thats a good deal for everyone . or just do a little research on a game and only buy one that is going to have repealable

Agree(0) | Disagree(1) | Report | Reply

kingme71 - 451 days 8 hours ago

Name a product you can't buy used (let's stick to reusable products, condoms and toilet paper are out ;) ). Do you see those people complaining?

How are they not complaining about rentals then? Rentals allow even more people to enjoy one game without buying it then the used market does. A used game probably will have 2 or possibly 3 total owners in its lifetime while a rental can see 20+.

If Gamestop charges too much, then the door is open for an upstart to come in and undercut them and force Gamestop to lower their prices. I haven't seen it happen yet and admittedly it is a tough task since Gamestop is so established.

Agree(2) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

name - 451 days 7 hours ago

Damn I hope EA puts dead space on psn. THAT'LL SHOW GAMESTOP!

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

name - 451 days 7 hours ago

And like kingme said rentals are way worst. I can play a full game for 5 dollars. Most games these days have rediuclously short storylines and I can easily play through them in about 3 days flat.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

FantasyStar - 451 days 4 hours ago

Give us more bang for our buck, this isn't hard. $65 (w/ tax) is grocery money for me in the next 2 weeks. Why spend $60 on a game that'll only probably last me a day at most and shuffled back onto my dusty shelf?

If it was $30-$40, I might take more risks on impulse buys, but $60 is waaay too much for me to be careless, especially in our economic struggle and especially for what we're paying for. A game like Burnout Paradise is a perfect example of offering "bang for the buck." For $60 entry-fee, owners got all this content from the disc that they could be spending days on it. And even better, there's more content that is being made for the game and it's free. There's a $30 version out there, and the features are the same: It's a win for gamers out there because I guarantee you that $30 for Burnout Paradise offers alot more than what other games are offering and at a cheaper price. I'm just a bit bitter because it's EA that's approving all this. Has Hell Frozen Over?

Then you have games like Army of Two, Gears of War, Call of Duty 4 that offer really good multiplayer content, but the single-player content is lacking: 5-6 hour content. This is why people choose to go pre-owned because the gamer feels the game is im-perfect to their likings and rather take less risks. Then there's Resistance 2. I'd gladly pay $60 because I'm getting a polished 10 hr campaign, another 10 hr 8-player campaign, a stats tracker, 60 multiplayer gamefest and upgraded, polished graphics. Going by Insomniac's record, I'd say this game is worthy of $60, but if Gears of War 2 shapes up to be like its predecessor; I'd rather get that game in the bargain bin.

Developers have got to understand that we want more bang for our buck, we want more content for our dollar. Why charge us so much (UK for moar and Aussies, out the ass with interest) for pretty much the same we've been getting back last-gen? As a gamer, I don't care about a developer's struggle, or their problems with financial institutions on the publisher's deadline. I want a game that's worthy of my money and if Developer A can't do that, I'll look around for another Developer that can. Or better yet, I'll buy Developer A's game off Ebay for $30-$40 because that's how much I feel it's worth. Developers' should be treating their games and fans like royalty, then they'll start to see some returns on their investments. I predict that Burnout Paradise on the PSN will be a smash hit because Criterion knows how to treat their games. Amiright?

P.S. - Every developer should ban Gamestop because they're a PoS corp. that deserves nothing but blowing up in flames.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply

ylwzx3 - 451 days 3 hours ago

This is retarded.... Really...

Ok, say I sell my home after I bought it from the builder.. That would mean the builder would want a percentage back on that sale.... The same thing could go for any other goods cars, motorcycles, etc.... My suggestion to them is lower the price of games. There are a billion games out there that are not worth $60 + tax.

Agree(0) | Disagree(0) | Report | Reply