I am Scum, the secondhand gamer.

Prologue

I am the scum of the Earth, I am Satanic, I am the devil worshiper, I am the person single handedly killing the game industry.

...apparently.

Confession

I'm a secondhand gamer and I'm proud to say this aloud. So, a recent article on N4G has triggered me into typing this. Although the article was semi-unrelated, I feel this has to be typed. I am being fed up of the game industry seeing me as scum and an inconvenience, this constant labeling in the game industry media is disheartening and annoying as an average gamer.
 Everyone knows most the western world has been caught up in a recession, but of course, the game industry has to find someone to blame why they aren't making the sales they intended. This scapegoat my friend, always appears to be the secondhand gamer.

Value and patience

The fact is, if someone waits long enough, most the time, things become cheaper unless they are low in number, rare, significent or of great value. That's a fact and happens incredibly fast with videogames and seems to be increasing. According to the game industry, such as Eidos and David Jaffe, I'm a cockroach that needs to be stamped out. I'm a vampire for a publisher. Now, you look at a game that came out a few months ago, compare the original price to the value now as a secondhand game, I believe that as a 'patient' person, I have the right to get a game cheaper because I have waited longer to play the game. Why in my RIGHT MIND, would I buy a copy of a game which is brand new and is EXACTLY the same minus the fact that someone played it, got bored of it and was perfectly happy to get ripped off in trade value a mere month or two later?

Rights for The Secondhand Gamer

So what am I? Am I the tramp that walks around McDonalds and tries to eat the odd french fries and bits of Big Mac that slopped out whilst biting which have dropped on the ground? Why do I get compared to a pirate which is outright STEALING? Why hasn't this ever been a 'problem' for the game industry before?
Am I to blame for the people that actually TRADE IN THE GAMES in THE FIRST PLACE?

Fact is, I give a game a new home after being unwanted for the 'next model'. I get it cheaper because I'm patient and don't rush out to the shops to buy it day one (Don't get me wrong, I still do this for a lot of developers I'm a fan of, not all my games are secondhand, but a majority are). I go to Gamestation, Game, CEX or Amazon Marketplace, I see a vast library of previous unwanted titles, exchange MONEY for the GAME and take it home/wait for it to arrive and then play it. I have rightfully made this game my property in exchanging the money for the game. I have bought it.

Behind the rising secondhand game scenario
 
 The problem comes down to the fact that so many games are made, that people feel that they have to trade a game for a new one or get credit towards a newly released one (see recent trade of Bioshock 2 half price for one of four games released in the last 2 months at Game) . They are impatient and need to play it day one, play it, find out they complete it faster than intended or it isn't their cup of tea because they've totally FAILED TO READ REVIEWS, sell it. Solution to this problem; RENT GAMES this way the publisher still gets the profit (I'm starting to do this now since R&C:ACiT due to financial reasons and WILL do it for Heavy Rain and GoWIII).
 Another part of this problem is that the game industry are claiming and are rightly true that they get no income or profit from secondhand games when sold at game shops. Solution to this one, make the games more worthwhile to keep.

Curse of the virtual reward

 An additional reason of why I believe that secondhand game trade-ins are rising is the 'virtual reward', as long as someone has a record of having completed a game and collecting the 'Achievements' and 'Trophies', well, that's the game exhausted, apparently. The game gets traded, the consumer has gotten all out of the game and moves to the next one. I know that people read books, watch DVDs and COLLECT THEM, they have them on shelves so people can walk in and go, "Ah, so you like...(insert whatever here)" and owning things can be a judge of character. I keep my games that I completed as my 'trophies' as would a big game hunter with animals heads mounted on the wall the completed closed boxes of the game and the fact I can play them again at my will, is my reward.

  Besides, despite the traders doing me a favour by trading in the games so I can buy them cheaper, I consider them to be idiots to willingly get ripped off by the game shops insulting trade in value or instore credit with the wacky 'stock exchange' of game titles. I remember years ago, when the PS3 was in the dark ages (Pre-Autumn 2007) I tried to trade Resistance and Motorstorm, I was offered £7, sure these games were bundled everywhere, but the fact for both of them, the then two best exclusives on PS3 were being offered for £7 was a mere insult, especially the fact that around the corner was the same game being sold brand new for 4 times the price. I have often considered trading some of my full retail purchased games and back the hell away from the counter after getting a printout.

Digital downloads are the future!

Obviously the next stop is digital downloads. Except for a rather new company, trading secondhand digitally bought games is impossible. Now, digital downloads are a good idea, aren't they, it's a win, win situation, isn't it? WRONG.  Prices will probably never drop. Against my previous prediction and statement, I have a lot of PSN games and a few XBLA titles, I like this method of distribution for small games. Valve's Steam service is a brilliant idea and the timed offers are encouraging and I guess, are the equivalent to the secondhand game.
 Now, if you look at XBLA and PSN titles game from years ago, you'll notice something, a lot haven't dropped in price, do you really want a future like that? Games ALWAYS being the original retail price no matter how long they've been out? (XBLA is notorious at doing this unless you are a Gold member, followed by Wiiware which never really drop in price and PSN is rather sensible with limited price drops and offers bundles such as Warhawk, much like Steam). But heck, I like the idea of playing a 'used' game and physically own it and treat it with a level of respect, complete it and leave it to play the experience another day.

In closing

 Again, I am stubborn scum. I poison the game industry and lower developers wages, I cause the chain reaction and butterfly effect of a studio to close down if enough copies of a game aren't sold, in this climate I am likely to buy a game mere months after a studio closes, according to the people out there (I won't even start with Bobby Kotick from Activision) because I choose to sometimes go game shopping at Gamestation, Game, CEX, Ebay or Amazon Marketplace. I see myself as someone with exactly the same hobby as the people that rush out in the first month, I just wait and pay less. I have the RIGHT to buy a game cheaper. If the industry have a problem with that, go and annoy the stores to hand in money to each publisher with each sale, but then that'll cause the secondhand games to go higher, because of the loss of money from the game stores, eh? So here's some words to the industry, I'm not complaining, just stop making the games so worthless that someone would play it to death, get the Achievement and Trophies and then willingly get ripped off in trading it, then PERHAPS I would find less cheap copies. I exchange money for the games in a completely legal fashion, I have the RIGHT to play them without being labeled as 'an inconvenience'. I'm not stopping anytime soon.

Who's with me?

Epilogue; List of secondhand games acquired in the last 5 years

PS3; Condemed 2, Fallout 3, The Chronicles of Riddick:AoDA, Racing Driver GRID, Mercenaries 2, Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga

PSP; God of War: CoO, Metal Slug Anthology, EA Replay, Crash Tag Team Racing, Darkstalkers Chronicles, Mega Drive Collection, Capcom Classics Collection Remixed, Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded, Medievil Resurrection, Every Extend Extra, Gitaroo Man Lives!, Crazy Tax: Fare Wars, GTA:VCS, GTA:LCS, Powerstone Collection, Burnout Legends, Gripshift, Infected, Secret Agent Clank

PS2;  Tekken 5, The Warriors, Prince of Persia Trilogy, Rayman 10th Anniversary, Rogue Trooper, Timesplitters, Sly Racoon, Alter Echo, Okami, Destroy All Humans!, Destroy All Humans! 2, God of War, God of War 2, Gungrave, Timesplitters 2, Metal Arms, Soul Calibur 2, Ratchet and Clank, Ratchet and Clank 2, Ratchet and Clank 3, Ratchet Gladiator, Second Sight, Shadow of Rome, Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, The Matrix: Path of Neo, Rez, Shadow of the Colossus, Psi-Ops, Canis Canem Edit (Bully), The Suffering: TTB

360; Lost Planet, Stranglehold, Assassins Creed, Burnout Revenge, Dead Rising, Prey, Condemned, Halo 3, Fusion Frenzy 2, Crackdown, Bioshock, Gears of War, Mass Effect

Wii; Red Steel, Geometry Wars Galaxies, No More Heroes, Destroy all Humans! Big Willy Unleashed (Wii console was also secondhand with Wii Sports and Sonic Unleashed)

Some of these were also ex-rental and came without original packaging.

Thank you for your time.

[dangert12]

and i am not paying so much for these games which require you buying dlc to be able to play the full game in effect the only games that don't do it are the ps3/360 exclusives 3rd party games are taking the pissnow

[Lilith_Belial]

if 3rd party studios will cease to exist because of this, most likely not, since allot of people are to blind to see it for themselves, thankfully 1st party developers are here to stay, for now.

[happy_gilmore]

no way you would play an old game unless it's really good and the console for it is still working.

i don't buy second-hand games but i trade my games as soon as i'm done with them. maybe i should consider renting games instead, but renting can also be as expensive if you don't get to play too many games.

[Cajun Chicken]

Since the writing of this, I have bought a secondhand copy of BlastWorks for Wii for £8.

[ian72]

I buy new and secondhand games. If I really like and want a game straight away as its released then I look around and get it as cheap as possible. Sometimes by looking around I can save £10 or more on day 1 of release, sometimes only £1 or so. If I like the game but can wait then I'll get it secondhand or sometimes brand new very cheap. A few supermarkets drop prices only a few weeks after release and these can sometimes be cheaper than secondhand at game shops.
I don't trade in my games anymore as its not worth it most of the time. I do have around 70 blu-ray games and some PC ones. Its nice to go back to some older games and play them again.

[Cajun Chicken]

Oh, don't get me wrong. Not ALL of my collection is secondhand, but a majority is. Sometimes, all it takes is a few weeks after release and I can get a game about £10 cheaper.

I have bought R&C:ToD, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Infamous, Killzone 2, Resistance, Resistance 2, Prototype, Saints Row 2, Red Faction Guerrilla, LBP, Burnout Paradise for the PS3 all brand new (I don't think to date, I've actually bought a 360 game brand new, I've bought Madworld for Wii), but look around at prices at places like Amazon, Play.com, Zavvi or ShopTo.net, as like you said, you can get a copy about £15 cheaper than directly from a shop or take up crazy online offers such as PoP (2008) for £15 4 months down the line after release.

To cap it all, my copy of Infamous was the special edition with the cardboard box, little artbook and (now free) Blade power, I actually got this cheaper than a normal edition from say, Game, Gamestation or HMV.

But I have to admit, there's a great feeling when you pick up a cheap pre-owned game and find it brilliant and just keep it, it's kind of like picking up a toy at a carboot sale when you were a kid, the fact you beat the system and saved money in a completely legal manner. I'm just really annoyed that the game industry is determined to stamp it out and is saying I'm doing wrong by basically, not being to afford all the games I want at release.

The only game I have bought and traded in the last 5 years was Eat Lead for PS3, (I still want a copy back in my collection as I really enjoyed it, despite reviews) but that was to get money in exchange for Madworld.

[earbus]

Have you guys heard that sony are going to lock multiplayer games 2nd hand and charge 20 bux to unlock it they do this with a code when the game is new you unlock it when you buy second hand woo no code damm.Bad company 2 is doing this i really only buy 2nd ps3 games play more pc and 360 this means ill buy even less games for ps3,untill they are bargin bin.

[Cajun Chicken]

Yeah, that's what brought this on in the first place. Also, I've got fed up of being accused by top people in the game industry suddenly realising that they could make MORE MONEY by trying to eliminate the secondhand game.
I'm not happy with Sony's move at all.

[evilmonkey501]

My parents are divorced and I live with both of them.I have a ps3 at both of my parents houses.Can I play on both systems?

Since Sony didn't publish bf2, would they have a right to charge for access to it, considering its already a licensed product?

[earbus]

Why dont you post a story on the main pages about this topic of charging i think its major news and will lead to people waiting a year for cheaper thrills great article mate nice work.

[Cajun Chicken]

Unfortunately N4G doesn't work like that so I just post on the user blogs, but if anyone approaches me, I am willing to write articles for reputable small gaming websites in the future.