Xbox One

[Shogunn2517]

My question is why would they have thought this was a good idea to begin with?

[BentonGrey]

Developers/Publishers leaned on them to create these types of measures because they're all terrified of the used game market (because they're morons). 

[Talavar]

Developers/Publishers leaned on them to create these types of measures because they're all terrified of the used game market (because they're morons).

Exactly.  I think it's kind of funny/sad that Microsoft, who was putting these measures in at the request of game development companies, then got left to twist in the wind by said game companies when the inevitable backlash happened. 

[Tomato]

The people who are afraid of the used game market need to understand... 80% of the time, used game credit goes back into another new game. A game that the purchaser might not have gotten at all had he not gotten credit for his old ones. This means that you have more people buying new games consistently, which is a huge deal when you consider how small the pockets are of people who actually buy games in the first place. Even those people who buy used games do so to save money so they can buy some of the better games new.

The major company touting this whole "USED GAMES ARE TEH EVILZ!" message is EA. And it's not hard to see why... most of their profits come from their EA Sports franchises, which they re-release every year with only minor gameplay and cosmetic changes and expect fans to buy them without question. Well, when you put out a game with minimal updates, the game is boring, and more likely to be taken back to the store than a good game that had effort and thought put into it. And because fans know your game hasn't been updated very much, many will wait until it is on sale as used and not bother to buy a "new" game.

Add to that EA's enormously BAD reputation among gamers (seriously, I have NEVER seen a fan praise an EA game, ever) I'm honestly shocked they're still in business at all.

[BentonGrey]

The people who are afraid of the used game market need to understand... 80% of the time, used game credit goes back into another new game. A game that the purchaser might not have gotten at all had he not gotten credit for his old ones. This means that you have more people buying new games consistently, which is a huge deal when you consider how small the pockets are of people who actually buy games in the first place. Even those people who buy used games do so to save money so they can buy some of the better games new.

The major company touting this whole "USED GAMES ARE TEH EVILZ!" message is EA. And it's not hard to see why... most of their profits come from their EA Sports franchises, which they re-release every year with only minor gameplay and cosmetic changes and expect fans to buy them without question. Well, when you put out a game with minimal updates, the game is boring, and more likely to be taken back to the store than a good game that had effort and thought put into it. And because fans know your game hasn't been updated very much, many will wait until it is on sale as used and not bother to buy a "new" game.

Add to that EA's enormously BAD reputation among gamers (seriously, I have NEVER seen a fan praise an EA game, ever) I'm honestly shocked they're still in business at all.

Emphasis Added

Fragments notwithstanding, that's exactly right, 'Mato!  It isn't like every gamer just has piles and piles of loose cash that they are jealously hording by buying games used rather than new.  It's an economy of its own that fuels the new game economy.  I know that I've several times sold used games to buy a new game, or bought used games from a friend who, in turn, used that money to buy a new game.  Gamers who sell games generally spend that money on, surprise, surprise, games.  For my own part, I've got a limited budget for gaming, and if I have twenty dollars, that is how much I can spend on a game.  If I can't get one for that price, then I don't get one.  However, if I've got twenty bucks and some used games in the deal...well, maybe I can raise enough to get a title I really want. 

Ohh, and yes, EA is definitely evil.  It also boggles my mind that they're still in business, because they're run with about the same level of clarity, character, and good sense as your average Hollywood movie studio.

[Talavar]

All the big video game companies are pretty interchangeably evil if you ask me.  EA sucks, granted, but Activision belongs in the pit right alongside them.

[BentonGrey]

The phrase "interchangeably evil" makes me smile, Talavar, and that's probably very true.

[Talavar]

Glad to hear, Benton.

[oldmanwinters]

Nintendo Wii U owners are probably a little sadder today.  Sales for the slumping console really spiked after the initial details for XBOXone were announced and people figured they'd have less viable gaming options.

I disagree. There's a ton of hype around nintendo right now, even more then on sony... Super Smash Bros, new Pokemon (not a wii game per se, but you know there will be tie ins there too), etc.

Speaking of nintendo, I loved Nintendo of America's response to the used games issue:

Fils-Aime says that Nintendo is impacted less by the used games market because players don't generally sell the games that Nintendo makes - they keep playing them.

"The consumer wants to keep playing Mario Kart. The consumer want to keep playing New Super Mario Bros. They want to keep playing Pikmin. So we see that the trade-in frequency on Nintendo content is much less than the industry average – much, much less," Fils-Aime said. "So for us, we have been able to step back and say that we are not taking any technological means to impact trade-in and we are confident that if we build great content, then the consumer will not want to trade in our games."

I'm in agreement with you about making quality games that people won't want to trade away!

[Ares_God_of_War]

I still really dislike the push for video games to be a "service" and not something owned.