Home Gaming Flamebait Friday Debate – Buying Second Hand Games Makes You A Thief

Flamebait Friday Debate – Buying Second Hand Games Makes You A Thief

1 min read
17

FFDpreowned.jpg

That’s right you dirty underhanded sack of dirt. How dare you buy a video game second hand and deprive some poor CEO of his golden 22 inch Limousine rims?

Today’s FFD takes a look at one of the hot topics from this week, second hand game sales. EA implemented the whole $10 system which forces pre-owned buyers to pay to unlock certain features of the game, and now some other companies are thinking of doing it too.

Excuse me EA Games, yes YOU. Are you going to be horribly upset when all of those gamers out there sell off a ton of their games off to get the money to buy your new FIFA 11 title? Are you going to make a public announcement to tell everyone that it saddens you that the game had such great opening week sales due to the almost criminal tactic of trading in their games to afford your new 2011 “update”.

Should publishers and developers have a right to be against second hand sales, only because the product never changes, never gets older or worn out? What about using quality and features to keep people from selling off your games?

Today we want to hear everything you have to say about second hand sales. Is it damaging the industry, is it really as bad as piracy as far as publishers are concerned, or is it your right to do whatever the hell you want?

Let’s get to the bottom of this.

Last Updated: August 27, 2010

17 Comments

  1. Michelle

    August 27, 2010 at 10:45

    Lol, I love this topic. so if the gaming companies charge for secondhand games, or parts of it, does that then mean the car companies get to charge for say activation of your accelerator when you buy a second hand car?

    Reply

  2. Uncle

    August 27, 2010 at 10:47

    Like the gaming companies don’t make enough money already? I don’t think buying second hand is an issue. If you want to sell more games first hand include DLC or something special when you buy first hand.

    Otherwise S.T.F.U and G.T.F.O :biggrin:

    Reply

  3. Jimmytheediblewyrm

    August 27, 2010 at 10:54

    Well said Michelle… I can imagine it now, “here are the keys to your pre-owned car sir, now if you throw in an extra 500 bucks, we will activate your brakes”

    I find the idea of charging people an additional fee if they purchase a game 2nd hand ludicrous. It’s basically saying, “No! You didn’t give us money, so you can’t have it! … even though someone already bought it and we already made our money… but we want more! So there!”

    I’m all for once-off content though, for example, you buy a new game, that comes with a code, you get a few goodies, etc. Then if you sell that to a friend/trade/whatever, the next person misses out on that content.

    But don’t make people, who are already cash strapped (the reason i buy alot of pre-owned games), have to fork out more.

    Reply

  4. LicAMetal

    August 27, 2010 at 11:40

    Is it stealing if your buying a private sale Toyota?

    Reply

    • Nick de Bruyne

      August 27, 2010 at 14:22

      I have thought about the car comparison but there is a difference. Cars degrade physically whereas games remain the same no matter how old.

      Reply

  5. Macethy

    August 27, 2010 at 11:43

    Hey sweet that’s the BT games store close to my place. Anyway I have a right to sell anything I own (except my sexy body :happy: ) to anybody I choose and likewise, I have the right to buy anything I want from whomever I choose (legally of course) ,it’s called capitalism.

    Reply

  6. ewie

    August 27, 2010 at 11:49

    What they don’t understand is by charging for contents etc on second hand games, they just cut of the resources for games, Consumers only have a certain amount of money, and crap games that have sold only say 100 000
    will now sell less as users buying them will in future think twice before doing it because they will not get the same resell on it. Good games will became bigger and smaller marginal games will disappear.

    Reply

  7. The guy formerly known as Bonk, Super_Bonk and Fallen_Angel

    August 27, 2010 at 12:03

    I provide an extract from an article featured on Arstechnica earlier this week. I think it summarises what exactly developers feel on the matter. The feature was written by Ben Kuchera.

    “In a literal way, when you purchase a game used, you are not a customer of theirs,” Penny Arcade’s Jerry Holkins wrote today. “If I am purchasing games in order to reward their creators, and to ensure that more of these ingenious contraptions are produced, I honestly can’t figure out how buying a used game was any better than piracy. From the the perspective of a developer, they are almost certainly synonymous.”

    I think we should all understand that this is not a new topic and developers have been trying to get rid of the second-hand market since the mid-90s. Part of the problem is that they feel the only people making money are the second-hand dealers. I think if your dealers had some backbone, they would have taken this matter up with the courts.

    Reply

  8. Chainedfly2002

    August 27, 2010 at 12:06

    I can already see it now, video games are going to get those annoying you wouldn’t ads, probably something like this:
    “you woudln’t steal DLC; You wouldn’t steal a game; buying used games is stealing, and you will pay us $10!”

    Honestly if a game has a great online side then yes, I would probably buy it new, but if it is something you can’t find anymore or has no online, getting it 2nd hand just makes sense

    Reply

  9. bboy

    August 27, 2010 at 13:17

    You’ll find that the future of games will be in a similar vein to Starcraft 2. You’ll buy an account, there will be no box or disk tho. Most game companies are not making money and for them to keep making killer games they’ll need to get inventive in cutting costs, and of course restricting 2nd hand sales. Games will not be like Cars, they will be like Licenses. Creating a game which is able to be resold will be a competitive advantage for some companies and they’ll stick with it, others not.

    Reply

  10. Sir James of the Fynbos

    August 27, 2010 at 14:18

    By the way Bonk, I was sipping on some tea earlier, and the thought occurred to me that the “cost” of multiplayer, or at least the right to make use of it, is already covered by the first sale. For instance, if I buy a game and later sell it, all rights of that game must be transferred to the second buyer (including MP). The publisher never really “lost” a sale, nor can it charge again for multiplayer, because it a feature that’s covered by the right of first sale.

    Therefore, requesting that a second or third or etc. buyer must buy for a pass to access multiplayer is actually anti-consumer.

    Reply

  11. Sir James of the Cape

    August 27, 2010 at 14:39

    That’s the other side of the coin, since many gamers actually “seed” their next game purchase by selling their older games (or even trading them in). Logically if the second hand game market were to collapse, because of pressure from greedy game publishers; it would actually means that there would be less new games sales in the long run.

    The Folks on the Forum: “Say what Former Bobby Kotick??

    James: “Yes… now read my hastily produced explanation…”

    In addition, penny-pinching gamers will not only buy fewer games, but if they’re savvy enough, they’ll wait for titles to drop in price, which incidentally would happen sooner…

    If we consider basic economics, i.e. supply and demand, without a second-hand market, new game titles will actually see a (rapid) price reduction sooner, rather than later, given the inevitable drop in demand*, which in the long run actually works out worse for the publishers.

    *Of course you will have AAA titles that will sell like hotcakes, but the situation will be even more dire for say the developers of My Little Pony or other assorted examples of shovelware.

    Cough! These guys should hire me ASAP!

    Reply

  12. Sir James of the Cape

    August 27, 2010 at 14:50

    In a manner of speaking, however individual games have limited or at least diminishing appeal particularly as the months and years tick by.

    For example, you’ll agree that Final Fantasy 6 is arguably one of the finest JRPGs of the last 20 years, however you’ll be hard-pressed to ship many copies of the original today (except to die-hard fans, game collectors and the criminally insane).

    It’s probably better to compare games to books. There are many parallels with the second-hand trade in books and the fact that publishers do not profit from second hand sales (as they shouldn’t, according to the right of first sale).

    Reply

  13. WrathZA

    August 27, 2010 at 16:43

    Game values depreciate based on popularity….

    Reply

  14. GoldenSilver

    August 27, 2010 at 20:28

    Well the problem with piracy is that you can make a copy of the game and sell it more than once or freely distribute it with out experiencing any loss. With the second hand the dealer had to acutely buy the game from the public and can only sell it once. That second hand copy was legally obtained and the developers have made money of the game. Technically what is stopping the developers asking the suppliers like Megarom another $10 for each game it sells to a retailer?
    The developer only made money off the sale between the supplier and it self. After that the supplier can do with those games as it wish. I can go and hand it out for free on the street corners for all that it cares. Then why bitch and moan when the man on the street does it? Aren’t they milking us enough with the high costs of gaming and its hardware? I mean R1199 for a bloody Wii black remote and nun-chuck. 2 of them and you almost got your self a new bloody console.

    Reply

  15. BHW

    August 27, 2010 at 21:00

    A succesful gaming industry is vital if we want to have games of a high standard on a consistent basis.
    But stimulate new game sales rather than trying to punish second hand buyers.

    1. Give decent value added content to people who buy the game new. Im not talking about gold plated pistols and other such rubbish but actual added content exclusive to people who buy the game off the shelf.

    2. Good DLC at affordable prices that make you want to hang on to the game for a bit longer.

    3. Make the second hand market less lucrative by releasing platinum titles sooner after release.So After month 1 lower the price to R300. This will lower the 2nd hand price of games and as such lower the incentive to sell games in the first place

    Reply

  16. Sir James of the Cape

    August 28, 2010 at 10:10

    Exactly! If a publisher demands to capitalise on second hand sales, it’s not only illegal it goes against the right of first sale.

    Imagine selling your house to a new buyer, and the previous owner is also insisting on profiting from the sale (because a) he or she built it or b) he or she once owned it). It’s ridiculous, although the publishers will insist that they’re not selling you the game, merely the license to use it (hence the stupid end user agreements). :getlost:

    I really wish someone would take them to court, because they’re really getting out of hand now.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

FIFA and EA Split? How Did it Happen and What Now for the Future of the Franchise?

In life, there are many staples, peanut butter and jam, bread and a toaster, and in gaming…