Volition's Jameson Durall says banning pre-owned games is "fantastic" [Escapist]

[goatdan]

So Microsoft implements this, and then all of a sudden your console gets a red ring, and you're out of luck?

So, when Microsoft stops making the console and yours dies, all of your purchased console just becomes worthless?

If *any* company *ever* does this, I won't buy that console. Sorry. Stuff like Steam and the App store, at least there is some sort of guarantee that those games will transfer in the future.

Yeah, THQ has been hurting. But, eliminate used titles, and you aren't going to magically fix the company. I can buy a used car, why didn't the government outlaw used car sales when Detroit was going bankrupt? Wouldn't that have solved the issue?

[kedawa]

So Microsoft implements this, and then all of a sudden your console gets a red ring, and you're out of luck?

So, when Microsoft stops making the console and yours dies, all of your purchased console just becomes worthless?

If *any* company *ever* does this, I won't buy that console. Sorry. Stuff like Steam and the App store, at least there is some sort of guarantee that those games will transfer in the future.

Yeah, THQ has been hurting. But, eliminate used titles, and you aren't going to magically fix the company. I can buy a used car, why didn't the government outlaw used car sales when Detroit was going bankrupt? Wouldn't that have solved the issue?

I don't think there's much danger of that happening. MS already has a system in place to migrate digital content from one console to another. Locked physical media should be no different. You just have the option of getting the data from a disc instead of the internet.

[goatdan]

I don't think there's much danger of that happening. MS already has a system in place to migrate digital content from one console to another. Locked physical media should be no different. You just have the option of getting the data from a disc instead of the internet.

So you really think that the next Xbox will be 100% backwards compatible?

We all know how well that worked with the 360's backward compatibility. I don't think it's a priority.

[Kitsune Sniper]

If *any* company *ever* does this, I won't buy that console. Sorry. Stuff like Steam and the App store, at least there is some sort of guarantee that those games will transfer in the future.

Unless it's a fucking evil company that uses activation software like TAGES and SecuROM, in which case Steam will do shit about it and tell you to complain to the publisher, not them.

[NayusDante]

I'm getting tired of seeing the industry taking these steps in the wrong direction.

He thinks $60 is low? What is the average budget of a AAA game? Hollywood films are often in the hundreds of millions, and they charge $10-30 per consumer. A music album averages to $15. A new paperback is around $12. Clearly, video games are too much of a value to consumers and they need to make the jump to $80.

All of the stupid anti-consumer moves we've seen have been to continue profiting at the $60 price point, but they don't solve the root issue. They have it stuck in their heads that they have to make these cinematic behemoths with huge budgets, then play the market to defend the process. For a single consumer-entertainment work, the sweet spot seems to be between $10 and $30. If they lowered budgets a little and met the $30 price point, the sales increase might be enough to reduce the "pain" of used sales. Profit per unit might go down, but gross profits would increase.

The "race to the bottom" we're seeing on mobile isn't the answer, but there is definitely something to be learned from those themes of lower prices and lower budgets.

[Az]

Why will consumers buy a potentially ragged used copy of my product for only $5 less than a full copy?

Why would consumers want to sell my brand new product that they just bought within the past two weeks? And sell it for merely pennies on the dollar?

I never see publishers or developers wringing their hands and gnashing their teeth over these things. It's always the same dog and pony show about how mean ol' consumers are keeping them from turning the big profits their game really deserves. Not that it was a shitty game with an overblown budget and you pressed about twice the disks as you actually had ordered. Oh no, not that.

What I always find funny is the compassion shown by gamers towards some of these very same people. Come on... game companies are a capitalist venture, not some collective of altruistic artists! With very few exceptions, games are designed from the ground up for the highest profit margin possible! Why be apologists for their fuck ups? Could you imagine if we applied some of this same logic to other products or entertainment?

"Yeah, I know this Italian restaurant is rather crap, but lets eat there several days a week. Maybe someone will see there's a market for Italian restaurants and put in a new one."

"My transmission went out again in the car. Even though it was covered by the warranty, this is the 2nd time in a year it went out. I'd buy different one but I just really love Fords."

"That movie was so mediocre, but I wanted it to be awesome. Let's go back and purchase more tickets, that way they'll make a sequel that I know will be better."

[BlastProcessing402]

Yeah, THQ has been hurting. But, eliminate used titles, and you aren't going to magically fix the company. I can buy a used car, why didn't the government outlaw used car sales when Detroit was going bankrupt? Wouldn't that have solved the issue?

Damnit, this is what happens when I accidentally skip page 2, sorry for "stealing" your point, goatdan