Edge reports durango to block used games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[danawhitaker]

Except that there is excellent data about used sales from Gamestop itself and Gamestop's used, new release games are usually only $5 cheaper than new. It's not speculation at all. Every used game sold is revenue that could have been made by the original publisher but wasn't.

While I can't dispute that piracy numbers are more speculative, if a pirate is a console gamer and there is no longer a way to pirate console games, they will either be forced to give up console gaming or will buy the games. Sure, some pirates will give up gaming or move to PCs and other less protected formats, but many will also simply suck it up and actually start paying for games. It's not a complex issue, it's just a matter of how willing Microsoft and Sony are going to be this time around to shake up the status quo at the risk of short-term loss of sales in exchange for significantly better long-term profitability.

How are Gamestop's numbers proof? Unless they ask the customer whether they would have bought the new copy instead of the used one (which I know for a fact they do not at the Gamestops around here), it's still speculation. I'm stingy with what I'm willing to spend. I almost never buy a new game for $60. For me, being willing to buy the game at $55 does not mean I would always have paid $5 more for a new copy. You cannot prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that it's a lost sale. Instead, people who do the whole buy used-trade in-buy used cycle that you discuss might simply have gone with a rental service like Gamefly or Blockbuster and wouldn't buy at all. Or they would have maybe borrowed the game from a friend or relative. Or they would have checked the game out of the library for free (our library rents games for free).

$5 doesn't seem like a lot, but for some of us, it's a deal-breaker. The last three games that I've bought I paid $55 (Super Mario Wii U on Amazon, new), $15 (Forza Horizon, new, Amazon), and $20 (Angry Birds Trilogy, new, Amazon), respectively. The only one of those I would have paid $60 for is Super Mario Wii U, and that's because it was a present for my daughter - but I shopped around and got a deal before Christmas. I would normally have waited until Forza or Angry Birds were heavily discounted. I just got lucky with Black Friday weekend sales and found them ridiculously discounted shortly after launch.

Edit: And when it comes to used games at Gamestop, they can be returned for your money back (not store credit, your money back) within 7 days if you aren't satisfied. That means that in theory, that person's never actually spending any money at all. Now, Gamestop might cotton on after a while if someone's doing this repeatedly and regularly. But if they do it fairly infrequently, it would probably slide under the radar. I can count on one hand the number of times I've done that over the years, but I have. I think the last time I did was in 2004 with Phantasy Star Online 1 & 2 for the Gamecube. I realized I didn't enjoy the game as much as I had when I owned it on Dreamcast and I returned it within the 7 day period for my cash back. Once a new game has been opened, however, that option is out the door. That's another reason I argue you can't guarantee that used sale would translate to a new one. Someone might choose to buy the used copy for $5 less knowing they can return it if they discover that they hate the game. They wouldn't gamble $60 on a new copy that they couldn't return. Again you have a scenario where someone who can't buy the used copy will turn to renting it or borrowing it from a friend.