Pre-Owned games. You game?

[Captain Fabio]

You opinion on Pre-Owned games

If you don't know what pre-owned games are, they are games that consumers have bought and then traded back to the gaming stores for money off their next purchase.

Do you think they are a good idea or a bad idea?
Do you think they stores should be allowed to do that? Or do you think it cripples the developers too much?

If you didn't know, the stores re-selling the pre-owned games gain 100% profit, unlike if they sold a band new game.

The reason for this topic, is to get you discussing if it is right for companies to do this. While they gain the profit, the developers lose out. Do you think it is fair? Or should developers still be given a percentage of that re-sale?
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[s4rg10]

Well, its no my problem what goes beetween publisher and store, i try always buy pre-owned games to save me some money, thats whats most important to me

 

[Meganium]

Do you think they are a good idea or a bad idea?
It's a good idea because gamers can save almost a fraction of what they would have spent on a new game. I usually aim towards pre-owned games instead of the new games, but I'm concerned about their work progress, though.

Do you think they stores should be allowed to do that? Or do you think it cripples the developers too much?
I love it when GameStop has a wide variety of pre-owned games. I think other stores such as Wal-Mart and Target should sell pre-owned games as well. But I think it maaaay affect the developers a tiny bit since the pre-owned game sold back cannot regain the same value as a new game.

 

[Luck]

I always buy new games new whenever I can, unless it's an old game that I won't find a new copy of anymore. I actually care if my money goes to the developers because I'm not an ass that practically steals the effort of many people for an extra $5 off the price tag.

It's a horrible idea. The shares are already split between developers and marketers and games are becoming much more expensive nowadays, so it's harder for companies to turn a profit.
And to be honest, I don't think stores should get away with this crap either, at least not when they see 100% of the profits. Hope you all realize you're slowly killing the physical game industry.

 

[Captain Fabio]

I always buy new games new whenever I can, unless it's an old game that I won't find a new copy of anymore. I actually care if my money goes to the developers because I'm not an ass that practically steals the effort of many people for an extra $5 off the price tag.

It's a horrible idea. The shares are already split between developers and marketers and games are becoming much more expensive nowadays, so it's harder for companies to turn a profit.

I completely agree with you. I can understand gamers not being able to spend all their money on full priced games, due to x, y, z reasons, but I still feel bad when I buy pre-owned games.

In my collection, there is a very few amount of games that are pre-owned, mainly due to them being rather old; PS2/GBC and so on.

Maybe I have adopted these feelings because I have been doing a Games Technology course for nearly three years at University and I know how much effort goes into making these AAA titles. It is so much work and for developers to be losing out on the profit from pre-owned games makes me sad.​

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[Razer302]

I pick up a fair few cheap games, Mainly because I don't have the money, I will go and buy big releases that I know I am going to enjoy brand new. Like killzone, cod (although black ops i sold) final fantasy, games I willl never ever touch again I trade them in, simply so it saves me money, games such as dante's inferno, I have platinum trophy on it, there is nothing left for me to do, so why keep it and let it gather dust. I do like trading in and such, just not all the time will I do it.

 

[Lady Gaga]

Unless its Pokemon, Ill try and find a used copy first. If they arnt available, then yea, ill buy the new version. It all depends on what the stores has really,and whatever is cheapest for me :P

Its like downloading music. Unless it is an artist you really like and want to support (ie. Lady Gaga), then people usually just go and illegally download it.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I don't have a problem with pre-owned games persay. I just don't find them cheap enough to get me to buy it over a new copy.

 

[Witch]

I work for gamestop & I feel bad at the store credit I give to people for games. Normally we put them back on the shelf for well over what we gave them. I pick up used games & I don't have a problem with them if they're in decent shape

 

[Sydian]

Rather buy the game new, but for cases like older games, especially older games that are hard to find (Tales of the Abyss/Symphonia come to mind here), I think it's beneficial. But I would rather not buy a used copy of a newer game, like anything for this generation's consoles. So I think that used games for the current generation being sold shouldn't really be allowed, but for older games, I think it's fine, since that game has already made its peak and the developers really won't be losing much, since the developers will have already had a new game out, or planned (usually).

 

[Akeraz]

I don't really care that much about the companies, but I prefer buying new because I find other people don't take care of their games as well as myself.

 

[Captain Fabio]

I don't really care that much about the companies, but I prefer buying new because I find other people don't take care of their games as well as myself.

Without those companies, they wouldn't be making those games that you love. ;)
If you are referring to the developers...​

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[Dawn]

Pre-owned games are the only reason we have a chance at legally obtaining old games! o.O

Anyway, things like Steam are kicking kicking pre-owned game stores in the groin. I think there's definitely a ballance of some sort, right now anyway. Though, who knows if they might actually kill pre-owned game stores in the future, kinda like how digital downloading of movies killed movie rental stores.

 

[Logan]

I only get a pre-owned game if I can't get it new. I dislike pre-owned games as it makes me feel kinda dirty.

 

[donavannj]

Me being as frugal as I am, vastly prefer pre-owned games, as I rarely buy a new title (new or pre-owned) when it comes out anyways since $60 is just over tank of gasoline for me, so it's usually far cheaper/easier to find a pre-owned copy by the time I look at buying a game that isn't a AAA PC title or Pokemon.

I probably would buy more stuff new when I have a more stable and disposable income, though.

 

[LaureTheLoner]

I don't see a problem with it, because when someone bought the game originally they paid retail. Most games are $50+ retail brand new in a store, and unless they are a sucky game so fated to be in the bargin bin the price doesn't go down. New games just aren't manufactured if they aren't selling. Video game prices drop so dramatically though in the used world a game that was once $50 is 9.99 at the video game store I go to, so the developers already made their money, and a loser like me who plays games like 4 years after they were released can enjoy it.

Now what I do not like is Gamestop. If I go there to buy a game it will usually be a brand new game cause its the same price as Walmart and everywhere else, and when I buy it I'm not support Gamestop. It is quite frankly ******** the way they run and price things. Let's say I have Call of Duty Black Ops that I paid retail for. I go to turn it into Gamestop they'd be like "Oh hey there are a lot of these will will give you $10-$15" I'd sell it to them just to turn around and not be able to afford any of their used games (I never really tried to trade though). The game I just sold them they will try and sell for $45, just $5 lower than the brand new game. I might as well just buy the new one. Prices on other used games like PS2 games are usually pretty bad, and I trust buying used games from these stores because they run it through disc cleaners and so on, but I've gotten a lot of scratched up games from them.

This was probably a long ramble of stuff said a billion times, but this is just what I've gone through as a consumers. Luckily I found a used video game store that is local in my town that not only has good prices (I've learned to just keep all my videya games so I haven't had experience with selling) but they always have deals like buy one get one half off.

Though what I really want is what they had in the comic Ctrl Alt Del where all the customers become a character in an mmorpg and when you buy things you gain exp points and different things happen depending on what day you buy and what you buy and the more points and special things you obtain the better deals you get.

 

[RYOUKI]

I think it's a good idea, rather than being forgotten of your closet, it now belongs to a new owner.

Although I say that, I'm not really keen on buying used games.

 

[Cherrim]

I don't care about buying games used. If I'm buying used, it's usually for a game that's been out a respectable amount of time and is at least $10 cheaper than a new retail version. If I weren't buying from Gamestop, I'd probably just be buying from sellers on Livejournal or eBay and that's no different from buying pre-owned from a retail store. At least buying from Gamestop I can easily go back to the store if there's a problem with the disc. :s

But stores like Gamestop charge so much for pre-owned games because they can. People still sell their games to the stories for miniscule amounts and people still buy the pre-owned games for only $3-5 less than new. Games are REALLY expensive and for a lot of people, if they want to play all the big hits (nevermind all the must-plays in a year and some niche titles), they have to sell back their games when they're done and buy as low as they can. I can't blame people for not having $70+/month for every new game release and wanting to cut some corners.

 

[Zurenriri]

I always buy pre-owned if I can. I save money and occasionally there will be a save file left over from the previous owner for me to toy around with, as was the case with my copy of Golden Sun (all level 100s lololololol).

I really don't like how us PC gamers have been shafted in the case of games made in the last 3 years or so. Take Call of Duty: Black Ops for example. I beat the campaign in about 3 days, and the multiplayer I found to be inferior to Modern Warfare 2. So basically I paid $60 for three days of mediocre entertainment that has no resale value.

For those who are not PC gamers: pretty much all modern major PC releases are registered to the player's Steam and/or EA Games account. These games cannot be transferred to anyone else's account once they have been registered. Sure, you could sell the game disc, but without a Steam key it is essentially a shiny piece of plastic.

I think this is supposed to be some kind of method to counter piracy, but in my opinion it encourages piracy. Why pay $60 for a game that you might not like knowing you won't be able to sell it to recoup some of your profits? A lot of gamers see piracy as the answer to this.

Also, funny little note: my local GreedStop has a used copy of Emerald Version for sale for $45.00! Hilariously, it's right next to the stand selling brand new copies of Black/White for $10 less!!! (I'll post pictures the next time I'm in town)

I always buy new games new whenever I can, unless it's an old game that I won't find a new copy of anymore. I actually care if my money goes to the developers because I'm not an ass that practically steals the effort of many people for an extra $5 off the price tag.

It's a horrible idea. The shares are already split between developers and marketers and games are becoming much more expensive nowadays, so it's harder for companies to turn a profit.
And to be honest, I don't think stores should get away with this crap either, at least not when they see 100% of the profits. Hope you all realize you're slowly killing the physical game industry.

@Luck: I wouldn't mind if there were a 5-10% royalty fee on used games so that the developers can eat too. Sadly, I don't see GreedStop doing this anytime soon, especially since their used titles are just barely below the price of new ones.

However, there are some developers I won't support. EA for example with their "exclusive rights" to NFL titles not to mention that their long-standing series such as Need For Speed get worse and worse every year. NFS: Most Wanted was an amazing game which I bought new at $40. I also bought Carbon (also very good) and ProStreet (decent) after that... however, I bought Undercover new and was totally displeased to the point that when Hot Pursuit came out, I snatched a (probably bootleg, I didn't care) copy on eBay for $18.00, sure enough the game was garbage. The Undercover situation also brings me back to my first point: I bought the PC version and cannot sell this awful game because the serial number is tied to my EA account.

 

[インフェルノの津波]

I had an extremely bad experience with used games, one time being when I got a used Platinum copy it couldn't hold a save, so I had to play through the entire game without shutting off the power.

And then the cartridge popped out. I was so angry I couldn't even explain it. Luckily, I got myself a brand new one later.