Jin34 said:
Treating used games as a huge problem that must be attacked to a degree that no other industry that has a second hand market does is not a small middle ground. This is not a cure to their financial problems, but a symptom of a poor business model.
We're already seeing a realignment adjusting for the business conditions though, mega studios through aquisition, reuse of existing IPs, tons of smaller scale devs popping up that aren't attempting to make the 20+ million dollar game.
But do we like our mega budget games? You bet we do. So we're going to continue to see DLC and other methods to help fund them.
The idea that this is just a symptom, or that used game sales in general, are a symptom of a poor business model is something I disagree with. In virtually any industry the reason that used sales aren't that big of a deal is that the condition of the product is important. With video games no one cares about the physical condition because it is in this day and age mutually exclusive from its functionality.
But in virtually any industry is you had the major retailers saying 'hey buy this, that works just as well as the same new product on the shelf, but we'll sell it to you for X amount cheaper and the guys who made it get nothing', you bet they would sell a lot more of the less expensive ones.
