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[Gillian Seed]

Was this confirmed? I have been a Gamefly member since it started. It would put them out of business. :'(

 

[CrunchyFrog]

yeah right

 

[GSG Flash]

Since when did PA become corporate ball washers? I'm disappointed

 

[WrenchNinja]

Ben Kuchera, you should be ashamed of yourself.

After that meltdown on twitter with Erik Kain and trying to get him fired, it's hard to take any thing he says seriously.

Since when did PA become corporate ball washers? I'm disappointed

Probably around the time they scammed their fans with the two kickstarters.

 

[quest]

The article is a complete joke. All anyone needs to do is compare games on demand on both PSN and XBL to retail and steam. All DRM will get us is rentals instead of games we own. There is nothing good about this and I won't support it with my money. I rather quit gaming than to have my right stripped and pay 59.99 to rent a game. I am sure the big publishers love this. Until they find out people buy less games. Many sell off old games to buy new ones.

 

[fushi]

Because what is good for businesses will automatically end up being good for consumers as well. And all these huge corporations will most definitely want to pass the savings onto you.

 

[nib95]

Stupid article and poorly thought out. Gaming shouldn't be a rich man's game (excuse the pun), especially when a huge portion of the audience are children or those with considerably less spare expenditure, and when game prices are ever on the rise. The used game market is key to keeping millions of gamers in the loop and able to join in on the action. I'd also imagine the death of used games to be a big incentive FOR piracy as well as against it. Pirates are always one step ahead of the curve.

 

[Exterminieren]

gaf is always a tear fest with candlelight vigils everytime a studio is closed yet a system that helps the industry stay alive and profitable is being demonized.

Sorry I'm not dropping to my knees and praising benevolent Microsoft for taking away my consumer rights.

Every other industry in the planet deals with with resale just fine. Why is it the poor little video game industry that needs protecting?

 

[Doctor Decimate]

Yeah, call me a skeptic but these companies won't do ANY of that until they see huge drops in sales. Only the delusional believe they'll just start dropping prices and having huge sales without seeing it as a necessity

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

gaf is always a tear fest with candlelight vigils everytime a studio is closed yet a system that helps the industry stay alive and profitable is being demonized.

I don't see how this changes the studio publisher relationship in the slightest.

Piracy and the second hand market mostly affects publishers, not studios.

 

[kinoki]

Who trades in games? My guess is that it's:

1. People who don't have an infinite gaming budget,
2. People who got tired of the game,
3. In need of cash,
4. People who finished the 6 hour campaign and felt no need to play it again,
5. People who didn't have time to play it, and
6. People who didn't like it.

Perhaps I'm missing some, but from what I can gather it's just rich, white and privileged gamers who want to piss off companies. And the buyers? Surely the same rich, white and privileged who just wants to stick it to the man.

Really, who are we stopping and why?

 

[Jorok Goldblade]

It will also outright kill games-specific retailers. The retail margins on electronics are razor-thin, making the used market vital to the survival of game stores, especially of the mom-and-pop variety. Good luck only buying games online or at Wal-Mart

 

[Uncle Rupee]

This is good news for a few reasons. The first is that piracy will likely be reduced.

Uh... isn't there a case to be made that the opposite will be true?
This draconian DRM scheme will almost certainly make this a target of hackers, for a challenge if anything.
MS could end up with totally hacked systems that will play any game, authentication not required.

 

[Zombie James]

Without the used market sucking up all those sales and all that consumer money, it's very possible we'll see Steam-style sales on older or bundled games on the Xbox One. It's not a sure thing, but killing used games is going to free up a ton of money for companies to try new ideas in terms of sales and pricing.

 

[liquidtmd]

*Enters thread*

*Starts reading article for well thought out arguments and valid critiques*

"The first is that piracy will likely be reduced"

 

[Risette]

How can so many people not understand that the used game market supports the new game market?

Because they're children (mentally or otherwise) who don't understand economics.

 

[Jake Tower]

Under US law, the publisher's right is exhausted in each copy after it is sold the first time.

Since the author babbles about economics and the industry, surely he understands price elasticity of demand and liquidity.

 

[Trigger]

gaf is always a tear fest with candlelight vigils everytime a studio is closed yet a system that helps the industry stay alive and profitable is being demonized.

Because it hurts consumers in the long run.

 

[badcrumble]

Piracy isn't what's killing the videogame industry, and eliminating it won't save the industry.

 

[Owzers]

PA Reports, they're bad.

 

[Evolved1]

lunacy.

 

[Orpheus Telos]

I got to the second sentence and I had to stop reading. How in the world would blocking used sales stop piracy? Wouldn't that just give pirates an even bigger incentive to pirate?

 

[Peter Bazooka]

The spin coming out of WA is so hard they're gonna have to issue tornado warnings.

 

[Auto_aim1]

Not at the expense of consumer rights. Horrible article from Ben Kuchera. It has been proven that used games can in fact increase sales indirectly, I really don't understand why it is being ignored.

 

[The Illiterati]

Piracy is not killing the industry. Over inflating budgets and stupid decisions are killing it. Let me be clear, I'm against it, but piracy does not effect AAA. It is a straw man. If anything it may effect smaller indie titles but they usually are locked down to digital distribution on consoles anyways. Never going to read PA report again.

 

[RetroStu]

Isn't it right that something like 80% of all new game sales comes in the first 2 weeks?, i'm sure i read that somewhere and it would kind of highlight the fact that used games isn't really a problem for developers/publishers, especially as a lot of people actually trade games in to buy new games, they could potentially lose out of sales if they stopped the used game market.

 

[twinturbo2]

It's just, I want an X1, but images of the Great PSN Outage of 2011 are still seared into my mind.

Everyone knows someone's going to hack into XBL and bring it down for an extended period of time.

 

[Colonel Nasty]

Meh, I'm okay with GameStop closing and that money going to developers. I think it would be better if the console was DD only.

 

[ari]

Piracy will automatically be reduced because almost nobody will want a X1.

Oh my, care to elibarate this outcome?

 

[DragonSworne]

My post from the other thread:

Looks like I found another site I will never visit. Time to forward this article to my fiancee and hopefully her love of Penny Arcade will crumble.

I will not be going to PAX either, I was planning to for the first time next year, but not now.

 

[D4Danger]

reduced piracy and lower prices?

this guy

 

[Fenderputty]

and as profit margins rise it's possible we'll see prices drop.

Yes, because mega corps are known to pass savings onto customers. What a load of crap.

 

[megamerican]

What is this dude's hard on with piracy? Didn't he go off on a hissy fit attacking some other journo's credibility about a similar issue?

This is a pathetic article. All of the positives are pure speculation, all of the downsides are very real. Kuchera should shut the fuck up.

 

[M3d10n]

But PS360 piracy is not trivial at all.

I love how they think getting rid of used games may actually lead to price drops, lol. Please.

When games start going into bomba bins like fallen leaves in autumn, the prices will drop. What happens after that is another story.

 

[alr1ght]

.

but please, shrink the market even more.

 

[Mama Robotnik]

I'm amazed this sycophantic tripe has the "Penny Arcade" name attached.

I mean:

This is good news for a few reasons. The first is that piracy will likely be reduced. If the system phones home every so often to check on your licenses, and there is no way to play a game without that title being authenticated and a license being active, piracy becomes harder. You'll never be able to stop pirates, not entirely, but if you can make the act of pirating games non-trivial the incidence of piracy will drop. This is a good thing for everyone except those who want to play games for free.

You hear that? If you have concerns about the stability of your internet connection, or live in an area of the world with limited internet access, or simply don't like the concept that your console activities must be monitored by a multinational mega corporation in order to continue to use your purchase... you "want to play games for free". According to Penny Arcade, this is the only possible explanation.

Only stinking pirates would oppose the bold vision Microsoft his bestowing upon us, clearly.

Once that secondary market is removed you can suddenly profit from every copy of your game sold, and as profit margins rise it's possible we'll see prices drop. Some stodgy publishers will likely stay with the $60 model, but they're dead companies walking already. The smart companies will see this opportunity to play with pricing and see what works and what doesn't.

Without the used market sucking up all those sales and all that consumer money, it's very possible we'll see Steam-style sales on older or bundled games on the Xbox One

Us ungrateful gamers! Microsoft and EA only want to eliminate the used games market in order to sell us cheaper games! With the consumer castrated from selling their games on, our cups will clearly runneth over.

Also, the idea of artificial shortages will go away overnight. The next time a GameStop clerk gives you shit about not pre-ordering, tell him to get stuffed; all you need to do is find a disc to install the game and then buy the license.

Yes, out of stock of games. A vital, earth-shattering emergency problem in the industry that truly hurts us all. If only we could give up our consumer rights in some way to rescue ourselves from this devastating fuck cascade.

 

[Meus Renaissance]

Was this confirmed? I have been a Gamefly member since it started. It would put them out of business. :'(

Harrison says games will include an activation code, so renting may be dead. But, he also said games will be linked to logins so its possible that renting can still work if companies like GameFly can get activation codes from Microsoft. I do not see that being likely, however. This entire strategy to treat games as digital content is designed to undercut these type of markets.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

If they spin any harder, they'll turn into an oblate spheroid.

 

[BobTheFork]

How the hell is there a possible reduction in piracy?

Without a cheaper simple alternative to buying a game brand new, people will be far less likely to try and get it for free?

Now if he was trying to say and with far more harsh online DRM people are less likely to pirate then ok maybe, but how the hell does that tie into availability of used games.

 

[AstroNut325]

A lot of logical leaps and fallacies there. I don't even know where to begin.

 

[Guevara]

If games have no resale value, I will buy fewer games and pay less for them.

 

[Mxrz]

Bow down and support the corporate dong, guys. We're all just fucking pirates.

 

[Kifimbo]

When I read something like this, I think either his salary is way higher than mine, either he gets most of his games for free so he doesn't care about regular Joe.

 

[StopMakingSense]

I just think this is so wrong. Used games are a critical source of consumer liquidity, and they liquidity is often used to purchase NEW games.

I'm about ready for every publisher to reap what they've sown with this broken AAA model. They'll learn.

Exactly.

And the way Kuchera balances possible, unknown consumer benefits (Steam-like sales, etc) against real, known removals of consumer purchasing power REALLY rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Currygan]

my fear is that someone's actually going to believe this bollocks

 

[Delusibeta]

gaf is always a tear fest with candlelight vigils everytime a studio is closed yet a system that helps the industry stay alive and profitable is being demonized.

Incorrect, it'll actively harm the industry. The vast majority of money raised by trade ins are spent on new games, so removing the trade in subsidy will result in lower week 1 sales for the games that aren't the biggest IPs, which means more high profile failures, more developer closures and less diversity in innovation overall. Plus prices will definitely increase to boot, which all means an increase in piracy.

 

[RobotMafia]

Way to go journalists, you guys are really showing your true corporate apologist colors these past few days. Disgusting.

 

[legacyzero]

Cheaper games? I can get behind that idea.

Will it happen? BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[adelante]

...

LOL perfect response.. where is this from?!?

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Was this confirmed? I have been a Gamefly member since it started. It would put them out of business. :'(

For Xbone? Yep, this definitively puts the kibosh on any kind of game rental/loaning system. Just be glad Sony/Nintendo haven't done the same yet.