Kilgore Trout
Member
I just read this really interesting (and long) article that went through and explained why exactly the game developers today are so obsessed with used games, and why preorder bonuses or excluding content does nothing. He basically says the money they're "losing" is tangible when you keep on seeing Gamestop's profits soaring, but with piracy there is no exchange of money so they see it as less worthwhile to pursue.
There was some really interesting stuff in there. I had no idea that the developers in Japan tried to make used games illegal in the 80s. He also proposes that Microsoft entered the console war because it was a closed system as opposed to the computer which anyone could make games for.
http://www.the-ghetto.org/content/used-video-games-the-new-software-piracy
I would really recommend reading the entire article. It's long but worth it.
Id presume even the most jaded fan of file-sharing would draw the line at selling counterfeited goods. But in the world where BitTorrent dominates the file-sharing process? There isnt a lot of people making money off of the downloads. Now look at used game sales. Damn. Theres money being exchanged every single time. Whats worse? No exchange of money? Or Money was exchanged?
There was some really interesting stuff in there. I had no idea that the developers in Japan tried to make used games illegal in the 80s. He also proposes that Microsoft entered the console war because it was a closed system as opposed to the computer which anyone could make games for.
http://www.the-ghetto.org/content/used-video-games-the-new-software-piracy
2006. Dismissed by industry critics as a company behind the times, Nintendo was in deep shit. The strong-first party support and kid-friendly gaming that powered Nintendo hardware for the last twenty years? The Nintendo GameCube fought the X-Box for table scraps as Sonys Playstation 2 achieved the most dominant market share in the modern history of the business. Mario was old news. Shooting hookers is what all the cool kids were doing. So what did Nintendo choose to do? They didnt change a damn thing. Strong first-party support. Kid-friendly gaming. Only this time? The gaming peripherals were also designed to appeal to parents. And damn, did Nintendo roar right back.
The Nintendo Wii stole both headlines and the money of soccer moms who would typically spend their disposable income on their kids infatuation with Grand Theft Auto. And the North American publishers that made in-roads? 2006 kicked the ever-loving shit out of them. French-Canadian publisher Ubisoft watched their year-to-year earnings stagnate.* Activisions year-to-year operating profits declined 170 million dollars.* Electronic Arts? At the time, the number one third-party publisher in the world? 2005′s net income of 500 million dollars was slashed in half. * In the win-now world of the American stock market, that is cause for panic. (The video game industry would know this. The Crash of 1983 was preceded by Ataris 1982 fourth quarter earnings. Atari higher-ups expected a fifty-percent sales increase over the fourth quarter of 1981. On December 7th of 1982, they revised. Ten-to-fifteen percent increase. The stock price of parent company Warner Communications dropped thirty-three percent in twenty-four hours.*)
If the pay-to-own video game industry collapses in the next five years, do you know why it will be? It will be a combination of terrible business practices, out-of-control game development budgets, year-to-year sequels that are designed to be consumed like dish detergent, a total misunderstanding of the casual gaming demographic, and the use of motion controls and three-dimensional displays as a step sideways and not forward. It will not be because of used games.
They know it. And thats why theyre after used video games. When your business model is collapsing, you control distribution. Whether it offers a better product or not, you control distribution.
I would really recommend reading the entire article. It's long but worth it.