What Happens To Your Used Games? 276
silentbrad writes "GameStop's bosses are obviously tired of hearing about how used games are killing gaming, about how unfair they are on the producers of the games who get nothing from their resale. One astonishing stat is repeated by three different managers during presentations. 70 percent of income consumers make from trading games goes straight back into buying brand new games. GameStop argues that used games are an essential currency in supporting the games business. The normal behavior is for guys to come into stores with their plastic bags full of old games, and trade them so that they can buy the new Call of Duty, Madden, Gears of War. GameStop says 17 percent of its sales are paid in trade credits. The implication is clear — if the games industry lost 17 percent of its sales tomorrow, that would be a bad day for the publishers and developers.'"
Re:Every single industry that sells tangible produ (Score:4, Informative)
Well, the counter argument to this is that the, let's call them 'informational', goods don't depreciate with use like a tangible product does. A (pressed) game disk will be just as functional in 5 years, though your, say, lawn mower will probably be all gunked up with grass, rusting a bit and have some wear on the engine.
Of course, we all know this is pretty bunk. Game disks get scratched fairly easily, or the booklets/cases get lost and there are plenty of physical goods that keep their value as. Computer are such a thing: aside from a possible aging hard disk, they pretty much run just as well as when they were new. Still, there's only very limited used computer market. Why? Simple: New computers offer something more than used computers; usually they're faster and/or draw less power. Intel spends their time making better chips and exploring new markets, rather than complaining about how unfair it is that people trade used computers or don't every one released. Game companies should do the same. Offer something worth buying and people will buy it. Don't shovel out a new revision of the same old crap and complain when people are content to swap the old version and skip the new one.
Re:Poor Analogy (Score:5, Informative)
NES games are still playable. The problem is the NES itself - the connector the cartridge slides into gets bent out of shape. It's easy to open the system up and swap the connector. The new part only costs a few dollars.
Blowing on the cartridges never actually did anything to make them work. What did help was simply taking the cartridge out and putting it back in. It would sit differently, and eventually it would sit well enough to make a solid connection with the bent connector.
Re:Absolutely! Down with 'used' products! (Score:5, Informative)
And the point OP was making is that used goods are bad for manufacturers in any market. And it still stands. So...congratulations on your pedantry?
The funny part is, this is completely wrong. A used market serves the customers who can't afford new, and is an entry point for a customer to become a new product purchaser. It very rarely harms the manufacturer as the used market 'customer' would rarely be a new product customer due to the price points. In fact, the manufacturer often benefits from the used market in terms of spare parts, add-ons and so forth.