Wow, terrific podcast yet again, guys.
I absolutely loved hearing your opinions on the whole "Used Games Are Evil" subject: it's great to hear well-respected people actually offer a realistic argument on this matter, which is something that not even sites like Penny Arcade can offer up any more. The discussion amongst the three of you was one for the ages, and I really wish that all the other "popular" media outlets would listen to your conclusions, rather than just see things from such a black and white perspective. If publishers all truly have such an "anti-used" stance, then why don't they make more effort to lower the MSRP of games, rather than, say, shoe-horn in crappy multiplayer to try and justify a $60 sale price? Or why not sell the "Collector's Edition" of their titles at $60 and the normal editions at $50, rather than ask $70-$80 for what amounts to pennies worth of plastic? Consumers are generally pretty quick to realize when they're being ripped off (well, other than Halo fans and their cat helmets), so why do publishers keep finding new ways to creep the game prices up and then bitch about people buying used to save money? Sounds like a vicious cycle to me.
Couple quick things:
1) Anyone know what GameStop.com's run of good deals was such a short run? I was hoping to see them do more to compete with Wal*Mart, Amazon, and K*Mart for the Q4 pre-orders. What gives?
2) I'd strongly urge against the sound bar concept if you're looking for ture surround sound: I'm sure they work great in a pre-determined retail layout, but how well is the "sound reflecting" technology going to work in your personal spaces, taking into account both room size and barriers to proper reflectance? If you want an amazing set of small, balanced 5.1 speakers w/o paying Bose prices, check these out: Klipsch HD Theater 1000 5.1 ...combined with an Onkyo HD receiver you're still spending less than if you were just to buy a comparable set of Bose speakers.
3) It amazes me to hear the media's mixed reaction to the sweeping changes seen in Metroid - Other M, especially considering that most of the media felt like the FPS style of the Prime series was getting old. Just goes to show that, no matter what, you can't make people happy if their minds are made up ahead of time.
I absolutely loved hearing your opinions on the whole "Used Games Are Evil" subject: it's great to hear well-respected people actually offer a realistic argument on this matter, which is something that not even sites like Penny Arcade can offer up any more. The discussion amongst the three of you was one for the ages, and I really wish that all the other "popular" media outlets would listen to your conclusions, rather than just see things from such a black and white perspective. If publishers all truly have such an "anti-used" stance, then why don't they make more effort to lower the MSRP of games, rather than, say, shoe-horn in crappy multiplayer to try and justify a $60 sale price? Or why not sell the "Collector's Edition" of their titles at $60 and the normal editions at $50, rather than ask $70-$80 for what amounts to pennies worth of plastic? Consumers are generally pretty quick to realize when they're being ripped off (well, other than Halo fans and their cat helmets), so why do publishers keep finding new ways to creep the game prices up and then bitch about people buying used to save money? Sounds like a vicious cycle to me.
Couple quick things:
1) Anyone know what GameStop.com's run of good deals was such a short run? I was hoping to see them do more to compete with Wal*Mart, Amazon, and K*Mart for the Q4 pre-orders. What gives?
2) I'd strongly urge against the sound bar concept if you're looking for ture surround sound: I'm sure they work great in a pre-determined retail layout, but how well is the "sound reflecting" technology going to work in your personal spaces, taking into account both room size and barriers to proper reflectance? If you want an amazing set of small, balanced 5.1 speakers w/o paying Bose prices, check these out: Klipsch HD Theater 1000 5.1 ...combined with an Onkyo HD receiver you're still spending less than if you were just to buy a comparable set of Bose speakers.
3) It amazes me to hear the media's mixed reaction to the sweeping changes seen in Metroid - Other M, especially considering that most of the media felt like the FPS style of the Prime series was getting old. Just goes to show that, no matter what, you can't make people happy if their minds are made up ahead of time.
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