[quote name='dafunkk12']
This is great for the industry, a strike against GameStop, and only hurtful to some. As stated in many prior discussions, only GameStop makes money on used game sales; the game publisher sees none of that. [/quote]
This is
not great for the industry. Do you honestly think that confusing customers as to what they're actually buying is a smart move? Do you think that customers are going to be
happy when they get their game home and find they have to spend another $5-$20 (or more?) so that it has all the advertised features, isn't somehow gimped, or is playable?
Yeah, that will go over great. EA might as well try to sell a USB credit card swiper or coin slot.
The unfortunate reality is that publishers need to get paid, to pay developers, to continue to make games. If you buy used, sure you're getting an experience for cheap, but you're not effectively showing your appreciation to the people who actually matter.
I'm just going to suggest here that the used market wouldn't be so attractive if the MSRP wasn't so high.
I think publishers live under the delusion that if the used market didn't exist, then everyone would pay $50 or $60 for their games. This isn't going to happen. They're just going to buy fewer games. Or none.
The videogame industry, for better or worse, has a model that they use now. It involves pricing games high to begin with, then tending to drop or clearance them later and, if all goes well, put them out as greatest hits. Maybe.
This model currently works because enough people participate in the engine. Some buy high and trade in quickly. A few will buy at whatever price. Some wait for sales or drops. Others wait for used.
It is a complicated, somewhat insane model. It's why we have a lot of games that bomb (which costs publishers money).
Injecting DRM into this and trying to extort charges from customers that may or may not be aware of extra fees, charges, or what-have-yous for something they can physically buy is not a sane solution. I sympathize because the economic model is screwy, but the solution is not adding more insanity.
[quote name='smoger']Anyone who sides with EA on this one is crazy. It's just the first step in a slippery slope. Today it's one feature that's locked out,.. tomorrow it'll be the whole game. I absolutely LOATHE Gamestop but it's not because of how they treat publishers.. it's because of how they treat consumers.
This is a war between giant corporations that is putting us, the consumers, the lifeblood of BOTH of these companies, in the firing line.
I just hope that console gamers are smart enough to take issue with this like PC gamers did with Spore.
(also, anyone who doubts the right of resale should google the First Sale Doctrine.. "
a copyright holder's rights to control the change of ownership of a particular copy end once that copy is sold, as long as no additional copies are made")[/quote]
Sorry to quote so much, but this deserves to be seen again.