Actually, there will be "newer games," and I'm not sure why you would think there wouldn't. Are games supposed to stop being made once Hitman is released to disc version? I meant "newer" in the sense that, if you're a Hitman fan, it's hard to argue against paying just $15 now (or $60 if you're brave) to get a strong taste of the rest of the game, versus paying $60 (or whatever) in a year to find out it's crap. Meanwhile, if you're a casual Hitman gamer, you're EXACTLY the type to say, "well I'll wait for this to drop in price before I grab it, because JRPG X3500 VS [or whatever you play, not hating JRPGers] just came out." I think the quality of the game is definitely reflected in the price (let's talk about Star Ocean), and if you're not even willing to pay the full standard price for the game, then you're not really worried about them pulling it off shelves.
Even if newer games weren't available, this wouldn't change the fact that you would (nominally) be paying full retail for a game where the first half had been available for quite some time already. Definitely not new in the sense of a new game being released that (for example) only the beta has been available for previously. You can say "well I'm getting it for $38," but I don't think that really bodes well for the sustainability of the price of a game with half the content (and downloads) yet to come. I mean, new Zelda games hold value into the $50s well after "full" release. This game is devaluing itself by almost half, before its content is even fully available.
Also, you would "have" to be willing to pay $60 because I would assume that, like most games that are not complete garbage, Hitman will not retail at this $38 price, and instead this price point is an attempt to garner more interest in pre-orders. If the game releases at the same price, then that only confirms further that the response is dismal, and Square has to recoup what it has already invested by seriously undercutting its value. They know there is value in the series, per those lame ass movies and previous entries, but it seems SE is having a hard time finding the money hole.
Sounds good, but I think this is more a reaction of fear than anything, and a lack of understanding how markets work. Publishers might have full control (I'm not affirming, just assuming what you say is true), but they're profit-driven, like any other company. They're not going to just randomly pull games if people really want to play them. Look at Dark Cloud 2 for PS2. That game did very well at holding around $30 in value years after the PS2 was off the scene, and you were going to pay at least around this much (± $5) to play it unless you lucked up on a deal. I was interested in the game for a long time, but was not willing to pay $30 to find out I didn't like it and then have to deal with reselling. However the popularity of the game was a clear market opportunity, which is why it has been one of the first games that was brought to the PS4 as a digital version of a PS2 throwback, for $15, half the price you would have to pay for a physical copy, which the publisher does not even make money off of once it has been bought new. I actually got it for like $10 because of an intro sale, so not only did I get to try a great game for well under the common going rate, I also got to actively demonstrate my interest to the publisher through direct sales metrics. Maybe I don't have a used disc and game case to look at, but that also means I won't lose it if I ever just get a random urge to play it. I could care less about not being able to sell it back out, or the 2-system limitation, because it was $10, and I got to actively show interest to the publisher in a way that is a bit more meaningful than a petition (money talks). If I want to put it on a third system, I will gladly pay another $15, and still be in the same range as what I would have paid to get a physical copy (which again serves no benefit to the publisher, and thus creates less direct incentive to develop the series).
I think your fears are valid in very limited circumstances. There are a lot of gamers who are into really niche games that might actually be very good in their own way. I remember back in the day there was some PSX game called Valkyrie or something that people went nuts over like that, paying exorbitant prices (and probably still do). But if there is not enough demand for them, it doesn't matter how great the game is - the publisher is not going to go into debt just to please a niche market unless that niche market is paying big bucks. Then, when you're dealing with physical games, you have other problems like managing inventory that we as common users do not often see (unless we get a piece of defective inventory), but which manufacturers have to deal with, and which have very real cost associations. However if a game has strong appeal, and there is a solid market for it, you're off it if you think publishers will ignore that to try and exercise some sort of sadistic authority over gamers by taking away games we want to play. At least not the majority of them.
You Edition" for $40 with a bunch of extra content they added for the first few levels & a seasonal pass, while you get shipped the "Standard" version because you preordered it on Amazon for a price you already suspected was strangely low.
