Why I don't buy used games

LincLinc OwnerDetroit Icrontian
edited June 2010 in Science & Tech
After a conversation with a local comic book store owner, Brian reflects on why you shouldn't buy used games.
Want to support brick-and-mortar stores and huge profit margins? Go ahead and buy 'em. Want to support game development? Buy new.
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Comments

  • WingXeroWingXero
    edited February 2007
    I agree with you to a point Brian. I too prefer to support the developers but prices for video games are getting out of control. I have a hard time justifying $60 per game for PS3 and XBox360 games that in my opinion don't offer anything revolutionary besides eye candy. Being a software developer myself I can appreciate the hard work that goes into the process, but as a paying customer the price is just too high for a lot of the games being released. If every game that was released was a Halo, or Final Fantasy quality I would probably just suck it up and pay the $60, however far few games are anywhere near this quality.

    Maybe slouching sales will force the not so stellar developers to produce a better product. Not that I'm defending stores like GameStop but there isn't a whole lot of margin on new video game sales, so the majority of there revenue is probably made from used games sales. I don't know about anyone else but when I want a particular game I want to pick it up ASAP. I don't want to pay shipping (and pay even more) and wait a few days for the game to arrive. If buying a used game every now and then means keeping stores like GameStop open so be it.
  • MadballMadball Fort Benton, MT
    edited February 2007
    I prefer to buy used if I don't know if the game is great or not. It makes me feel better if I buy a bad game, if I know I paid less than full price for it. Of course there aren't too many used Wii games out there and when I do find one they're only about $5 less than full, new price. In that case I'll just buy the new game.
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    You should add used CDs and movies to that. It's the same thing, the artists and actors don't get the royalties from used stuff.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    WingXero wrote:
    I agree with you to a point Brian. I too prefer to support the developers but prices for video games are getting out of control. I have a hard time justifying $60 per game for PS3 and XBox360 games that in my opinion don't offer anything revolutionary besides eye candy. Being a software developer myself I can appreciate the hard work that goes into the process, but as a paying customer the price is just too high for a lot of the games being released. If every game that was released was a Halo, or Final Fantasy quality I would probably just suck it up and pay the $60, however far few games are anywhere near this quality.

    Maybe slouching sales will force the not so stellar developers to produce a better product. Not that I'm defending stores like GameStop but there isn't a whole lot of margin on new video game sales, so the majority of there revenue is probably made from used games sales. I don't know about anyone else but when I want a particular game I want to pick it up ASAP. I don't want to pay shipping (and pay even more) and wait a few days for the game to arrive. If buying a used game every now and then means keeping stores like GameStop open so be it.

    I agree with you that there are many, many games out there that are NOT worth $50-$75 - however this is where we vote with our wallets. If a developer makes a crappy game @ $60, and nobody buys it.... They may learn their lesson.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Gamestop and other used game outfits have been a great boon for my family. When my son was younger, used games were the way to go simply because I would NOT spend $$$ on new games, not even knowing whether he'd like them or not. Also, my son usually bought his own games. He received a monthly allowance from me. His responsibility was to manage his money, budgeting for charity, savings, and entertainment. Part of training him to be responsible and savvy with household income was allowing him to spend frugally. Used games came in many flavors: NES, Sega Saturn, N64, and later XBox. There's no way he would have had many games at all at full retail prices. Our household simply does not allocate much money to entertainment. There were the times, yes, when full retail purchases were made. An example of that was Halo for PC.
  • botheredbothered Manchester UK
    edited February 2007
    I see no differance between buying used games or used cars, houses, TV sets, anything. The manufacturers build the development costs into the price. If they do a good job they will survive, it's evolution in action. Having said that it is extremely rare for me to buy a used game. There just arn't any excellent used games I don't already have/want, for many people though, it is there only option.
  • DogDragonDogDragon Jacksonville, Fl Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    I buy both new from the store and used from people I know online.
    So the retailer not getting paid over & over, But people(I know online)who buys a game and they don't think it's all that gets some of their money back and I save a couple buck.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited March 2007
    Kwitko wrote:
    You should add used CDs and movies to that. It's the same thing, the artists and actors don't get the royalties from used stuff.

    Music artists dont get crap from NEW albums. Their money comes from concerts.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    I see no differance between buying used games or used cars, houses, TV sets, anything.
    Exactly.

    Make games that are worth the price, and it will take care of it itself. Something is only worth what people are willing to pay.
  • NightwolfNightwolf Afghanistan Member
    edited March 2007
    mmonnin wrote:
    Music artists dont get crap from NEW albums. Their money comes from concerts.
    Depending on the genre and popularity of the artist.
  • NomadNomad A Small Piece of Hell Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    I buy used because it's cheaper. I show the developer that their material is not worth paying full price for by doing so.
  • AMobileGeekAMobileGeek Huntingdon, Pa
    edited March 2007
    $60 sucks for a game, but I remember paying $60 for Sega gen games... I always wanted to know how I could afford them when I was little.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited March 2007
    but I remember paying $60 for Sega gen games... I always wanted to know how I could afford them when I was little
    We - our family and my son - afforded those games for N64 and Sega Saturn by buying used. Sure, there were purchases of new games, the ones he really wanted but couldn't find used, but the new purchases were few and far between. The shops that allowed swapping and credits and offered used games allowed us to have many games instead of just the most popular two or three.
  • AMobileGeekAMobileGeek Huntingdon, Pa
    edited March 2007
    Last summer I used Gamefly for games that I wanted to play, but didn't really want to keep to play again after I beat it. Before that, when I traded my PS2 for an Xbox 4 years ago and it was nice to pick up the popular games for xbox used when I got the system.
  • KeelhaulKeelhaul Göttingen, Germany
    edited June 2007
    As a consumer, my primary concern is paying as little as possible for a product (for me, it is my only concern).
    Whenever someone has to appeal to the consumer's morals to earn a buck, something is wrong. Same thing with little local businesses whining about online stores and trying to make you feel guilty about not supporting local business. Well guess what, not my problem. Either find a new way to distribute your merchandise or vanish. The market dictates the rules, not morals.

    EDIT:
    I agree with bothered there: Oblivion sold quite well, despite not even having copy protection.
  • Seth
    edited May 2010
    I never buy used unless I can't find the game new like when I got splinter cell double agent recently I had to buy it used but I would have prefered to buy new
  • coldalarmcoldalarm England, UK
    edited May 2010
    I tend to wait for games to come down in price either permanently or on sale, but I always buy new unless it's a retro game. Generally, it's part of PC Gamer Paranoia, where I'm worried a used disc will give my PC a virus or something, but at the same time it's also a case of there's not many places to get used PC games.

    But no, used games are generally a no-go for me.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited May 2010
    The chances of you getting a virus from a retail video game, used or otherwise, is 0.00%.
  • coldalarmcoldalarm England, UK
    edited May 2010
    Perhaps, NiGHTS, but it's just one of my silly things :p

    But I do agree with used games = damaging to the market. Seen a few developers recently come out and say it, although some (*cough*Epic*cough) still seem to blame piracy. Stupid Epic and their lack of GoW2 PC.
  • osaddictosaddict London, UK
    edited May 2010
    I tend to buy used as it's cheaper and rarely have any problems with scratched disks or missing manuals etc. How about the idea that buying used gives more money to the seller, who is probably the kind of person buying new games. So indirectly we are supporting these game developers by giving money to new game purchasers in exchange for their old games.

    Ok so thats a bit loose - some people sell games to buy a guitar, or crack. But hey, it must be the case in some situations :)

    And yeah, if stuff was cheaper perhaps people wouldn't trawl eBay for ages looking for a bargain :)
  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited May 2010
    Some games I buy new. Some games I'll buy used. Some games I'll only rent. Many I'll never buy ever. Personally I could care less about seeding the pockets of the developers. If I only could buy new games at their current new game prices I'd buy less games period.

    If more companies want to keep their money in their pockets more need to do special discounted launch day pricing like they did with Batman and Borderlands. Put the game out for 40% off on launch and capture those sales. It's that target price that people are waiting for. If they know they can get it for cheaper on launch or have to wait 4+ months to pick it up for that same priced used. They'll buy it on launch.

    While piracy and used sales and rentals do take away from game sales. Poorly made games hurt game sales more. Limited replay games hurt game sales more. Companies repeatedly putting out half finished and buggy products hurt sales more. Over priced dev houses that charge $10 more for their games then the standard rate hurt sales more. Putting out the same game they put out last year but with marginal changes hurt sales more etc....etc.....etc....

    Mind you these sorts of issues aren't singularly the plight of the video game world. Every product ever suffers from these kinds of issue. It's nothing new it's just the new kid on the block bitching for some level of entitlement they don't deserve.

    I don't care if it's music, books, movies, cars, food, resorts whatever. You put out quality product that people want, they will pay for it. You put out a substandard product then people will wait till the price comes down to a level they feel reflects it's value or they won't buy it at all.
  • miragemirage
    edited May 2010
    I care about supporting the game developers as much as they care about supporting the consumers. All of them are in business to make as much profit as they can. Likewise, I prefer paying for games as little as I can. For donations, I usually consider UNICEF.
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited May 2010
    my opinion = Kryyst's and Mirage's

    Although I typically buy new, I usually wait till the price comes down.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited May 2010
    I only pay what I think a game is worth. Sadly, many games never hit that low of a price so I never buy them. If a company puts out a game that I think is worth the full $50, I'll buy it. If I don't think it's worth the $50, I wait for it to come down, if they don't drop the price to a reasonable level before I move on to something else, too bad. That said, I rarely, if ever, buy used games... but then again, I play most of my games on PC and haven't bought a game from anywhere except Steam in probably 2 years.
  • PetraPetra Palmdale, CA USA
    edited May 2010
    My wife and I mostly buy used PS2 games and occasionally the odd used PS3/PSP/Wii game... and the best part of the Wii is the virtual console stuff (I think we've only bought 3 actual Wii titles since launch). I always buy PC games new but, then again, the last PC title I purchased (not counting the StarCraft2 pre-order) was Valve's Orange Box (or maybe it was Bioshock when Fry's had it on sale... can't remember). Most newer games aren't that great, as far as I'm concerned, and really aren't worth the price. Take the Unreal Tournament series, for example... I still find UT GOTY Ed. to be more enjoyable than any of the more modern incarnations. I liked the Desert Combat mod for BF1942 more than BF2 (BF2 is still good, though), but didn't see a compelling reason to buy anything released after BF2.

    It probably doesn't help that I'm also not a fan of my games being linked to digital content distribution systems.
  • VickVick
    edited June 2010
    I never buy games brand new i just cant justify the 60$ price tag
  • jazzgrenadejazzgrenade
    edited June 2010
    I don't really buy used games just because I don't know where to buy them. lol. I don't have any consoles and I only play PC games and none of the store sup here seem to want any trade-ins with PC games.

    I do end up buying a lot and not playing most of them. Crysis Warhead for example, I must've played it only a total of 45 minutes.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    I've never seen used PC games either. I don't think you can really get away with doing that since it would be too easy to install the game, apply a no-cd patch and sell the "game"
  • ObsidianObsidian Michigan Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    Most games don't even need no-cd patches to play without the disc nowadays.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited June 2010
    The only place I've ever seen used PC games is Half Price Books, and they are all crap.
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