It’s been a tough few years for retailers that specialized in selling used video games. With the vast majority of PC gamers turning to digital distribution, and many console gamers quickly following suit, the amount of games being resold has plummeted. Now, a rumored new protection system in the new Microsoft console could mean that the used game market will disappear altogther.
The upcoming console, already dubbed the Xbox 720 by some, will reportedly only be able to play new games, with used games unable to function on certain player accounts. Using a system similar to the CD keys assigned to many PC games, it looks like Microsoft plans to implement some sort of control against used games being added to your Gamertag.
What does this mean? Well, first it means that you won’t be picking up those bargain $5 games from the used bin very often. It also means that the gaming industry is moving towards the account-based strategy, which has already been used to great success on services like Steam. While it’ll hurt some retailers in the short term, we doubt the loss of used games is going to be a major burden for the industry as a whole.
I say GREAT!!! I don’t mind buying all new games. I actually don’t even trade games into gamestop unless they are really just collecting dust and are worthless to me.
But truthfully, gamestop’s sales rely heavily on used games/systems/etc. They give you 20 bucks for a $60 dollar game and then sell the game to someone else for $55. I don’t like it now bit, which is why i never buy used games from gamestop unless its an old game that isn’t being made anymore. I actually got put out of a gamestop for telling someone to sell their game on craigslist because they will get more money.
If they really are going to try and put a stop to the used gaming industry, i say hell yeah. Developers work hard on the games they make and they deserve every penny they make. While i do enjoy the promotions and events gamestop offers, I really hope this teaches them a lesson to stop cheating developers and customers out of their hard-earned money
I think its stupid because alot of people do not have alot of money to buy new games all the time so if they do that then i will not be buing the 720
The point of the New game only policy is to give developers the money they deserve. For one, its almost impossible to keep track of how many people actually buy a game, when retail stores like Gamestop sell used games, with don’t count towards the actually number of units sold. Two, as I stated earlier, developers don’t make money off used games. Gamestop sells a game at almost full price, and they keep all the profit. When you buy a new game, some of that money goes to developers.
I buy all my games new, especially if its from developers like Rocksteady, Naughty Dog, Square-Enix, etc. So while I understand your point of view, its still unfair to the people who slave over computers for years to bring you a game, and not get any money off of it.