Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, sharpening your video poker skills before heading to Vegas, Japanese curry, or Great Tea Latte Kit Kats, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
With the rumor that the Xbox 720 will have some sort of anti-used-game feature, I was curious to hear how much of a factor not playing used games will be for you. Most of us agree that blocking used games would be bad for consumers and retailers, but what’s it worth to you personally? Will it be a major purchasing consideration? Or will you just grin and bear it?
I see it playing out a bit like backwards compatibility. It will be a huge deal for a small number of gamers; there are some people that will not buy a console that can’t play used games (totally understandable). A larger group of people will make a lot of noise, scream, and shout about the travesty of consoles that can’t play used games…and go ahead and buy one despite their bluster. I believe that the majority of consumers won’t know or won’t care if a console can’t play used games.
So is this issue a deal breaker for you? Kindly let me know if not being able to play used games will be a factor in your future console purchasing decisions. Also let me know how you think most people will treat the issue (please!).
Personally I don't give a darn. I buy all my games new, so I'm not affected by this at all.
Then again, I wasn't getting the next Microsoft console anyways. Other than Halo, literally no exclusives on the XBOX appeal to me. But talking about the idea as a whole, it's not a deal-breaker for me.
Backwards compatibility, on the other hand, is a bigger issue for me; while certainly not a deal-breaker, it is a deal chooser. When choosing two relatively similar consoles, backwards compatibility (as in, does it have it and are the games that compatibility opens worth it) is that weight that tips the balance. Wii U or PS4… if the PS4 has backwards compatibility, I'll buy it since I didn't have a PS3 (had a PS2 and PS1 though, so those'll be big plus's as well)… doesn't even need good launch games for me. But with the Wii U it doesn't really matter for me, since I've played most of the classics on the Wii and I doubt I'll be replaying DKCR 100% again… so it needs a good launch line-up for me to buy it.
Just my somewhat unrelated take on what features I consider "deal-breakers," and how important they are to me.
Very interesting. I'm curious to see how important backwards compatibility is these days, especially when older games are available as digital downloads to relatively cheap prices. Future Coffee Talk column topic acquired!
I still own a number of older games, as well as the systems they came on – or systems that are backwards compatible. I still play PS1 games on my PS2. The idea of paying for the same game 2, 3 or 4 times just doesn't sit right with me, even if it is at a lower rate. If I already own it, I feel like I shouldn't have to pay for it twice to play it again.
But then again, as I said, I still own most of my old systems. A lot of people trade their old systems in when the new ones come out. For those people, being able to buy the games again digitally is a good thing.
I have a friend who still keeps all of his old systems. He has a PS1, PS2 (original and slim), and PS3 among others because he just can't get rid of an old system or game. He also hates trading in games too. It's a little odd to me to think like that though, but to each their own.
I think keeping the old system is the proper recourse honestly. Granted backwards comparability is rather easy with emulation but I try and equate it to the movie industry here. I owned Batman on VHS, but had to buy it on DVD when VHS was shown the door. This sadly is a negative on physical media in one facet. The flipside is that my VHS or DVD would work in any player.
Of course this philosophy changes as we move forward in the digital age when I see no excuse for current downloadable titles to not be available on the new machines going forward in perpetuity. By downloaded titles I'm not restricting that to arcade type games. Even full versions of retail titles.
Yes because I feel that without the used market then older titles will not fall in price as quickly or as much. I never would have played Mass Effect had I not been able to get it new for $20.
I thought you were quitting consoles anyway. :P
I'm a sucker for new things :)Since Diablo 3 is stuck in development hell my interest has been renewed. I can pretty much guarantee I'm not buying another Sony console though.Then again the indie scene on PC is starting to really take off and the platform is seeing renewed support from devs and publishers.Sent from my iPhone 4
It's not a dealbreaker for me, but it is something to make me upset for a little while. I can't guarantee I will get a new console on day one simply because of money, but as soon as I am able I would be purchasing the new xbox. I know I should probably hold off and let my lack of spending speak for me, but in all honesty I know I will want the new xbox too much to seriously hold out for too long, despite the fact that I will probably be one of those people who complains about the lack of a used game market. I just wish that Microsoft would go a different way with everything and follow the example set by Steam.
I generally don't buy a lot of used games. But I do trade a lot of games in to get discounts on new ones that I want. An end to used games would mean an end to the trade-in market, effectively kicking the price of a number of new games way up for me. That'll affect just how many new games I can buy. As someone who likes to be able to play as much stuff as possible, that's a very bad thing.
Totally understand, but will it change your hardware purchasing decision?
I'm going to answer with the totally non-committal answer of "I need to see all the details for all the systems before I commit one way or the other." If one system bans used game sales, but the other doesn't, it may well effect my decision. If they both do it, I'm more or less up sheet creek.
It won't bother me, because I buy 95% of my games brand new. I buy them new because I don't like scratches and I want the books. I don't trade in any games because I collect them.
But yes I will be one of those people that bitch and moan about it. I will only buy a 720 so long as it isn't a console that breaks as easily as all of my other XBOX's (OG, 360 and S all are broken).
If the PS4 doesn't have backwards compatibility then I will be very reluctant to get it and if I did, I doubt I would buy many games. I have 150+ games that I wouldn't be able to play. As a matter of fact I had the 4Gb 360S and I couldn't play my OG XBOX games because I didn't have a hard drive, this was part of the reason I gave it away (other part was the constantly powered on thing)
Have you seen the prices for new games on PSN? It scares me. They still want 20 bucks for Duke Nukem.
It wouldn't affect me as much, I buy all my games new unless there's a good deal where a game is so cheap I can't pass it up used. I hardly buy launch consoles because of possible hardware issues or lack of launch titles.
Backwards compatibility and being able to play used games is a big issue for me and may very well be a deal-breaker.
I’ll try to be completely unbiased about this: Used game sales keeps the industry's prices honest. Developers and publishers know that the consumer ultimately has the say in how items are priced and they would love nothing more than to control how much we pay for content. The only way to take this out of the consumers' hands is to completely control the second-hand market so that they can blind us as to what content REALLY is worth.
Their ultimate goal is two-fold; 1) Gain additional sales and revenue from those who would buy your games used and 2) Bring consumers up in their expectations of how much a game costs instead of letting the used market drag prices of games down.
So if a physical copy of Mass Effect 2 is $60 and the digital version comes out later for $40, then I think that's great because I can get the digital version and save $20, right? Well, in a world with no secondary market, I wouldn't know that Mass Effect 2 was going for $18 new right now because we don't see the supply and demand to let us know that this game is now worth $18 according to the market. If Microsoft, EA, Activision, Sony, etc. had their way, they would eliminate this transparency so they can, in essence, control the market.
This will set an incredibly bad precedent for the gaming industry as a whole. It is a huge step backwards towards a digital draconian society where we never truly own any content we consume. Sales of games will dramatically drop (unless the gatekeepers can accurately mirror the true market forces) since used games sales represent a huge chunk of the gamer pie. This will lead to less innovation and "risk-taking" by developers that have been the fuel for the industry's meteoric rise over the past couple of decades. I don’t mind living in a world with digital and physical content living in harmony because they will be able to compete with each other and consumers have the ultimate say in what they prefer. But to herd us into the “all-digital, all-the-time” pen is just allowing the wolf to watch over the sheep.
-M