Home
At the end of the day, you believe what you believe, and I believe what I believe. In fact, I'm glad to know that we've both done our homework on the subject. It means that there are people out there who know more about the subject than just a few simple facts. However, though you may believe that I am full of conjecture, anecdotes, misinterpretation, and assumption about the loss to developers, I would remind you that you have provided no real evidence to the contrary. Perhaps we do need to just agree to disagree."
Rob, I agree that the Gamestop argument is a tired one, and while it is still a valid problem, it is something that is extremely complex and will see no solutions from people like us (I also do appreciate the debate, and the citations you have provided). I merely brought them up in my example because they are the largest video game retailer in the world. I believe this problem extends beyond them, but I would like to address some of the valid points you made (Keep in mind, I only take issue with people who purchase a used game within a short period of the game being released). In the first article you quote, the Gamestop exec gives the figure that 4% of used sales come from used games sold within 2 months of the game’s release. Now, this figure is obviously chosen for a reason (it SEEMS very low), but I’ll use it anyway. Using the 2010 report that you kindly pointed out, the total revenue for Gamestop in 2010 was 9.474 billion. If approximately 26% of this is used sales (couldn’t find the info you pointed out on page 33, but I’ll take your word for it), that means that 2.463 billion in revenue comes from used sales alone. Now, let’s take 4% of that for all used games purchased within 60 days of being released for the year, which equates to approximately $98,529,600. Now, that’s no small number when you consider that that’s the revenue purely for that 2 month period of time. If we carry that out to sales of a used game within 6 months of being released (in my opinion, more realistic since this is the average time it takes for a game to drop in price, both used and new), that number swells far beyond that. So, while it may seem like the numbers are low, rest assured they are quite significant. Also, I don’t believe for a second that Gamestop will ever have any trouble opening more stores, whether the industry is cutting into their used sales or not, nor will their ability to open more stores or not have much effect on the number of people buying new products or industry numbers. Where I am from, there are 3 Gamestops within a three block radius of each other, all catering to the same clientele. However, Gamestop aside, we can say this about most retail shops that deal in used sales of games that were just released (Gamestop just happens to be the biggest offender).
My point remains the same. The developers suffer from used sales. It’s just a fact. Publishers try to offset this by making sometimes ill-informed decisions that end up hurting consumers. It’s a game of push and pull, and by and large, we’re not invited. And yes, we have this discussion because we care, but I identify with developers because I care about the games that they make, and I generally want to see them make more. I also identify with them, because by and large they ARE us. A large majority of developers got into it because they love the hobby just as much as we do. Those are just two reasons I can think of to support them as much as I can. And while what publishers are doing very well might cut the industry off at the knees, you can be sure that Gamestop cares not a whit about whether the industry is holding the axe or they are.
As a last note, it does not matter whether the number is $5 less or $10 less. If consumers were truly price conscious, they could find acceptable alternatives. There do exist places online where games can be purchased new for the price of a used copy at Gamestop. That, to me, is the definition of being price conscious. There really is no excuse, except for being lazy, and to those people I believe that if you lose out on a multiplayer mode because of a decision like that and end up having to pay extra to get it, you essentially get what you paid for. "
At any rate, the people on the fence are the ones that are in question, and we absolutely can say something about them. For some, $60 may be too much to pay for a game, but not when they are buying the used game for a mere $5 less. That absolutely does hurt the developers. "
However, I am not disputing the ownership. I fully believe that the consumer has the right to do with their purchased product what they will. On that we definitely agree. Make no mistake, though, that the developers are much more beholden to the publishers than you think, and their fate is linked to what the publisher does, whether bad or good. If they sell one game and never another new copy, while the one passes hands between all the people of the world, I can guarantee you that that developer will be the one to suffer while the publisher chalks it up to a financial loss and moves on to their next venture."
Loved the article!"
