Can I Return this Piece o’ Crap, Please?
What fresh hell is this? Game developers are not whining because they’re not getting a cut of used games…are they? What’s the date? Is it April Fools Day again? Ashton Kutcher’s birthday? Nope, according to the SF Chronicle’s Ryan Kim who wrote this article, some giants of the gaming industry are acting like giant pussies:
“We would prefer to participate in the sale of our products, especially when we spend years putting one of these things together and we have to continue to provide support for all these new customers without creating any new revenue from it at all,” said Pete Hines, vice president of Bethesda Softworks. “We’re not big fans of that.”
Whatever, Pete…I think you should consider yourself very lucky that you haven’t been jailed for pushing the heroin in game form that has enslaved every able-thumbed man under the age of 45. Who the hell takes a copy of Elder Scrolls to GameSpot? Don’t you have to put down the controller down long enough to put on pants?
Oh, and then there was this little gem from Silicon Knights president, Denis Dyack:
“It’s a real problem right now, and it’s a loophole that people are using, and we’re getting cut out of that model.”
Okay, Denis. I’ll send you the cash I cut you out of when I blought my used copy of Sanity’s Requiem, if you pay the bill to clean my couch. (What? That game was freaking scary, and I have a weak bladder, deal with it, haters.)
Jebus, I hate sticking up for GameSpot because, while I don’t think they are the Devil, I think they certainly do his work and get invited to all of his BBQs. But, developers…sigh…you need to do three things before I can even begin to see your side of things: 1. Lower your prices. The reason I bought a used copy of Sanity’s Requiem was because it cost about 20 bucks less than a new copy. 20 bucks. I can use that scratch to buy yet another used game. 2. Stop making crappy games so bad that I would not want my worst enemy to play them, but would have no qualms letting a total stranger spend 14.95 on. And 3. For the love of God and everything holy, let us return crappy downloadable content. I’m talking to you, Cocoto Fishing Master. J’accuse!
June 4th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
“we have to continue to provide support for all these new customers without creating any new revenue from it at all” — Oh please. What support? Regardless, it is not hard to require registration before you provide support; Microsoft does it. Frickin’ whiners. You already got $60 from one sucker for one crappy game; why should you get any more from another person?
June 5th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Yes, and while we are at it, why don’t we outlaw selling used cars, movies, books, houses, underwear… (ok, one in that list doesn’t belong, but I trust you can figure that out for yourself). Complete and utter ignorance of the basics of economics and utter common sense.
Oh, and if it’s this famed “support” you are trying to hang this on, please, for the love of god, keep it. We’ll be better off without it.
p.s. you meant GameSTOP, not GameSPOT, right?
June 8th, 2009 at 10:21 am
Seriously…What would we be without Craigslist? ;]
This whole argument vaguely reminds me of when movie production companies whined in the 80’s over how no one would pay money to go to the movies if they could just buy it them on a VHS tape. Just like movie moguls, game companies will still get buttloads of cash regardless of how many people buy games used. The people who usually buy used games are ones who A) can’t afford the game sold as new and therefore wouldn’t buy them new in the first place or B) aren’t interested in it enough to buy it at the full new price.