Defeating Used Games: Why Incentives to Discourage Pre-Owned Gaming Are Awful
Do you get your games second-hand? Then you are a complete cheapskate and the scum of the gaming industry. You're worse than any pirate sailing the high seas of warez. Or at the very least, that's what publishers want us to believe. Whether you have the proper to sell the products you have purchased is irrelevant: the sale of used games is damaging the games industry.
Whenever a new game is traded in or sold to a game store, that money is then kept by the retailer instead of reaching the hands of the hardworking developer who spent blood, sweat and tears on creating their pride and joy. The same game could be bought and sold numerous times and it can be argued that those purchases certainly are a potential sale which has been stolen from the game companies themselves. It really is true you don't hear the music or film industry complaining about their second-hand losses, but does creating an album or a movie compare to the amount of money and effort spent on creating a Triple-A game title? As always, it is the consumer that decides whether a casino game is worth its $50 price tag, and often they decide to opt for a pre-owned price instead.
Rubbish Incentives for New Purchases
Game companies already start using a number of solutions to gain extra cash following the release of their games in the form of downloadable content (DLC) and nowadays there are incentives to purchasing new. Pre-order bonuses appear to be popular right now with many games including codes for additional DLC or specific in-game bonuses.
We'll be looking at some of the rubbish incentives provided by publishers to encourage new purchases and what alternatives will be more welcome.
Exclusive DLC & Pre-Order Bonuses: Gamers aren't not used to the idea of receiving bonuses within collectors editions and so on, but more recently we have been seeing a lot of extra freebies within new games or as part of pre-ordering a title. The majority of that is in-game DLC, such as new weapons and armor, new maps or various other cosmetic additions which don't actually add that much to the overall game. In fact, the majority of this stuff you could probably live without. I don't actually need the Blood Dragon Armor in Dragon Age Origins and I can live with out a tattoo set in Fable 3, many thanks very much. fastwin77 'd go as far to say that DLC armor is one of the most pointless examples of a DLC incentive, ever. Although not as pointless because the Horse Armor from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Occasionally, fastwin77 offered is really a bit more substantial. Some games offer quests or missions, which feels as though more of a 'thank you' bonus. Bioware took that one step further by supplying a DLC delivery service in Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2. This service allows players to download a number of free items, and also access paid DLC. In Mass Effect 2, this included several extra side-quests and exclusive armor/weapons (Groan). Player's could also add a new character with their game squad, Zaeed, and he was included with his own loyalty mission as well as a few small areas to explore plus a new weapon. Whilst this is a better incentive and adds more to the game, in the event that you didn't purchase Mass Effect 2 new, then obtaining a your hands on Zaeed would cost you 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). Yikes.