Do you feel bad buying used games?

I just recently noticed this about myself. I always feel guilty when I buy a used game, not supporting the developer as I should have. I almost feel more inclined to buy DLC because of this. How do you guys feel about it?

No. Most of the games I play are rented.

Games are expensive.

yes, but I also feel bad about being poor.

Not really. If the game is good I will buy it full retail price. If it doesn't seem that great I will wait and buy it used. If the developer won't put in the effort then I'm not putting in the money. Of course it's all a matter of opinion but for example I don't think Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is worth the full price, so I'll probably get it later down the road when it becomes ridiculously cheap. I thought Bayonetta was excellent and paid full money for that, but based on what I saw Rising isn't nearly as polished.

Nope. I also try to buy new games cause I have this odd thing about wanting to be the only one to own something that I own. But when I buy a used game I don't feel bad about it at all. It's an aspect of this hobby that the business side has, at times, fucked over consumers to try to stop. So fuck it.

I don't feel bad about it, but that's 'cause I don't do it. I guess I would feel bad though if I did, but I would rather spend the £2 more and buy the game new, or well, 'new'. Also I don't buy console games often/ever.

No. Would you feel bad if you bought a 2nd hand car?

No, because if I bought it used it means they did a shitty job of convincing me to buy it new haha

Not to echo it, but yeah, do you also feel guilty buying used cars etc? Someone bought that game and it's theirs to do what they want with it - that includes selling it to someone else. What do you do if the game is out of print?

Nope. Because if the games industry was run half as good as any other industry on the planet it would be able to support a used product market (you know, like every other industry on the planet).

Yup. I'll start feeling bad about buying used product the day publishers start feeling bad about charging full price for sub-par product with a "no returns after unsealing" policy.

Whenever I buy stuff used I do feel a little strange. I never buy video games used but I bought an instrument used recently and it just felt a little, off. It's not the fact that the money doesn't go directly to the people who make the product, it is just that someone else used it before me.

Buying a used car is not a fair comparison to buying a used game. Not only are the prices completely different, but you can't exactly buy a brand new car that was made in the 90's, while you can buy a game from the 90's brand new.

I would feel bad if I knew there was a different way to buy the game that got money to the people who created it. I hope that this generation the console makers work out a deal with Gamestop and publishers that allows the creators to get some of the revenue.

I do not feel bad because the only time I ever buy a game used is when I can no longer buy it new in a store anyway.

I only buy games used when I can't find them new so no.

I only ever buy new games unless its something that has a pretty limited print run.

Same here.

No i don't feel guilty, but im not buying new used games for 5 dollars cheaper. But if you are that guy saving 5 bucks on release day why not just spend 5 bucks more to send that monies straight to the developer so they can continue making games. I be buying used game at least 3-4 years old that are not readily available on download services at a reasonable prices.

Unless it's a series or developer that I'm really invested in, I buy most games used or very cheaply a long time after they've been released. I don't see any problem with it.

@humanity said:

Bad games aren't bad because developers are half assing it.

I almost never buy used games -- I will buy new or used games from amazon or ebay sellers if the game is out of print now and again, but I don't play shitloads of new games every year, so it's not as expensive for me as what some others might have to deal with. I will, however, trade in games in if I know I can get a decent amount of credit for them and I don't want to keep them as part of my collection -- it helps me fund my purchases of new titles.

Nope. Video games are expensive.

The same way a developer doesn't care how I earn the $65 I spend on their game I also don't concern myself with how they go about making their game. If they have a bad deal with a publisher, if their deadlines are being pushed up, if they don't have enough staff, etc etc.. that's really on them. If I don't earn that $65 but tell them I worked really hard they won't give me a pass and sell me the game for less, same way I'm not going to drop full price on a subpar project no matter how hard they worked on it.

No. Never. And the weird elitists who say it's as bad as piracy can fuck off.

No.

Well, no. But let's take Persona 4 Arena, it took Arc 8 months just to get out a European build of that game to the publisher with zero updates of what was taking so long and we were left with no other reasonable way to get our hands on it.

I'd call that not putting in the effort and therefore I'm not putting in the money.

EDIT: Not much to do with what Humanity was talking about, I realize, but still...That situation has left me so damn frustrated.

No, but i also rarely buy games used. They are on sale enough new that it's generally not worth the hassle.

No. Video games are too fucking expensive and I'm happy to save money when I can. If it's a developer I want to support, sure, but most of the developers I want to support mostly sell games through digital means. I think the last retail product I bought new was Persona 4. Either that or Mass Effect Trilogy...can't remember which came first. But I didn't buy Persona 4 used because my relatives gave me a Gamestop gift card and I wanted Persona 4. It was like 35 bucks on Gamestop's website, which is totally over-priced compared to what others are selling it at, but I bought it anyway. And it came in shrink wrap and everything! That was pretty neat.

Dude, yeah. I feel for that part of the world not getting the game. I have the game, but the fact that it hasn't come out there with no official explanation is such bullshit, and I really don't blame you and others who don't want to support that by buying it used. It's so stupid.

Actually, you just further cemented the point. You can't buy a game from the 90's brand new unless you're buying asealed copy off ebay, which means another person, not the company who made it, is re-selling it. No sane developer would keep printing the game in case random guy 20 years from now wants one. It doesn't make business sense to do so. If, however, you're talking about digital copies, well, those normally can't be resold anyway as they're more often than not tied to a specific account.

Besides, if you oppose the resale of a product, you claim that the item by virtue of having been purchased just lost its value. That doesn't make any sense. At that point, why even pay for it to begin with? You do realize that retailers buy in bulk, and then sell to people, while getting some of the profit themselves? Like, game devs can cry all they want about people buying used games, but that's the reality they'll have to deal with when releasing a physical copy of their product, like every single other industry in the world.

This is the only fucking industry that somehow has managed to convince people to feel bad for not giving them money. It's absolutely disgusting and maybe if they charged a fair price for their games people would be more inclined to give them their hard earned cash. They are NOT entitled to the fucking money that I worked my ass off for! It's entirely up to me, the consumer, to determine the most financially viable method of obtaining a product that I am interested in! (within reason)

Video Games are fucking expensive so if I can't get it cheap (either by getting it used or in a steam sale) I'm not getting it.

no, as usually it's hard to find a game that is new when i buy used. other than that i buy a game new.

I don't buy used things, so no.

Not one iota. As a consumer, I will purchase at the price I want to spend. Since used games are cheaper, I'll buy those most of the time.

If the future all games will be digital and no one will care anymore about used, scratched games. The best part is, this will open up more flash sales, yearly winter sales and super discount bundles. Look at Valve and the crazy amounts of money publishers and developers make on their yearly sales events.

Cars sold from manufacturers to the original dealer have an extra expense added on to account for the resale of the vehicle. Depending on the make and model, it can be anywhere from $1,500 to $7,500.

I buy used games, I'm just saying that the car analogy isn't perfect. With some companies using the online pass, however, it is becoming more accurate.

Nope. Nor should anybody. Game companies should factor resale numbers into sales projections. Everybody else has to.

That being said I also don't feel bad about buying new games either.

No, never. Because I'm not crazy. Whatever mess their business is in is their issue to solve, not mine.

Right now they're calling the transactions "sales" when it suits them and "single-user licenses" when that is more convenient for them. Their mess is starting to slop over and drive away customers. I think the least of their worries right now should be used game license transfers. They should start worrying about delivers a good, working product day 1 that people feel like paying their asking price for.

No, not really. I might occasionally buy an older game that might be on sale for like $10 dollars or more, but only if it looks interesting to me.

I do not buy used games. I don't believe in not giving money to the developers if I am interested enough to spend money on a video game.

I never buy used games.

I don't buy used, but I will buy at a significant discount on big Steam sales. Don't feel bad about that.

never

No

I don't really buy used games. I'm not against them or anything though.

When I'm buying used games from Gamestop? Yes, because fuck those guys.

When I'm buying used games from Gamefly? No, because I save some money and they run a great company.

nope.

As others have pointed out, videogames are expensive.

Also, a lot of times some games aren't even available new anymore, so it's not like I even have a choice.

I don't buy used games because I want to support the industry and the games I like. However I often search fir the cheapest digital games which are mostly PC games so i don't buy console games that often anymore except they are exclusive.

I really don't see what the issue with this is unless you're one of those idiots who buys a used version of a game because it's 5 dollars cheaper. Some people use trade ins to subsidize the cost of new titles, something Gamestop does try give you incentive's for buying new upcoming titles by giving increased credit or even the game for nothing if the games you're trading in hit a certain value threshold.

No it's not a perfect system, but neither is a world with absolutely no trade ins or game lending. I was thoroughly burned on Assassins Creed, so I passed on the second without even a second thought until a friend lent me that title. After playing it, I purchased the game and purchased all of the Ezio trilogy of AC. Games offer by far the best value for your dollar entertainment wise, but it's still a hefty investment up front, sometimes having the option to borrow a game from a friend or buying a pre owned copy of earlier iterations in the series is a great way to get people invested and excited about new games.

At the end of the day NEVER feel guilty about buying used, but if you sincerely like a game you purchased used, consider picking up the DLC or saving your pennies when the next game in the series is announced. If that doesn't work for you, and you still can't handle your extreme guilt. The PC has Steam and Steam absolutely shames both Sony and MS when it comes to how often they have sales and the price cuts....although to be fair I got El Shaddai on the Xbox sale for 3 dollars so perhaps the tides turning that way too.