So, apparently, there's a recent hubbub about how used games are damaging to the market.  Well, it's not recent, as the argument has been around forever, but a few people have recently spoken out about it, and  I want to see if what they say has any merit, and then talk about the consumers themselves.
 
The big one is from Cory Ledesma, creative director of THQ's WWE games.  Here is the quote:  
"We hope people understand that when the game's bought used we get cheated," Ledesma told CVG in a recent interview, defending the one-time use code included in new copies of THQ's upcoming wrestling title allowing online play. "I don't think anyone wants that, so in order for us to make strong, high-quality WWE games we need loyal fans that are interested in purchasing the game. We want to award those fans with additional content." 
 
There are a few issues I'd like to discuss:
 
1.  As a matter of a whole, I don't mind the "one use" code, or having to buy a small part from the online store.  It depends on what it is, but it seems to be only multiplayer, or downloadable content.  So, I don't mind that, in theory.  However, there's 3 problems with it:
 
A.  A good chunk of the time, you can't buy games older than a year, in a store, new.  If I wanted to try and find a new copy of Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, or Amped 3, or even Fable 2, I would be EXTREMELY hard pressed to be able to walk into a Best Buy, or Walmart, and find a new copy of the game on the shelves.  (I do realize that you might buy them from the Xbox 360 download store, but that's a specious argument)  If I told this Mr. Ledesma to walk into Best Buy and try and dig up a copy of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, does anyone think he could do it?
 B.  I'm going to take to task a particular game company, EA.  EA (and some others, but mainly EA) routinely shuts down game servers, for online games.  Check here for a small list of what I'm talking about.  If they include a code for online servers, then they either have to stop this, or just pony up to the fact that 85% of their games are serialized, and that they just sucker people into buying the new ones.
C.  Does anyone, ANYONE, find it ironic that dude who makes WWE games is complaining about used games, when his series is one of the most sold, in a used game market?  Here is the thing, he (THQ, WWE) are making annualized games.  Every year they come out with a new Smackdown Vs. Raw (or prior, Smackdown) game, since 1999.  It's the same thing that Madden does, along with a dozen other franchises, they just make annual sequels.  It's what killed Tony Hawk, for those of you keeping score.  If Mr. Ledesama was TRULY serious about wanting to create a "high-quality WWE game", then you might give the developers a year off, come up with some fresh idea's, and some innovative, and new gameplay.  Everyone knows the 5 new things they add to these annual games, per year, doesn't amount to a hill of beans, or a 60$ new price tag.  
 
Here is the ultimate solution for Mr. Ledesama's problem:  Make a WWE game with stellar gameplay, mechanics, graphics/sound, and a system where you can actually update the game on a yearly basis.  That's it.  I would happily pay a 60$ price point if they made a game that wasn't outdated by the time it hit stores, and you could actually update.  I'm not even talking roster updates, but let's say someone like John Cena introduces a new finisher into his arsenal, than the next time you go online with the game, you're able to get an updated John Cena move list (and graphical package) that lets  you do the new move.  And this isn't  relegated to WWE, mind you, they could do this for Madden, FIFA, and every other sports game, or annualized (yearly) game in existence.  The fact is, they're NOT building new games, on a year to year basis.  They are taking the previous game, updating some stats, adding in 4 to 8 new gameplay systems, and shoving the game out the door.   So, if that's the case, why shouldn't people buy the previous version?  It's essentially the same as the new version that has just come out, only with some half-baked crap rolled into it.
 
Here's the other quote, from Jerry Holkins (creator of Penny Arcade, and all around cool dude)
"In a literal way, when you purchase a game used, you are not a customer of theirs," Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins wrote today. "If I am purchasing games in order to reward their creators, and to ensure that more of these ingenious contraptions are produced, I honestly can't figure out how buying a used game was any better than piracy. From the the perspective of a developer, they are almost certainly synonymous." 
 
Again, a few things to examine:
1.  I would happily reward a developer, if I felt the developer was actively trying to reward me, for buying their game. But most aren't, let's face it.  I bought a used copy of Tony Hawk Project 8 earlier this year.  Why?  Because the newest one (Tony Hawk Ride) sucked, and it's at an appropriate level of my interest.  Again, they've been cranking out yearly Tony Hawk games since 1999, with no stopping.  And the minute the new one comes out, last year's model becomes instantly worthless.  If the creators don't reward their consumers, why should the inverse be true?
2.  Alongside that however is equally true.  When I have enough money, I am going to buy a new copy of Red Dead Revolver, or Alan Wake, or Fallout New Vegas.  The reasoning is, because I support their stance in making a new, or original, or different game.  It is ludicrous of EA, THQ, or Activision to expect people to shell out 60$ for a new game, that usually can't be distinguished from the one before it. 
3.  This goes back into an earlier point, but Walmart, Best Buy, and the like have only a limited shelf space for games.  So they tend to only stock the new, or popular games anyway.  If I want to find a copy of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1, or Pinball Hall of Fame Williams Collection, I either have to go to Gamestop, or order it online (which the money doesn't go to the developer/publisher anyway) 
 
The consumer in me says, used games have to exist.  Without them, people would only have the ability to find 20% of the game market, instead of the usual 50-70% that Gamestop provides.  And yes, Gamestop is an evil, evil, company.  But, when you're trying to find a copy of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, it's about the only real place you have of looking.